The West Somerset Railway will have a special guest at this year's Summer Diesel Festival, with the first appearance in 25 years by Class 24 diesel locomotive No. D5054 Phil Southern.
No. D5054 Phil Southern was built at Crewe in 1959 and is normally based at the East Lancashire Railway. From an original class of 151 locomotives, just four have been preserved.
From Thursday, 6th to Saturday, 8th June a wide selection of locomotives will be operating over the normal limits of passenger services between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard, but some services will continue past Bishops Lydeard to the very southern end of the line where it meets the West of England Main Line at Norton Fitzwarren.
That stretch of line is very rarely used by West Somerset Railway passenger trains.
On all three days, an intensive timetable will be operating so that visitors can hop from train to train to make the most of travelling behind some of the best heritage diesel traction available.
At Williton, the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group will welcome visitors at its depot in return for a donation that will go towards maintaining and restoring the group's fleet of vintage locomotives.
As well as No. D5054 Phil Southern, a notable visitor will be Class 50 No. 50033 Glorious, courtesy of the Class 50 Alliance which is normally to be found at the Severn Valley Railway. As its name suggests, Glorious looks splendid in its BR large-logo livery.
It is now 30 years since Glorious last visited the West Somerset Railway, as on the 5th June 1993 it joined two other Class 50s to haul Pathfinder's ‘Bishops Triple' rail tour to York. On that day, Glorious only worked the tour to and from Bishops Lydeard, so this will be the first time it has visited Minehead.
The full lineup of locomotives for the Gala includes:
- Class 03 No. D2133
- Class 09 No. D4107
- Class 14 ;Teddy Bear' No. D9526
- Class 20 No. 20142 Sir John Betjeman (visiting locomotive)
- Class 20 No.20189 (visiting locomotive)
- Class 24 No. D5054 Phil Southern (visiting locomotive)
- Class 33 ‘Crompton' No. D6566
- Class 33 ‘Crompton' No. D6575
- Class 35 ‘Hymek' No. D7017
- Class 46 ‘Peak' No. D182 (46045) (visiting locomotive)
- Class 50 ‘Hoover' No. 50033 Glorious (visiting locomotive)
Tickets for the Summer Diesel Festival are available to pre-book at a discounted rate from the railway's website.
Discounted one-day Rover tickets cost £38 for adults and £19 for children with children over five free of charge.
An adult two-day Rover ticket costs £60 and £30 for children, and an adult three-day Rover ticket costs £80. Further information and booking details can be found by clicking here.
