5. A trip to Bath Spa-14.05.77

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1977 > 5. A trip to Bath Spa-14.05.77

I am not at all sure why I ventured to Bath on this Saturday afternoon. My records appear to show that I took the train home to Avoncliff so I either got a lift there from my mum or took the 264 bus.

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Images 1-6 of 6 displayed.

P576, unidentified Bristol Temple Meads-Weymouth, Bradford-on-Avon station
A visitor to Bradford-on-Avon. We were used to Cardiff and Bristol-based DMUs in our neck of the woods so the arrival of a Plymouth unit was a bit more unusual. P576 was a Class 119 three-car unit and is seen entering a sunny Bradford-on-Avon with an unidentified Weymouth working. Note the Ben Chairs delivery lorry parked in the station car park. This company manufactured dining room and office chairs in nearby Frome. Today, these chairs can be found for sale at quite extraordinary prices.
Keywords: Bradford-on-Avon Class 119 DMU P576

50027, unidentified up diversion, Bradford-on-Avon station
The up platform at Bradford-on-Avon was controlled by a sole colour light (BJ102). This was, in fact, a very distant-distant from Bradford Junction signal box some three miles away. If a through train was due, BJ102 would show green and remain so for some length of time prior to the arrival of the train. I believe that the green was given after the train had passed over Bathampton Junction but I could be wrong? Us spotters would all get very excited if this happened as it heralded the arrival of something unusual. Our eyes would be peeled looking up the one mile or so of straight track west of Bradford-on-Avon in anticipation of what was coming! On this particular morning, this event heralded the passing of an up diversion to London Paddington headed by 50027. I had to go for these more head-on shots to avoid the plague of motion blur as the Exa camera had a maximum shutter speed of 1/150 sec. However, my timing was not always spot-on as demonstrated by the shadow cast by the footbridge! In recent years, rampant tree growth has altered this viewpoint considerably, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/29201867204/x150238-13-10-weymouth-gloucester
Keywords: 50027 Bradford-on-Avon station Paddington

Class 47, unidentified up diversion, Bradford-on-Avon station
With passengers gathering the platform end colour light (BJ102) turned green. After a wait, this unidentified Class 47 passed through Bradford-on-Avon station with an unidentified working. There were GWML diversions this morning so it could have been a London Paddington working. But, that it had a uniform rake of Mk.1 stock, probably meant it was heading somewhere else, perhaps a summer Saturday special to Weymouth? Notice the ex-GWR wooden board hanging under the footbridge, I wonder where that ended up when it was removed in favour of some corporate image monstrosity? Also of note are the three cars in the adjacent car park. There's a nice Scimitar GTE (as the Princess Anne used to drive), a Morris Marina and Capri in a rather fetching shade of green!
Keywords: Bradford-on-Avon station class 47 Brush Type 4

31240, unidentified Portsmouth Harbour-Bristol Temple Meads working, Bath Spa station
The blue sky and fine weather from earlier have given way to some very heavy showers. 31240 waits under rain leaden skies with a Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads working at Bath Spa. 31240 was not a local locomotive to the West Country, so I expect that's why I thought it worthy of a picture.
Keywords: 31240 Portsmouth Harbour-Bristol Temple Meads working Bath Spa station

31117, unidentified Bristol Temple Meads-Portsmouth Harbour working, Bath Spa station
With the afternoon rain clearing 31117 is seen arriving at Bath Spa with the 17.15 Bristol Temple Meads-Portsmouth Harbour. I remember that this caused some excitement as a 'toffee apple' or 'skinhead' Class 31 were rare visitors to the Bristol area. I particularly like the lighting in this shot. It breaks all the rules by looking into the light but the reflections and contrast that make it a cut above the others I was taking at this time on the Exa camera. I took this train from Bath back home to Bradford-on-Avon.
Keywords: 31117 Bristol Temple Meads-Portsmouth Harbour Bath Spa station Toffee Apple Skinhead

253012, stabled, Bathampton loop
A grab shot that gets no marks for its technical aspects or for its composition! However, it's a bit of a rarity so I have included it. It was taken from the droplight of the train that I was on travelling from Bath Spa to Bradford-on-Avon. As we approached Bathampton Junction I became aware of an HST in the up loop. This event was prompted because of the closure of the GWML due to an earth slip at Christian Malford between Chippenham and Swindon. BR put an emergency timetable in place so Bath passengers were not left stranded. HSTs worked to and from Paddington via the South Wales route from Swindon heading south to Bristol and Weston-Super-Mare from Stoke Gifford Junction. Some services were reversed at Temple Meads and then headed the short distance to Bath. After the passengers disembarked, the train ran ECS to Bathampton Junction for a short layover in the loop. They then returned to Bath, picked up passengers, proceeded to Bristol and then reversed again for the journey back to Paddington via the South Wales route again. Here, set 253012 is seen in the loop ready to form what is believed to be the 18.25 Bath-London Paddington (via Bristol Temple Meads (reversal) and Bristol Parkway). Thanks to Kevin Daniel for providing this information.
Keywords: 253012 Bathampton loop HST

Images 1-6 of 6 displayed.