CHURNET ‘S160S’ TO DOUBLE-HEAD TIMETABLED SERVICES AGAIN IN MAY
A second chance to see double‑headed ‘S160s’ is on offer at the Churnet Valley Railway on May 6/7. Greg Wilson’s two American 2‑8‑0s, No. 6046 and freshly overhauled No. 5197, will run together for all timetabled services that weekend. They will haul seven coaches and a Class 33 diesel ‑ a load equivalent to ten coaches ‑ up the 1‑in‑40 branch to Ipstones. It repeats a pairing that was a highlight of a successful Winter Steam Gala on February 25/26, at which No. 5197 made its public debut after overhaul, while visiting SECR ‘P’ No. 323 from the Bluebell Railway made for an unusual pairing of 0‑6‑0Ts, alongside resident Polish ‘TKh’ No. 2944 ‘Hotspur’. The ‘S160s’ have a busy diary this year, away from their Cheddleton base. No. 6046 is booked for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s ‘Cotswold Festival of Steam’ on May 27‑29, at which a total of nine locomotives will be in steam. Also confirmed for this event are ‘14XX’ No. 1450 and autocoach No. W238 ‘Chaffinch’ from the Severn Valley Railway, and ‘Black Five’ No. 45305 from the Great Central. The ‘S160’ will then head to the Mid‑Norfolk Railway from the end of June to early September, before ending up at the Wensleydale Railway between mid‑October and early January. No. 5197 has a provisional trip to the Battlefield Line, to take part in the ‘Operation Market Bosworth’ 1940s weekend on September 16/17, before moving on to the Telford Steam Railway in December for its ‘Polar Express’ trains. The engine was back in Cheddleton workshops at the time of writing, undergoing repairs to a leaking superheater header and the rocking grate, after which Polish ‘TKh’ 0‑6‑0T No. 2944 will enter for a ‘bottom end’ overhaul.