The Severn Valley Railway has announced that, subject to availability, Class 25 No 25262 from the South Devon Railway, will make a guest appearance at the Autumn Diesel Bash from October 3 to 6.

While the SVR usually adopts a more subdued approach to its autumn diesel event, concentrating on its home fleet, this year it has made an early announcement of a guest locomotive, reaffirming its status as a premier venue for enthusiasts.

The Class 25s, otherwise known as the BR Sulzer Type 2s, were built between 1961 and 1967, and consisted of a fleet totalling 327 locomotives.

They were based on the former BR Western, Midland and Scottish Regions, and were also no strangers to the Eastern and Southern regions when working on a wide variety of passenger and goods services across BRs network. The last of the class being withdrawn in March 1987.

Despite this, an astonishing 20 members of the class have survived into preservation, their versatility making them ideal locomotives for heritage railways.

‘We’ve seen very strong event performances since last year and this applies to both our steam and diesel enthusiast events. We think we’re onto a winning streak, and this gives us the confidence to up the ante for our autumn event, with this exciting announcement.

‘We get more requests for Class 25s than anything else from our supporters, and that tells us this little engine will be the perfect guest for our event. Its relatively small size means it’s also supremely suited to working a preserved line, and of course, there aren’t many Class 25s in operation these days, so there’s added rarity value.

‘We’re extremely grateful to South Devon Diesel Traction, based at Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway for agreeing to 25262’s appearance. This particular locomotive hasn’t been to us since 2011, and in fact we’ve not had any Class 25 visits for five years now, so this really will be special.

‘This isn’t the whole story about the Autumn Diesel Bash either. There’s something else in the offing, and all being well, we’ll be making a further announcement in the coming weeks.’

SVR’s managing director, Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster