Historic loco’s line up to launch the Greatest Gathering

Picture of Michael Holden

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Historic loco’s line up to launch the Greatest Gathering

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Picture of Michael Holden

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Alstom has today invited to their Derby Litchurch Lane Works to see the official launch of The Great Gathering.

The Great Gathering is a special open day at the Derby Works to celebrate Railway 200 and is set to take place in August.

More than 50 rail vehicles from the past, present and future will all come together to celebrate the 200th anniversary between the 1st and 3rd August 2025.

Today’s event was to officially launch the special open weekend and involved some very special guests.

390200, 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, 50049, 35018 British India Line and 37800
390200, 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, 50049, 35018 British India Line and 37800 // Credit: RailAdvent

West Coast Railways joined in the fun by sending 35018 British India Line from , Locomotive Services Group and the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust sent A4 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, the Class 50 Alliance and GB Railfreight sent 50049 along with 66315 and 69004, and 37800 was also there tanks to Rail Operations Group.

Finally, sent 390016 for a special naming ceremony in which the Pendolino was named Railway 200 and numbered 390200.

Pendolino naming // Credit: RailAdvent

Also, as part of the visit, we were told about some of the plans that Avanti West Coast have to celebrate the event. Andy Mellors from Avanti West Coast said that the train operator is planning to attempt to break the speed record for a train between London Euston and .

The exact date for this is yet to be confirmed, however more information is due through soon.

Alstom also confirmed that tickets are expected to go on sale TOMORROW (31st January 2025) and we will update this article when they are live.

GBRf Class 66 and DRS Class 57
GBRf Class 66 and DRS // Credit: RailAdvent

We were able to have a good look around the locomotives on display, alongside recently arrived 507001, which has recently entered preservation.

We were then taken for a ride on the Derby Test Track on a South Western Railway Class 701 before finishing off our day with a ride in the cab of Class 50 No. 50049!

A big thank you to Alstom for inviting us to Derby Litchurch Lane Works today for a look round, if today is anything to go by, the August event is going to be one not to miss!

Responses

    1. Yes it seems the queue system keeps sending more people through even though others havent completed the checkout, you think you are almost there and then add the tickets to the basket and get repeated timeouts.

  1. The Morton (ticket) website is not working properly, 502 error codes. If you do get the the ticketing page the Sunday tickets for children are incorrect as it picks a Saturday ticket.

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