Railtours
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Bahamas and Mayflower to head Steam Dreams’ fourday Cornish railtour
DOUBLE-CHIMNEY‘Jubilee’ No. 45596 Bahamas is to pair up with‘B1’No. 61306 Mayflower on Steam Dreams’four-day excursion to Devon and Cornwall from the September 28 to October 1.
Day one of the tour, which was postponed from last year, will take the two 4-6-0s over the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington to Taunton and on to Exeter for a short break. Upon resumption the train will take in the famous Dawlish sea wall as it heads towards Plymouth and the Cornish border, with Penzance being the ultimate destination.
Nos. 45596 and 61306 get to rest during the next day, which is given over to leisure with some optional day trips, including a visit to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. However, both will be back in action on day three (September 30) as they top-and-tail an optional excursion from Par to Plymouth and back.
Homeward
The final day will see the 4-6-0s double-heading once again on the homeward leg, retracing the outbound route to Paddington.
The tour will see Bahamas make a welcome return to London, its home for two years between 1937 and 1939. It has never worked a railtour in or out of the capital in the preservation era, and was a rare visitor even in BR days as it was allocated to North West sheds such as Crewe, Edge Hill and Stockport Edgeley.