Next week, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) is running three days of ‘Southern Mid-Week Services’ from Tuesday, 16th to Thursday, 18th May.

Services will be hauled by the railway’s resident Southern Railway rebuilt Merchant Navy Class Pacific steam locomotive No. 35006 Peninsular & Oriental S. N. Co. and Southern Railway U Class 2-6-0 steam locomotive No. 31806, which is visiting the railway courtesy of the Swanage Railway and JMB Locomotive Services.

The three-day event follows 31806’s participation in the Cotswold Festival of Steam this weekend, 12th to 14th May, which has given visitors a further opportunity to travel behind the locomotive along with 35006, before it returns to its home base at the Swanage Railway. For Southern Region enthusiasts then this is an event not to be missed.

U Class engines such as 31806 were no strangers to the area in the age of steam, as they were seen daily on trains from Southampton to Cheltenham, via the former Midland & South Western Junction Railway (MSWJR) from Andover via Swindon, Cirencester and Andoversford. At Cheltenham, the trains originally used the former Midland Region station, but later they terminated at the Great Western’s station at Cheltenham St. James and were serviced at the Great Western’s Cheltenham Malvern Road depot.

Over the years, quite a few Southern Railway visitors have appeared on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, including Merchant Navy Class Pacific 35005 Canadian Pacific; West Country Class Pacifics Nos 34007 Wadebridge, 34092 City of Wells, and 34028 Eddystone; A1X Terrier Class 0-6-0T No. 62 Martello; Lord Nelson Class 4-6-0 No. 850 Lord Nelson, and V (Schools) Class 4-4-0 Nos. 925 Cheltenham and 926 Repton. The visit of 31806 adds to that ever-increasing tally.

Tickets for the railway’s ‘Southern Mid-Week Services’ are available to purchase online at www.gwsr.com.