THE West Somerset Railway (WSR) is preparing to host thousands of visitors with its annual spring steam gala over the May Day bank holiday weekend.

The four-day spectacular, which starts on Friday, May 1, and runs until Monday, May 4, comes in the railway’s 50th anniversary year.

It will also be the 30th anniversary of the WSR’s steam galas and will be headed by LNER A4 No.60007 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’, making its first visit to the former Minehead branch line.

The locomotive was one of the A4 class Pacifics which headed express trains from King’s Cross Station, in London, to the West Riding and Scotland for a quarter of a century.

A spokesperson said: “This legendary locomotive joins us to represent the pinnacle of British engineering and show that anything is possible after 50 years of preserving the WSR.

“Those who saw the railway back in 1976 would have barely dreamed that a sister to the fastest steam locomotive in history, ‘Mallard’, would pull a train to Minehead five decades later.

“Expect to see the railway at its finest, operating an intensive timetable.

“Highlights include express, stopping, and local trains complimented with goods trains, dining options, trade stalls, and others to be confirmed.”

This year also marks 150 years since the birth of Sir Nigel Gresley, the London North Eastern Railway chief mechanical engineer.

The ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ will also give enthusiasts a foretaste of what is to come when its classmate 80064, owned by the West Somerset Railway Association, is restored to working life.

The gala will see 11 home fleet and visiting steam engines in action across the four days, including GWR 3850, a heavy freight engine which was based on the WSR for a number of years, and a final weekend of operations for ‘Victor’, the locomotive which worked the first WSR train from Minehead in 1976, before it returns to the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

The WSR’s enhanced timetable will provide opportunities for people to visit places along the 20-mile line to Bishops Lydeard, including Dunster, Watchet, and the tranquility of Cleeve Abbey, in Washford.

If the weather is kind, the station garden in Stogumber will welcome those who wish to rest and enjoy the station’s home made refreshments.

There will be also be sales stands on the platform at Minehead and the retail counters at the stations will stock WSR 50th anniversary commemorative merchandise, including a 56-page colour booklet recalling significant events in the heritage railway’s half-century to date.

Taunton Model Railway Group will welcome visitors to its clubhouse at Bishops Lydeard Station, and the next-door Gauge Museum will also be open.

Used model railway items will be sold at Watchet Station, and the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group will open its Williton workshop and depot.

There will be free travel for children aged up to five years accompanied by a fare paying adult, which needs to be booked in advance by 10 am on May 3 at the latest.

More information is available on the WSR website or by calling 01643 704996.