D1015 Western Champion Visits Rare Territory!

In this video we capture the rare visit of Class 52 Western D1015 Western Champion bringing HNRC Class 20s 20302 & 20311 from Eastleigh Arlington to Barrow Hill LIP 14th May 2024 after spending the weekend at the Swanage Railways Diesel Gala.
Prior to Eastleigh D1015, 20302 & 20311 would also be joined by Class 50s 50021 Rodney & 50026 Indomitable (Which unfortunately derailed at Corfe Castle that weekend!) from Swanage to Eastleigh before the Western & Choppers made their journey north.
We first see D1015 passing Alfreton whilst an EMR Liverpool Lime Street to Nottingham service thankfully clears the platform, with the Western not making much noise this almost caught me out!
We then see the Western gently powering away from Chesterfield at Tapton as the three locos make their way on the final stretch to Barrow Hill whilst prior to this the convoy made a quick stop at Chesterfield South Junction to allow a Northern Leeds to Nottingham service cross in front of them.
After this was capture the Wizzo returning light engine through platform 2 after crossing onto the Midland Mainline making her way from Barrow Hill LIP to Burton Ot Wetmore Sidings to spend the night there before returning home to Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway. Unfortunately due to being 8 mins early we were bowled by an EMR Meridian on a London St Pancras to Sheffield service but thankfully we managed to capture the Western as it gently powered through.
We then move onto a bonus clip from prior to seeing the rare visitor we see Class 56s 56103 & 56098 storming their way passed Tupton away from Chesterfield on a DCR freight service from Tyne SS to Humberstone Road.
Overall some rather tame performances from the Western but with a light load such as a pair of Class 20s, it's an elephant pulling to mice really and was sort of expected nonetheless it's fantastic to see her back on the mainline in Derbyshire for the first time in 7 and a half years and we hope to see her again sometime this year!
And as for the 56s, it was also great to see them making some good noise and they were certainly my highlight of the day. It was especially great seeing 56103 for the first time since 2019 and to also see 56098 still going strong after The GBRF Class 56 Farewell Tour last January!
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[@SimonTog]

Good video :)

[@RailView_YT]

Thanks Simon :)
Cameron