Nine heritage diesel locomotives are set to appear at this month’s Diesel Gala and Beer Festival at the Swanage Railway.

The Gala is now in its sixteenth year and will take place from Friday, 12th to Sunday , 12 to 14th May. The beer festival is being organised and operated by Purbeck Kitchens and will be held at Corfe Castle station.

Throughout the three days, there will be an intensive three-train service and will be the first time that a Class 17 heritage diesel will have hauled trains on the line.

A nostalgic 1966 ‘push-pull’ 4TC four-carriage set, courtesy of London Transport, of the type that operated between London and Swanage from 1967 to 1969 and on the main line between London and Weymouth from 1967 to 1988 will also be in operation.

The Gala will feature two Class 33 diesels, including No. 33 111, which hauled the last 4TC ‘push-pull’ carriage set to Corfe Castle and Swanage on a Poole Grammar School railway society enthusiasts’ charter train in September 1971, and No. D6515 Lt Jenny Lewis RN, which hauled the last train through Broadstone to Wimborne after British Rail closed the line to freight trains in May 1977.

For the Gala trains will operate along the whole length of the railway from Swanage to past Norden station and beyond Furzebrook to the River Frome.

A special Diesel Gala preview event will be held on Thursday, 11th May when diesel and steam trains will operate between Norden, Corfe Castle, and Swanage, including Class 17 heritage diesel No. D8568. The railway’s 1950s Class 117 diesel multiple unit will also be running through to Wareham on the Thursday, but the Wareham service will not be operating during the three days of the Gala.

On the Friday and Saturday evenings, special ‘Beerex’ diesel trains will operate, with Class 33 No. 33 111 and the 1966 4TC four-carriage set on Friday evening and Class 40 No. D345 on Saturday evening.

Subject to availability, the following locomotives will be visiting the Gala:

• Class 17 No. D8568 The Clayton courtesy of the Diesel Traction Group.
• Class 40 No. D345 courtesy of the Class 40 Preservation Society.
• Class 45 No. 45108 courtesy of the Peak Locomotive Company.
• Class 47 No. 47 830 courtesy of Freightliner.
• Class 50 No. 50 021 Rodney or Class 50 No. 50 026 Indomitable.
• Two Class 73 electro-diesels courtesy of GB Railfreight.

Admission to the beer festival will be free but a token system will be in operation for the purchase of drinks.
Full details of the Gala including timetables and fares are available from the Swanage Railway’s website at www.swanagerailway.co.uk. Reduced-price tickets are available if purchased online in advance.

Event organising team member Dan Bennett said: “Our annual diesel gala and beer festival is an important and popular event in the Swanage Railway calendar while there is an ever-growing national following for heritage diesel locomotives, particularly among younger rail enthusiasts.

“Over the past 16 years, our diesel gala and beer festival has grown in popularity to become one of the most highly regarded annual events of its type in the country.

“A lot of detailed organisation by a small team of enthusiastic Swanage Railway volunteers and staff goes into planning the diesel gala with planning beginning in earnest four or five months before the event,” added Dan who lives in Wareham and has been a dedicated Swanage Railway volunteer since he was a teenager.