Quadruple Headed Sulzer Finale for Gloucestershire & Warwickshire diesel gala and a Pathfinder tour!

A great Sunday of heritage diesel action today, with a trip to the final day of the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire railway diesel gala.

We begin at Toddington on the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire railway for a bash behind visiting and home fleet locomotives at their diesel gala, which this year featured:

BR Class 27 No. 27056, courtesy of the Northampton Type 2 Group, BR Class 25 No. 25262, courtesy of South Devon Diesel Traction Ltd and BR Class 35 Hymek No. D7018 courtesy of the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group.

They were joined by:
Class 20 20137
Class 20 20228
Class 24 24081
Class 26 D5343 / 26043
Class 37 D6948
Class 37 37215
Class 45 45149
Class 47 47105
Class 47 47376 'Freightliner 1995'
W55003 Class 122 Railcar
+ the preserved cab section of BR Class 47 47355

Back in December we officially bid farewell to the Gloucestershire based railtour firm Pathfinder Railtours and saw D1015 ‘Western Champion’ through Cheltenham working the final run to Manchester. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2fYjLKw57s&t=47s

On the Sunday of the Gala, G&WSR paid a special tribute to Pathfinder Railtours, with trains carrying original Pathfinder headboards from past tours, and members of the former Pathfinders team, including Peter Watts, enjoyed a reunion and were suitably dressed in their stewarding uniforms for the occasion.

Furthermore, the railway laid on a one off named railtour ‘The Broadway Greeter’ which departed Broadway with BR Class 45 No. 45149 at the helm at 14:15 to Cheltenham Racecourse before returning to Broadway at 15:40. This dedicated tribute tour carried a specially made headboard for the train, and it was a great nod to the contribution Pathfinder have made to the heritage sector through the decades with their countless railtours having ventured far and wide over the years.

This was a great gala with a comprehensive timetable and lots of intensive movements spread out over the course of the day. The diesel sheds at Toddington were open which allowed for views of the engines coming on and off shed while there was an opportunity to explore lots of models and sales stalls as well as the narrow gauge railway in operation, and the day culminated in a rare quadruple header of the BR Blue, Baby Sulzer Type 2s all carrying TOPS numbers, Classes 24, 25, 26 and 27!

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