Mince pies and spectacular views will be on offer as the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway wraps up for the year.
 
After December's Santa Special the end of the 2017 season sees plenty of action on the line with trains running every day up to New Year's day.
 
Running between Cheltenham Racecourse and Little Buckland near Broadway, the line stretches along the bottom edge of the Cotswold escarpment, with glorious views across the winter landscape to the distant Malverns.
 
Passengers will be able to polish off the last of the 15,000 special-recipe mince pies made locally for the railway over the Christmas season.
 
Boxing Day sees a full steam-powered day on the line along with diesel railcar trips between Winchcombe, Toddington, and Little Buckland.
 
It runs tantalizingly close to Broadway station, which will open on 30 Mar 2018.
 
The big event of the post-Christmas period is a mixed traction gala on December 29 and 30 Dec 2017, which will include two steam locomotives, and three of the railway's magnificent historic diesel locomotives.
 
It will be a throwback to the 1960s, when diesel traction gradually took over from steam.
 
Some trains will be double-headed or work with a locomotive at each end, and services will be operating over the full length of the line.
 
Ian Crowder, spokesman for the railway, said, "This is an event that has something for everyone, and you don't have to be a railway buff to enjoy the best of rail travel from the 1960s. Many of the locomotive types operating used to work over what was known as the Honeybourne Line in British Railways' days. And it is a reminder of what can be achieved with determination and lots of single-minded volunteers. When the GWSR first settled at Toddington back in 1982 all the track and most of the railway's infrastructure had gone and many thought reopening an impossible task. Now we operate over 13 miles of railway line, and next year it will be 15 miles long. The line has over 900 volunteers who have painstakingly created everything that you see today."
 
The last day of the railway's season will be New Year's Day.
 
Mr. Crowder said, "This coincides with the New Year's Day race meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse so if you fancy a day at the races then you can leave your car at Toddington and let the train take you to within yards of the main racecourse entrance. The last race is at 15:40 which should leave plenty of time to catch the 16:40 return service to Toddington, and miss the traffic jams when everyone tries to leave at once."
 
The railway is operating every day from Boxing Day until New Year's Day.
 
Full details and train times can be found on the railway's website.
 
Services resume on 10 Mar 2018 with trains between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse only, until 30 Mar 2018 when the line will be fully reopened to Broadway, again, full information is on the railway's website.
 
Conor Gogarty.