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GBXV
 GB
Railfreight’s ‘GBRf 15’ charity train in September 2016 will almost
certainly be the railtour of the decade. The 2,220 mile four-day tour
featured an astonishing 19 locomotives and raised £125,000 for charity.
This cab ride DVD covers the first day of the tour – and what a day it
was. The 365-mile trip started at London Victoria with Railfreight-liveried
20118+20132 setting off for Fratton in Hampshire. 73128+73213 then
worked the train forward to Swanage before the two Class 20s headed back
to London via Poole, Southampton, Salisbury, Westbury and Reading. With
plenty of sunlit landscapes, a fascinating route and some serious
thrash, it made for the ultimate Class 20 WIRED FOR SOUND cab ride.
The complex route out of London is via Herne Hill, Tulse Hill,
Streatham and Tooting to Wimbledon. At Raynes Park, the 20s head to
Epsom and continue through the equally unfamiliar locations of
Leatherhead and Dorking. They then blast their way across the North
Downs to Horsham where they join the Mid-Sussex route through Pulborough
to Arundel Junction. From there, the journey continues along the West
Coastway route through Barnham and Chichester to Fratton. Our cameras
and microphones had a break while lineside footage shows 73128+73213
working the train forward to Swanage. We re-join the Class 20s in the
Dorset seaside town and head over the Swanage Railway and through the
Purbeck Hills past Corfe Castle to re-join the Weymouth to Bournemouth
main line at Worgret Junction. After Poole comes the day’s biggest
challenge as the two Class 20s - with load 11 and two dead 73s on the
back of the train - tackle the notorious 1 in 60 Parkstone bank. After
passing through Bournemouth there’s a scenic run through the New Forest
to the fascinating Southampton suburbs. From Eastleigh the wall-to-wall
sunshine eventually works against the camera so we skip that section and
resume the cab-ride from a standing start at Salisbury. There’s a lively
run to Wilton Junction where the train takes the delightful Wylye Valley
route through Bapton and Warminster to the freight hub of Westbury. The
20s are on full power again as they tackle yet more rare ‘Chopper’ track
- the Berks & Hants route. The sun eventually sets eighteen miles later
at Woodborough Loop. After a delightful lineside shot of the train at
Newbury, we see the nocturnal arrival at Reading from the cab. The
programme ends with the day’s most extraordinary track scratch – the
view from the cab of 73213 as it emerges from Gasworks tunnel into
King’s Cross station!
This is without doubt one of the best cab rides we have ever filmed.
In fact it was so good that we couldn’t pick the best leg of the day -
hence the programme is nearly three-and-a-half hours long!
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Programme Fact File
Narrator: David Maxey
First Published: 2016
Route Featured: Victoria - Leatherhead - Horsham - Fratton and Swanage -
Bournemouth - Westbury - Newbury - Reading - Kings Cross.
Class Featured: 20 and 73.
Availability: Now
Click here for ordering
details
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Other Locomaster Profiles Programmes featuring Class 20 motive power: 8x09,
Jet Set,
Power Hour, and the Traction
Series.
Other Locomaster Profiles Programmes featuring Class 73 motive power: Dover
& Out, Arcs
& Sparks, Harbour
Lights and Traction Series.
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