CASTLES TO THE COAST! 7029 Clun Castle + 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, 20142 & 20189 on the Mayflower

An absolutely fantastic day chasing Vintage Trains ‘Mayflower’ excursion down into Devon today!
Proudly double headed by Great Western Castles 7029 ‘Clun Castle’ and 5043 ‘Earl of Mount Edgcumbe’, these steam locomotives working over their old stomping ground conquering the Devon banks unassisted provided a real draw for enthusiasts!
The sequence begins with some bonus footage from ‪@Rail125‬ who captured the 20s leaving the SVR on Thursday and ventured out early Friday morning to catch them at Worcestershire Parkway as they headed the 1Z20 Birmingham New Street - Plymouth, where they would hand over to the Castles at Bristol Temple Meads.
Myself and ‪@southwalestrainspotting5090‬ pick up the action and captured the tour further down in the South West, beginning at Taunton where, following platform alterations at Bristol Temple Meads, the Castles passed non stop through Taunton instead of stopping for their booked pathing stop, with Class 20s 20142 ‘Sir John Betjeman’ and 20189 in hot pursuit.
We ventured further down into Devon, overtaking the double headed Castles who were watering at Tiverton Loop, and pitched up along the infamous Dawlish Sea Wall as the pair steamed along the iconic seascape, heading further into Devon and Cornwall.
With a few hours to kill before the return run, we headed across to the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway, who had their own GWR Manor 7827 ‘Lydham Manor’ in action on the heritage services, before leaving Paignton and setting up at Cockwood Harbour near Starcross.
A GMSR fault on the network led to sites like Tracksy, Railcam and Realtime Trains not reporting accurate return times or locations so some excitement built guessing when they had left Plymouth and where they were, and before long they appeared speeding past looking resplendent in the evening sunshine, with the 20s following close behind through Starcross!
We had a short opportunity to get ahead while the locomotives were watered at Exeter St David’s allowing us to get up close to the pair, before getting further up the line to catch their arrival into Bristol Temple Meads as the steam handed back over to the diesel traction and the Class 20s took charge to return the railtour to Birmingham New Street, bringing to a close a cracking day of action! | 27.09.2024
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