West Somerset Railway – 30 Years of Galas
June 3, 2026
Midland 4F No. 43924
July 7, 2026
The Story of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
£14.95
The in-depth story of the beginnings and subsequent re-opening of the line between Cheltenham Racecourse and Broadway. We see
archive films of the line from the mid 1960s through to closure in the mid 1970s with a summary of the route
between Stratford Upon Avon and Cheltenham and all the stations and halts in between. We follow the
rebirth of the railway with its heritage base at Toddington beginning in the 1980s and later its arrival at Winchcombe and Cheltenham Race
Course Station in 2003. The latest section to be rebuilt was to Broadway where we see the grand re-opening day in 2018.
The programme takes a look at the rebuilding of each station along the line which were
demolished in the 1970s and resurrected by volunteers over a 20 to 40-year period.
Sequences of the construction of the new station buildings at Broadway and the very first trains to arrive at this current
terminus in the north. ‘Return to Broadway’ celebrations are seen with Nos. 35006 P&O Line and 7903 Foremark Hall.
Steam operations during all the recent gala events with visiting locomotives, such as ‘Schools’ Class Cheltenham, ‘King’
6023 King Edward II, ‘Britannia’ 70013 Oliver Cromwell and more recent galas with new-build 2999 Lady of Legend, 6880
Betton Grange, ‘Castle’ 4076 Pendennis Castle, a number of visiting small tank engines and many others.
The latest improvements at Winchcombe and new buildings on Platform 2 at Broadway feature as do the restorations
of engines such as 2874 and 76077. Altogether, a complete record of the run-down of the railway in BR times and
the triumphant re-opening of this volunteer-led preserved line in the glorious Cotswolds.
Revised 2026 edition
75 minutes duration
Related products
-
Railscene No.41
£14.95Contents
Dover Western Docks: Preparations for the introduction of Eurostar services with the
closure of Dover Western Docks and driver training with Unit 931001.
Waterloo Station: Completion of the new Eurostar Terminal in the old Windsor platforms
and guests depart on new service via the temporary route before HS1 is completed.
Cab Ride – Glasgow Queen Street to Crainlarich.
Modern news: Launch of newly painted two-tone green Class 47 No. 47004
Old Oak Common Depot. Line-up of Class 47s in all liveries for the special event.
Preparations for test runs of D172 Ixion from Crewe to Derby. Interview with Tony Moseley
of Waterman Railways regarding the newly overhauled diesel.
Last main line run of two Class 50s in blue liveries. Nos. 50033 and D400 head to Glasgow
from Crewe and via the Settle-Carlisle line.
Final runs of the two remaining 4TC sets. We see No. 33116 providing traction for the
Hertfordshire Railtours special from Waterloo to Exeter, Weymouth and up to
Yeovil and Bristol.
Steam News: Great Central Railway Winter Gala with Nos. 44767, 45231, 34039,
34101, 4498 and 7029.
Winter Gala at the Mid-Hants Railway with Nos. 76017, 92203, 34105 and the first
appearance of an LMS type in preservation with No. 5593 Kolhapur.
Bluebel Railway with a Wainwright Weekend to celebrate the return of No. 593
accomapanied by the H class and visiting M7 tank No. 30053.
Driver experience with 4472 Flying Scotsman at Tyesley.
East Lancs Railway sees the introduction of LMS ‘Crab’ No. 42765 with Nos. 5407
and S&D 13809.
A launch of the Royal Mail new selection of railway stamps was held at Quorn on the GCR.
A4 No. 4498 produced run pasts to show the mailbag collection procedure at speed.
Main Line Steam: Locomotives include 46203 bound for Holyhead, 71000 south from
Carlisle, 6024 from Didcot to Cardiff, 34027 speeds through Whitchurch for Yeovil and 60009
on tours in Scotland. Finally, No. 75069 departs Brighton Depot for a working to Victoria.
Approximately 90 minutes -
Railscene No. 43
£14.95Contents
Modern News: Diesel Gala at the Severn Valley Railway with Deltic No. 55015 (as 55001 St Paddy)
D1062, 31206, 37107, 50044, 50031 and D5410.
East Lancs Railway – Diesel gala included, D5054, D172, 31101, 40145, D832, 20188,
D8031 and 47117.
Cab Ride – Perth to Inverness through the stunning scenery of the Highlands.
Guildford Engines Weekend at the Bluebell Railway: A special line-up of steam locomotives
with some association with operating around Guildford. Engines included – ‘C’ Class No. 592, C1
(33001) and S15 847.
Great Central Railway 25th anniversary Jubilee: This feature starts with a triple-header out of
Loughborough with Nos. 5224, 7029 and Jubilee No. 5593, running as classmate 5552 Silver Jubliee.
Added to these engines were Nos. 45231 and 34039 from the home fleet.
Paignton & Dartmouth Railway: Feature with ‘Hall’ Class No. 4920 Dumbleton Hall between
Paignton and Kingswear.
Didcot – Oxford 150 Years: ‘Castle’ Class No. 5029 Nunney Castle operated five services between
Didcot and Oxford on the day to celebrate 150 years of the route. A special event at the GWS
Didcot Railway Centre witnessed BR Pacific No. 70000 Britannia on the demonstration line and
Bulleid MN No. 35005 Canadian Pacific.
D-Day 50th anniversary: Special commemorations were held at the beginning of June for the 50th
anniversary of the D-Day landings in northern France. A special train was commissioned to take
veterans to Weymouth and along the quay tramway which was site of much activity in 1944.
Class 33 D6535 hauled the train tailed by Class 73 73109 which was named Force ‘O’ Weymouth for
the occasion at Weymouth Quay Station. The 73 then reverted to its original name Battle of Britain.
As part of the D-Day events, S15 No. 828 operated a series of shuttles between Southampton’s QE2
Terminal and Salisbury. We see views of 828 during its journey. Also present in the docks were
‘B4’ Dock tank No. 30096 and No. 777 Sir Lamiel.
Main Line Steam: ‘A2’ Pacific No. 60532 Blue Peter on the climb to Ais Gill summit, 6024 King
Edward Ist from Gloucester to Swansea, 5029 Nunney Castle from Didcot to Worcester and
70000 Britannia on the North Wales Coast.
Approximately 90 minutes duration -
Railscene No. 42
£14.95Contents
Newslines – Paddington Station with the naming of an HST power car Intercity
by MD Chris Green. Guests treated to a run behind LMS Pacific No. 46203
from Paddington.
Farewell to BR: SR S15 No. 828 departs Didcot for Crewe and the series of steam tours
from Llandudno Junction to Holyhead commemorating the demise of BR.
Locomotives at Llandudno include – Nos. 5029, 828, 46203, 4498 and 71000.
BR 2-6-4T No. 80080 took a charter to Skegness from Nottingham.
Preservation – The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Spring Gala included S15 828
plus LMS Nos. 48431 and 47279 plus more home fleet.
The opening of the newly restored station at Kidderminster providing the
terminus for the SVR. Nos. 6024, 5029, 2857, 4422 and Jubilee No. 45596 were in
attendance over the weekend.
GCR Freight Weekend with Black Five 44767, GWR tank No. 5224 and LNER 69523.
Modern News: Mid-Hants Diesel Gala brought in Nos. D7018, D5353, 33116, Peak
45132 and newly repainted Class 47 D1524 Old Oak Common.
Network News: Class 73 73107 naming at Redhill Station commemorating
150 years of Redhill.
Southampton Freightliner Terminal and the naming of
Class 47 47095 Southampton WRD.
Main Line Steam: LMS Jubilee No. 45596 on the Welsh Marches Express
from Worcester to Hereford.
No. 6024 King Edward Ist from Paddington to Stratford Upon Avon.
No. 75069 on a positioning train from Worcester Shrub Hill to the West Somerset
Railway. Includes scenes on the WSR with double-heading by Prairie No. 4160.
No. 75069 would stay at the WSR for the summer season. Class 47 47703 Queen Mother
returned the train to Worcester.
Approximately 90 minutes duration -
Norwich to Liverpool Street – London Cab Ride DVD
£17.95Norwich to Liverpool Street London Filmed aboard an Anglia Railways Class 86 238. Departure from Norwich was from Platform 5 at 14.40, arriving at Liverpool Street […]
