RAILTOUR GALORE! | 57003, 47810, 33207 + 33025 & 47848, 43025 + 43089 HST, Britannic Explorer & MORE

A busy day out in the West chasing no less than four railtours today! We begin the video at Bishops Lydeard where the luxury Britannic Explorer sleeper is seen preparing to head down the line to Norton Fitzwarren, while 9351 is steamed up for WSR services.

Due to the continue mainline steam ban, no steam ran on any charters today but the diesel fallbacks were pretty rateable! The original plan had been to see the Britannic Explorer leave the West Somerset and then catch the Cromptons arriving, however both the ‘West Somerset Express’ excursion and the ‘English Riviera Express’ charter coming down via the Berks and Hants had come to a stop in the Bedwyn area, owing to livestock on the line and so I changed plans and captured WSR Mogul 9351 coming off shed to form the 10.15 departure all stations to Minehead.

As the 47s were close behind the 33s I decided to head to the mainline instead of catching the 33s arriving onto the West Somerset at Bishops Lydeard, to ensure I got a chance to get both late running railtours, so I headed for Fairwater Yard, where a new mound of rubble has been placed in the adjacent field making for a nice viewpoint! The ‘West Somerset Express’ eased by with WCRC 33s 33207 ‘Jim Martin and 33205 + 47848 on the rear, ready to traverse the ladder across Norton Fitzwarren onto West Somerset Railway metals, very similar to what we saw a couple of weeks ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WnOPKob6ag&t=658s

However upon checking the realtime trains diagram I realised the 47s that were following close behind the 33s were being held at Westbury. It soon became clear all was not well and the rear loco, 47805 Roger Hosking MA 1925-2013' had to be removed at Westbury. It was reported the brakes were not releasing properly on the loco causing fire brigade attendance, leaving 47810 ‘Crewe Diesel Depot’ to go it alone working solo for the remainder of the Trip to Kingswear.

With that in mind I took the opportunity to head down to Devon, along the Dawlish Sea Wall to catch our third and fourth railtours of the day. We see the 47 passing Dawlish nearly an hour late with the ‘English Riviera Express’, before the final tour of the day, the 125 Groups 'Summer Riviera' railtour came into view, operated by Rail Adventure and led by 43025 ‘Exeter’ with 43089 bringing up the rear. This was the same set we had travelled on during the recent East Lancashire Railway Diesel Gala, with a powercar swap between 43159 ‘Rio Warrior’ and 43089 https://youtu.be/0IMoCHYwij0?is=AOK2n8wIZcRBN4pW

The HST had originally been earmarked to begin at Bury on the East Lancashire Railway but the starting destination was altered to Manchester Victoria, and it had been keeping to time all the way to Bristol however sadly a fatality at Weston Milton saw this tour also losing time.

Once all tours were through, we headed down to the Paignton & Dartmouth railway where after yesterdays appearance of 37703 'Vulcan' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NseAPbufOcU&t=2915s the heritage railways other Class 37 BR Blue 37275 was out. Due to the prolonged hot weather the U.K. has experienced in recent weeks and risks posed by the changing wind direction that have the potential to spark lineside fires, the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway are airing on the side of caution this weekend, and replacing steam haulage with diesel traction on the 15.30 and 16.45 departures from Paignton Queens Park Station, in an attempt to mitigate any problems during the peak of the heat in the late afternoon.

We see the 37 relieving Large Prairie 4110 before heading out on the 15.30, and it was then a run back up to Norton Fitzwarren to catch the Cromptons coming back off the WSR, and the HST returning North.

The day finished with a surprise, in the form of LSL 57003 'Inter City Railway Society - 50th Anniversary 1973-2023' running light from Southall to Fairwater to meet 47810 and lend a hand on the long journey back to Ely! A very busy day for the P&DSR, WSR and mainline charter industry in the Westcountry, but a great amount of variety to keep track of through the day!

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