After staying overnight on the West Somerset Railway, the ‘Belmond Britannic Explorer‘ was pictured returning to Network Rail metals via Norton Fitzwarren on the morning of Saturday 2nd May 2026 with Class 66 66744 leading and 66748 ‘St Michael’s Mount’ trailing. Photo by Philip Izzard © CC BY-NC 4.0
The visiting Class 66s were the only diesels at work on the WSR last weekend, as the visit schedule of the ‘Belmond Britannic Explorer‘ happened to coincide with the WSR‘s highly successful 4-day ‘Spring Steam Spectacular’ event, leading to scenes where steam locos both large and small were pictured alongside the ultra-posh luxury train, such as pictured below:
Staying at the WSR for a while to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the reopening of the WSR, former resident Bagnall 0-6-0ST 2996 ‘VICTOR’ was pictured alongside the ulta-posh ‘Belmond Britannic Explorer‘ at Bishops Lydeard on the morning of Saturday 2nd May 2026. Photo by Laura Standerwick © CC BY-NC 4.0
The steam gala was an action-packed event that delivered four full days of steam-powered entertainment and including some intensive timetabling with local services, goods trains with brake van rides and shunting operations that kept the action going along the 23-mile length of the line. Passenger loadings were very good and the visitors that we met during our ‘Open Shed’ event were very happy, even though the weather tried hard (very hard on occasions) to dampen their spirits ! All in all, this event was a great success and the many hours invested by staff and volunteers certainly paid off. WELL DONE ALL !
The DEPG yard and shed was open to the public on each of the four days with the very popular ‘Irie 7’ catering van adjacent to our trackside viewing area, and Rod’s Model Railway Sales stand and the DEPG’s own sales stand set up in the loco shed. These same arrangements will apply to the forthcoming SUMMER DIESEL FESTIVAL that will take place from Thursday 4th June to Saturday 6th June, with a mixed traction day on the Sunday.
The WSR have just announced a THIRD visiting loco in addition to Class 47 47714 (D1955, 47511) and Class 37 37250 (D6950), with the news that CLASS 26 26007 (D5300) will be appearing in Railfreight Coal Sector livery. Here’s the write-up that has been provided by the WSR Gala Planning Team:
Class 26 No. 26007, courtesy of Victor Korzeniewicz, will be making its debut at the West Somerset Railway. Originally numbered D5300, 26007 was the first of the Class 26 diesel locomotives, built in 1958 by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company.
It was initially based at Hornsey Depot, working on King’s Cross suburban duties before being transferred to Scotland two years later, where it remained until its withdrawal in 1993. Notably, in 1992, in celebration of the conclusion of the class, 26007 was repainted into a 1960s-style British Rail green livery, complete with small yellow warning panels.
Its final duties encompassed hauling condemned DMUs and operating on the Kyle of Lochalsh line. Following its withdrawal, the locomotive was preserved and is now owned by Victor Korzeniewicz, typically residing at Barrow Hill Roundhouse in Derbyshire.
The locomotive is currently painted in a two-tone grey Railfreight Coal Sector livery and will be appearing at our event in this livery. We extend our sincere gratitude to Victor for facilitating the presence of this extraordinary locomotive at our Diesel festival.
Click here or on an image to go to the WSR’s event page:
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).
We have also been advised that two Rail Adventure HST Power Cars will be stabled in the yard at Williton for the duration of the event, as last year, because these locos will be bringing and returning the visiting locos via the main line. They were very popular exhibits at the gala last year and we will be happy to see them in our yard again.
In June last year, Rail Adventure Class 43 HST power cars 43465 (nearest) and 43484 were stabled at Williton throughout the gala as they had been used to bring the visiting locos to the WSR and were on display until they took the visitors back to their homes on the following Monday. Pictured on Tuesday 3rd June 2025 by Darren Hill © CC BY-NC 4.0
30th ANNIVERSARY – but hopefully with a difference …
This coming Saturday 9th May will be the 30th anniversary of the last main line use of Class 33 ‘Crompton D6575 (33057) and this loco will be in use on the 12:25 Bishops Lydeard to Minehead and 14:30 return service to commemorate this milestone. Before we hear calls for a re-enactment, it needs to be mentioned that the loco suffered a bogie fire because of a dragging brake that day, while working in tandem with another member of the Class, 33050 (D6568) and the damage was so severe that the loco never worked on the main line again and was eventually sold for scrap to become a parts donor for sister loco D6566 (33048). Luckily, it was decided that the fire-damaged loco could be repaired and we are thankful that this decision was taken and the repair work carried out, because she is still plying her trade on the West Somerset Railway to this very day and is both a reliable and versatile workhorse.
The 12:25 Bishops Lydeard to Minehead and 14:30 return service will be hauled by Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33057) again on Sunday 10th, after which she will run ‘Light Engine’ (LE) to Williton to undergo maintenance and bodywork cleanup in preparation for her gala appearance in her 65th birthday year. Her role as Duty Loco will be taken by sister D6566 (33048) who will run LE from Williton to Bishops Lydeard on Sunday evening and will work the 12:25 Bishops Lydeard to Minehead and 14:30 return service on Thursday 14th and on both days of the following weekend.
Keep an eye on our Diesel Running Dates page for advance notice of loco allocations. Note: if these published loco allocations change, we will endeavour to release a DIESELGEN bulletin, provided that we have enough advance notice to make it worthwhile.
Click here to go to the WSR Calendar page, then click on the date of interest.
The WSR’s EVENTS and EXPERIENCES web page gives details of other 2026 events. Click here or on the graphic below to go to the WSR Calendar Page for details and dates.
LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’– with the focus on the ‘open shed’ 4-day weekend being clean and safe for the public to visit, the noisy and dirty work of needle-gunning was carried out by the Tuesday Team comprising Phil and Tim L who concentrated on cleaning up the components of the secondary suspension, including the coil springs that can be a little tricky to handle. Our intrepid pair soon had a method established and the job has progressed well !
Also on Tuesday, Colin F, Reece and Tim Z worked on the recently refurbished set of primary springs to match them up with the thrust pieces that bear down on the axlebox housings. A complete set of 6 is now available to go back into the ‘B’ bogie but we need some new parts in order to complete the ‘A’ bogie. Enquiries are being made to see if we can obtain parts from another owning group and refurbish them, rather than have to make new. We have time to go either way, so this is not a showstopper, but we want to try to refurbish old parts whenever we can.
We could really use another pair of hands to raise the pace further, so please come along and help out on D1010 if you can. Use our CONTACT FORM if you are able to volunteer on a Saturday or a Tuesday – or both !
D1010 – Tim L takes a turn at the needle gun while Phil goes to get yet another can of primer for the many parts that have now been cleaned up and need three coats of paint. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 5th May 2026 by Martin Howard © CC BY-NC 4.0
D1010 – this extract from Swindon drawing SL/SW/2400 revision ‘V’ shows the primary spring (part number 1/SL/SW/3550) sitting on the thrust piece (part number 2/SL/SW/1580) which in turn sits within a manganese-steel lined recess in the axlebox housing.
Class 08 08401 (D3516) – this loco is fully serviceable in air brake mode and was used to shunt the north and south yards at Williton on Saturday 25th April, the objective being to clear the loco shed for the gala and organise the locos on No. 1 road into the most appropriate sequence, taking account of their next booked movements.
Class 08 ‘shunter’ 08401 (D3516) in her faded blue livery dominates the foreground but Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ is also visible, as is BR(WR) 0-6-0PT 9466 and Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33057). Pictured at Williton on Thursday 7th May 2026 by Anthony Austin © CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 09 D4107 (09019) – this loco is based at Bishops Lydeard as station pilot.
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is close to being ready to take over duties from sister loco D6575 (33057) as from Sunday 10th May. One task that needed attending to was the replacement of the heavily corroded exhaust port grille, the effect of many years of exposure to weather and exhaust byproducts. The repaired grille was fitted using our Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) for which we now have 11 volunteers trained in the safe use of this machine for working at height.
D6566 (33048) – the partly-dissolved steel grille was removed from the loco and was pictured at Williton on Tuesday 5th May 2026. Photo by Anthony Austin © CC BY-NC 4.0
D6566 (33048) – the repaired steel grille was fitted to the exhaust port of the loco at Williton on Thursday 7th May 2026. Photo by Anthony Austin © CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – covered previously.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – this loco is fully serviceable and remains on display at Minehead during this 50th anniversary year of the re-opening of the WSR, this loco having been present at Minehead right from the start.
This loco will be heading to the NORTH YORKSHIRE MOORS RAILWAY to participate in their ANNUAL DIESEL GALA that takes place from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th June (the week after the WSR diesel event). Our ‘Hymek’ will be operating alongside her BR(W) friends Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9553 and Class 37 37688 (D6905, 37205) ‘Great Rocks’ and will be re-united with her DEPG stablemate 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ once again. Click here for details.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – after her highly successful 8-month stay at the Great Central Railway, this loco has now moved to Kidderminster on the SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY where she will participate in the SVR’s SPRING DIESEL FESTIVAL that takes place from Thursday 14th through Sunday 17th May. The ‘Hymek’ will also be used for crew training while at the SVR and will be in the care of our friends at the Diesel Traction Group. We hope that she will also see some use on charters and specials during her stay.
D7018 – back at home at OC (81A) ? No, inside the Diesel Depot at Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway, undergoing inspection and preparation for her role in next weekend’s SVR Spring Diesel Festival. Pictured on Tuesday 5th May 2026 by Jacky Duncan © CC BY-NC 4.0
D7018 – pictured from the cab of Class 42 ‘Warship’ D821 ‘GREYHOUND’ – looking into the Diesel Depot at Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway while the visiting ‘Hymek’ undergoes inspection and preparation for her role in next weekend’s SVR Diesel Gala. Pictured on Tuesday 5th May 2026 by Jacky Duncan © CC BY-NC 4.0
After completion of her stay on the SVR, D7018 will then move to the GWSR in July before returning home to the WSR in time for the DIESELS at 65 event in late August.
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14-17 May 2026 |
24-26 July 2026 |
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – with the need to work on sister loco D9526 and the ‘Open Shed’ event last weekend, the team have not had much of a chance to work on D9518 during this last week, but this is just a temporary pause. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible !
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco is now back at Williton after spending the entire winter on duty at Bishops Lydeard, covering for Class 09 shunter D4107 (09019).
D9526 – pictured at Williton on Tuesday 5th May 2026 while undergoing a 50-hour inspection and service to get her ready for her appearance at the WSR’s ‘SUMMER DIESEL FESTIVAL’. Photo by Martin Howard © CC BY-NC 4.0
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is based at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway awaiting a replacement triple pump motor, and we thought that we had taken care of this, but a last-minute snag has set us back a few weeks, which is disappointing – but will be overcome. Once repaired, the loco will then need to go out for tyre turning, which will be a convoy move over the main line from Grosmont with several other NYMR diesels.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this little loco is back in working order and is in the queue for her annual VIBT certificate renewal, which will be dealt with as soon as the Class 33s have been swapped over.
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:
Still feeling the cold in the evenings and mornings ? 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 hope to be able to offer a Class 14 design in the coming weeks.
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 |
ON SHED – during the last few weeks, we have featured some photos from DAVID HINGSTON, and these have resulted in quite a bit of email traffic from several of our regular contributors. Last week, we featured three photos taken at Finsbury Park station on the same day in the late 1960s – but we didn’t get a single piece of feedback from anyone !
So, here is one more photo from David’s collection, then we will give someone else a chance and come back to David’s photos at a future date.
Before we share the next photo, here is David’s own feedback on his photo taken at Saltley Station (see last week’s ‘on shed’ in the previous roundup):
“Well, Clive’s image of Saltley station certainly left no doubt as to where my photo of the Class 25 was taken. Again, I have no recollection of having been there and had to look up where it actually was! This would again have been another of our excursions during the one-week Rail-Rover ticket expedition with my friend John who is actually in the picture.
It was probably the result of the disappointment we had experienced earlier in the week at Crewe station. We had no prior knowledge of Crewe except that it was a must-visit place for a spotter, and an area where there was still a reasonable amount of steam (sorry) to be seen, although mostly on goods trains. Imagine our dismay when each time we saw such a train slowly making its way towards the station it suddenly disappeared, only to reappear a short time later past the other end of the station and vanishing into the distance.
We left the station to try to find a vantage point near to the entrance of this phenomena (which turned out to be a bypass tunnel) but were unsuccessful. So maybe the Saltley excursion was an attempt to “not get fooled again” by staying in New Street station, or maybe it was just to get away from that concrete oppressive place.”
This week, we have one of David’s photos from that ‘concrete oppressive place’, the much-derided but very busy BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET station, back in the late 1960s (but not later than 1968).
Brush Type 4 Class 47 D1943 (47500) on the 1N37 working out of Birmingham New Street Station, sometime in the late 1960s, with another of the Class alongside and an AM10 (later Class 310) Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) also in the picture. Photo by David Hingston © CC BY-NC 4.0
Many thanks to David for sharing his photos with us all.
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
A few weeks back, we announced a NEW BOOK compiled by ROGER GEACH based on the photographs of the late STEPHEN MARSHALL entitled ‘The Demise of the Diesel Hydraulics’ and published by Transport Treasury and as expected, this new book is flying off the shelves so CLICK HERE to place your order NOW. This is a hardback book that is LARGER than A4 in size and has 176 pages with 230 images, so the price of £29.95 is well justified.
Here’s some feedback from long-time DEPG member and supporter NEVILLE SLOPER:
“Wow! What can I say ?
I have a very extensive collection of hydraulic-themed books, dating back to my first purchase “Diesels Western Style” by Keith Montague in 1974. On first browse, this is up there with the very best and well worth every penny. If it wasn’t for the fact that we have family round today, I wouldn’t be putting it down !”
Many thanks to Neville for that resounding endorsement !
Hardback, large format 273 x 215 mm (10.7″ x 8.5″), 176 pages, 230 images
We have added RAILWAYS of the NORTH EAST 1975-1995 VOLUME 3 to our online bookstore along with the two new books that were released last month, and 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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Also in stock are all three volumes of the most recent publications by BERNARD MILLS, covering the PADDINGTON to PENZANCE route in three parts. Each of the three books in this series are a must for fans of WR diesel traction! Click here or on the images below for more details (each title is priced at £21.95):
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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 next formal meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held on Saturday 23rd May at Williton. Please use our CONTACT FORM if you are a DEPG member and would like to have a question placed before the Board.
The first of our ‘new batch’ of trainee secondmen to get a training turn this year has been our Trustee and Volunteer Representative Linda, and her obvious delight was captured in this photo of her holding the token at Bishops Lydeard station on Wednesday 6th May 2026, when she joined the crew for the 40-mile round trip to Minehead. Well done Linda !
DEPG volunteer trainee secondman Linda was pictured holding the Bishops Lydeard to Williton Section Token before departure from Bishops Lydeard Station on board Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33057) on Wednesday 6th May 2026. Photo by Mike Lanning © CC BY-NC 4.0
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 !