Diesel Gala

Diesel Gala 2026

Our annual Diesel Gala returns for 2026 on 12th & 13th September. With both resident and visiting locomotives booked to appear, as always the sound will be quite something reverberating from the trees that border our 4 and a quarter mile route. The tight curves and prevailing gradient between Lydney Junction and Parkend, with various sections as steep as at 1 in 128, will make Northbound/’Down’ direction trains particularly exciting. Departures from Lydney Town, Norchard High Level and Whitecroft are usually highlights of the weekend!

Due to the changes to the lineup, we have altered the tickets and the early-bird prices are now the fares for the entire weekend. As well as standard single-day tickets a pre-book only two-day weekend ticket is also available with a further slight discount, making attending both days slightly better value.

The timetable is now available here:

Saturday timetable – Click here
Sunday timetable – Click here

For those coming in by rail we have produced a connections guide for mainline services at Lydney Junction:

Saturday mainline connections guide – Click here
Sunday mainline connections guide – Click here

Please check the newsreel below for further event updates.

Confirmed attractions:

• A lineup consisting of 08888, 09106, 31130 and (Saturday only) a 2-Car Class 108 unit.
• An intensive timetable with at least two passenger trains racking up the mileage.
• Services connect with multiple arriving and departing rail services from Lydney mainline station, a short walk from our Lydney Junction station.
• An on train bar serving Cask Ales, Cider, Wines and Soft Drinks. Cask Ales now confirmed as Wye Valleys “Butty Bach” and “Hereford Pale Ale”. Draught Ciders now confirmed as Lilleys “Select”, “Cheeky Pig” and “Mango”.
• Guided DMU Depot Tours (courtesy of the DFR DMU Group) at 12:15 and 14:00, meeting point outside Norchard shop.

2026 Diesel Gala Sponsor:

Our 2026 Diesel Gala is sponsored by Derails Model Railway shop of Coleford. 

Visit their website for all of the main model railway manufacturers available at discounted prices with free postage for orders over £20 and 5-star customer service:

www.derails.co.uk | 01594 835935 | Unit 4, Unicorn House, Coleford, GL16 8AA

Event Newsreel:

DFR announcement, 14th June 2026:

We are delighted to announce Class 31, 31210, as our first visitor courtesy of Hanson & Hall.

You may be aware that 31210 was a resident here at the DFR for a significant period of time, and can be seen at Lydney Junction almost 10 years ago in this photo courtesy of Paul Cook. The loco has just made her return to preservation service, and is now booked to appear at various events during the remainder of 2026.

Given her previous long term residency here, we were very keen when the opportunity arose and are especially thankful to Hanson & Hall for returning to the DFR – their last outing here was back in October with 50008, which visited us to run alongside 50021.

31210 will join E6003 and other as-yet unconfirmed locomotives on the 12th & 13th September for two days of diesel action in the Forest of Dean.

Update, 15/08/2026. Please see an update to this news item below.

—

DFR announcement, 3rd August 2026:

We pleased to add residents 08888 ‘Postmans Pride’ and 09106 to the lineup courtesy of Valley Rail Preservation and Road & Rail Steam Services respectively. 

09106 has been operating alongside E6003 on services throughout the 2026 season. 08888 operated for ‘Shunter Sunday’ back in May and we’re thankful to Valley Rail Preservation for making the loco available to us for the gala, based on the feedback and requests of those planning on attending.

The pair of Pilots are yet to receive concrete diagrams, but we are currently planning for both to operate at least part of the day on a passenger coach set.

—

DFR announcement, 15th August 2026:

“Sadly our previously announced visitor, Class 31 no. 31210, is no longer able to attend our 12th & 13th September Diesel Gala due to operational requirements. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank Hanson & Hall for their assistance so far. We sincerely hope to host the loco here at a future event.

We were quite excited to have a 31 back at the DFR and so we’ve been hard at work sorting a suitable solution. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that the Forest will still reverberate to the sounds of a Railfreight Grey & Yellow Class 31, however the number on the side will read 31130!

We’re grateful to the Suburban Preservation Group and the Avon Valley Railway for making ‘130 available for the event, and are looking forward to welcoming her back to the DFR. The loco does not usually venture away from the AVR – the last time was for our 2022 gala, seen below at Upper Forge Crossing – and has not operated a service there since the end of last year, so we are pleased to host its first passenger services of 2026.

Are there more visitors to announce, I hear you ask? We’re working on it, so please keep an eye on this page.”

—

DFR announcement, 28th August 2026:

“Behind the Scenes Access at the Diesel Gala.

One of the attractions that flew under the radar a little bit last year was the guided DMU Depot Tours at Norchard. Therefore we’re pleased that the fantastic volunteers within the DFR DMU Group have kindly agreed to repeat this and will reopen their doors during the upcoming gala on the 12th & 13th September.

Offering two tours a day, one at 12:15 and one at 14:00 meeting near the sign outside the Norchard Gift Shop entrance. Guests will be able to hear about a short history of the units, watch a demonstration preparation and start up and finish with a photograph opportunity in the drivers seat. There will be a suggested cash donation directly to the DMU Group for this activity and the tours are sadly unsuitable for those who are unable to climb steps.”

—

DFR announcement, 7th September 2026:

“Whilst our team are still finalising the Diesel Gala working timings and loco lineup, we are pleased to be able to announce something else: the on-train bar timings and beverage lineup! 

Our cask ales will be Wye Valley Breweries “Hereford Pale Ale” and “Butty Bach”. Our draught ciders will be Lilleys “Select” Apple, “Cheeky Pig” Blended Perry and “Mango” fruit cider.

These will only be available from the bar on board Set A which will be open from approx. 11:30am until the end of service on both both days. A selection of bottled beers and ciders will be available aswell as wines, spirits, soft drinks and tea/coffee. Both cash and card will be accepted.”

—

DFR announcement, 8th September 2026:

“To say we’ve had a challenging lead up to this weekends Diesel Gala would be an understatement! As you already know, visitor 31210 withdrew due to operational reasons, and we thank Suburban Preservation for providing classmate 31130 as a replacement.

Sadly we have two further withdrawals: resident Class 73, E6003 ‘Sir Herbert Walker’, and our other unannounced visitor are both unable to take part in the event for technical reasons. We thank both owners for their sterling efforts to try and make the event. The 73 will re-enter traffic here at the DFR as soon as possible and we hope to host the other locomotive at a future event in due course.

Answering a call for some extra assistance and based on requests that have been made on the lead up, the DFR DMU Group have kindly provided a 2-Car unit for Saturday to provide a few extra services. On Saturday only, DMBS M51914 and DTCL M56492 will be operating some Norchard-Lydney Junction shuttles, adding a third train for visitors to ride and connecting our timetable with a few more mainline services to add more options for those coming in via rail. The DMU will not run on Sunday.

Speaking of timetables, that too is now available for both days. Aswell as two coach sets out during the day (and the DMU on Saturday), Set A with it’s on-board bar will be operating an evening service on Saturday with visitor 31130 at the helm. Downloadable copies of the timetables are now available above, alongside handy written guides on which connecting mainline services can be used for our guests coming in via rail.

Lastly, we have revised our ticketing arrangements for this event: due to the revised lineup, we will not be raising the fares this week, the early-bird is now the full ticket price. Those that have purchased early-bird tickets should not worry as, to reflect your early booking, we have arranged a gesture of goodwill for you. You will receive direct contact about this soon.

We thank-you for your understanding and support – sometimes things just don’t go to plan! We are going to make the best of it and will do our upmost to provide you with an entertaining and enjoyable weekend nonetheless.”

Lineup:

Anticipated visitors:
Class 31, 31130 Courtesy of the Suburban Preservation Group.
Anticipated home fleet:
Class 08, 08888 ‘Postmans Pride’ Courtesy of Valley Rail Preservation.
Class 09, 09106 Courtesy of Road and Rail Steam Services Ltd.
Class 108, DMBS M51914 and DTCL M56492 (Saturday only) Courtesy of the Dean Forest DMU Group
Other residents To Be Confirmed.

Page last updated 08/08/26. E&OE.