The Railway Dog

April 2025 Round-Up

Written by

Yoshi

in

Yoshi had a walk along a section of the “Strawberry Line” which was a rural railway linking Yatton to Cheddar and Wells, opening in 1869. The last passenger train ran along the route in September 1963 with freight services continuing for a few more years before the final axe fell – 01/04/2025

We kicked off April with a trip to Somerset to see the nuclear flask train and met up with friend of this blog @smithy.377 (don’t forget to check out his Instagram page!). On the way, Yoshi and I saw GBRf Class 60 No. 60096 ‘Skiddaw’ thundering through Trowbridge at the head of 6Z52 0704 Tytherington to Quainton Railhead – 01/04/2025

This was followed by a visit to Yatton to capture the Bridgwater flasks operated by Direct Rail Services (DRS0 Class 68 No. 68007 ‘Valiant’ and Class 88 No. 88008 ‘Ariadne’ top and tailing 6M63 1200 Bridgwater F.D to Crewe Coal Sidings (DRS) – 01/04/2025

GBRf Class 69 No. 69008 ‘Richard Howe’ snuck into the far end of Bournemouth platform 3 working 0Z69 1255 Eastleigh East Yard to Eastleigh East Yard. This mirrored a similar working which took place the previous week – 03/04/2025

GBRf Class 73/9 No.’s 73963 ‘Janice’ and 73962 ‘Dick Mabbutt’ passing Poole with the monthly Plain Line Pattern Recognition (PLPR) Test Train 1Q51 1115 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Eastleigh East Yard via Weymouth – 07/04/2025

Yoshi took time out for a trip to North Dorset on 8th April to see Loram Class 37 No. 37418 ‘An Comunn Gaidhealach’ leading inspection saloon No. 975025 ‘Caroline’ into Gillingham working 2Z32 1035 Exeter St Davids to Guildford U.C.H.S. – 08/04/2025

Yoshi poses with Loram Class 37 No. 37418 ‘An Comunn Gaidhealach’ at the head of inspection saloon No. 975025 ‘Caroline’ at Gillingham reporting as 2Z32 1035 Exeter St Davids to Guildford U.C.H.S. – 08/04/2025
Yoshi with inspection saloon No. 975025 ‘Caroline’ at Gillingham – 08/04/2025

Class 66 shenanigans around the witching hour at Dorchester West as Freightliner operated No.’s 66565 and 66563 passed through twice having reversed at Dorchester Junction with their train consisting of five HQA ballast hoppers reporting as 6Y91 2202 Westbury Down T.C. to Dorchester West – 9th/19th April 2025

Colas Rail Class 43 power cars No.’s 43272 & 43251 were in action once again on the Heart of Wessex line working the Plain Line Pattern Recognition (PLPR) test train to Weymouth, reporting as 1Q22 0710 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Bristol Kingsland Road. We saw the train at Maiden Newton and Bincombe – 23/04/2025

For The Record: A late test train addition to the schedules saw Colas Class 37 No. 37175 heading through North Dorset overnight 22nd/23rd April 2025 with the Ultrasonic Test Unit.

Over the final weekend of April, Key Model World Live took place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. Of particular interest to me was the display model of EFE’s forthcoming Class 74 OO scale model locomotive.

The Class 74 Electro-Diesel Locomotive is the next new tooling model to be developed for the EFE Range and a subject that has never before been produced as a mainstream ready to run model in OO Scale.
This class of ten locomotives was creating by rebuilding redundant Class 71 Electrics and whilst they operated for little more than a decade at most, their work was varied and spanned the early years of the popular BR Blue era making this new model a must for any Southern Region modeller depicting the period from the end of steam to the late-1970s – 26/04/2025
A Lego replica of the Forth Bridge, made from around 100,000 bricks, was on display at Model World Live. The 26ft (8m) long display features two working replica train tracks and was created by a team of four dedicated builders from the Lego UK railways group – 26/04/205
While I was passing through Birmingham New Street, I saw Class 20 No.’s 20007 + 20205 working “The Really Good Positiong Move” charter train 1Z38 Kings Norton Signal Sy522 to Stratford. Class 37 No. 37403 was at the other end – 26/04/2025

After a weekend spent in the West Midlands, we stopped off at Penkridge as I hoped to see a steam hauled train heading North. Unfortunately the assigned locomotive, LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 No. 45212 had failed at Bristol St Philip’s Marsh depot with a suspected hot axle box on the tender and “The Great Briton XVII: Day 3” was instead in the charge of West Coast Railways Class 57 No. 57314. However to sweeten the disappointment, we also saw Class 37 No. 37403 ‘Isle of Mull’ an hour after the Class 57, as it worked to Crewe.

WCRC Class 57 No. 57314 hauls “The Great Briton XVII: Day 3” 1Z20 0946 Cardiff Central to Carnforth on the approach to Penkridge – 28/04/2025
Class 37 No. 37403 ‘Isle of Mull’ at Penkridge working positioning move 1Z92 1007 Stratford (London) to Crewe. The locomotive is owned by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) – 28/04/2025
Usual traction for stopping trains at Penkridge are Class 350 Desiro electric multiple units operated by West Midlands Trains No. 350130 1G57 1433 Liverpool Lime Street to Birmingham New Street. Class 350 trains are nearly identical to those of South Western Railways’s Class 450. The latter class is only fitted with traction equipment for Southern Region 750 V DC third rail, whilst the Class 350/1 units can operate from either 25 kV 50 Hz AC OLE, as is done in regular service, or alternatively third rail – 28/04/2025

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!

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