For the first time in just over seven years, we made a long awaited return to Westbury railway station to venture out and see the only mainline certified Class 52 Western locomotive, D1015 'Western Champion', piloting on the UK Railtours charter train, 'The Westbury Wizzo', running on a lengthy journey from East Midlands Parkway to Cranmore.
We haven't been out to Westbury since January 2017, and since the iconic 'Western Champion' was running there on a railtour charter, we decided that this would be the right time for us to return to the railway station, and despite some windy cloud-covering conditions, the sun did eventually come out to shine, and D1015 really gave her enthusiasts some nice meaty growls for the cameras from her powerful engine.
While we have seen D1015 'Western Champion' running along the Severn Valley Railway a few times prior, on this occasion, you don't get to see a Western Class locomotive out on the mainline very often in today's time.
GBRf 66309 was added onto the back of the train at Westbury in preparation for the top and tailed running to Cranmore, where the East Somerset Railway is located to, as well as being the planned visiting location for the Western.
In addition to the railtour charter, we also filmed a couple of smaller trains in-between throughout the day, with a bonus shot at Gloucester included, where WCRC 57314 & 57315 top and tailing a move of Northern Belle railtour carriage stock from Cardiff Central to London Euston.
Filmed by
Thomas Coombes
Scott Coombes
Produced by
Thomas Coombes
(C) 2024 Marches Productions