The Diesel & Electric Preservation Group is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the main line diesel locomotives in use on West Somerset Railway, working from its small base at Williton. Andy Coward spent the day with DEPG volunteers to find out more about their historic fleet.
At 20 miles, the West Somerset Railway is the UK’s longest heritage railway, linking the popular seaside town of Minehead with Bishops Lydeard, along with an extension to the railway’s main line connection with Network Rail at Norton Fitzwarren – midway between Bishops Lydeard and Taunton – which is mainly used during special events. It’s a beautifully preserved railway with bags of Great Western Railway charm and character.
The diesel locomotives on the WSR also look very much at home, a fleet with a heavy 1960s Western Region influence. Responsibility for its maintenance and operation falls to the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group, which is based at Williton, midway along the WSR route. Maintenance and restoration work is concentrated in the former goods yard and a two-road shed which was erected in 1996, and the level of work carried out in this small well-equipped facility is certainly impressive.
The DEPG, originally named the Diesel & Electric Group, is one of our pioneering modern traction preservation groups. Its origins date back to 1970, when it was formed by enthusiasts who were more interested in modern traction locomotives – at a time when most preservationists were busy buying former British Railways steam locomotives for use on the growing number of heritage lines being established in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
It was while travelling on the ‘Hymek Swansong’ railtour on September 22, 1973 – which was worked by Class 35 Hymeks D7001 and D7028 – that the idea of preserving a Hymek was raised, so this date is often quoted as the start of the group which we know today.
At this stage, diesel preservation was in its infancy, with the founders of what would go on to become the Diesel Traction Group having successfully bought Class 42 Warship D821 Greyhound from British Rail earlier that same year. The Warship had become the first privately-owned diesel locomotive to be secured for preservation.
However, D821 would be followed by hundreds of other former BR diesel loc
