The last weekend of October (28 and 29) saw the GWSR run its end of season, mixed traffic ‘Autumn Showcase’ Gala. This event gives a final opportunity to get the locomotives out for one last event before the season draws to a close. Both 37215 and D6948 were in use on the ‘English Electric’ Sunday where they were joined by Class 20, 20137 and the Class 117 set from the Diesel Department. I sadly couldn’t get there due to illness but, judging by the videos and photos on social media, the event was a great success and both our Class 37’s ran without issue.
However, it is on to one of the most important times of the operating calendar – the Winter Shutdown. This is where we can take the locos out of traffic and undertake some of the heavier maintenance (or investigate faults) that we might not get chance to do during the high point of the operating season. Both locos have some niggly faults that need investigating and rectifying over the close period but, hopefully, no really big issues to attend to…especially given the heavy repairs to both 37215 and D6948 in recent years!
With that said, the locos are still scheduled for a bit of late year running with a couple more running days in early November before being used on a couple of the ‘Mince Pie Specials’ over the New Year period. So still a few opportunities of 2023 left to get a dose of Class 37 action. See the Roster Page for details.
2024 will be a big year for both 37215 and D6948 as they celebrate their 60th birthdays. The Board are working behind the scenes drawing up ideas on how we can celebrate this landmark event. We will keep you posted!
