Next month, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) will stage a ‘Cambrian Weekend’, to recreate the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ to celebrate the summer when passengers travelled over the challenging Cambrian lines to the Welsh coast.

The Cambrian Weekend takes place on Saturday, 22nd and Sunday, 23rd April 2023, when visitors will have the chance to ride behind the railway’s resident Manor Class No. 7820 Dinmore Manor and BR Standard Class 4 No. 75014 Braveheart will be visiting the line from the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

It will be a weekend to relive moments from history as both Dinmore Manor and Braveheart operated over the Cambrian line during the 1960s, although at that time Braveheart was unnamed.

At the end of steam on British Rail, both engines were allocated to Shrewsbury shed, with 75014 there from the end of 1964 until its withdrawal in December 1966, whilst Dinmore Manor was at Shrewsbury from 1963 until it was withdrawn in November 1965, but remained at the shed until May 1966.

In March 1964 the Cambrian lines were transferred from Western Region to Midland Region control. Shrewsbury shed, which at one time had an allocation of over 100 engines, closed to steam in 1967.

Because of limits on axle weight and loading gauge, locomotives larger than a Manor or Standard class 4 were prohibited, and both locomotives worked goods and passenger services over the steeply-graded line, which pushed them to their limits, particularly on the fearsome 1 in 52 to Talerddig summit.

The best-known service on the line was the Cambrian Coast Express from Paddington to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli, which was normally hauled by a ‘Castle’ Class 4-6-0 from London to Shrewsbury. From there, the train was double-headed, originally by two Duke class 4-4-0s then later by a Manor class or a Standard 4 4-6-0 for a non-stop run to Welshpool, with heavily loaded trains sometimes being double-headed.

Steam haulage of the Cambrian Coast Express lasted until 1965, and Dinmore Manor had the honour of hauling the last regular steam-hauled service. On 4th March 1967 Standard Class 4 No. 75033, which was specially cleaned for the occasion and carrying the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ headboard, worked the last timetabled standard-gauge steam-hauled passenger service from Aberystwyth.

Tickets for the Cambrian Weekend event are available online at https://www.gwsr.com/events/cambrian-weekend, with the incentive of a 5% discount for all tickets bought online.