With the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) getting ready for its “Santa Express” trains, two-thirds of them have already sold out and there are only a limited number of seats on the rest.
This year's Santa Expresses start their public services on the weekend of Saturday, 25 and Sunday, 26 November, but the first train is the week previous on Sunday, 19 November in aid of local charities James Hopkins Trust and Heart Heroes.
The James Hopkins Trust provides nursing respite care to young children in Gloucestershire with life-limited and life-threatened conditions. Heart Heroes works with children and their families living with heart conditions. To improve accessibility, the railway has adapted some of its 60-year-old coaches to make them suitable for wheelchair access.
Following Christmas, the railway provides the chance to throw off the festive blues with its Mince Pie Specials that will run until 1 January between Cheltenham Racecourse and Toddington.
The railway is currently unable to operate from Toddington to Broadway because it is closed for urgent repairs to be carried out on Stanway Viaduct. Volunteers have removed the track whilst Walsh Construction has started removing ballast ready for replacement of the failed waterproof viaduct deck. Repairs are scheduled to be complete ready for the viaduct to reopen in time for the start of the 2024 season on 4 March.
The railway has run its Christmas trains for a number of years in aid of charity. They are operated by volunteers and are the brainchild of Chris Blake, who works in the railway's steam locomotive department. He said “We will be entertaining some 300 children and their families in a safe, happy and friendly environment on our steam trains.
“While of course we bring delight to hundreds of children and families throughout December, there are those who miss the opportunity to enjoy something like this because of serious illness or a disability. It makes a real difference not only to the youngsters and their families but to us as well: we get a lot of enjoyment out of running these special Santa Expresses.”
Catherine Johnson, Marketing Manager of the GWSR says: “The Santa Express has a special place in the hearts of so many families, lots coming year after year. The day offers amazing value for money: our volunteer elves go to considerable trouble to put on a wonderful Christmas experience with all youngsters getting to meet Father Christmas and receive a top-quality present from him as well as everyone enjoying lovely refreshments.
“Tickets have been going like hot mince-pies, but there are some tickets left that can be booked online but they will soon go.”
“The steam trains run from Cheltenham Racecourse station where there is ample free car parking, to the winter-wonderland of ‘North Pole' station at Winchcombe.”
“There remains ticket availability on 25th and 26th November and some tickets remaining for 20th and 21st December – the latter two are days ideal for pre-school youngsters as schools won't have broken up for the Christmas holidays.”
