6880 Betton Grange shines on PUBLIC DEBUT! GWSR Cotswold Festival of Steam Gala 2024

6880 Betton Grange made her public debut during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and their annual Cotswold Festival of Steam Gala. Betton Grange is a new build steam locomotive, the 81st member of the Great Western Railway Grange Class. The original 80 Grange Class locomotives were all scrapped in 1965. However, in 1998, The 6880 Society was formed with the sole intention of recreating a GWR Grange Class that can be used on heritage railways up and down the country. The project and work going into the new build was fascinating. The boiler was from a Modified Hall no. 7927 Willington Hall, whilst another Hall no. 5952 Cogan Hall was also used as spare parts to be put on the Grange. The project took over 20 years to get her back in steam. There were setbacks along the way and delays, but Betton Grange returned to steam earlier this year at Tyseley Locomotive Works. After successful test runs at Tyseley and the GWSR. Betton Garnge was ready for her debut runs to the general public.

It wasn't just Betton Grange in action, there was a good array of visiting engines. And keeping with the theme, there was a new build Saint in the form of 2999 Lady of Legend and a new build from the West Somerset Railway no. 9351 originally built as a 5101 Class tank engine, before being converted to a 2-6-0 tender engine in preservation. The home fleet was on show as well to join in the celebrations. The weather was pretty good during the day, with the majority being in sunshine and the wind wasn't too gusty either. Betton Grange performed really well and sounded the part. I guess the first public runs were a huge success as the crowds flocked to witness the historic moment. Apparently, The Grange's first runs were completely full and standing was required.

I hope you enjoyed the historic video of Betton Garnge's debut in preservation. I'm very confident that Betton Grange will become a fan favourite at heritage railways and will bring joy to many enthusiasts and onlookers up and down the country. If you love the video. Leave a like, make a comment on what you thought about it, and subscribe to support me creating more upcoming steam train content from Full Steam Ahead. Enjoy.