Cavalcade tops off ‘8F’ return at GCR’s goods gala

SEVEN BR-liveried locomotives, from the humble ‘Jinty’ to the mighty ‘9F’, provided an impressive grand finale for the Great Central Railway’s Goods Galore gala on May 11-12.

The event marked the return to GCR service of Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0 No. 48305 after eight years out of traffic, and provided a rare opportunity to see two of the heavy freight locos working together – the other being No. 48624.

As the name of the event suggested, the weekend was a celebration of non-passenger operations, and featured five goods sets in traffic, including permanent way train, the ‘Windcutter’ rake of 16T mineral wagons, a mixed freight, the boxvans and the ‘Mountsorrel Goods’. 

Added to that was the parcels train, which also carried passengers.

Read more in the June 2019 issue of The Railway Magazine – on sale now!

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Nigel Devereux

Railway Production Editor at Mortons Media Group Ltd.

Nigel Devereux is a Senior Lecturer in the School of English and Journalism. He has worked within the print publishing industry for 37 years. Nigel was editor of his hometown newspaper - The Horncastle News - from 1998-2001. Nigel is currently the senior sub-editor on The Railway Magazine, the UK’s biggest selling magazine for railway enthusiasts. He is also responsible for maintaining and updating several websites across the Mortons portfolio.
01507 529529 | NDevereux@Mortons.co.uk

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