Spring gala is huge success for heritage railway

THE West Somerset Railway’s six-day Spring Steam Gala event was another highly successful ‘launch’ to the main season for the award-winning heritage line.
Passengers flocked over two weekends to travel behind an array of steam locomotives working an intensive train service between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard.
General manager Paul Conibeare said: “We had a very pleasing first weekend with over 3,000 people travelling over the two days, and the second weekend also saw good levels of business.
“The sunshine on the second Saturday brought out both the enthusiasts and the general public and we had one of our busiest days ever.
“We were also pleased to welcome 395 visitors who travelled on an excursion train from Sheffield and had an enjoyable afternoon either on the railway or in Minehead.
“It will take us a couple of days to finally ratify the passenger figures for the gala as a whole, but we are delighted with the results.”
Apart from the line-up pf historic engines, which included seven ‘guests’ hired-in especially for the gala, there were plenty of other factors which brought the visitors to the railway and the surrounding area.
Amongs them was a Virgin Trains ‘Voyager’ which ran a shuttle service between Taunton and Bishops Lydeard, while a free vintage bus service also linked Dunster Station with the village and its castle.
Artist Alan Ward put on an exhibition of his work at Bishops Lydeard, and four new railway books were on sale for the first time, including ‘Return Ticket To Minehead’.
Taunton Model Railway Group also opened its clubroom to visitors, and there were special openings of the locosheds and workshops at Williton and Minehead.
Mr Conibeare paid tribute to the WSR workforce: “Our volunteers and staff put in a lot of hard work in the three months leading up to the gala and during the actual operating days the first workers are on duty at 4 am and the last make their way home around 10 pm.
“It is rewarding to see their efforts producing such satisfactory results for the railway.”

• Our photographs show (top) a steam train preparing to depart Bishops Lydeard and (bottom) a Virgin Voyager alongside Great Western pannier tank number 6412, the first working Great Western steam locomotive purchased by the West Somerset Railway Association. Photos submitted.