Swanage Railway - 'Diesel Gala' 10-11/05/2024

The 'Diesel Gala' at the Swanage Railway, held over the weekend of May 10th-12th, would suffer some very unfortunate luck this year, with problems being encountered across the event. 10 diesels would see action through the Isle of Purbeck for the event.

Joining the resident Class 33 pair of 33111 and D6515, Class 24 - D5054 would be visiting from the East Lancashire Railway, while Class 52 - D1015 would visit from the Severn Valley Railway. 50021 & 50026, privately owned and based at Eastleigh, would also pay a return visit to the Isle of Purbeck. 50021 has been the subject of some frantic and thorough work over the past few months, surrounding a necessary bogie replacement. From the mainline operators, HNRail would provide both 20302 and 20311, and Colas Rail Freight supplying Class 37 - 37219. GB Railfreight would show their support for the gala, completing the line up with Class 69 - 69002 "Bob Tiller CM&EE". 69007 had been scheduled to appear at the event instead of 69002, but it failed shortly before the weekend.

The weather was welcoming, the line up was enticing, and the timetable offered a great deal of variety. But sometimes luck is not in favour, with the gala being plagued by a variety of issues:
On the Friday, 50021 "Rodney" failed while in section between Harmans Cross and Corfe Castle, due to a minor electrical fault. 33111 would be tasked with recovering the stricken 50, and subsequently the coach set, but not before major delays had incurred.
On the Saturday, 50021 would fail again; this time with the electronic field supply unit for the ETH generator. On a Class 50, the ETH generator also powers the radiator cooling fan. With insufficient cooling, it was decided to withdraw 50021 in order to protect it from overheating. Problems would be compounded when 50026 "Indomitable" suffered a low-speed derailment at Corfe Castle in the evening, causing major disruption to the remaining services.
On the Sunday, with track restrictions in place at Corfe Castle, an entirely new timetable had to be drawn up which excluded the passing of trains at Corfe Castle. This was achieved by not operating services west of Norden, meaning services would pass each other at Harmans Cross instead.

In the face of these adversities, the team at the Swanage Railway showed exceptional determination and class, battling each of the issues in turn and managing to deliver a spectacular gala nonetheless:
On Friday, the trains may have been late. But the trains still ran.
On Saturday, there may have been a derailment. But they still got everyone where they needed to be in the end.
On Sunday, despite restrictions to their operations, they still delivered a timetable.

Everyone involved in making this gala, from the organisers to the loco owners and everyone in between who ensured its endurance through the weekend, deserves to be commended for their valiant efforts. Especially those of the dedicated team who were present through Saturday night and into the breaking of dawn on Sunday, to ensure a service could be provided. To all involved with this weekend, thank you.

Locomotives:
Colas Rail Freight Class 37 - 37219 "Jonty Jarvis 8-12-1998 to 18-3-2005"
BR Class 50 - 50021 “Rodney”
GB Railfreight Class 69 - 69002 "Bob Tiller CM&EE"
HNRail Class 20 - 20302
HNRail Class 20 - 20311
BR Class 24 - D5054 “Phil Southern”
BR Class 33 - 33111
BR Class 33 - D6515 "Lt Jenny Lewis RN"
BR Class 50 - 50026 "Indomitable"
BR Class 52 'Western' - D1015 "Western Chapion"

00:00 - 37219 Corfe Common
01:11 - 50021 Corfe Common
02:36 - 69002 Corfe Common
03:24 - 20302 & 20311 Corfe Common
04:27 - D5054 Townsend Bridge
05:30 - 33111 Wurzel Crossing
07:20 - D6515 Wurzel Crossing
08:43 - 37219 Wurzel Crossing
10:19 - 33111 Wurzel Crossing
11:37 - D6515 Arland House Campsite
12:51 - 50026 Holme Lane
14:24 - 50026 Corfe Viaduct
15:11 - D5054 Holme Lane
16:56 - D5054 Townsend Bridge
17:58 - 69002 Corfe Common
18:40 - 69002 Townsend Bridge
19:34 - D1015 Norden Common
20:37 - D1015 Townsend Bridge
21:34 - 50026 New Barn

All footage filmed on Friday the 10th, and Saturday the 11th, of May 2024.