NO sooner had the West Somerset Railway’s (WSR) spring steam gala finished on Monday (May 5) than attention switched to planning the heritage line’s autumn festival.
The spring event, which ran from Friday through to Monday, drew thousands of visitors to the 20-mile line from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard.
They enjoyed sun-kissed journeys in a packed timetable of services pulled by a line-up of 10 different steam locomotives, including seven visiting from other heritage railways around the country.
A WSR spokesperson said: “Thank you so much to everybody in the West Somerset Railway community who made our spring steam spectacular such a success.
“Thank you to every single visitor who rode on our trains, visited our stations, museums, cafés, and shops.
“It has been fantastic to see so many wonderful photos and videos being shared on social media, helping to raise the profile of our wonderful railway and allowing people from around the world to see beautiful West Somerset.”
The spokesperson said already the WSR was able to announce its first autumn steam weekend guest, which was LSWR T3 No.563, courtesy of The 563 Locomotive Group and the Swanage Railway.
They said the locomotive was a ‘gem of preservation’, built in 1893 and undergoing an award-winning restoration to return to traffic in 2023.
The engine has been acting as a flagship to her home line in Swanage ever since.
The spokesperson said: “We cannot wait to see the engine in action here on the WSR.
“Tickets will be available shortly from our website.
“Our small team is having a small break before shifting gears to the autumn steam festival over October 17 to 19, while our diesel team take over for the summer diesel festival over June 5 to 8. “We hope to see you there.”
The spring gala also featured the first fireless locomotive, Boots No.1, built by Andrew Barclay for the famous pharmaceutical company and designed specifically to be used in high fire risk locations such as chemical factories.
The gala was the first public appearance of the engine following an extensive restoration by Ryan Pope and the team at the WSR’s Williton Works.
She took on shunting duties in Minehead to add to the entertainment for onlookers in between the services coming and going to the town.
A small bank fire broke out near Blue Anchor on Friday but WSR staff sprang into action and it was put out within minutes and did not disrupt the programme.
However, the failure of visitor GWR 66XX class 0-6-2 No.6695 on Sunday meant a change to locomotive allocations for the final day and the morning goods service from Minehead was unable to run, while some brake van rides from Minehead and Bishops Lydeard had to be cancelled, and the Quantock Belle served breakfast, lunch, and cream teas static from Bishops Lydeard station on Saturday.
A competition to rename ‘Lady of Legend’ for the gala saw ‘Robin Hood’ chosen, with the winner receiving a nameplate and cabside numberplate as a souvenir.
