The 2014 gala was held over the weekend of 9th-11th May with a extra diesel & steam “Day On The Mule” day on the preceding Wednesday to mark the end of locomotive haulage on the Salisbury-Exeter line, sometimes known as The Mule. The day also featured a visiting Class 159 unit from Salisbury that worked a couple of service trains the length of the line. A nice touch was the addition of NSE style station nameboards etc showing “what might have been”!
Locomotives attending the gala were D5081/D6700/47292/50026/50031/55002 with residents D6515 & 33111 along with 33202 on long term loan. Prototype HST power-car 41001 was also on static view at Corfe Castle along with 50031 (as 50001 on one side and 50011 on the other) which failed prior to working any trains! As 50026 had visited during a previous gala it was not originally intended to see much use apart from the “Day On The Mule” day but stepped into 50031’s diagrams in the end.
