10th May 2024

Diesel Gala & Beer Festival 2024: no. 50021 "Rodney" was gleaming in the early summer sun. At 11.51 reflections of the signal box at Harmans Cross are glimpsed in the shiny, albeit, rippled bodyside. It really is a credit to the restoration team who have got it to this condition, although to me the loco did sound a bit rough, the engine sound "hunting" more than I recalled with Class 50s. Maybe that explains why after it departed here with the 11.39 Swanage to River Frome service it failed on Corfe Common and caused timetable chaos for the rest of the day as a result.