The DTG’s Class 17 ‘Clayton’ D8568 heads a pre-gala lineup comprising Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) and Class 25 D7612 and Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 alongside sister D7017 at Westridge, Bishops Lydeard in the evening of Wednesday 8th June 2022. Photo by Tom Courtney © CC BY-NC 3.0
Towards the end of the first highly enjoyable day of diesel running, Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 developed an oil leak that indicated a possible cylinder head joint failure on one cylinder of her Bristol Siddeley Maybach MD870 engine and was shut down at the platform at Blue Anchor while working the last ‘up’ service of the day, from Minehead in the direction of Bishops Lydeard.
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 was dispatched from Minehead to assist and hauled the train to Williton where the errant ‘Hymek’ was detached, the train continuing to Bishops Lydeard behind the ‘Crompton’.
The precise details of the failure are not yet known, but it will not be possible to return the loco to service during the remaining gala days so the timetable has been altered to take account of one loco being unavailable and one loco being wrongly positioned.
The revised running for FRIDAY 10th June 2022 is covered in the table below:
| Loco Type | Loco No. | First service | No. of return trips | Mileage |
| Class 33 ‘Crompton’ | D6575 | 09:00 BL-MD | 2 + 1 x NF* | 86 miles |
| Class 17 ‘Clayton’ | D8568 | 09:42 MD-BL | 2 + 1 x NF* | 86 miles |
| Class 25 ‘Rat’ | D7612 | 09:45 BL-MD | 2 | 80 miles |
| Class 33 ‘Crompton’ | D6566 | 10:38 MD-BL | 2 | 80 miles |
| Class 35 ‘Hymek’ | D7018 | 10:25 BL-MD | 2 | 80 miles |
*NF = Norton Fitwarren extension (BL-NF-BL)
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) will move to MD on the tail end of the 0900 BL service.
Basically, the turns that were rostered for D7017 will now be hauled by Class 33 D6575 (33 057).
The turns that were rostered for D6575 will be covered by Class 17 ‘Clayton’ D8568 and:
The turns that were rostered for D8568 will be covered by Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048).
We apologise to all for the unexpected loss of Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 and we hope that the revised arrangements work out well and provide a very decent diesel gala day.
Some services on Saturday morning 11th June will also be affected but the detail of the changes has not yet been worked out. We will send out another DIESELGEN bulletin as soon as possible.
For the planned timetables for each of the gala days, see below or visit our new DIESEL RUNNING DATES page by clicking this link but please make the adjustments outlined previously.
For timetables for each of the gala days, see below or visit our new DIESEL RUNNING DATES page by clicking this link.
| Date | Timetable | Locos rostered |
| Thursday 9th June | TT for 09JUN22 | D6575, D7017, D7018, D7612, D8568 |
| Friday 10th June | TT for 10JUN22 | D6566, D6575, D7018, D7612, D8568 |
| Saturday 11th June | TT for 11JUN22 | D6566, D6575, D7018, D7612, D8568 |
| Sunday 12th June | BLUE timetable | D8568 |
NOTE – although Sunday is not a Diesel Gala day, the 1000 MD diagram in the BLUE timetable on Sunday 12th June is rostered for the visiting Class 17 ‘Clayton’ D8568.
We have just introduced a new DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and we will be maintaining this in parallel to DIESELGEN bulletins. This new page is a ‘one-stop-shop’ approach to diesel running on the WSR.
The webcams provide a very good way of watching the action from afar. Here are the links:
Bishops Lydeard : http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-bl2.htm
Crowcombe Heathfield : http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-ch1.htm
Williton : http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-wn2.htm
Blue Anchor : http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-ba1.htm
Seaward Way : http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-md2.htm
Minehead : http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-md1.htm
Many thanks to Railcam UK and the WSR for providing these webcam services.
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