Father Christmas was busier than ever at the GWR in December with over 7,500 peope paying him a visit by steam train from Toddington.  Colin Fewell, organiser of the event and 'chief elf', was very up-beat after an exhausting run-up to Christmas for him and the organising team.  "Everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves immensely and we have received literally hundreds of 'thank-you' emails and cards from families who found this the best possible start to their Christmas celebrations.

"Given that we are an all-volunteer railway, what we put on for our visitors is, in my view, remarkable.  All of our volunteers seemed to go the extra mile and entered into the spirit of the occasion - visits to the footplate were very popular amongst youngsters (and not so young-sters!) while the coaches were very attractively decked out. Everyone was smiling which underlines our claim to be the 'friendly line in the Cotswolds!'

This was the GWR's best-ever Santa season, beating last year's event which itself was a record.