1Oct
Autumn Diesel Bash at the Severn Valley Railway
Kidderminster Town Station, Kidderminster · Worcestershire
Railways Adults £25 Thu 1 – Sun 4 Oct 2026
Photo: Kevin Hutchinson (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0
Railway Events · 4 dated · verified weekly
Diesel Galas, Depot Open Days and Freight Events
Next up: Autumn Diesel Bash at the Severn Valley Railway — Thu 1 – Sun 4 Oct 2026, Worcestershire.
Diesel galas do for growlers what steam galas do for kettles: intensive timetables, visiting locomotives and a day rover to ride behind the lot. Enthusiasts search by class, so listings here name them. If you want a Class 37 at full chat, a Deltic on the last train of the day or a Western on a summer evening, you can find where they are running. The Severn Valley's diesel festival each May and the Swanage gala each summer are the reliable big ones.
Fixtures come thick and fast through autumn: the East Lancashire Railway's gala on 18 and 19 September 2026, the Bodmin & Wenford Railway's on 25 to 27 September, Epping Ongar's over the same weekend, the Great Western Society's Mixed Traction Extravaganza at Toddington on 10 and 11 October, a heritage railcar gala at Llangollen on 17 and 18 October, and the Great Central Railway's Last Hurrah gala at Loughborough on 21 and 22 November.
This page also covers depot open days and freight events, because that is where the working railway meets the preserved one. Depot open days are rare, announced late and sell out fast, with cab visits and lines of locomotives you cannot normally get near. Freight-themed events at heritage lines add demonstration goods workings and the occasional main-line visitor.
Everything here is checked weekly. Depot events in particular appear and vanish quickly, so the Thursday Runsheet email is the safest way to catch one before tickets go.
October 2026
10Oct
Mixed Traction Extravaganza at the GWSR
Toddington Station, Toddington · Gloucestershire
Railways Sat 10 – Sun 11 Oct 202617Oct
Heritage Railcar Gala at the Llangollen Railway
Llangollen Station, Llangollen · Denbighshire
Railways Adults £36 Sat 17 – Sun 18 Oct 2026November 2026
21Nov
Last Hurrah Diesel Gala at the Great Central Railway
Loughborough Central Station, Loughborough · Leicestershire
Railways Sat 21 – Sun 22 Nov 2026Awaiting dates
TBCMay
TBCMay
Spring Diesel Festival 2027 at the Severn Valley Railway
Kidderminster Town Station, Kidderminster · Worcestershire
RailwaysTBCJun
Annual Diesel Gala 2027 at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Pickering Station, Pickering · North Yorkshire
RailwaysTBCJun
Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2027
Keighley Station, Keighley · West Yorkshire
RailwaysTBCJul
TBCJul
TBCAug
Summer Diesel Gala 2027 at the Spa Valley Railway
Tunbridge Wells West Station, Royal Tunbridge Wells · Kent
RailwaysTBCSep
These run most years but the next date is not announced yet. We check weekly and date them the moment organisers confirm. Get the weekly email and you will not miss it.
More railway events: Steam Galas · Santa Special Trains · Mainline Steam & Railtours · 1940s Weekends · Family & Themed Events · all railway events
Same crowd, different engines: plant and digger events · military vehicle events
Diesel Galas & Depot Days: your questions answered
What is a diesel gala?
The diesel equivalent of a steam gala: a heritage railway running an intensive timetable with its own and visiting diesel locomotives, usually over two or three days. A day rover covers unlimited travel, and the event poster will tell you which classes are booked.
Which locomotive classes turn up most?
Class 37s, 47s and 20s are the workhorses of preservation and appear everywhere. Deltics, Class 50s and the diesel-hydraulic Westerns are the crowd-pullers, and any gala that has booked one says so loudly on the poster.
What is a depot open day?
A working depot opening its gates to the public for a day, usually for an anniversary or charity. They happen a handful of times a year at most, are announced with little notice and sell out quickly, which is exactly why we re-check listings weekly.
What does thrash mean?
Enthusiast slang for a locomotive working hard, ideally loud, uphill and heard from the front coach with the window down. Diesel galas are largely organised around producing it.
Are diesel galas family friendly?
Yes, with ear defenders a genuinely good idea for small children near the front coach. The format is the same as a steam gala, day rover, cafe, hop on and off where you like, just louder.
When is the next diesel gala?
The Bodmin & Wenford Railway and the Epping Ongar Railway both run theirs on 25 to 27 September 2026, followed by the Great Western Society's Mixed Traction Extravaganza at Toddington on 10 and 11 October, a heritage railcar gala at Llangollen on 17 and 18 October, and the Great Central Railway's Last Hurrah gala at Loughborough on 21 and 22 November. All confirmed dates for the season are listed below, checked weekly.
Never miss one