The GWR ‘s final event of the year, the Mixed Traction Extravaganza, takes place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th October 2026. D6948 will be in operation on the Sunday of the event alongside ‘Peak’ 45149. The Saturday will see the Class 20s and 24081 in operation. Both days will also see the DMU running on shuttle services.
Along with the PURPLE timetable turn on Saturday 17th October, Day 2 of the Mixed Traffic event will be the only times to enjoy the Class 37s during October as the railway starts to wind down services towards the festive season.
Tickets for the event, and timetable information, can be found on the GWR’s website here – https://gwsr.com/whats-on/mixed-traction-extravaganza/
D6948 will also see use on Friday 27 November during the Broadway Late Night Christmas Shopping services. The loco will top and tail with a steam loco on shuttles to and from Broadway. This is not an open event and will be only open to those with pre-booked tickets. Details can be found here – https://gwsr.com/whats-on/broadway-christmas-shopping-train/
LOCO UPDATES
The last few months have seen a fair bit of work on the two locos for different reasons. During September both locos were failed on the same day – a very unusual event! 37215 failed to start and, when coaxed into life, was charging the batteries at a much higher rate than it should be. Even after waiting for the loco to settle, the battery charge was still too high. On investigation, the batteries were dry and voltage checks found that they were almost expired. The decision was taken to stop the loco immediately and to obtain a new set of batteries.
On reflecting over a cuppa it was ascertained that the batteries in 37215 were probably nearing, if not exceeding, 20 years old!! We have certainly got our monies worth from them!
D6948 was prepped to take on the turn from which its sister was booked for however, after start up and getting to 80psi of Main Reservoir Air Pressure, the Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) tripped and shut down all the electrical systems. Resetting the AVR failed to resolve the issue and so D6948 joined its sister on the naughty step.
The following day, before services, a number of possible theories were tested to try and make the loco service ready however, after checking the compressors (as it had made 80 psi of Main Res before the AVR tripped), checking the condition of the Auxiliary Generator (it is fine) and the batteries (after the events with 37215) but all failed to explain the failure. It was therefore failed again, allowing Kev Jarvis and Peter Smith time to investigate the issue further.
By the end of the day, Kev and Pete had investigated other possible causes and were confident that they had found the issue – a short on one of the contactors causing an electrical spike which the AVR detected and tripped out to save the generator. After staging several staggered start ups with each one increasing the electrical demands (including isolating and reinstating compressors and exhausters) the loco was started in its normal state. Kev and Peter were relieved to see it start, maintain the voltages through the AVR at the required 110 Amps and the battery charging levels at normal as the loco warmed up. She was returned to traffic a couple of days later and didn’t put a foot wrong. Hopefully that is the end of that particular saga!
