Great Western Society

‘B1’ and ‘Caley’ tank add soul to Gloucs-Warks steam festival

by

Sam Hewitt

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15th July 2019

CLOSE to 5,000 passengers travelled on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s trains during the three-day Cotswold Festival of Steam on May 25-17, sponsored by The RM. The successful event, which featured eight locomotives in steam, including three visitors, proved to be very profitable for the railway, attracting more visitors than in 2017, although not quite as…
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Didcot’s ‘Saint’ unveiled in full Georgian finery

by

Sam Hewitt

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13th July 2019

THE Great Western Society’s re-creation of a Churchward ‘Saint’ 4-6-0 – No. 2999 Lady of Legend – is officially complete. The milestone has been achieved 45 years after donor locomotive No. 4942 Maindy Hall was acquired from Barry Scrapyard in 1974. The ‘Saint’ made its public debut at Didcot, albeit cold and in unlined black, in November…
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Didcot’s diesel shunter clocks up 40 years’ service

by

Sam Hewitt

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27th March 2019

A SMALL celebration was held on December 29 to mark the 40th anniversary of Hunslet 5238 of 1957 – a 264bhp 0-6-0DM, now known as No. DL 26 – arriving at the Didcot Railway Centre. A cake was cut by former Great Western Society locomotive manager Ron Head, who had arranged the purchase of the locomotive. He…
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County of Montgomery group aiming for £40,000 with driving wheels appeal

by

Sam Hewitt

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13th March 2019

THE Churchward County Trust (CCT) is hoping to build on the success of its first year by launching a new ‘Forty 4-4-0s Club’ to raise the £40,000 required to cast the four coupled wheels for new-build GWR 4-4-0 No. 3840 County of Montgomery. All the platework required to assemble the main frames is cut and ready…
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Blue ‘King’ confirmed for Cotswold Festival of Steam

by

Sam Hewitt

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13th March 2019

THE Great Western Society’s Collett 4-6-0 King Edward II will return to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway later this spring to take part in the line’s Cotswold Festival of Steam on May 25-27. It will be the second visit by Didcot-based No. 6023 to the ‘Gloucs-Warks’ in as many years, having starred at the same event last…
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Smokebox completed for Hawksworth ‘County’

by

Sam Hewitt

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13th March 2019

THE ‘face’ of a GWR Hawksworth ‘County’ 4-6-0 will soon be seen for the first time since 1964 as the Great Western Society’s (GWS) 1014 County Project approaches another milestone in its construction of new-build No. 1014 County of Glamorgan. Goodman Metal Works, in Nottingham, recently completed the smokebox and smokebox saddle for No. 1014,…
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April launch date for Didcot’s ‘Saint’ No. 2999

by

Sam Hewitt

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18th February 2019

RE-CREATED GWR ‘Saint’ No. 2999 Lady of Legend will be officially launched at Didcot Railway Centre during a celebratory three-day event on April 5-7. The Churchward 4-6-0 has taken the Great Western Society (GWS) more than 14 years to complete. No. 2999 made its public debut in unlined black last November, but the April weekend will provide…
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Overhaul beckons for GWS pioneer No. 1466

by

Sam Hewitt

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12th December 2018

DIDCOT Railway Centre’s Black Saint Weekend provided a final opportunity to see the Great Western Society’s (GWS) pioneer locomotive – ‘14XX’ 0-4-2T No. 1466 – on site before its departure for a £300,000 overhaul. The former Newton Abbot ‘auto tank’ provided the foundation stone for all future GWS activities when, in April 1964, it became the…
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Dual identity ‘Saint’ makes its public debut at Didcot

by

Sam Hewitt

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3rd December 2018

CLEAR skies and late-autumn sunlight provided perfect conditions for the public debut of the Great Western Society’s near-completed Churchward ‘Saint’ 4-6-0 No. 2999 Lady of Legend at Didcot Railway Centre on November 17-18. Plenty of visitors turned out during the aptly named Black Saint Weekend to get their first glimpse of the loco, albeit static and…
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