IT WAS a sad day 25 years ago as the railway works hooter sounded for the last time and 1,100 people walked through the gates of the railway works, bringing nearly 150 years of proud engineering tradition to an end.

Now railway enthusiasts from across the country will come together to celebrate the anniversary of the Great Western Railway closing at The Swindon Railway Festival.

The factory, which produced some of Britain’s best-known locomotives, closed for the last time on March 26, 1986.

The annual event is always a big hit with families, former workers and train enthusiasts and will this year take place on Saturday, September 10, and Sunday, September 11.

Organisers of the event, sponsored by model train company Hornby, are hoping this year’s will be bigger than ever with more than 2,000 people visiting on each of the two days.

Commercial manager of the Steam Museum, Ian Surtees, said: “We are putting a lot of effort into this year’s event, a lot of people worked at the site. It was an integral part of Swindon and we want to honour that.

“We really want to capture what it was like to work on the railway and to celebrate what we had in the town.

“It was one of the biggest works in the country and it was a huge shame when it closed down.

“This is our chance to mark that in style.

“So many people in Swindon were affected by the works, so I expect a lot of people to come along.”

Among the activities on offer will be a large display of photos never seen before from the museum’s archives looking at the railway works, both in its heyday and during its decline in the 1980s, and the chance to talk to former workers.

There will be impressive displays from Hornby and Bachmann and 12 of the country’s finest GWR and BR (W) layouts have confirmed they will be attending the event.

Also on hand to give advice on railway modelling will be pop music heavyweight Pete Waterman OBE, a well-known railway enthusiast and patron of the museum.

Pete, who tries to attend the festival every year, has an affinity with the GWR after working on trains in his youth.

Day tickets for the festival cost £8.50 for adults, £5.50 for seniors and concessions and under- threes go free. A family ticket costs £24 (two adults, two children).

For more information on the festival, log on to www.steam- museum.org.uk