Weekly Roundup – 13-Mar-26
At the Heritage Railway Association (HRA) annual awards event on Saturday 7th March 2026, the DEPG were presented with the ‘RAIL EXPRESS MODERN TRACTION AWARD‘ by Editor Chris Milner (third from left) in recognition of 50 years of preservation of ‘Hymek’ D7017. The award was also presented to the Hastings Diesel Group (on the left) for their 30 years of mainline running. Centre stage, key fundraiser John Crane is holding the award for the DEPG with Martin Howard, Paul Tucker and Clive Burrows representing the multitude of dedicated volunteers who have looked after D7017 since acquisition in May of 1975. Photo by the HRA © CC BY-NC 4.0
The HERITAGE RAILWAY ASSOCIATION is the trade body for the heritage railways of the UK and currently has around 300 members including the DEPG. The HRA holds award contests annually to encourage achievement and reward excellence across a wide range of headings from locomotive restoration through to infrastructure projects and visitor experiences. At this year’s event, the DEPG were presented with the ‘RAIL EXPRESS MODERN TRACTION AWARD‘ by well-known magazine editor Chris Milner in recognition of the 50-year-plus preservation of Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 on the West Somerset Railway !
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From left to right: Clive Burrows, John Crane, Paul Tucker and Martin Howard, pictured at the HRA Annual Awards Event held in Llandudno on Saturday 7th March 2026. Photo provided by the HRA |
Also in the running for two of the most strongly contested HRA awards and achieving highly commended status were two entries from the West Somerset Railway, notably the restoration of Andrew Barclay ‘fireless’ locomotive No. 1984 of 1930, ‘Boots No. 1’ in the Steam Locomotive Award category and the very popular BLUE ANCHOR STATION in the Station of the Year Award. WELL DONE TO ALL INVOLVED !
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| Andrew Barclay ‘fireless’ locomotive No. 1984 of 1930, ‘Boots No. 1’ was highly commended in the Steam Locomotive Awards category. Photo by Colin Barratt © CC BY-NC 4.0 | The delightful Blue Anchor Station on the WSR was highly commended in the Station of the Year category. Photo by the WSR © CC BY-NC 4.0 |
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 was pictured at Blue Anchor while on a positioning move from Williton to Minehead on Tuesday 23rd September 2025. Photo by Rich Hiscox © CC BY-NC 3.0
While D7017 basks in the limelight of the HRA awards, she is also undergoing preparation for her appearance in the WSR’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in TWO WEEKS from now, and her sister loco D7018 is also being prepared to participate at THREE diesel galas on other railways before returning to her home territory in August, in time to feature in the WSR’s DIESELS AT 65 event over August Bank Holiday weekend.
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24-26 April 2026 |
14-17 May 2026 |
24-26 July 2026 |
The much-travelled loco will then head back to the WSR in time for the DIESELS AT 65 EVENT that takes place over the August Bank Holiday weekend, where all five of our 65-year-olds (Class 09 shunter D4107 (09019), Class 33 ‘Cromptons’ D6566 (33048) and D6575 (33057) and Class 35 ‘Hymeks’ D7017 and D7018) will participate in a special birthday event featuring some very interesting combinations. Details will be announced nearer the time, but meanwhile GO AHEAD AND BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATION to make the most of the long weekend !
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the re-opening, long-term WSR resident Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 will be in use on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March 2026 and will be working alongside home fleet steam locos to both kick-off the 2026 season and to commemorate the hard work and dedication of all those who made the re-opening possible, 50 years ago. The DEPG will be hosting an ‘OPEN YARD‘ with public access to lineside seating and viewing, with the ‘Irie 7’ hot food van and Rod’s Model Railway sales stand also available. Click here or on the image below for more details of this anniversary weekend.
The DIESELS at 65 event adds to the WSR 50 EVENTS FOR 2026, all of which covered in the graphic below. The WSR’s EVENTS and EXPERIENCES web page gives details on some of these events, and will be expanding soon to include the recently-announced events. Click here or on the graphic below to go to the WSR Calendar Page for details and dates.
SUMMER DIESEL FESTIVAL
The WSR have announced another visitor from the Wensleydale Railway in the form of Class 47 47714 (D1955, 47511), wearing the striking ‘Rail Express Systems (RES)‘ livery. This loco was built by Brush Traction at Loughborough and was one of later deliveries, entering service as D1955 in November 1966 and allocated to the ‘Western Lines’ pool of the London Midland Region (LMR). The loco became 47511 after conversion to Electric Train Heating (ETH) in March 1974 and was selected for conversion to push-pull operation, becoming 47714 in March 1985. While our own Class 47 47077 (D1661, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ is away at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, it will be great to have a ‘47‘ back at work on the WSR and this loco will no doubt be very popular.
Previously-announced Class 37 37250 (D6950) is another crowd-pleaser and will definitely help swell the crowds and make the event even more enjoyable than usual.
DEPG locos of classes 08, 09, 14, 33 and 35 will also be in use and Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ will be open to visitors at Williton Yard, along with Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 and Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 (ROF 1).
The DEPG depot at Williton will be open to the public and will be offering hot drinks and an expanded range of hot snacks from the ever-popular ‘Irie 7’ team, together with a seated viewing area, Rod’s Model Railways sales stand and the DEPG merchandise stand, plus cab visits to locos on shed, depot tours and some SPECIAL EXHIBITS.
DEFINITELY NOT TO BE MISSED !
Click here or on the image below to go to the WSR’s event page:
Our popular DIESEL RUNNING DATES page is in the process of being updated to cover the planned diesel-hauled services for 2026, but it will take a little longer to define the loco allocations. Meanwhile, the basic framework is there and the loco allocations will be added as soon as the information has been confirmed by the WSR. There is a lot of diesel running planned for the WSR this year. Click here or on the image below to take a look:
08401 (D3516) Dual Braking Conversion Project – UPDATE
Pictured at work in her vacuum-braked days, Class 08 shunter D3516 (08401) was working a coal train past Radstock West on the former Somerset & Dorset line, back in June 1967. Photo obtained from RAIL ONLINE with our thanks for granting permission for the DEPG to use it on our website. © CC BY-NC 4.0
£10,868 RAISED – A TOTAL SUCCESS !!!!!
The appeal for donations toward the estimated £5,200 cost of converting recently-acquired Class 08 shunter 08401 (D3516) from air brake to dual brake has reached it’s target and has been MATCH-FUNDED by our mysterious and generous benefactor, so we now have £10,868 that will be used to accelerate this loco on her path to dual-brake capability.
We would like to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH to all who have supported this request for help. The ability to go out and buy the parts that we need will allow us to speed up the job of converting this loco to dual braking.
The balances of the four fundraising channels have been totalled up and are as follows:
| Donations via | Donation amount | Gift Aid |
| Gofundme | £1,595 | £242 |
| DEPG online store | £310 | £65 |
| Membermojo | £350 | £87 |
| Direct to bank | £2,228 | £557 |
| TOTALS | £4,483 | £951 |
| COMBINED TOTAL |
£5,434 plus MATCH FUNDING to achieve £10,868 |
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Donations to the 08401 Dual Braking Conversion Project, as at 6th March 2026
THANK YOU VERY MUCH to all who have donated to this cause !
This is EXCELLENT NEWS for 08401 and will help us get the work done in the shortest possible time and help to get this loco into service on the WSR. This loco has never been used for passenger haulage, so 2026 is going to be a big year for 08401 !
Click here to visit the 08401 (D3516) dual-braking project page
As the DEPG is a registered charity, any donations made to a defined cause are applied only to that cause, so your donation will make a difference to the project of your choice. Thank you very much !
LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – the need to carry out pre-season training impacted the availability of volunteers at Williton last weekend, but we still had enough hands to put to the task of painting the underframe of the loco out in the yard. After a full day of spray painting with red oxide primer, Gordon had a very unusual pink tint to his normally-white hair ! Luckily, he did make sure that there was more paint on the loco than on himself.
D1010 – the red and grey paint on the underframe at the ‘B’ end of the loco shows continual progress toward completing this long and tedious clean-up task. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 7th March 2026 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 4.0
D1010 – and at the ‘A’ end, thanks to more effort from Gordon and Phil, the red and grey painted areas are becoming predominant. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 7th March 2026 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 4.0
Then on Tuesday, the ‘Transmission Team’ tackled the changing of the other two sets of torque reaction bushes on the ‘B’ bogie, and found that these were in much better condition compared to those of the inboard axle (the 50-year-old rubber bushes were changed anyway). The photos below show the different arrangement of the centre axle, which did cause our team to modify their approach to take account of the space restrictions in this area.
D1010 – the torque reaction rubbers of the centre axle of the ‘B’ bogie were replaced with new by the ‘Transmission Team’ at Williton on Tuesday 10th March 2026. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 4.0
D1010 – the torque reaction rubbers of the outer axle of the ‘B’ bogie were also replaced with new by the ‘Transmission Team’ at Williton on Tuesday 10th March 2026. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 4.0
D1010 – one of the cardan shafts from ‘B’ bogie was also undergoing clean-up at Williton on Tuesday 10th March 2026. Photo by Jeffrey Curd © CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 08 08401 (D3516) – this loco is stabled in the South Yard at Williton and is available for use (in air brake mode) for any shunting duties that might be required. Meanwhile, design work is taking place to draw up the new pipework that is needed to reinstate the vacuum brake system, and the additional electrical control equipment is being assembled and installed where possible.
08401 (D3516) – one of the side compartment doors was undergoing priming before being painted by Roy at Williton on 7th March 2026. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 09 D4107 (09019) – this loco is close to being ready to return to duty at Bishops Lydeard, just in time for the start of the 2026 running season (late March). The coolant leak was traced to the coolant pump seal, so this will need to be replaced before the loco goes back into service. The temporary replacement cab floor was made by ‘JT’ at Williton on Saturday 7th March, involving quite a bit of patience to get the plywood sheet cut to the correct profile, after which it dropped into place and only needs to be fixed down and sealed. Well done ‘JT’ !
D4107 (09019) – the temporary plywood flooring was cut to size and shape by ‘JT’ at Williton on 7th March 2026. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 4.0
D4107 (09019) – the temporary plywood flooring was then installed in the cab, again by ‘JT’ at Williton on 7th March 2026. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is outdoors on No 1 road and is next in line to enter the loco shed so that her leaking engine room roof can be removed and repaired. Meanwhile, her No. 1 vacuum exhauster has received a new centre oil seal and has been reassembled by Ian and Ethan W. This heavy and bulky machine will now wait until the loco is in the shed with her roof off, before being hoisted back into the engine room.
D6566 (33048) – the No. 1 vacuum exhauster has now received a new centre oil seal and is ready to be hoisted back into the loco. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 7th March 2026 by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is based at Bishops Lydeard where she will remain ‘on duty’ and available for use if required.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – this loco is fully serviceable and is ready for a pre-season test run when the line re-opens, so that she can stretch her legs and we can make sure that all systems are ‘go’. This loco will be in passenger service for the WSR’s 50th ANNIVERSARY weekend on 28/29 March.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco will remain at the GCR for some charter services and also for their DIESEL GALA in April before moving to her next vacationing spot at the Severn Valley Railway, and then to the GWSR in July before returning to the WSR in August.
Please do try and go along to one or more of these events to show your support for D7018 and help ensure that her visits are a big success !
Here are the running dates for D7018 on the GCR:
| Day and Date | Event | Notes |
| 15 April | Photo Charter – tank train | Contact the GCR for more info |
| 23-26 April | Spring Diesel Gala | Contact the GCR for more info |
| 29th April | D7018 Driver Experience | Contact the GCR for more info |
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the two teams (Saturday and Tuesday) continue to push ahead with the work on this loco, with the Tuesday team concentrating on the engine and ancillary equipment, and the Saturday team concentrating on the bodywork. Some patient and diligent preparation was carried out by Andy P on one of the bodyside doors that was first retrieved from outdoor storage, and this door then received a coat of primer before home time. This door will be rubbed down again before getting several more coats of paint, to make sure that the finish is in-keeping with the rest of the loco. Well done Andy P !
D9518 – one of the side doors from the ‘B’ end of the loco was undergoing restoration in the hands of Andy P at Williton on Saturday 7th March 2026. Photo by Andy Royal© CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco is currently based at Bishops Lydeard where she will remain until relieved by Class 09 shunter D4107 (09019).
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is based at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway but has been ‘stopped’ because of an issue with her ‘triple pump’ – which is an electrical machine that is a combined water pump, oil pump and fuel pump, all driven from one big DC electric motor. The spare has been taken from stock at Williton and the motor has been sent to a specialist subcontractor for reconditioning. It will then be sent to the NYMR for installation into 47077. This work is taking longer than planned because it required the complete rewinding of the armature, so it is likely to take another week or so and will cost around £4,000.
The loco will then need to go out for tyre turning, which will be a convoy move over the main line from Grosmont with other NYMR diesels, when the line re-opens.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this little loco was moved from Number 1 road to Number 2 road at Williton last Saturday so that she can receive some attention to her fuel filters. Meanwhile, Class 08 shunter 08401 (D3516) is available for shunting duties.
If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturdays and Tuesdays and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !
NEW CLOTHING RANGE:
Feeling the cold ? Go ahead and order a fleece jacket or sweatshirt via our ONLINE STORE, just click on this link or on the images below to give it a go !
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So far, we have launched the 50 YEARS of HYMEKS range and a configurable HYMEK and WESTERN range, and we now have the new design for the Class 33 ‘Cromptons’ featuring two locos side by side, one in green livery and the other in blue, or both in blue. Please let us know if you would like to order a combination that is not obvious on our online store – we are adding more options on a weekly basis. We intend to offer a Class 14 design in the coming weeks.
The range of colours has been expanded and the range of sizes now includes LADIES SIZES. Please let us know via our CONTACT FORM if the colour and size combination that you want is not showing as an option online.
The new designs are available in the following garment types, some of which have not yet been added to our website, so again please use our CONTACT FORM to let us know what you want. Here are the prices:
| Garment type | Price |
| T shirt | £22 |
| Polo shirt | £25 |
| Sweatshirt | £35 |
| Hoodie | £37 |
| Fleece | £40 |
| Other ? Tell us what you want ! | Use our CONTACT FORM |
These garments are really nice pieces of work, and the ability to personalise your choice is another definite advantage. Delivery is currently around ONE WEEK from receipt of order, so place you order now to take advantage of this short lead time.
We look forward to receiving your order, the profits from which will directly support the DEPG !
ON SHED – this week, we have some more photos from DAVE GRAY featuring Hartlepool Stabling Point and some of the movements that could be observed from nearby. Look back at the previous roundup for Dave’s notes about the location. Here are the rest of the notes that Dave sent with his photos:
“40103 (D303) is captured in the summer of 1978 on the daily lunchtime empty vans train from Newcastle to York. This up train collected from the major Durham coast stations all the unloaded vans from that same early morning’s down parcels train. At Hartlepool, apart from the daily procession of 37s and Class 101 DMUs, this was the most interesting train of the day. The motive power could be absolutely anything, and could range from a Class 25 to a Class 55 that Gateshead depot were trying to get rid of. When a ’55’ was sighted it was always operating on one engine only because it was on it’s way to Doncaster Works for rectification.
Most usually it was a Class 40 on this duty. In the summer of 1979, 47207 (D1857) was also captured while on this working.
Back to the summer of 1978 and 37200 (D6900, 37377) was caught hauling the weed killing train past the stabling point. I remember thinking, why couldn’t we have been sent some unusual traction for this unusual train!”
Many thanks to Dave for sharing his memories and photos with us all.
English Electric Type 4 Class 40 40103 (D303) was pictured while working the Newcastle to York empty vans train past a rake of MGR wagons and Hartlepool SP in the summer of 1978. This loco started her life at Crewe in 1960 and roamed the London Midland Region for 14 years before heading north to Edinburgh Haymarket for the last eight year of her working life. Ironically, she returned to Crewe to be reduced to scrap. Photo by Dave Gray © CC BY-NC 4.0
One year later and BR-Brush Type 4 Class 47 47207 (D1857) was pictured on the same Newcastle to York empty vans train working. An unidentified Class 08 shunter is visible ‘on shed’ at Hartlepool Stabling Point. Photo by Dave Gray © CC BY-NC 4.0
Left to Right, English Electric Type 3 Class 37 37097 (D6797) was stabled amongst the weeds at Hartlepool SP in the summer of 1978 while her younger sister 37200 (D6900, 37377) worked a weedkilling train toward York. Ironically, the elder sister survives in preservation at the Caledonian Railway, but the younger machine was withdrawn in 2001 after providing 38 years of service. Photo by Dave Gray © CC BY-NC 4.0
Please continue to send in your photos of locos on shed, at the platform or in action, because we appreciate them all, any Class, any place, any time, the more varied, the better. Use our CONTACT FORM to get in touch. Thanks !
NEW BOOKS ON SALE
In addition to the two recent releases from Bernard Mills, namely Parts 2 and 3 of the ‘PADDINGTON TO PENZANCE during the Diesel Era‘ trilogy, we are also offering two new books that will be of particular interest to like-minded members and supporters as they both feature diesel-hydraulic locos and are therefore guaranteed to have a good market, such is the strength of the following for the types.
Above: A very interesting new book about the early days of the diesel hydraulic preservation movement. Well worth a read and reasonably priced at £15.99 – click here or on the image above to go to our online store page.
Above: a very interesting collection of photos from the early days of the diesel hydraulics, at work in this fascinating region. Also well worth a read and also reasonably priced at £16.95 – click here or on the image above to go to our online store page.
All of these books are in stock so PLACE YOUR ORDERS via our online store NOW ! Click here or on the images below to go to the relevant pages on our online store.
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| Part 1 : Paddington to Taunton | Part 2 : Taunton to Plymouth | Part 3 : Plymouth to Penzance |
There are many other new and pre-owned book titles on our online store – click here for details.
DEPG NEWS: the pre-season training efforts continue with the second of the WSR’s full-day training sessions on Saturday and a Diesel Secondman training session taking place on Sunday. Although the line remains closed and under an engineering possession, some infrastructure trains will run between Minehead and Blue Anchor, but not involving DEPG locomotives. The following week, there should be some loco and empty coaching stock positioning moves mixed in with footplate crew refreshers. Busy times indeed !
The DEPG is a charity and is run entirely by volunteers, many of whom give both their time and their money to the continuance of work on the locos in the DEPG fleet. If you have been enjoying the roundup for free, have you considered joining us for just £1 a month ? You can then add your name to all of those helping out on the above projects and play your part in the future of our locos for a lot less than the price of a cup of coffee!
JOIN US using whichever membership class is appropriate for your situation and means. CLICK HERE or on the image below or use the QR code to get the details.
If you would like to go one step further and come along to help with the work on the locos in our fleet, then please use our CONTACT FORM to let us know that you would like to volunteer and we will respond with more details.
We look forward to hearing from you !