The Wessex Snow & Ice Train continued to make regular appearances into Dorset during February 2025. The motive power for the workings in the early part of the month were in the care of GBRf Class 66 No.’s 66714 ‘Cromer Lifeboat’ & 66768 ‘Yvonne Bradley’. We captured several of the runs at various locations including Poole and Weymouth as seen in the video below:
10/02/2025 –
The regular plain line pattern recognition (PLPR) train ran to Weymouth via the South West Main Line on Monday 10th February 2025 reporting as 1Q51 1115 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Eastleigh East Yard top and tailed by GBRf Class 73/9 No.’s 73961 ‘Alison’ & 73962 ‘Dick Mabbutt’. We saw the late running train passing through Poole. PLPR uses a series of lasers and cameras to detect faulty track components as the train passes over them
11/02/2025 –
We visited Eastleigh briefly during the morning of Tuesday 11th for an hour or so of watching trains – this has been distilled into twenty minutes for your delectation:
In the afternoon, I was in Poole where GBRf Class 66 No. 66710 ‘Phil Packer’ reversed working 0Y70 1432 Eastleigh East Yard to Eastleigh East Yard.
12/02/2025
The following day it was the turn of GBRf Class 66 No. 66720 ‘Wascosa’ to make it as far as Poole working 0Y70 1432 Eastleigh East Yard to Eastleigh East Yard. This, and the previous days trip, was to provide a driver transferring from passenger to freight to get hours under his belt on a locomotive
Earlier on in the day, I spent some time filming trains around the Westbury area, including freight hauled by Class 59 / Class 70 and Class 60 locomotives
14/02/2025 –
The Snow & Ice Train (SITT) made a return to Dorset on 14th February 2025 with an after dark run this time featuring GBRf Class 66 No.’s 66720 ‘Wascosa’ & 66776 ‘Joanne’ reversing at Poole instead of the scheduled Dorchester South following an incident at Woodsford level crossing between Wool and Dorchester. Reporting as 3Y89 2215 Totton Yard to Totton Yard
15/02/2025 –
DB Cargo Class 66 No. 66124 arrived at Bournemouth in the early hours with engineers train 6N02 0032 Eastleigh East Yard to Christchurch before running around its wagons and departing back east for the work site
February 2025 boasted two test trains featuring Class 37 locomotives running to Weymouth via the “Heart of Wessex Line” on two consecutive days. First up were No.’s 37402 & 37610 with the Plain Line Pattern Recognition (PLPR) train reporting as 1Q22 0745 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Bristol Kingsland Road on Wednesday 19th February, while the following day – Thursday 20th February- produced No. 37219 with DBSO No. 9702 working the Ultrasonic Test Unit 3Q14 1113 Westbury Down T.C. to Westbury Down T.C.
28/02/2025 –
On the last day of February 2025, I popped over the county border to Somerset to catch up with friend of this blog @smithy.377 and see 30 seconds worth of two Class 37’s with barrier coaches returning to Derby after they had delivered a Class 175 Diesel Multiple Unit to Plymouth Laira earlier in the day. The video shows No’s 37423 and 37901 ‘Mirrlees Pioneer’ storming through Highbridge & Burnham working 5M57 0954 Laira T.& R.S.M.D. to Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail)
Later, the final Wessex Snow & Ice Treatment Train of February 2025 passed Poole top and tailed by GBRf Class 66 No.’s 66776 ‘Joanne’ and 66720 ‘Wascosa’ just before midnight
Thank you for reading – the best way to keep up to date with our latest videos is via the Railway Dog YouTube Channel – why not subscribe today! Or you can catch random witterings and photos via the Railway Dog Facebook group. Be Seeing You!