THERE was a slight sense of déjà vu at the Chasewater Railway’s September 8-9 steam gala as Bill Parker’s Kerr, Stuart 0-4-0WT Willy (3063/1918) once again took the ‘guest engine’ slot in the timetable.
In fact the diminutive former National Shipyard, Chepstow, loco had not left the railway since its headline appearance at the Made in Staffordshire event in May, but in typical Chasewater style the September gala was no simple re-run of the previous one in spite of the loco line-up being the same.
Both resident Bagnall 0-4-0STs Dunlop No. 6 (2648/1940) and Kent Electric Power Company No. 2 (2842/1946) were in action over the weekend, hauling passenger, mixed, freight and coal trains on the Saturday, including the ever-popular rake of MGRs.
Enjoy more Railway reading in the monthly magazine.
Click here to subscribe & save.
Unfortunately, a shortage of available volunteers on the Sunday saw the timetable trimmed back and the number of departures slightly reduced.
Throughout the event, Dunlop No. 6, with vinyl transfers on its tanks, operated as Ketton Portland Cement Co Ltd No. 3, the guise it carried during the Ketton Cement open weekend at the end of June.
Read more News and Features in the October issue of The RM – on sale now!