Daily Archives: Friday, December 18, 2020

  • DIESELGEN 17-Dec-20

    Class 33 D6575 (33 057) is ready to depart from Williton with the return leg of the first SANTA EXPRESS of the 2020 season on 12DEC20. Webcam image (c) by Railcam UK and the WSR

    Following the success of last weekend, our Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) is going to be in action again on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th December and again on 22nd – 24th December in support of the WSR’s “Santa Express” workings between Bishops Lydeard (BL) and Williton (WN).

    The “Santa Express” is steam-hauled but the Covid-19 precautions have introduced a strict requirement for all services to run to time, to ensure that the guests from one service are clear of the station before the guests for the next service arrive.

    D6575 will be coupled up to the rear of the train on departure from BL to provide assistance on the climbs to Crowcombe Heathfield. This will be a risk mitigation measure to ensure good timekeeping on the first service of the day, when railhead conditions could be at their worst. The diesel will come off when the train returns to BL and will spend the rest of the day on shed at BL, on standby.

    These services have been well patronised and it is great to see the results of so much work coming to fruition. Only a small number of seats remain available to book – follow this link :

    https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/events/detail/santa-express

    Well done to the volunteers and staff of the WSR family for making this return to service a reality. Have a happy Christmas !

    The booked movements (steam and diesel) are:

         1100 BL arriving WN 1135 (dep. BL 1000 on 24-Dec)

         1150 WN arriving BL 1222

    Note that services may leave BL early if all of the pre-booked guests are on board.

    The remaining steam-hauled (unassisted) services are:

         1345 BL arriving WN 1420 (dep. BL 1225 on 24 Dec)

         1440 WN arriving BL 1512

    and

         1630 BL arriving WN 1705 (dep. BL 1450 on 24 Dec)

         1725 WN arriving BL 1757

    Please note that the stations are closed to the public (except where pre-booked) and trespassing is not allowed. During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the best way to view these workings is via the webcams at BL and WN.

    BL: http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-bl2.htm

    WN: http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-wn2.htm

    Many thanks to Railcam UK and the WSR for providing these webcam services.

    Take care and stay safe!