The East Lancashire Railway has announced its completed lineup for the upcoming Summer Diesel Gala on the 3rd to 6th July 2025.

The East Lancs home fleet of heritage diesels will be running on the 12.5-mile heritage line alongside four visiting locomotives.

Electro-Motive 57002 ‘Winston Churchill’ and 37716 will be debuting on the heritage line.

Two ‘English Electric’ locomotives, 50008 ‘Thunderer’ and 31108, are also returning to the railway.

Along with the heritage locomotives, there will be diesel brake van rides on the 3rd and 4th of July, which will start at Bury and travel as far as Ramsbottom.

Visitors will be able to enjoy the special travel experience as part of a freight train formation and travel through both tunnels.

There are also catering add-ons for Advance Day Rover ticket holders, which have breakfast options which vary daily, as well as the ‘Irwell Fryer’ Fish and Chip train, hauled by 31108 on the 4th July. Advance booking for these features is essential.

The 3-day, Day Rover Ticket will now also cover travel on the fourth day, with no additional cost.

Those wanting to join in on the Diesel Brake Van Rides will need to book online as capacity is limited. Tickets are an additional £10 for a return journey for Day Rover tickets.

Terms and conditions of tickets and what you can access can be found online, with discounted advance purchase tickets available on their website.

In the next few weeks, timetables with allocations will be published and can be found online.

“The Summer Diesel Gala has always been one of the premier events in the annual enthusiast calendar and this year we are upping our game and encouraging families to come along and enjoy the atmosphere of this all-star Diesel line-up. The 2025 event is shaping up to be our best ever, with a full 4 days of running. We want to acknowledge our appreciation to LSL, Swietelsky Rail (Grindley HNRC), A1A Locomotives, and Hanson & Hall for their assistance and generosity in making their locomotives available to the many people that are planning to visit the East Lancs Railway on Thursday 3rd, to Sunday 6th July.”

Mike Kelly, ELR Chairman