On a wet and windy Sunday, 24th September 2023, 37215 was prepped ready to celebrate 25 Years since it’s first passenger working on the GWSR. The event was scheduled a day earlier than the actual anniversary (25 September 1998), but a healthy number of punters descended on the railway to help the Group celebrate this huge milestone.
The weather was hardly in a celebratory mood and it could hardly make up it’s mind between wet and windy and cloudy and windy! However, this didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of those in attendance as the crew was kept busy with a steady stream of cab visits and questions.
We were also graced with a visit from a social media celebrity! No, not the one you are probably thinking of, this one is hairier, shorter and less vocal – Hunslet the Bear!
Hunslet is the mascot of West Midlands Railway’s Soho Depot and is in the custodianship of one of our fellow volunteers at the GWSR (he is also a Rolling Stock Manager at the Depot). Hunslet is used to give people a ‘behind the scenes’ look at what goes on at Soho but also to raise money for the charities that WMR champion. Hunslet is known for his penchant for ‘Gronks’, but I think we managed to turn his head towards favouring the Class 37!
‘215’ performed three round trips of the line compiling another 84 miles, with the weather improving with each successive run and, although we didn’t see the numbers of visitors that we did for the ‘Double Up Sunday’ event (which was boosted by a nearby railtour), those that were in attendance enjoyed a great day. We have even seen a few new members off the back of it!
Although the day went without issue, and the loco ran faultlessly, it appears that one of the newly fitted compressors has started passing oil into the air system and this needs investigating further. It isn’t a showstopper but it is annoying given that the compressor was newly overhauled.
Attention now turns to the ‘Autumn Showcase’ event (Mixed Traction) on the 28th and 29th of October. The diesel running will be split across the two days with Sulzer locos taking the Saturday and EE locos (including both 37215 and D6948) on the Sunday. Details are on the GWSR website – www.gwsr.com and we hope to see a lot of you there.
Finally, the early part of 2024 will see both 37215 and D6948 reach their 60th Birthdays. The GG Committee are working on plans to celebrate this milestone for both locomotives and we will keep you updated as we go.
