A ride behind the first ever Class 99 passenger run with 99004 + 58023 fails at Swanage Diesel Gala!

All the action from the first day of this years Swanage Railway Diesel Gala & Beer Festival which this year featured: GB Railfreight Class 99 99004 GB Railfreight Class 73 73141 ‘25 Year Spa Valley Railway Anniversary’ Class 20 20066 Class 26 26007 Swietelsky Class 37 37607 West Coast Railway Company Class 33 33025 (A late substitute for Class 45 45041 'Royal Tank Regiment') Resident Class 33 D6515 ‘Lt. Jenny Lewis RN’ Resident Class 33 33053 Class 58 58023 'Leicester Depot' (* Failed with cooler group issues) London Underground 4TC We started the day at Swanage this morning with a true world first, as 99004 and 37607 top and tailed the 4TC unit for the 09.15 run to Corfe Castle before the 37 detached and 99 ran back with the 4TC forming the 09.39 Corfe Castle - Swanage, marking the highly anticipated debut of a Class 99 hauling passenger trains for the very first time in the U.K. and indeed anywhere in the world! The bi-mode Class 99s are now the most powerful locomotives on the UK railway network, and were only given approval to operate by the ORR last October, with the first 7 members of the class now imported from Spain, where the necessary consumables have been fitted to enable them to work in Britain, so this was a milestone moment for GBRF and enthusiasts and the crowded 4TC certainly showed that, but definitely a highlight to kick start the day! After our ride behind the 99, we watched 58023 ‘Leicester Depot’ looking resplendent after its repaint at Loughborough Brush, departing with the 4TC, before boarding visiting 20066 for a run down to River Frome. Sadly news filtered through that the Bone had failed and would not be operating for the remainder of the day, owing to coolant issues and fitters were working to identify the problem, indicating a possible cooler group replacement required which all lead to the GBRF Class 73 picking up extra 4TC turns for the rest of the day! Despite this, it certainly did not deter and was a great event, blessed with good weather and great company, with lost of new and familiar faces in attendance, a comprehensive timetable in operation and generally everything ran to time with plenty of thrash to keep the drinks flowing through the afternoon! | 09.05.2025 I hope you enjoy this video and thank you for watching! If you like what you've seen, please head over to Instagram   / brunelheritage   and Tik Tok   / brunel.heritage   for more and please feel free to leave comments, ratings, and subscribe to the channel. #Swanage #DeiselGala #SwanageRailway #SwanageDieselGala #Class37 #Class99 #WCRC #GBRF #Class26 #Class73 #4TC #LondonUnderground #diesels #britishrailways #britishrail #railways #railwayvideos #trains #railways #diesel #locomotives #engines #CorfeCastle #Norden #May