61306 Mayflower shines up Saunderton & Hatton banks | Steam Dreams Oxford Excursions - 27.05.23

Описание: Working her first steam dreams duty since being aquired by Locomotive Services Group, 61306 Mayflower took charge of two excursions around Oxford.

The first trip, running from London Paddington to Oxford via the Chiltern mainline, is seen charging up the 1 in 164 climb to Saunderton, timing well with a Chiltern Railways service on the other platform, and being slightly drowned out by some nearby roadworks. After dropping off her passengers from London, the B1 would then haul a seperate Oxford circular excursion. This was originally due to head towards London, but because of the line between Oxford and Didcot still being closed due to repairs being needed at Nuneham Viaduct, the train instead headed to Dorridge (via Bicester South Jn in order for the B1 to lead towards Dorridge), where the train would then reverse to Hatton West Jn, giving the B1 back control for the run back to Oxford.

With that in mind, the B1 is firstly seen tackling Hatton bank, captured from the bridge at Hatton North Jn, followed by Leamington Spa, as Mayflower climbs her train up the hill through the Up Main. Finally, the B1 is seen departing Banbury after a water stop heading back to Oxford.

Although it would've been possible to see the return journey to London, the line closure between Didcot and Oxford resulted in the train needing to travel back to Banbury in order for Mayflower to lead back to Paddington via the Chiltern mainline, rather than run directly on the GWR. The reroute also resulted in the train not leaving Oxford until 8pm, so I chose to give that run a miss. Nonetheless, I was more than happy with what I'd captured in the glorious sunshine that lasted throughout the day, and it was nice to see Mayflower back on Steam Dreams duties.

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