Review of 2009 Click an image to enlarge |
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January |
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During January of 2009, Cross Country diverted all of their trains with the odd exception to service Paignton instead of Plymouth. This was as a result of single line working between Totnes and Plymouth due to engineering works. | |
February |
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During February there was considerable snow fall including in the South West of England however not quite on the scale of snowfall during January 2010! Tiverton Parkway received a dusting, with a London bound HST awaiting departure | |
2009 also saw the starting and finishing of the FGW class 143 refurbishment. Following 7 class 142s returned to Northern in December 2008, the class 143 fleet was reallocated to Exeter TMD. 143603 is seen fresh from works | |
The popular Cardiff - Taunton loco hauled set continued to operate during 2009. 67016 is seen at Weston-Super-Mare working the 1102 Taunton - Cardiff service for First Great Western. The set continued to use mk2 coaching stock hired in from Cargo-D. | |
March |
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March provided many stormy days, this being just one of them. The Cross Country HST fleet continued to be useful in 2009 to provide much needed capacity relief on Cross Country, however as time progressed the HST sets were shortened and after December would only operate 2 daily diagrams. | |
April |
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D1015 to the rescue! Owing to failure of the booked "Nunney Castle" on a railtour from Cornwall to London Paddington. Running nearly an hour late, D1015 Western Champton blasts through Newton Abbot | |
The first visit to the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway by DB Shenker's 67029 "Royal Diamond" occurred in April, with the stock from a Great Chesterfield - Torquay charter being serviced over the weekend at Kingswear | |
The next day, Nenta operated a railtour from Norwich - Kingswear using WCRC stock. 47804 is seen crossing over Broadsands Viaduct on the P&DSR | |
May |
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May saw the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway run their second "Heritage Festival". The weather was a stark contrast to the year before. The event featured a number of rare events for the line; double headed locos, a freight train and the visit of Nunney Castle | |
May also saw Pathfinder operate "The Cornish Parker" visiting a number of rare freight only branch lines in Cornwall, most specifically the Parkandillick china clay line. 37670 leads 37401 working the return 1Z74 1635 Par - Crewe | |
June |
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First Great Western once again operated the loco hauled relief from Bristol Temple Meads - Weymouth. Seen here under the glass trainshed at Weymouth | |
The South Devon Railway once again operated an excellent Diesel Gala in June and the sun appeared to make it another warm event. 20118 is seen entering Bishops Bridge loop | |
The final Saturday of June was to see 4 class 37s to Cornwall, however it was not to be with the failure of the DBS pair. Instead class 40145 was provided. DRS provided a split headcode box class 37/0 for their tour from Birmingham Int. - Penzance | |
July |
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As a result of on-going unit shortages, for much of 2009 First Great Western has hired a South West Trains class 158. 158886 is seen at Swindon having terminated with a Golden Valley service from Cheltenham Spa | |
70013 "Oliver Cromwell" paid a visit to the South West on a charter from Birmingham New Street to Plymouth. The steam loco was used between Bristol and Plymouth | |
August |
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For a brief spell in August, Royal 'Skip' 67005 appeared on the Cardiff - Taunton loco hauled diagram. It is seen here entering Patchway with 2C79 1400 Cardiff - Taunton | |
DRS operated the "Seaside Express" from Chesterfield to Paignton using a pair of class 47s. The stock for the return working is seen departing Goodrington Carriage Sidings. As was typical with the summer of 2009, it was cloudy! | |
6024 King Edward provided the motive power for many of the 2009 Torbay Express' from Bristol to Kingswear, aside from Tornado at the start of the season, however on the 16th August it failed and 67005 was called in to operate the service! Lets hope the punters weren't too unhappy | |
September |
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During September the Bodmin & Wenford railway operated their annual autumn diesel gala. 37412 was declared a failure, however some sterling performances from 50042 made up for it! | |
October |
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October saw the start of RHTT season, with this years service in Devon provided by DB Shenker. 66153 leads 66116 on 3S14 0945 St Blazey (Par) - St Blazey (Par) circular via Newton Abbot Hackney Yard. | |
December |
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December 12th marked the final day of South West Trains to locations south of Exeter, to Paignton, Plymouth and Penzance. 159017 was the last ever unit to operate south of Exeter with the 1730 Honiton - Paignton and thence 1914 Paignton - Basingstoke | |
Following the withdrawal of South West Trains to Paignton, FGW extended their loco hauled diagram to serve Paignton and introduced a new class 57 set in the Bristol area. The 0800 Cardiff - Paignton is seen passing Hollicombe during the first week of service | |