STEAM welcomes the return of popular Swindon Railway Festival
THE Swindon Railway Festival is to return to STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway on September 10 and 11.
This year’s event will be held in memory of Owen Rees Gibbon, who, along with his brother John, was instrumental in helping to organise the festival, attracting the best model railway layouts and demonstrators to Swindon over the last 21 years.
STEAM’s deputy manager, Ian Surtees, said: “Due to the pandemic we have been unable to stage our popular Swindon Railway Festival event for the last two years.
“However, the museum is now looking forward to showcasing the finest model railway layouts and all things GWR once again.
“This year’s event will pay tribute to our dear friend Owen, who for many dedicated years worked with staff at STEAM to develop the Swindon Railway Festival and really brought the hobby to life.
“He will be sadly missed when the show returns in September, but we wanted to highlight the significant role he played in making our event everything it is today.
“More than 20 high-quality model railway layouts will be part of this year’s event, all of which were specially selected by Owen before he sadly passed away last year.”
Among the layouts on show will be Monksbury (O Gauge by Jon Hewlett) and The Parlour Railway (7mm scale by Peter Boyce).
Visitors will also have the opportunity to view STEAM’s three new 2022 exhibitions: ‘High Voltage – Electrification of the Western Network’; ‘The Diesel Decades’; and ‘Changing Trains – the Journey from Broad Gauge to Standard Gauge’.
Admission prices are £14.50 for adults, £9.70 for children, £11 for students and seniors, and underthrees are free. Tickets are on sale at www.steam-museum.org.uk
Elsewhere in the town, an £11 million regeneration scheme to convert the 1876-built Grade II-listed carriage works into a sustainability research facility is now underway.
Network Rail transferred ownership of the works to Swindon Borough Council in a land exchange agreement in 2018 to enable the scheme to take place.
On Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register, the works will be turned into modern work spaces. It is already home to the Royal Agricultural University’s Cultural Heritage Institute and the Workshed business hub following the first phase of the scheme.