THE Severn Valley Railway has confirmed that one of Colas Rail’s Class 56 locomotives will be joining the line-up at its Spring Diesel Festival.

The popular machine will appear courtesy of Colas Rail, which is one of a number of mainline operators that have come forward to support the four-day event, taking place between the 18th and 21st May.

The festival will celebrate 50 years of diesels in preservation, and will bring together an unrivalled collection of heritage guest and home fleet locomotives, as well as many examples of modern traction from the main line.

Other guests include Class 47 47712 ‘Lady Diana Spencer’, accompanied by a push-pull set of coaches incorporating a DBSO, and Class 58 58023, which makes a long-awaited return to UK traffic, since all members of the class were withdrawn 21 years ago.

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