I wasn’t expecting to being writing an update this weekend as I was working Saturday and the weather forecast was bad. However on Saturday I discovered there was a Southend – Cardiff football special due Didcot around 10am and later on I found out there were in fact two workings, one was a pair of 67s and the other a 47/8. I was going to go out anyway but the 47 made sure of it. A few years ago a 47/8 wouldn’t have enticed me out but with any 47 workings at a premium now it was worth the effort even if it was going to be overcast.
I got up early to watch the F1 Grand Prix and as I was up I checked the gen vine and found out 47848 was going to be the motive power for the second charter from Southend. While I was watching the race the weather cleared up to produce plenty of Sunshine. After the race had finished I headed out to Denchworth to phot both workings. I have added a new lens to my collection this week which was a 135 F2.0 so what better to test it out on than 47848, it looks sharp enough to me. Now you may be wondering why I have only posted a photo of 47848. I did phot the 67s but for some unknown reason the whole photo was out of focus. Its as if I managed to focus just a few feet in front of me which is weird! Hopefully it was just user error and and a one off but I will do some tests to see if it happens again. Lets see what next week holds…
It was the first day of the Cheltenham Racing Festival and with special trains laid on each day I had thought about going out today but it was dull and overcast when I awoke so cancelled that plan. However as the morning went on things cleared up and it turned into a lovely day with plenty of sunshine and very pleasant temperatures. I decided to head out to Hinksey for my favourite morning train, the Avon Binliner.
The traction today was provided by 66557 which was required for a phot and it was a fairly clean example as well which was nice. Freightliner do seem to take more pride in the appearance of their locomotives and you will regularly see locos looking virtually ex works after a thorough cleaning. After todays weather it looks like spring is just around the corner and should put some colour back into the trees and brighten up the photos. Lets hope the good weather continues the rest of the week….
It has been a bit quiet around these parts due to the line shut between Banbury and Leamington Spa over the weekends meaning freight workings are virtually non existent. There is however two as required workings that travel via the GWML. First up is the Hayes – Westbury PGAs and then we have the 4Z30 Grain – Wentloog, both these trains run fairly regular but you can be sure if you go out them they won’t be running that week. After the brief snow storm we had this week today was fairly mild and Sunny so I thought I would try for either of the two trains I mentioned as they both pass Didcot around lunchtime.
I decided to head out to Denchworth as it a good location at this time of the day. I got there just after 12.00 and waited around witnessing a few HST’s and 180s wizz up and down. The time ticked by and now it was nearly 14.00, I was getting bored so I was just going to wait until this huge black cloud which was emptying itself over Oxfordshire covered the sun up. But just a few minutes before the sun disappeared something appeared in the loop. The line is pretty straight here and you can probably see nearly 2 miles to the east so I couldn’t identify the working straight away. Once it got nearer I could see it was a Freightliner 66 so this must be 4Z30. It ambled along the loop line and I fired some shots of 66504 on the train. With I soaking imminent I took shelter in my car and came home.
