Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
The long awaited return of a major held event at the West Somerset Railway was marked with their Spring Steam Gala which was held over four days from the 5th of May to the 8th May. The main highlight for us was the Saturday evening mega train with 12 coaches and two locos, which were Great Western Manor Class 7822 Foxcote Manor & BR Standard 75069. The pair are seen at the end of the video romping towards the summit at Crowcombe Heathfield with the Manor making the majority of the noise as expected. In regards to the gala it was held late in terms of Springtime and this was proven with the much welcomed summer like weather. With the backdrops taken care of the gala was well received though heavy delays were present across all days due to numerous issues which I wont bore you with. Its safe to say the railway were a little ring rusty in running such events over their glorious 20 mile railway. This was the first major event since the pandemic and since the railway almost went out of business.
The main guest for the gala was the Caledonian Railway Class 439 0-4-4T 419, or the Scottish Thomas The Tank as some enthusiasts call it. Unfortunately the loco had quite a few steaming issues throughout the gala and due to the late running on the Sunday we were not able to capture it, though I'm not a massive fan of the blue livery. Please accept our apology for not featuring the main guest. Severn Valley Railway's 2857 was a late replacement for 9466 which was withdrawn from the event for essential work. Also featuring from the SVR was BR Standard 75069.
As stated above all action except the final sequences were filmed on Sunday as we spent the Saturday travelling and soaking up the glorious weather, countryside and fine locomotives which were on show. With the timetable in disarray on Sunday many of the planned shots were not attainable and we had to basically make up alternative plans on the move as there was much chopping and changing by the operations department, so not all services ran as planned, some goods trains were cancelled, locos were not turning and some were turned when they were not planned to. Thankfully the railway has an excellent webcam service so at least we knew the exact time of some of the altered departures.
A big thanks to the West Somerset Railway for their extensive effort throughout the weekend and especially on our two day visit. The highlight for us was the 12 coach mega train featuring 7822 & 75069 in last rays of sunshine. This is featured at the end of our short video. A bit of scene setting takes place in the video to make up for the lost shots throughout the Sunday. I hope you enjoy the video and the fabulous countryside of West Somerset.
The long awaited return of a major held event at the West Somerset Railway was marked with their Spring Steam Gala which was held over four days from the 5th of May to the 8th May. The main highlight for us was the Saturday evening mega train with 12 coaches and two locos, which were Great Western Manor Class 7822 Foxcote Manor & BR Standard 75069. The pair are seen at the end of the video romping towards the summit at Crowcombe Heathfield with the Manor making the majority of the noise as expected. In regards to the gala it was held late in terms of Springtime and this was proven with the much welcomed summer like weather. With the backdrops taken care of the gala was well received though heavy delays were present across all days due to numerous issues which I wont bore you with. Its safe to say the railway were a little ring rusty in running such events over their glorious 20 mile railway. This was the first major event since the pandemic and since the railway almost went out of business.
The main guest for the gala was the Caledonian Railway Class 439 0-4-4T 419, or the Scottish Thomas The Tank as some enthusiasts call it. Unfortunately the loco had quite a few steaming issues throughout the gala and due to the late running on the Sunday we were not able to capture it, though I'm not a massive fan of the blue livery. Please accept our apology for not featuring the main guest. Severn Valley Railway's 2857 was a late replacement for 9466 which was withdrawn from the event for essential work. Also featuring from the SVR was BR Standard 75069.
As stated above all action except the final sequences were filmed on Sunday as we spent the Saturday travelling and soaking up the glorious weather, countryside and fine locomotives which were on show. With the timetable in disarray on Sunday many of the planned shots were not attainable and we had to basically make up alternative plans on the move as there was much chopping and changing by the operations department, so not all services ran as planned, some goods trains were cancelled, locos were not turning and some were turned when they were not planned to. Thankfully the railway has an excellent webcam service so at least we knew the exact time of some of the altered departures.
A big thanks to the West Somerset Railway for their extensive effort throughout the weekend and especially on our two day visit. The highlight for us was the 12 coach mega train featuring 7822 & 75069 in last rays of sunshine. This is featured at the end of our short video. A bit of scene setting takes place in the video to make up for the lost shots throughout the Sunday. I hope you enjoy the video and the fabulous countryside of West Somerset.
