I’m back again for another update, infact there would have been an update yesterday featuring a pair of 37s on Pathfinders Solent Syphon tour but due to the camera deciding to fail on me I have no shots. On inspection the battery was found to be dud and was no longer holding any charge whatsoever. I managed to buy a replacement battery later that day and hence I bring you todays photo.
Today Southend were playing Wrexham in the LDV vans trophy at the Millenium stadium in Cardiff, to cater for the fans three charter trains were laid on from Southend to Cardiff. The first two were top and tailed class 67s which were 67012+018 and 67001+030 respectively, the final train however was being hauled by 47815+812. I decided to go to Shrivenham to shoot all three workings and it was quite sunny but as both 67 hauled trains passed the sundisappeared each time. However as 47815 approached the sun came out nicely to enable me to get a nice photo of the best of the three workings.
Now that I’m back at work again the numbers of updates will drop down a bit, however I will continue with an update today. The forecast was for a sunny spring day so I thought I would photograph some Freightliners. I decided to go to Oxford for the first southbound liner of the day but it wasn’t until I got got there I realised the line was shut furthur North around Banbury for engineering work!! I went home to check the National Rail Enquires website and after some perusal decided the best place to go was over on the WCML as I may get some diverted liners. After a wait of quite some time 57010 appeared to the north on a freightliner, I was getting ready for the photo when i saw a freightliner 66 to the south and you guessed it 66540 blocked the shot of 57010 heading the other way.
After the freightliners it hazed up badly but there are a couple of Intermodals booked south on a Saturday and I was hoping for some Class 92s. After a couple of hours of boredom the high cloud finally cleared and with that 92008 appeared in the distance. I don’t know what the working was as it was a short rake of empty STVA car carriers with a very bad flat on the rear wagon so maybe it was just a postioning move.
I decided to hang around for awhile longer as there was still an Intermodal due south, about half an hour after the 92 had passed then 66049 showed up on 4O69 Hams Hall – Dollands Moor Intermodal. It even had a full matching set of intermodal flats in EWS red and yellow to boot.
