West Country Class No. 34028 ‘Eddystone’ at Poole and Eastleigh

Southern Locomotives Limited’s West Country Class No. 34028 ‘Eddystone’ departed the Swanage Railway following a brief stay to head off to Southall Depot.

‘Eddystone’ travelled tender first to Eastleigh where she ran around two support coaches before departing towards Southall smokebox first.

I positioned myself on the country end of platform one at Eastleigh and if anything was going to get in my way of viewing No. 34028, it did! You win some, you lose some – 08/04/2026

Dorset Engineering Trains at night – April 2026

I love seeing late night engineers trains.

This month, we had two examples visiting East Dorset timed especially for night owls! First up we saw DB Cargo Class 66 No. 66131 working 6N75 2253 Eastleigh East Yard to New Milton at Bournemouth running 20 minutes late. The locomotive ran around its ballast hoppers before heading back towards the work zone – 10/04/2026

A few days later we enjoyed an outing to Christchurch and Bournemouth to see GBRf Class 66 No.’s 66712 ‘Peterborough Power Signalbox’ + 66738 ‘Huddersfield Town’ top and tail 6X12 2207 Eastleigh East Yard to Pokesdown via Romsey – Salisbury – Romsey with reversals at Redbridge and Bournemouth.

The consist included Network Rail’s Kirow KRC1200UK Heavy Duty Diesel Hydraulic Crane No. 99 70 9319 013-7. Kirow 1200 cranes are versatile, which makes them great for track, bridge and lineside infrastructure installations, and breakdown and recovery.

The train was running 25 minutes behind time at Christchurch due to the late running of the preceding SWR service 1Z89 0105 Brockenhurst to Poole which was delayed by passengers causing a disturbance – 12/04/2026

Dorset Test Trains – April 2026

A compilation of test trains seen on Dorset metals in April 2026:

Test train 1Q23 0553 Reading to Salisbury top and tailed by Colas Class 43 No.’s 43277 ‘Safety Task Force’ + 43257 passing Sherborne on Thursday 2nd April 2026.

GBRf Class 73/9 No.’s 73964 ‘Jeanette’ + 73961 ‘Alison’ passing through Poole on the regular PLPR Test Train 1Q51 1150 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Woking Up Yard Sidings may run on Easter Monday, April 6th 2026.

Colas Class 43 power cars No.’s 43301 and 43321 are seen at Maiden Newton and Dorchester West working the PLPR test train 1Q22 0805 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Bristol Kingsland Road on 15th April 2026.

With thanks to Gerry Barrett for additional material used in this video.

Class 68 Mega Move – six ex-Chiltern Cats head to Eastleigh

Unbranded ex-Chiltern liveried Class 68 No. 68010 leads with 68013, 68014, 68015, 68012 and 68011 working 6Z68 0800 Crewe Coal Sidings (DRS) to Eastleigh TRSMD where it’s believed they will be put into storage – 27/04/2026

Thanks for reading! We’ll be back again with more of Yoshi’s adventures – be seeing you!