This tour was quite incredible, not only for what it delivered to the participants but because it actually ran at all. It was a testament to the tenacity of the organisers, affectionately called 'The Three Amigos' (Kev Adlam, Jerry Dickinson and Sir Mark Bridel), that we enjoyed a weekend of tours. They appeared thwarted at every turn, especially on stock availability but they never gave up and so here we were raising money for an excellent charity - Martin House Children's Hospice - while having spades of fun in the process.

It's not often that a railtour starts after 9am, so the 09.21 first departure was viewed by many as a rare treat. I assume it also allowed those who joined later on to travel off peak, important on a weekday.

It seems to have rained every day this year, so it was no surprise that it was a gloomy morning but that gloom wasn't reflected in the spirits of the gathered tour participants for this fully booked tour, especially given the Gen on what was to follow. Our industry partners involved in this tour, yet again, had pulled out all the stops with the locos allocated for haulage, with no less than three of the locos never having worked a passenger train before!

I took my seat in the rear coach, disappointed that I wasn't next to the Class 33 but, given it was only a rake of four Mk1 coaches, I could still hear the 33 thrashing away at times. I was, however, delighted to be seated with three excellent Stewards and all-round nice chaps: Darren (Garnon, our Sales Officer), Dickie (Richard Irvine) and John (Cameron, our BLN NW Editor, Society Publicity Officer and Committee member) for this railtour. They are all very hard working and always good company.

The previous night, there was a certain amount of concern as the Severn Tunnel was closed with water ingress. It not only formed a part of the route but also surprise bonus ball 66114 was working through the tunnel on a freight train en route to rendezvous with us. My heart missed a beat when I was told that very dud 66177 had been allocated to 0Z32 with 66205, rather than 66114. However, this was just a misallocation and thankfully the Mk1 human eyeballs on the platform at Didcot confirmed that 66114 had been coupled up to 66205 and both sent on their way to Hinksey Yard to await our arrival.

By Didcot arrival, the weather was in full downpour mode and demonstrated that the guttering on the 4TC set may benefit from a good clean out before the next charter! Many people still alighted, even in the rain, to grab a photo. The number of leg stretch breaks [sound like a nasty orthopaedic problem‽] for photos and the longer break in Cardiff for sustenance was certainly commended by those onboard.

There was no winning Baker track for me (I don't do Bobbins) but I was informed that a rare crossover was done approaching Hinksey Yard when Hinksey South Jn X/O to Hinksey No1 Reception Line was covered because our forwarding locos (66205+66114) were sat in the Down Kennington Goods Loop.

66205+66114 in multiple on four coaches obviously had an easy task hauling our train and, departing from Hinksey, I am told that another rare Bobbin was covered in the shape of the crossover to the Up Oxford line. Pleasingly, the weather had dried up by the time we reached the Golden Valley Line via Stroud for a scenic run, though the rain caught up with us again by Gloucester. Here the 66s came off and we awaited 59005 (light engine from Westbury). It was a little late but made short work of attaching to the train, which happily allowed us to depart towards Lydney ahead of a stopping DMU.

The rare Bobbins alarm then sounded (grown men getting excited as we do) as we did the crossover to the Down Main at Magor, then the Down Main to Up Main crossover just before Newport. These Bobbins show, not only the excellent planning that goes into these tours, but also the execution by those in signalling centres routing us.

Those people are totally unseen by our railtour participants and don't receive the thanks from the passengers face to face like the crew do. I hope they still know that we are all very grateful to them!

A cloudy but thankfully dry Cardiff was the main destination of the charter. There was ample time booked here (16.17 to 17.35) for participants to have a meal, visit a pub or two and all that good stuff with the station being, as the name suggests, central. As I arrived back on the platform, there was the strange sight of a little chap arriving with a stack of pizza boxes as tall as him! It turns out that this was the stewards' order; they had been busy cleaning the train while everyone else enjoyed their break.

Departing Cardiff, I moved to the front coach to listen to the Crompton thrash through the Severn Tunnel but when I arrived the Stewards in that coach asked: Do you realise that we are booked to stand in a loop before the tunnel for 20 mins? No, I did not, so went to sit back down again. When the train exited the loop, I went back to the first coach to enjoy the thrash but was thwarted again because unknown to me (I really should pay more attention) we were booked into Pilning Up Passenger Loop, which has a 20mph turnout, so we just staggered through the tunnel with next to no thrash!

Returning to very positive things, at Bristol Parkway came arguably the rarest loco of the day, or rather the one that is least likely to work again and that was 66541 - thank you to the fantastic Freightliner team! The 66 was attached to 59005 at the rear of the train, the pipe of peace multi working cable was attached and off we went towards Brizzle in the drizzle.

As you know by now, I don't pay enough attention but even I knew we were doing something weird at Feeder Bridge Jn by switching from the Down Main to the Up Main, much to the delight of the Quailers! Darren said he needed it but he does track for every individual loco class (don't ask), so every time he goes anywhere, he scores some track. Dickie, who despite being an enthusiast for many years longer than I, seems to have managed to avoid all locos and all track while undertaking this hobby, except for units between Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport, so he of course needed it. Thankfully, a saner barometer in the form of John confirmed that it was actually a rare move (see BLN 1449.1377).

Onward to Westbury, where we arrived at dusk, and again people were allowed off for leg stretch while the freight locos were detached and returned to their depots. We reversed for a thrash along the Berks & Hants line to Reading, where there was much chatter about 66797 being accompanied by a bonus ball friend given how crank friendly GBRF is. However, it wasn't and, when we arrived in the bay at Reading, it was clear why - there was no room for two locos - not just because 66797 was massive - but there was not enough room behind the signal for another loco. With 66797 scored by everyone onboard, we departed south into the darkness to return all the happy passengers to their set down stations. I think we arrived back at Eastleigh on time but like I said, I don't pay enough attention...









The 3 Amigos had done it again! A fantastic Spin 'n' Win tour, everyone scored at least three locos, the Quailers whipped in some rare Bobbins and a stack of cash was generated for an excellent cause (along with the tour the next day, £11,000)! With grateful thanks to that lovely BLS steward Jim Sellens, who even pays attention, please find the miles and route detail below (all pretend that I wrote it, please). [A summary of the route where there is more than one option, otherwise it's two pages - Ed.]