Britannic Explorer heads to Cranmore + 5029 'NUNNEY CASTLE' on railtour to KINGSWEAR, 37608 & MORE!
We begin with Belmonds luxury Britannic Explorer sleeper stock, which made one of its first visits to the East Somerset Railway!
Made up of former Irish Rail and the Belmond Grand Hibernian Mk3’s these carriages have undergone an extensive overhaul and refurbishment up in Hamilton in Scotland, where luxurious cabins and interiors have been installed, and after some initial teething troubles with the Central Door Locking systems which have delayed the stocks entry into traffic, this weekend we saw the set, complete with the matching liveried Class 66 66748 ‘St Michael’s Mount’ and the Ukrainian Flag celebrity shed 66708 ‘Слава Україні Glory to Ukraine’ make a shake down run from Victoria - Cranmore on Friday evening before returning early on Saturday morning.
The train is seen cautiously traversing the rarely used section between Whites Crossing and Cranmore, before parking up in Cranmore for the night, ready for the return run to Victoria on Saturday.
5029 was also in action working a Steam Dreams railtour to Kingswear and we see the Castle at 40 Steps, where 47712 'Lady Diana Spencer' masquerading as 47709 'The Lord Provost' and 47711 'Greyfriars Bobby' + 57311 'The Institution of Mechanical Engineers' brought the train from Colchester working as far as Taunton, and GWR 4073 Class 5029 ‘Nunney Castle’ swapped with the 47 to continue the train south to Paignton & Kingswear.
Rail Ops Group 37608 ‘ Andromeda’ had worked down to Laira in conjunction with the GWR 175 testing and made its way through Taunton shortly after Nunney Castle with the 0D94 Laira T & R.S.M.D. - Honeybourne Sidings.
The final shot shows DB Class 66 66054 hurrying through with the China Clay wagons working 6V76 Westbury Down Yard - Goonbarrow Jn.
When the Britannic Explorer does eventually enter revenue earning traffic, it is planned to run from London Victoria for stabling at the West Somerset Railway on Friday evenings before heading to Cornwall over the weekend and then returning to the East Somerset Railway on Sunday evenings and leaving to continue touring the UK early on Monday mornings on selected running dates, which will provide very welcome income for both preserved railways so it was great having the opportunity to see both mainline connections being utilised this weekend, knowing the potential that the tracks to Taunton and Westbury hold for these preserved lines.
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A railtour featuring the Belmond Britannic Explorer sleeper stock is shown making a shake down run from London Victoria to Cranmore, with the train returning early the following morning. The set includes Class 66 locomotives and has undergone recent refurbishment. Other rolling stock seen includes various classes of locomotives and carriages, while locations such as Kingswear, Colchester, Honeybourne, Paignton, Taunton, West Somerset Railway, and Westbury are mentioned. Headcodes including 0D94, 1Z72, 5Z10, and 6V76 are also noted in the record.
Fishplate has identified 9 locomotives in this video. We’ve also matched 4 headcodes and 9 operators . Create a free account to see where they appear, unlock timestamps and locations, and view the full breakdown.
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