West Somerset Railway

NEWS

News Index

[Tue 26-Mar-02] Five new BR Mk1 coaches have recently arrived on the Railway. The first two are Tourist Second Open (TSO) nos 9875 and 9876 which have been purchased from the HSBC. No 9876 has received a repaint into the WSR standard chocolate and cream livery and entered service during the Spring Gala. No 9875 is in Regional Railways livery and awaits an overhaul. Two additional TSOs have been purchased from charter train company Riviera Trains. These are 5025 and 5030 and already carry BR(WR) lined Chocolate and Cream livery. The final new coach is Brake Second Open (BSO) no 9380. This was subsequently converted to a miucro-buffet BSOT. This vehicle was formally part of the Berwyn Belle diner set on the Llangollen Railway. It has been repainted from royal blue to maroon livery and entered service during the Spring Gala.

[Mon 18-Mar-02] The WSR Spring Gala on 22-24 March 2002 promises no fewer than seven visiting locomotives in action. The first of these BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T no 80136 is already in use on the line, having returned for its second visit to the line in December 2001 in time for use on the Santa trains. No 80136 is normally based on the Churnet Valley Line. It has proved to be a popular engine which is well suited to the WSR. Another visiting loco is BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 no 92212 making a welcome return from its home base at the Great Central Railway at loughborough. The visit of this engine recalls the appearance of classmate 92220 "Evening Star" back in 1989, which marked the start of a new era in the fortunes of the WSR. Four visiting GWR locos are expected for the Gala. The first is Modified Hall 4-6-0 no 6960 "Raveningham Hall" which is based on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. It will be joined by 5205 Class 2-8-0T No 5224 which is now part of the Pete Waterman collection based at Crewe Heritage Centre. Also attending the gala is Hawksworth pannier tank no 1501 from the Severn Valley Railway. All three engines are making their first visits to the WSR. The final GW visitor is Castle Class no 5051 "Earl Bathurst" from the Great Western Society at Didcot. No 5051 will arrive on Saturday 23 March on the Pathfinder "Exmoor Belle" railtour which it will head throughout from Paddington to Bishops Lydeard, travelling via the Berks and Hants line through Newbury. Home based 4160+7828 will then doublehead the railtour from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead, while 92212 will head the return working as far as Bishops Lydeard, for EWS diesel haulage back to Paddington. No 5051 will follow from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead on a later service, and will also be rostered for the Sunday gala trains. This engine is making its second visit to the line. It will remain in service until Sat 4 May when it will double head with sister Castle 5029 from Taunton to Penzance. The final Gala visitor is the popular LNER B1 Class 4-6-0 no 61264, one of only two of this once numerous class to survive. No 61264 will arrive on Mon 18 March, and remain in service until mid April. These engines will be joined by 7828 and 4160 from the home fleet. The boiler repairs to 7820 and 6412 are now unlikely to be completed in time for the Gala, but these engines will be on display at Minehead and Williton.

The information on these pages does not represent the views of the WSR Plc or any other organisation connected with the Railway. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, no responsibility can be taken for any errors or omissions.