The Shakespeare Express would see three extended runs this year, with trains starting from Derby, Worcester and Leicester. Today’s train originated at Worcester Shrub Hill. This would run via the notorious 1 in 37.7 Lickey Incline and Birmingham New Steeet rather than a more direct route through Stourbridge and Birmingham Snow Hill. This is due to the GWR castles being prohibited from Platform 2 at Stourbridge and Platform 1 at Old Hill.
Once again I travelled to Vigo bridge to capture a shot of 5043 working hard with the assistance of the class 47 on the rear. The train lost some time at Droitwich which gave us hope of a clear run to have a proper run at the bank, this all fell into place when it was routed via platform 2 rather than its 10 minute scheduled stop in Platform 1. The Castle began its ascent of the 2 mile climb with no noise picked up on the camera as she came under the bridge at the bottom of the incline , but it wasn’t long until the familiar 4 cylinder beat of the castle could be heard digging into the climb.
After the castle passed a scramble to Widney Manor allowed us to overtake for a second shot. 5043 could be heard hammering through Solihull before shutting off on the approach to Widney Manor. No surprise here as the Castles are also prohibited from Platform 1 at Dorridge.
We then moved to Solihull for a ‘speed’ shot which didn’t disappoint. After Solihull we decided on heading to Droitwich Spa, the service train was able to catch up to 5043 at Moor Street which meant we could grab a bonus shot of the run round.
The final shot was at a foot crossing at Droitwich Spa, close to the site of the former Fernhill Heath station.
Always a good local steam train to see and travel on. For anyone wanting to travel on the Shakespeare Express visit Www.vintagetrains.co.uk
Filmed in 4K
30/6/24
16 окт 2024
