CLOSE to 5,000 passengers travelled on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s trains during the three-day Cotswold Festival of Steam on May 25-17, sponsored by The RM.
The successful event, which featured eight locomotives in steam, including three visitors, proved to be very profitable for the railway, attracting more visitors than in 2017, although not quite as many as last year’s ‘Return to Broadway’ event.
The theme for the event was Northern Soul, acknowledging the northern roots of visiting LNER ‘B1’ 4-6-0 No. 1264 and Caledonian Railway 0-4-4T No. 419.
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The ‘B1’ had made the journey south from its North Yorkshire Moors Railway home, whereas Bo’ness & Kinneil-based No. 419 had added the gala to its 2019 tour of English heritage lines.
Both locos helped dilute the GWSR’s strong Great Western flavour, and together with resident ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35006 Peninsular & Oriental SN Co ensured each of the
‘Big Four’ was represented.
However, it was the GWR that notched up the largest attendance, crowned by ‘King’
No. 6023 King Edward II, courtesy of the Great Western Society at Didcot, and supported by
home-based ‘Modified Hall’ No. 7903 Foremarke Hall, ‘Manor’ No. 7820 Dinmore Manor, ‘42XX’ 2-8-0T No. 4270, and ‘28XX’ 2-8-0 No. 2807.
Read more and view more images in the July 2019 issue of The RM – on sale now!
