The first guest locomotive to be announced for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway's (GWSR) Cotswold Festival of Steam is Great Western Railway Grange class 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange.
The Festival will be held over the bank holiday weekend of 25th to 27th May with the theme of ‘Western Workhorses'.
Among other attractions at the Festival will be a stand for the 6880 Betton Grange Society, where society members will be available to answer questions about the locomotive which is currently running with a borrowed tender.
Members will be available to talk about plans to build a replica Collett 3,500-gallon tender.
The Cotswold Festival of Steam last year won the coveted accolade as ‘Best Event in the Cotswolds' in the annual Cotswolds Awards, organised by Cotswolds Concierge. In addition, the railway won ‘Best Attraction in the Cotswolds'.
Further guest locomotives that fit the theme ‘Western Workhorses' will be announced soon. They will join the railway's own Modified Hall class No. 7903 Foremarke Hall and Manor No. 7820 Dinmore Manor.
Services will operate over the length of railway between Cheltenham Racecourse and Broadway, with a range of events at Toddington, where the locomotive depot will be open; and at Winchcombe, where visitors can view the Carriage & Wagon Department.
Tom Willson, Chairman of the Cotswold Festival of Steam organising committee, said: “We are thrilled to welcome this brand-new steam locomotive to the Cotswold Festival of Steam and it's sure to be a star attraction.
“The Grange class, as a powerful mixed-traffic design, could be found working over most of the Great Western Railway network until the mid-1960s and was a common sight on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham line, part of which is now used by the GWSR. So this is in a way, a welcome homecoming for the class.”
Paul Appleton, director of the Betton Grange Society added: “A Grange visiting the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway will be a real highlight for the locomotive. It is the fulfilment of a dream long held by many people to see one of the sadly-missed ‘Grange' class locomotives running once again and, where more fitting than on one of the lines where the class was such a familiar sight in the days of steam?”
None of the original locos in the Grange class survived into preservation. Betton Grange is the 81st in the class, built new from scratch.
Does the ‘Toddington Grange’ train still exist in some form? If so that would certainly be a coup for the GWSR to have on show.
Toddington Grange was a lofty Victorian residence on the Toddington Manor estate that housed the estate manager and his family
back in the day. Toddington Grange has since been demolished and grounds built over for housing.