STEAM TRAINS | | What sent these trains off the rails? |
What do you get when two groups of train enthusiasts decide to swap engines for the weekend? A very long traffic jam, yes a traffic jam! The green Great Western engine is making history.
It is the first time in 40 years that she has run over this line.
And the faithful have flocked to Shepton Mallet to pay their respect. All in all it was a big day at the East Somerset Railway. As part of their Autumn Steam Gala, they decided to borrow a locomotive from the West Somerset Railway.
In return East Somerset gave an engine to West Somerset for the West Somerset Railway autumn steam gala. | GWR FACT FILE | The Great Western Railway was originally created to link Bristol with London.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a rising star in engineering, was appointed as the chief engineer on the project and the London to Bristol line opened on June 30, 1841.
In 1841, it was decided that the Great Western Railway's workshops should be located in Swindon.
The first locomotive, The Great Western, was completed in 1846, starting a proud tradition that lasted nearly 150 years until the works closed in 1986. |
... And the traffic jams?
These were caused not because trainspotters flocked in their thousands to see the engines (although many did that too), but because the engines had to travel by road. The West Somerset Railway is a thriving business running steam trains between Bishop's Lydeard outside Taunton and Minehead, with a small number of paid staff and 400 volunteers.
The bizarre feature is that although East and West Somerset railways are linked by a railway track, the two groups of enthusiasts have to put the steam engine on a lorry which then drives it across Somerset.
The process of getting the engine onto the lorry is complex.
And Eric's very much a 'man of the road' - his speciality moving steam engines.
 | | These steam engines took road journeys across Somerset |
Eric attaches portable rails to the end of the track and winches the steam engine onto a low loader. South Wales to Somerset
The steam train in question is loco number 5637.
5637 is a 0-6-2 tank engine built by the Great Western Railway in 1925 and following 40 years of service in the south Wales coal fields it was declared redundant and sold for scrap.
It 1981 it moved to the Swindon and Cricklade Railway and over a period of 16 years it was rebuilt and returned to full working order. 5637 is a major draw to the the East Somerset Railway at Shepton Mallet.  | | Stephen Masters went over to West Somerset to ensure they were looking after the engine properly |
Stephen Masters is the locomotive superintendent after completing a degree in mechanical engineering and being unable to tear himself away from the trains long enough to get a job. He and fellow East Somerset Railwayman Richard Taylor went over to West Somerset to ensure they were looking after the engine properly, such is their love of the engine. As it was an industrial train, it is not the usual type to run on the West Somerset Railway and the drivers were pleased to be able to expand their repertoire. In turn, the East Somerset railway were ecstatic at having the shiny loco 5542 which actually used to run on their railway in the Sixties and this is its first homecoming since then. | 
