The floral tributes lined up outside Minehead Middle School on Friday 18th July 2025 as a mark of respect for the life lost and the injuries sustained in the A396 road incident on Exmoor the previous day. Photo by Getty Images via the BBC © CC BY-NC 3.0
This edition of Roundup starts on a sombre note as we reflect on the sadness affecting West Somerset at this time. The DEPG are deeply saddened by the incident on the A396 on Exmoor on Thursday 17th July. Our thoughts go out to all those in our local community who have been affected by this tragedy.
Even the weather has become dark and heavy, replacing the blue sky and intense heat of one week prior and allowing the WSR to plan for a return to steam haulage for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, on account of the rain that is forecast between now and then.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 was in use on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 15-17th July 2025 in support of the WSR’s unique 4-6-0 ‘Mogul’ 9351. Pictured at Crowcombe Heathfield on Tuesday by Jo Ward © CC BY-NC 3.0
The sun has also set on the very successful visit of the ‘FLYING SCOTSMAN‘ with the last of the special services completing their runs with the support of Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33048) on Sunday 13th July. The mixed traction workings were made necessary by the intense heat and dryness that had turned the lineside vegetation into tinder, making it a significant fire risk. The addition of some diesel power reduced the need for the steam locos to exert so much effort, in turn reducing the risk of hot cinders being ejected from their chimneys. It was a strategy that worked well and allowed visitors to continue enjoying the sight and sound of steam. Although the ‘Scotsman‘ has spark arrestors fitted for mainline use, these devices reduce the risk of fires but do not eliminate the risk, so some diesel power was added to counter the extreme weather conditions.
D6566 (33048) was supporting 4-6-2 ‘Pacific’ 60103 ‘FLYING SCOTSMAN‘ on Sunday 13th July 2025, pictured at Williton as the pair hauled a late evening dining special back to Bishops Lydeard on the last run of this famous steam loco on the WSR for 2025. Photo by Kiru Cross © CC BY-NC 3.0
The ongoing concern about the weather has again resulted in the planned YELLOW timetable being scaled back to a BLUE timetable for Tues/Weds/Thurs 22/23/24th July, but the rainfall that is forecast on Sunday and Monday should allow a return to steam operation on those days.
For Saturday 19th, Class 14 D9526 will again operate with 2-6-0 ‘Mogul’ 9351 on the diagram that starts at Bishops Lydeard (10:15 departure onwards) and Class 33 D6566 (33048) will operate on the diagram that starts at Minehead (10:00 departure onwards).
An additional service that results in some re-timing of the standard timetable on Saturday is the ‘WEST SOMERSET STEAM EXPRESS‘ railtour, originating at Paddington and due to be hauled by Stanier ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 45212 with Class 47 47812 (D1916, 47239, 47657) supporting. This train runs right through to Minehead, bringing another famous loco to the WSR (45212 was one of the very last steam locos to operate in BR service back in 1968).
On Sunday 20th, diesels will rule the roost, with Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 working the Bishops Lydeard diagram and Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33048) working the diagram that starts from Minehead (keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page in case the motive power allocations change).
A weather-related issue has resulted in the temporary loss of Class 33 D6575 (33057) from the active loco fleet, so the ‘Thunderbird’ loco last weekend was Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018. 
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 was on ‘warm standby’ in the yard at Williton on Saturday 12th July 2025 for possible use as the ‘Thunderbird’ loco, starting the day with an engine run to confirm that all systems were ‘go’. Click here or on the image above to play the video. Apologies for the camera shake towards the end – it was VERY hot in the intense sunshine! Video clip by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
Click here to go to the WSR’s Timetable page then click on the day of interest then click VIEW TIMETABLE.
For details of planned diesel-hauled services, please click here or on the banner below to visit our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and sign up to our DIESELGEN bulletin service for advance notification of unplanned services.
LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – the team took advantage of the relative coolness of the loco shed to continue work on cleaning up the many bogie parts and progress them towards readiness for re-fitting. The visit by professional loco examiner MATT HIGHAM resulted in some very welcome good news when he determined that the brake rigging of both the ‘A’ and the ‘B’ bogies was well within wear limits and could be re-fitted to the bogie after cleaning, painting and re-greasing. This means a saving of the replacement cost of the many pins and bushings that are involved in the brake rigging, and allows us to focus on the suspension components, most of which are quite heavily worn and will need to undergo refurbishment and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT).
On his next visit, Matt will attend to the air system on the loco and replace some lengths of corroded pipework, a task that is made a lot easier by having the engines and transmissions out of the loco. However, in the blazing sunshine of last week, the temperature inside the loco body was far too high to allow anything more than a cursory examination, so this work has had to be deferred to his next visit.
D1010 – the bogie damper was the subject of Andy P’s attention at Williton on Saturday 12th July 2025, when temperatures outdoors were far too hot for comfortable working. The damper has to go out for specialist testing, but at least it will look respectable ! Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
As mentioned before, apologies to those D1010 sponsors who have yet to receive the photos and certificates for the patches that they have sponsored. We have re-started engraving the patches but there is quite a backlog, so please bear with us while we catch up.
MANY THANKS to all who have sponsored and supported the RESTORATION of D1010 !
Class 09 D4107 (09019) – outstationed at Bishops Lydeard in support of WSR operations.
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is now the Duty Loco and will be outstationed at either Bishops Lydeard or Minehead according to the requirements of the WSR Operations Department.
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is at Bishops Lydeard and is awaiting an underframe and bogie inspection after being involved in a low-speed derailment of one bogie while shunting outside Westridge Shed, Bishops Lydeard on Thursday 10th July 2025. This derailment is still the subject of a formal enquiry, so we won’t be giving any details at this time, but we hope to get permission to move the loco to Williton soon, and then we can make a start on the work needed to return her to service.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – the re-painting of this loco has progressed rapidly and we are close to getting the loco back to our Williton depot so that we can paint the underframe and bogies and attend to the various maintenance tasks (electrical machine checks and engine checks). We hope to get the loco back in the next week or two and prepare her for some test running in early August, perhaps with D7018 for company.
MANY THANKS to Harry Spencer for working as a volunteer to help the DEPG conserve funds following the unexpectedly high amount of work that had to be carried out on bodywork corrosion repairs. The roof panels were lifted back into place on Tuesday 15th using the WSR’s ‘Atlas’ rail-mounted crane, with WSR volunteer Andrew Forster in charge, again helping the DEPG to minimise the overall expense. We are very grateful to everyone who has worked on D7017 during her bodywork overhaul. Your efforts will be unveiled soon.
The fund for the bodywork overhaul of D7017 has TOPPED £20,000 but we will need to keep it open a while longer to cover the cost over-run. MANY THANKS to all who have contributed to this amazing result and in doing so, have secured the future of this locomotive.
The fund is still open, so please consider contributing if you can. THANK YOU VERY MUCH !
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco was made available to cover the ‘Thunderbird’ duties over the weekend of 12/13th July, but before we could make that commitment, we had to deal with a simple but critical issue that had cropped up during the last day of the Summer Diesel Festival – the horns had stopped working !
The horns on a ‘Hymek’ are quite exposed on the roof of the cab and do not have any grille or mesh to protect them from debris entering and building up internally. The risks of working at height make it difficult to remove and clean the horns as often as we would like, so the job tends to wait until more than one horn starts to become intermittent. Add to that a failure of one of the horn valves on the driver’s desk and the result is a ‘stopped’ loco.
Luckily, the ‘Transmission Team’ came to the rescue by erecting a safety tower around the cab of the loco so that they could work safely and remove each horn in turn for cleaning and re-tuning. The valve was treated to a new set of rubber seals, and all four horns now work properly again. Thank you guys !
D7018 – the horns on the cab roof at ‘A’ end have now been returned to their normal operation after intervention by the ‘Transmission Team at Williton on Tuesday 15th July 2025. The cable tie is temporary. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
D7018 – the rubber seal in the horn valve on the driver’s desk at ‘B’ end had disintegrated, rendering the horns out of order at that end of the loco. All four horns are now working properly again. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 15th July 2025 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
We hope to use D7018 in support of the test running of sister D7017 during early August, as we build up to our 50 YEARS of HYMEKS weekend, the 30th and 31st August, where we expect to have both of our ‘Hymeks’ in use, both singly and together.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – work on the engine rebuild has slowed down due to resources being applied to D9526 to get her ready to support the WSR through the peak summer season. Work continues on the electrical wiring and on the preparation of the many components parts that are needed to complete this locomotive.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco was worked from Williton to Bishops Lydeard on Saturday 12th July 2025 so that she could position over the pit for an underframe lubrication and examination. The intention was for the loco to return to Williton afterwards so that the paintwork could be finished, but the Operating Department had other plans and the loco was ‘grabbed’ and kept at Bishops Lydeard to be in position for service on Tuesday 15th July in support of a steam loco, as covered previously.
We will need to take whatever opportunity we can to get the loco under cover so that the paintwork can be finished off. This loco is booked to work the BRAKE VAN RIDES at the WSRA’s annual STEAM RALLY at Norton Fitzwarren on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd August 2025.
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco continues to be in regular use on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is definitely a firm favourite for passengers and crews, and was a magnet for our volunteer loco manager Ian Robins when he was holidaying ‘Up North’ recently. As the official representative of the DEPG, he was provided with a cab pass and was able to assess the loco as it worked between Pickering and Grosmont. His verdict – EXCELLENT INDEED!
Please continue to send in your photographs of our ‘celebrity’ loco while she is at work on the Moors. Thanks !
47077 – the view from the cab at Grosmont, with resident Class 31 31128 (D5546) ‘Charybdis’ ahead. Pictured on 11th July 2025 by Ian Robins © CC BY-NC 3.0
47077 – the man himself, volunteer DEPG loco manager Ian R alongside our ‘celebrity loco’ at Levisham, en route to Pickering. Pictured on 11th July 2025 by Ian Robins © CC BY-NC 3.0
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this little loco is available for service as required.
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 Saturday through to Tuesday 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:
The new range of clothing that was launched at the SUMMER DIESEL FESTIVAL is a massive success and has resulted in a logjam or orders at our supplier, who appear to be a victim of their own success!
The short-term supply crunch is being caused by the many railway groups who are ordering stock in advance of the ‘Rail 200’ and ‘Greatest Gathering’ events that are coming up in August and September. Once these stock orders have been fulfilled, we expect to see a return to the two-week turnaround for new orders. APOLOGIES if your order has been delayed, but don’t delay if you want some of this new clothing, PLACE YOUR ORDER via our ONLINE STORE, just click this link to give it a go !
So far, we have launched the 50 YEARS of HYMEKS range and a configurable HYMEK and WESTERN range, and in the works are similarly configurable ranges covering the Class 33 ‘Cromptons’ and the Class 14 ‘Teddy Bears’ with those garments likely to be available later in August. Here’s a taster of what is on offer and available to order NOW via our website:
The range of colours has now 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 |
Although the prices of the new range are higher than before, the prices are competitive and are in line with the quality of the garments. These are really nice pieces of work and the ability to personalise your choice is another definite advantage.
We look forward to receiving your order, the profits from which will directly support the DEPG !
ON SHED
We are most definitely ‘on shed’ this week with a great image of the ‘new’ gathering to displace the ‘old’ at Plymouth Laira depot on the very hot and bright Friday, 11th July 2025. The occasion was a visit by the Plymouth Railway Circle, including well known author and DEPG member BERNARD MILLS.
The ‘new’ takes the form of Class 175 ‘Coradia’ diesel-hydraulic multiple units, built in 1999 by Alstom at Washwood Heath, Birmingham. These units have been cascaded from their previous operator, Transport for Wales (TfW) and are now being taken on by GWR for use in Devon and Cornwall. The ‘old’ takes the form of the Class 43 diesel-electric power cars and Mark 3 coaches that comprise the ‘Castle Class’ HSTs or ‘High Speed Trains’, dating back to 1976 – so definitely ‘older’, but still highly competent and a much loved form of transport, sadly now in their twilight months. RIDE ON THEM WHILE YOU STILL CAN !
MANY THANKS to Bernard for sharing his photo 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 !
A hot and bright summer’s day at Plymouth Laira depot with the ‘new’ (1999!) Class 175 units amassing and preparing to take over from the ‘old’ Class 43 ‘Castle’ sets. From Left to Right, 175007, 175009, 175002, 43198 and 43093. Pictured on Friday 11th July 2025 by Bernard Mills © CC BY-NC 3.0
NEW BOOKS ON SALE
We continue to receive orders for the two NEW BOOKS that we added to stock recently. The second in the three-part series ‘The Railways of South Wales 1975-1995‘ by Michael Rhodes is now available and we also have stock of the companion series ‘RAILWAYS OF THE NORTH EAST 1975-1995‘ by the same author. Both books are of high quality and are available via our online store.
We also have stock of the NEW BOOK entitled ABSOLUTELY WESTERNS that has been compiled by Roger Geach from photos taken by the late Peter Crawley, and we have the NEW BOOKLET that has recently been released by DEPG Publicity Officer MARK BLADWELL covering DEPG ‘Hymek’ D7017. This booklet is currently IN STOCK and available for sale via our online store.
This new booklet has 64 printed pages of glossy A4 and includes information about the ‘Hymeks’ and about D7017 in particular, covering both phases of her life – the first 13 years in BR service and the last 50 years in the care of the DEPG. Priced at £15 per copy, this book can be ordered from our website NOW.
Don’t forget to consider adding Roger’s new book to your shopping basket as well ……
Click here or on the image above to get your copy (priced at £17.50 per copy) and in doing so, supporting the restoration of D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’. A BOOK REVIEW on this new publication has been provided by regular correspondent NEALE LONG and will be posted online during the next few days. Please check this link periodically until the review appears. Thank you Neale !
There are many other new and pre-owned book titles on our online store – click here for details.
DEPG NEWS:
The date of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) will be Saturday 13th September and the meeting will be held at Williton as usual. We will be sending the AGM information package out in early August, along with the next edition of the DEPG Quarterly Newsletter.
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 !
Go to the previous Roundup post
