The Western Wessexman Railtour, Saturday September 7th 2013
Power: 67019 (Leicester - Bescot and back), 1015 Bescot - Weymouth (and back)
Route: O/W: Leicester - Nuneaton - Sutton park - BS - Soho - Stouurbridge Jn - Worcester SH - Bristol Parkway - Dr Days - Bath - Westbury - Frome - Yeoviil PM - Dorchester W - Weymouth
Route R/T: Weymouth - Dorchester S - Poole - Soton - “Bas”- Reaading West - Didcot -
Oxford - Evesham - Worcester SH - Old Hill bank - Soho - BS - Sutton Park - Nuneaton -
Leicester
Sample Highlights:
Gleaming 1015 in morning sun at BS yard waiting to take tour forward
Lively tour atmosphere
Parallel running with Chiltern hauled emcars at Stourbridge Jn
Awesome thrash on joining GW at Reading
Storming through oxford and much of the Cotswold line
Storming run up Old Hill bank (nr Cradley heath)
Farces:
0550 ex Leicester with a 2328 return made it a long day
Tour phots
A gleaming
D1015 eases very briefly onto the WCML in the Soho West area
Leaving
Bristol Parkway for Filton, is it 2013 or a Liverpool - Plymouth turn in 1975?
To their credit
Pathfinder allowed a photo stop at the old “wizzo” haunt of Westbury
A 2 hour
break in Weymouth then a return via many old haunts. Westerns had fairly
regular Bristol - Weymouth turns in the early 70’s so this Weymouth view isn’t that
rare.
Classic (but
now closed) local landmark, just visible from near Chedd on the WCML with 1015 adding
to this evening Didcot scene. Demolition of Didcot A is expected in 2014, at least 1015 has a secure future.
Not so
classic, 67019 at Leicester prior to stabling the stock at Humberstone Road
overnight-