Another guest announced for SVR’s Spring Diesel Festival

Another high-profile guest announced has been announced for the Severn Valley Railway’s bumper Spring Diesel Festival.

The Severn Valley Railway has announced that Class 47 47712 ‘Lady Diana Spencer’ will visit for the festival in May, along with a set of push-pull DBSO coaches, which were specifically designed to work with the locomotive during its British Rail operations.

The pairing of the Class 47 and the DBSO train marks a first for any heritage railway and will prove a further high-profile attraction at the event, which takes place between 18^th and 21^st May.

Often referred to as ‘Brush Type 4’ locomotives, there are currently 78 Class 47s in existence. The SVR’s visitor, 47712, was originally numbered D1948, and currently carries the ScotRail livery that it would have had during its years of service in Scotland.

Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster, the SVR’s interim managing director said: “Bringing together 47712 and the DBSO push-pull coaches is yet another heritage railway first for the Severn Valley Railway, and we’re extremely grateful to Locomotive Services Group for providing both locomotive and coaches for our Spring Diesel Festival.

“Our four-day celebration this year to mark 50 years of diesel preservation is going to bring together an unrivalled collection of diesel locomotives, both preserved and currently in main line operation. I can guarantee that no-one will have ever seen anything like this before. We’re aiming for up to 13 classes of heritage locos plus an enviable range of modern diesel types. It’s going to be unmissable!”

The addition of the visiting Class 47 follows the announcement that Class 58 58023 will also be appearing at the event, the first time a locomotive of this class has been seen anywhere in the UK since all class 58s were withdrawn 21 years ago.

Further visiting heritage and modern diesel guests are still to be announced.

Tickets are available now at svr.co.uk, including money-saving multi-day tickets.