Swindon and Salzgitter meet at Toddington: in the front row are the Mayor of Swindon (in leather jacket) Cllr Steve Wakefield and in blue jeans, Uberbergermeister Frank Klingebiel of Salzgitter (Ian Crowder)  


The ‘three mayors’ with Foremarke Hall at Winchcombe station (l-r): Mayor of Cheltenham Cllr Robin MacDonald; Uberbergermeister Frank Klingebiel of Salzgitter and Mayor of Swindon, Cllr Steve Wakefield (Ian Crowder)  

A distinguished party of visitors from a West German railway town took a ride from Toddington to Cheltenham and back to Winchcombe recently, as part of a civic delegation visiting the railway town of Swindon.

The visitors were the Mayor of Salzgitter, Herr Frank Klingebiel with civic colleagues and partners who were being hosted by Cllr Steve Wakefield, Mayor of Swindon.  Salzgitter in Lower Saxony is Swindon's German twin town and, like Swindon, has for many years been an important industrial centre, including a railway works which remains open for repair of rolling stock and has a railway museum*.  Swindon's Mayor was keen to underline his town's railway heritage by showing the guests Swindon-built locomotives in action.  The party had already visited the old Swindon railway works which now house a retail outlet centre and Steam, the railway museum  (the head of which, Alan Greer, joined the group for the visit).

The party travelled from Toddington hauled by Swindon-built no. 7903 Foremarke Hall, with the Mayor and Mayoress of Salzgitter on the footplate.  At Cheltenham the party was met by Cllr Robin MacDonald, Mayor of Cheltenham - three Mayors on the GWR at one time - is that a record?

It transpires that Cllr Steve Wakefield of Swindon is a railway enthusiast and a regular 'incognito' visitor to the GWR.  His father, who joined the official party was once a fireman at Warrington and regularly worked on 9F 2-10-0s similar to the GWR's own member of the same class, no. 92203 Black Prince.

*Salzgitter has a working main line steam locomotive, class 41 2-8-2 no. 41 096, that makes occasional 'Plandampf' trips as well a programme of special trains on the main line.  It has its own website here: http://www.dg41096.de/ .  The site is in German but you don't have to be fluent in the language to appreciate some excellent images of the locomotive in steam, as well as pictures of it undergoing an overhaul partly at Salzgitter and partly at Ceske Velenice in the Czech Repbublic during 2008 and its return to steam in January this year!