West Somerset Railway (WSR), based in Minehead, will stage a Summer Diesel Festival from Thursday 8 to Saturday 10 June.

The event will celebrate historic diesel locomotives and will feature sixty-two-year-old Deltic locomotive No 55009. The Deltic class of locomotives replaced the A4 streamlined Pacific steam locomotives, and were designed for high-speed operation with express passenger trains. They ran mainly on the East Coast main line between London King’s Cross, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

The diesel electric Deltic locomotives earned a reputation for running reliably at high speeds and became known for its characteristic ‘Deltic roar’.

55009 was built by English Electric in 1961, and was based at Finsbury Park depot in North London. It is named Alycidon, following East Coast tradition of naming locos after racehorses.

The locomotive will work two round trips each day during the festival, offering the first opportunity this year to travel behind 55009. Normally based at Barrow Hill near Sheffield, 55009 can be seen on rail tours on the mainline from time to time. Last September, it returned to rail tours for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another mainline visitor will be Class 50 locomotive no. 50008 Thunderer.  Built in 1968 by English Electric. 50008 originally headed express passenger trains on the West Coast Main line between Crewe and Glasgow. After the line was electrified, 50008 and most Class 50 locomotives moved to the Great Western main line and from there to the line from London Waterloo to Exeter. The loco was withdrawn from regular mainline service in 1992, but is still active on the main line occasionally today and can be seen on a variety of rail tours and other work.

Class 25 diesel locomotive No D7659 will visit the festival from Peak Rail in Derbyshire. D7659 returned to service during the latter part of 2021 for the first time in more than twenty-three years, following a comprehensive restoration that amounted to rebuilding the 1966 loco. It was the final locomotive built by Beyer Peacock at Gorton Works in Manchester, and saw just over twenty years’ work with British Railways mostly in the Midlands and Northwest but also in Wales and Scotland.

Class 33 No 33002 will also appear at the festival. It is the oldest surviving Class 33 ‘Crompton’ in preservation and resides at the South Devon Railway running between Buckfastleigh and Totnes. The locomotive was built in 1959 at Smethwick to be used for passenger and freight working in British Railways’ Southern region. It was restored to working order in 2008 by the South Devon Diesel Traction group, and will join the two West Somerset Railway resident Class 33 locomotives, D6566 and D6575.

Class 14 No. D9551 will make a welcome return to the West Somerset Railway in memory of Diesel and Electric Preservation Group (DEPG) member and volunteer Simon Purvis, who sadly died recently after a short illness.

D9551 entered service in September 1965 following the design of BR(W) and was based at Cardiff Canton. It moved to Hull Dairycoates in 1967, and was withdrawn from service in 1968 after just two years and seven months in service. In 1981 the locomotive was bought for preservation by the ‘Railway Power Services’, a group formed from a consortium of West Somerset Railway and DEPG members. It arrived on the WSR from the British Steel Corporation’s Corby site and entered service on 7 June 1981.  While D9551 was based at the WSR it was used on works trains and passenger services, particularly the ‘Quantock Belle’ dining trains. Today, the locomotive is owned by SVR Class 14 Company Limited and can be seen running on the Severn Valley Railway.

During the event, the Class 14s will carry a wreath and special headboard in memory of Simon, who was very well respected both within the DEPG and throughout the heritage railway sector for his vast and detailed knowledge of the Class 14s.

The visiting locomotives will work alongside the various resident locos, which are maintained by the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group based at Williton.  The DEPG works and depot at Williton will be open for festival visitors, and there will also be a variety of display and shop stands maintained by preservation groups.