There were supposed to be five visiting engines at the gala, but only four turned up as the GWR King failed with a hot axle box at Taunton.
Earlier in the series we saw Prairie No 5526 with the auto train, and yesterday it was the second visitor, City of Truro. Now we see the third visiting engine , No 9017 from the Bluebell railway in Kent, making it's first visit to another preserved railway.
As if that isn't unique enough, working in tantem with City of Truro is another first, the first time in preservation that two outside framed 4-4-0 engines have worked together. Here No 9017 is backing down to be coupled up ahead of Truro for the run to Kidderminster.
Although the two engines look as if they were built around the same time, there is over thirty years between them, Truro having being built in 1903, whereas 9017 was not built until 1935.
Around 1930, the engines that the GWR acquired when it absorbed the Cambrian railway needed replacing. The then Chief Mechanical Engineer of the GWR, Charles Collett, hit upon the clever way of saving money on a new design of light weight engines, by using the boilers from the worn out "Duke" class 4-4-0 paired with the lightweight, but robust, frames of the "Bulldog" Class.
The resulting engines were known as "Dukedogs" and gave excellent service on the old Cambrian system upto the early 1960's.
Unfortunately I couldn't get a closer shot, or a better angle. Gala weekends tend to get a bit crowded and space is at a premium!
Thanks for popping in and thanks for the clicks for yesterday's upload.
Have a good day, tomorrow we move to Arley
Bob.

Tags: General Transport Gala Svr Landscape and travel City of truro Bewdley Double header Dukedog 9017

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