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Milford Junction & Leicester |
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| Pewsey
My local station is Pewsey on Railtrack
Western zone, with services operated by Great Western Trains to/from Paddington and
Plymouth & Penzance.
Pewsey station was built in 1862 by the Hants and Berks Extension Railway which sought to link the original limit of the Hants and Berks at Hungerford with railways in the Devizes area. A new through route to the west was created as a result, but did not form the existing route to Westbury which was built as a new link in 1900. The "New" line diverged at Stert, followed the line of the Greensand Edge near The Lavingtons and linked into Westbury to form the existing route to Exeter. The branch to Devizes closed in 1966. Pewsey retains it’s original buildings which are now in excellent condition following a complete refurbishment by Railtrack in the summer of 1998. The service from Pewsey had improved with a couple of extra trains during the day and the introduction of a 17:33 departure from Paddington which fills a long standing gap in the timetable. Whilst time keeping during 1998 was poor, reliability of the service was reasonable during 1999 and got reaaly good in 2000 until the recent rail crisis. The general unreliability of First Great Western HST fleet has seen the introduction of several spare sets of locomotive hauled coaching stock. The 21.15 to Paddington became a regular locomotive hauled service during the summer of 2000 along with the 14.33 ex Paddington and the Motorail servce. The Motorail service ran during the Summer timetable, passing Reading at 12.33 (down service) and at 18.10 (Up service) on a daily basis. FGW completed the refurbishment of a selection of MK2 stock including rare TSO(T) vehicles for daylight trains. The BSOs are characterised with a sealed gangway at the brake end and the Buffet car is a converted TSO(T) vehicle. Thames Trains operate from Bedwyn and still offer day returns to Reading on the early trains. The current fare is just under �8.00 on the 07:58 to Reading and Paddington. This service is usually operated with a Class 166. In addition to the regular procession of GWT HST sets, a fair volume of freight traffic passes Pewsey on any normal week day. Freight is dominated by high tonnage's of quarried stone from the Mendip quarries. Trains are hauled by GM Class 59s operated by Mendip Rail and occasionally by EWS Class 66s. ARC wagons are being repainted in blue / silver Hanson livery as of January 1999. Stone traffic from the Mendip quaries has picked up during the last few months with additional trains operating with Caib 2 axle hopper wagons (PGAs). Tiphook bogie hopper wagons are making an appearance on the service that passes at 12.30 approx. This is in addition to the former OBA and OAAs carrying blocks to Acton.
On some mornings, usually Wednesdays or Thursdays depending on operational requirements, the Robeston to Theale petroleum train passes Pewsey at 06.30 re-routed from the mainline through Swindon. Mondays produce the Dollands Moor - Exeter Connectrail service at 06.35 and return at 13.10 through Pewsey. This service runs as required on a weekly or fortnightly basis. It normally conveys new china clay covered hoppers and ferryvans behind Class 66s. Other interesting workings include ballast from Westbury at almost any time of the day which includes an engineers train around 18.00 (Up). A regular postal passes at 22.25 to Plymouth, Class 47/7 or 67 hauled. The scenic nature of the line makes it a favourite for charters, times are variable however.
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Kings Sutton OXON Kings Sutton is located just inside the Northamptonshire county boundary north of Aynho Junction on the Oxford / Banbury line. This location has a number of overbridges, the best of which may be found on an unclassified road north of Kings Sutton. The road runs between Kings Sutton and Banbury; one of the busiest side roads in the area.
The following photographs were taken from that overbrigde which has a narrow verge and no parking for 250 metres. It has a very low parapet making photography very easy. The location is hazardous because of the fast moving traffic. This is still regarded as the best photographic location in Northamptonshire and on this line. Photography is possible at all times of the day except 11.00 and 13.00 when the sun is in the wrong place. Passenger servies are
operated by:
Chiltern trains operate a fleet of Class 165 turbo units and a small fleet of superb Class 168 Club trains based on Turbostar technology. All services diverge from this line at Aynho Junction to access the Bicester line. Thames Trains operates between Reading and Paddington to Banbury and Stratford upon Avon. Thames Trains also use Turbo units, usually 90mph Class 166 Turbo sets. The 75mph Class 165s make the occaisonal trip to Banbury. EWS and Freightliner are regular users of this line. Freightliner have recently started using a Class 57 on the Lawley Street - Southampton which passes this location at 07:00 and Didcot at 08:10 and Reading West at 08:30. Other Freightliner trains include the Garston - Southampton passing at 08:00. Millbrook - Coatbridge passing at 16:30 and Coatbridge - Southamption at 14:20. One passes at 18:30 from Garston and at 19:00 from Southampton to Coatbridge. Additional trains can run and I have recorded trains at 11:00 and several between 16:30 and 18:00. Many Freighliner trains operated between Leamington Spa, Coventry and Nuneaton to access the WCML for the fast run to Crewe yard. The use of the pocket wagon for 9ft 6ins containers is intensive on this route. The pocket wagons are usually marshalled at one end of the train. EWS services are varied. A favourite of mine is the Newport - Rugby coal working for Rugby Cement. Runs as required Monday to Friday. Passing time at Kings Sutton is typically 18:30 just after the Eastliegh - Warrington Enterprise (conveys MOD traffic).
Other trains to look out for is the morning Fenny Compton - Didcot Yard MoD service, passing at 10:00. This can be a light engine on days when there is no return traffic. The Fawley - Washwood Heath LPG train was retimed to run later in the evening during 1998. This passes after dark and cannot be easily photographed. Finally, the Cube trains from Swindon operate on a regular basis: 11:25, 16:30 and 22:50 are typical times that I have observed them. Times and trains do change frequently. Be aware of Rover's holiday periods when the plants close down and trains do not run. About this
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