Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway - Cotswold Festival of Steam 2016 - 'Swindon Built'

The Spring Bank Holiday once again brought the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Cotswold Festival of Steam. With 2016 marking the 175th anniversary of the birth of Swindon Railway Works in 1841, the theme for the event would be 'Swindon Built'. Of the eight loco strong lineup, seven were built at Swindon, but not all were of Great Western origin.

Three guest locos were brought in to supplement the home fleet, with GWR Manor No 7812 'Erlestoke Manor' from the Severn Valley, with LMS 2MT No 46521 and BR 9F No 92214, both from the Great Central, and with the Ivatt now sporting BR Brunswick Green livery. The event also marked the relaunch into traffic of Modified Hall No 7903 'Foremarke Hall' after overhaul, and the first public trains for newly launched Merchant Navy No 35006 'Peninsular & Oriental SN Co' after a 30 year restoration.

The railway put on a great show with its usual gala timetable of three passenger trains supplemented by a goods train, with locos regularly swapping trains at both ends of the line.

The full loco lineup was:-
|BR 9F No 92214 (courtesy of Great Central Railway)
|LMS 2MT No 46521 (courtesy of Great Central Railway)
|GWR Manor No 7812 'Erlestoke Manor' (courtesy of Severn Valley Railway)
|SR Merchant Navy No 35006 'Peninsular & Oriental SN Co'
|BR(W) Modified Hall No 7903 'Foremarke Hall'
|BR(W) Manor No 7820 'Dinmore Manor'
|GWR 2800 No 2807 (also ran as 2808 on the Saturday)
|GWR 4200 No 4270