It was all hands to the pumps on September 14 to prepare for the SVR’s autumn steam gala that took place over the following four days.
The eagerly-anticipated event is one of preservation’s highlights of the year, showing off how the railway can produce an intensive timetable, bring in visiting locomotives, and assemble a variety of trains from its first-class fleet of carriages.
One guest was West Somerset Railway mogul No. 9351 making its second visit from Minehead, having first been in 2005.
Converted from 2-6-2T No. 5193 in 2004, its appearance could be considered a homecoming because in its original condition the locomotive