LSL Wales and South West Explorer

Seems 45231 top and tail with 20107 for today's Crewe - Carmarthen trip.

 

Live stream video showed 45231 at Nantwich with the twenty behind and load nine on YouTube.

 

Only saw the rear of the train from Crewe Railcam. No loco on the rear. Smoke from the front as it left. Presumably the Cl20 is tucked behind the 5. Answered my question Steve!!

 

Better still the 20 isn’t even turned on! No distinctive whine at all... 45231 making the much missed sound over the lockdown period. Could be heard for miles at both Wem and along the Marches. If only we could’ve gone into Wales...

 

Seen leaving Shrewsbury

 

Leaving Dolau, in glorious Spring sunshine. Plenty of people turned out to see this one.

 

Pausing at Llandrindod.

 

Leaving Salop...

 

Climbing past Quaking Well.........





Cheerz,

Alan

 

I note that an up service has been delayed due to trespass https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G96586/2021-04-02/detailed
EDIT-Driver had near miss and refused to take train forward due to number of onlookers for steam train in vicinity involved.

thus making this operation 22 late southbound https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U91171/2021-04-02/detailed#allox_id=0

and now the whole job is stopped south of Llandeilo due to a fault reported as a wheel flat on the loco-EDIT- loco declared failed and to be removed and put in Llandeilo siding. And EDIT #2 refer to first part of post, service terminated at Llandeilo compounding recovery of special.

 

What a shame, was a delight to see today.
Really can't get my head around the need for people to stray onto the line, can only think with the Head of Wales being closed for a significant part of the last year people had got used to no trains.
The number of people at Llandrindod was astounding and there were 6 cars at the isolated foot crossing I went to outside Dolau - given this was an unadvertised special working the Internet must have gone into overdrive.

 

It's sad to say the trespassers were reported to be enthusiasts so would have had the gen and might have known better than to trespass and in a cruel twist of irony got sweet SFA for their outing anyway.

 

As well as 2M10, it looks like 2V10 & 2M12 were also partially cancelled due to trespass.

 

Can see quite a number collected on the easily accessible bridge in the distance on my vid. To be fair though, that number isn't unusual for there - especially on a public holiday.
I didn't fancy the limited parking and squashing up for the limited angle of view on the assumption it would be like that, so had a 3 mile walk across the fields to the foot crossing, where I was on my own

...a friend was on his own at Dorrington.

How does one identify someone as 'an enthusiast' as opposed to an opportunist?
Is the simple fact that they've bothered to go out to see it go past mean they get identified as such by others?

....of course I rather suspect the people concerned were what would be considered enthusiasts, but it is an interesting thought as to how far someone has to go to be 'an enthusiast', and would non-enthusiasts be lumped in with enthusiasts if they just happened to be stood together?

My manager's house is about hundred yards away from the line. Given that he's had to keep the children occupied around the house for a while now I let him know if he took them for a walk to the footbridge at the end of his road at the right time then they'd get to see a steamy train go past. I've never told him about workings before and I don't believe he's gone out to see anything previously either, but does the fact that he took the children to stand on a footbridge today suddenly mean others would refer to him as 'an enthusiast'?

 

Certainly the majority in Llandrindod were non enthusiasts, many had turned out to see the 'Hogwarts Express!' This working had done the rounds of Facebook a couple of days beforehand locally, so many families had turned up.

Whilst busy, all were well behaved.

There really isn't any excuse for ANYONE straying onto the line and I can only feel for those drivers involved.

 

With respect that's a discussion done and dusted before which I'm not going to involve myself in.

 

Eh?
Alan reported that Llandrindod was heaving and there were 6 cars at the remote foot crossing he was at. I simply agreed and pointed out the number of people you could see on the accessible bridge in my footage (which is normal for there) and that as I didn't fancy joining what is usually a crowd there, I'd gone to a foot crossing that's slightly harder to reach where I was alone (follow the footpath along and it's about a 5 minute walk back to where the cars are parked for those on the bridge - they preferred the easy option rather than walking a bit further). I also commented someone else I know was parked at Dorrington where they were on their own.

For a discussion that you claim is "done and dusted before", you were the one to actually raise comment on the number of people who were out and about today:

I didn't see anybody trespassing on railway property, and Alan didn't comment on seeing trespassers either - but we're both responding to your post and simply confirming our own experiences that we have seen a lot of people out today.

 

There's a report on a Facebook group, looks like a screenshot of a control log, saying the driver was unfit to continue after seeing two men standing in the four four with their backs to his train.

 

Before this afternoons problems 45231 and 20107 are seen climbing passed Bayston Hill soon after departing Shrewsbury.

 

20's engine was running as train left Crewe.