22. Spring break in Frome-06-11.05.21

A leisurely journey from home to Somerset found us stopping off twice. Once for afternoon tea and a walk around Bradford-on-Avon and secondly for me to cop a mysterious former signal box that I spotted passing on the train a month ago.

Revisiting another of my old haunts found me around Fairwood Junction just to the west of Westbury. I cannot remember the last time I was actually at the junction but it is getting on for forty years ago! It was interesting that I noticed what I believed to be the beginning of the Class 800 Azuma/IET debacle unfolding as all up trains were suddenly passing at a reduced speed and all arriving late by about the same amount of time. I wondered if the cracking issue has been identified and that instructions were passed to drivers via their GSMR 'phones with them being told to reduce speed. This was, of course, about ten hours prior to all the sets being taken ignominiously out of service and it being splashed across the media; what a shambles!

A foul day with pretty relentless rain found my wife and I heading for Bath by train from Frome courtesy of GWR. We found Bath station eerily quiet due to the complete cancellation of all of their London services operated by Class 800 IETs. This action was taken the previous night with no warning due to cracks found in the aluminium underframes that lead to every set having to be examined and repaired as appropriate; anyone fancy a trip on an HST?

A morning birthday walk into Frome found me passing the freight line that leads to Whatley quarry just as a loaded stone train was about to pass.

On our journey home I persuaded my wife to allow us to take a break so that I could capture a couple of the emergency timetable workings laid on by Great Western following the withdrawal of their Class 800s for safety checks. We stopped off just east of Corsham near Thingley Junction where I photographed a CrossCountry HST and Voyager undertaking shuttle services between Bristol and Swindon.