The main reason for the timing of our trip to England was the springtime Diesel Gala at Swanage Railway. Obviously we were there for friends and family but if we can get our train fix than all the better!
We had the perfect weather for this trip and it really made the gala shine. A few locos trickled at the beginning of the week but several came in as a convoy on the Wednesday before the gala. My husband and I have fun “racing” the convoy from Corfe Castle to Swanage.
Because they need to come down when the rails aren’t busy we don’t get a lot of light for the display but it was still loads of fun. It is so impressive the amount of work the volunteers put into this. There is quite a lot of logistics to wrangle. We stayed in Swanage well after dark watching them shunting the locos round to get them staged for the first day.
We bought a three day pass for this so we just rode the rails so to speak enjoying all the different locos and watching the locos changing out at Norden.
I had been noticing people perched up on the hill at the castle in Corfe taking pictures. When I say perched, I mean just that. It’s almost like a cliff! I can’t imagine having to storm the castle with armor, shields, and weapons. It seems like an impossible task to me! But it does give you the perfect spot to watch the locos go over the viaduct.
Still need to get over there for a Steam Gala but this was a lot of fun. The vibe was great and it was just what we needed to have a blast. A huge success all round. 🙂
