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The West Somerset Railway held their Spring Steam Gala weekend over the last weekend in April. The line was blessed with good weather and a wealth of steam locomotives in action. Two visitors to the line were No.1501 which is the only surviving example of a GWR 1500 class 0-6-0PT shunting engine, and Standard 4MT 2-6-0T No.76017. No.1501 is seen approaching Williton on the 27th April heading to Minehead (Photo: Jamie Waters), and No.76017 is seen on a mixed freight trains passing Longlands Farm from Norton Fitzwarren (Photo: Thomas Courtney) |
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GWR have been transferring powercars between Plymouth and South Wales with some regularity of late. During Saturday 29th April No.43036 returned 'Building a Greater West' liveried powercar No.43146 back to Laira. 43146 being the powercar featured earlier this month on this page with some serious exhaust issues. The 0Z77 combination are pictured passing Creech St Michael on the approach to Taunton. (Photo: Brian Garrett) |
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You would probably be correct in thinking anyone wanting to put money on a pair of BR Blue Class 20's passing Taunton during April could be classed as mad, but where the UK railway scene is concerned then it's probably a fair bet. Monday 24th April provided the incredible sight of BR Blue Class 20's No.20205 & No.20189 working light engine through Taunton. The 0Z20 move operated from Kidderminster departing at 09:00 and headed to Okehampton in order to collect three locomotives from the Dartmoor Railway. The pair are seen passing 40 Steps, Taunton on route south. (Photo: Chay Farzenah) |
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Having visited the edge of Dartmoor the BR Blue pairing returned north through Taunton hauling Class 45/0 No.45060, Class 47/8 No.47828 and Class 33 No.33035.. The threesome have been on the Dartmoor Railway since before Christmas 2016 when they were operating Polar Express services on the line. Class 20 No.20169 leads the 5Z47 14:00 Okehampton to St Philips Marsh through Norton Fitzwarren. (Photo: Chay Farzenah) |
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The ensemble of former British Rail 'classics' heads north through Norton Fitzwarren with just 47828 slightly out of sync still wearing it's former DRS Blue. 47828 will be attending the Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala on the 17th-20th May possibly wearing a former classic livery from the past. (Photo: Chay Farzenah) |
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EWS liveried Class 66/0 No.66034 returned the long welded rail train back to Eastleigh from Cornwall on Sunday 23rd April. The set had worked down to Truro during Saturday evening where it unloaded rails for future replacement. The empty train returned as the 08:00 Truro - Eastleigh Yard seen here at Marlands on the Sunday morning. (Photo: Simon Harling) |
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DB Cargo provided a splash of colour on Saturday 22nd April, with newly painted Class 66/0 No.66041 top and tailed with EWS liveried No.66024 while working the 6W11 Westbury - Bristol East Junction via Fairwater Yard. The trainload of new concrete sleepers are pictured passing Bathpool on the approach to Taunton. (Photo: Adam Snow) |
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We included this second location of the 6W11 train passing through Taunton Station entering Fairwater Yard. here the train changed direction with No.66024 to lead the train to Bristol East Junction where it would enter the engineering blockade and eventually be unloaded of its new sleepers. (Photo: Sclub) |
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GWR moved a pair of their green powercars from Laira Depot to Landore Depot in a rare Saturday morning diagram on the 22nd April. No.43041 and No.43188 are seen passing Norton Fitzwarren while working the 0Z86 from from Plymouth to Swansea. (Photo: Sclub) |
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Locomotives will soon start arriving for the West Somerset Railway Spring Steam Gala, one such visitor tot he railway has been operating trains for around the past week or so. Large Prairie No.5199 from the Llangollen Railway will also be taking part in the forthcoming event. On the 22nd October the locomotive was used to haul the 12:40 departure from Bishops Lydeard. The train had two additional coaches added to the consist running a memorial event for the late WSR Association founder member John Pearce who passed away aged 79 in February. (Photo: Brian Garrett) |
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The first steam of the season arrived into Taunton with LMS power on the front end of the train. The Cathedral Express operated from London Victoria through to Minehead operating as the 1Z60 08:43 departure from London. The train was formed of No.46100 'Royal Scot' and coaching stock 35451 5249 5200 5171 9104 13440 99352 99347 13320 1666 5236 5237. West Coast Class 47/7 No.47760 was marshaled on the rear end of the train. In good light the consist passes's Cogload Junction on the approach to Taunton. (Photo: Jamie Waters) |
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We all forget that in this day of modern clean diesel engines that smoke (or 'clag') emitting from the exhaust of a HST powercar was once a perfectly common sight. In the modern age it's very much a sign that GWR powercar No.43146 may well be taking a visit to Laira depot very shortly for some attention to its MTU power unit. No.43146 is pictured departing Taunton working the 1U03 07:00 London Paddington - Paignton service. (Photo: Thomas Courtney) |
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Easter Monday provided a mid afternoon Network Rail engineering train returning to Westbury. Running two hours behind schedule Class 66/5 No.66596 leads the 6Y56 13:03 North Somerset Junction - Westbury via Taunton. Class 66 No.66/5 66520 was coupled to the rear, pictured here at Cogload Junction heading to Taunton. (Photo: Simon Harling) |
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Having run round in Fairwater Yard, Taunton. Class 66/5 No.66520 powers the 6Y56 along the Somerset Levels towards Westbury with its rake of empty mixed wagons in tow. (Photo: Simon Harling) |
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GWR's latest 3-car Class 150/9 numbered No.150916 (52216 57212 57216) reversed in Taunton ready to work the 2U26 17:06 Taunton to Cardiff Central on the 17th April 2017. The rouge centre car No.57212 was previously sandwiched in 150926 which has now revered back to 150126. (Photo: Nathan Williamson) |
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We are pleased to announce a second batch of previously unseen 1940's / 50's images from Taunton have now been added to the Archive Steam page. We apologize for the delay in getting these images online. These images have taken a considerable while longer to repair and return to a viewable condition, with several other projects having taken priority. Three of the images now uploaded took over ten hours to repair. Removing dust, scratches, discoloration, and grime accumulated in the past fifty or so years. The information shown in the captions is currently all the information we have researched and will be updated if more accurate or confirmed information is able to be confirmed in due course. Why not have a look at our STEAM ARCHIVE page and take a look at these unqiuely historic images. |
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In addition to our Archive Steam page we have also featured several footplate crew images on our Staff Pictorial page. We have no current details of who these crew members may be (no doubt they would of been known at Taunton), however if future information is supplied then we will of course keep the captions up to date for the sake of ensuring the future history is correct. |
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Aggregate Industries liveried Class 59/0 No.59004 'Paul A Hammond' added a splash of colour to April making an appearance on the Exeter Riverside stone contract. The clean locomotive is seen hauling the empties up Whiteball Bank on the 10th April returning to Westbury. (Photo: Simon Harling) |
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Sunday 9th April provided a day of summer sunshine and temperatures providing ideal conditions to record engineers trains returning to Westbury from Bath. This image captured Class 70 No.70806 working the 6C23 15:12 Bristol East Junction to Westbury via Taunton, while Great Western HST No.43168 rounds the curve from London Paddington. (Photo: Wayne Potter) |
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Newly delivered to Colas Rail Freight Class 70/8 No.70811 with load 15 passes West Lyng returning from Bath with the 6C25 11:18 Bristol East Junction to Westbury via Taunton. (Photo: S A Ginn) |
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Having just run round in Fairwater Yard at Taunton, Colas Rail Freight Class 70/8 No. hauls a rake of Network Rail Autoballasters north passing Cogload Junction working the 6C27 08:55 Bristol East Junction to Westbury. (Photo: Darren Harris) |
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GWR powercar No.43127 provides another splash of colour passing Cogload Junction wearing 'BRISTOL 2015 'European Green Capital' colour's assisted at the rear by 43131 passes Cogload Junction on Sunday 9th April 2017 with 1C76 London Paddington to Plymouth. (Photo: S A Ginn) |
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Saturday 8th April provided stunning spring day and a procession of trains heading to a weekend blockade between Bristol and Bath. Colas Rail Freight rolled out their newly delivered locos into service. Having been in the country for less than a month Class 70/8 No.70812 passes Bathpool hauling the 6C25 12:27 Westbury - Bristol East Junction running around 20 minutes behind schedule. The train set off a hot axle box detector (which turned out to be hot brakes) at Bruton and was delayed while the train was inspected. (Photo: Lee Robbins) |
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Having been in the country for less than a week, Colas 'newbies' Class 70 No.70811 and No.70813 teamed up to operate the 6C26 11:23 Hinksey Yard to Bristol East Junction via Taunton loaded with new sleepers. The pair round the classic bend at Cogload Junction nearing Taunton. (Photo: Brian Garrett) |
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Looking resplendent in their fresh paint Class 70's No.70811 and No.70813 arrive into Taunton with the 6C26 11:23 Hinksey Yard to Bristol East Junction via Fairwater Yard. The train conveyed new sleepers to be laid at the worksite near Bath.Just several weeks earlier the two locomotives were on the GE test track in America being prepared after being built. 70817 has been the most recent locomotive to have been seen operating in the USA. (Photo: Thomas Courtney) |
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GWR Class 150 No.150002 often operates between Cardiff and Taunton, on Saturday 8th April the newly refurbished unit passes Creech St Michael while working the 2C75 12:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton via Weston-super-Mare local stopping service. (Photo: Brian Garrett) |
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