AFTER a gap of many years, a ‘Western’ hydraulic will return to the main line on September 25, when No. D1015 Western Champion will head a Pathfinder railtour – and over its old stamping ground, too.
One of seven survivors of a class of 74 locos built between 1961 and 1964, Western Champion is owned by the Diesel Traction Group (DTG) and based at the Severn Valley Railway, and first ran on the main line in preservation in 2002.
This new tour will feature Western Champion in blue livery, hauling the ‘Champion Torbay Express’ from Gloucester to Kingswear.
The train starts at Eastleigh (c06.00) and will call at Basingstoke, Reading West, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse and Gloucester, where the ‘Western’ will take over the train, which will make one final call at Bristol Parkway.