Sunday 11th August kicked off the 60th Celebration week for both our locomotives in fine style with a ‘Double Up Sunday’ running day. The weather was fine and both 37215 and D6948 were in fine form for the large number of public that turned up.
Sundays are normally quite quiet, but this particular Sunday was very busy with lots making use of the weather and looking to enjoy the sights around the Cotswolds. Certainly it was a good portent for the main event later in the week.
So, to the main event and the 60th Anniversary Celebration on Friday 16th August 2024. Final preparations had been completed on the Wednesday and Thursday with both locos getting a final check over and the Sales Stand and temporary bar placed – complete with three barrels of beer that had been generously donated by a couple of long time members of the group – on the train in readiness. Friday, as the previous Sunday, hit the jackpot weather-wise and this set the tone for the remainder of the day.
Online ticket sales had been steady, although not spectacular however the turnout was pretty good (just over 100 attendees) with old friends, group regulars and new faces all mingling together to celebrate the birthdays of both locos – along with 30 years of 37215 being in preservation. By the end of the day the group had gained some new members and raised a decent amount of funds. Certainly, the feedback has been very positive from all.
From a crew perspective – myself, Peter Smith, Tony Boston and John Garrett – we can all testify to having had a superb day, with lots of interest in the locomotives, questions, cab visits and photos!!
As part of the experience we had been approached by Martin of Hellfire TV (you may have seen his videos on various social media platforms) to produce a film of the celebration with a view to producing a DVD for the group. This was an opportunity to good to miss, so throughout the day Martin, and his colleague Richard, had access to the locomotives to record visuals and sounds for a DVD that will hopefully be available to purchase via the Group in the very near future. Keep an eye out for that – it should be a good one!!
To coincide with the event the Group was approached by Andy Coward, Editor for Railways Illustrated, to do a feature on the group, the locos and the Anniversary Event. This is something that hadn’t happened for a number of years and the Committee were keen to get the Group back into wider publicity. Yours truly was interviewed by Andy to build the background for the article. Many thanks for Andy and RI for a cracking article.
As with the previous Sunday, the locos performed faultlessly, however on the last trip D6948 decided to play bad cop on arrival at Broadway and decided to not produce any brake force. Luckily, as the locos were working in a pair and not top and tailed, we were able to get back to Toddington using the brake force created by 37215. Some testing will be done on D6948 this week to see if the fault can be identified and rectified.
The event has been such a success that there have been requests that this become a yearly event. We’re a bit of a way away from this being a reality but never say never!
A huge thanks goes out to those that helped to organise the event and to all those who continue to support the group.
