I digress. Approaching Bristol East, DCR 60029 'Ben Nevis' was shunting with a rake of Cappagh blue liveried wagons. At Bristol East Jn, the tour crossed on to the Up Main, took the Down Though Line through Bristol Temple Meads, continuing briefly on the West Carriage Line and crossed to the Down Main at Bristol West Jn. It continued to Yatton to take the Down Passenger Loop, 20 minutes late. The CrossCountry 1V48 Newcastle to Plymouth service whizzed by. Given the lateness, an attempt was made to go mainline at Worle Jn instead of the booked route via Weston-super-Mare but this was declined and the tour continued to Weston, caught behind a stopping service. Passing P2, we continued on to Taunton (P3). At Norton Fitzwarren, resplendent steam locos 9351 and 6990 'Witherslack Hall' could be seen on the West Somerset Railway turning triangle, taking part in the Spring Steam Spectacular event. The tour stopped in Tiverton Down Passenger Loop. As it was nearly 30 mins late, trains were queuing behind us and two GWR services passed before we were let out for the run to Exeter St Davids. 66719 'METRO-LAND' could be seen in Exeter Riverside Yard along with another unidentified example.

A booked set down was made at Exeter St Davids P1. It was also an opportunity for those wishing to make a desperate 'leap' on the short journey (62ch) to Exeter Central. This 'leap' isn't the shortest for loco-hauled services now. The current shortest is Chiltern Railways Class 68 services from Birmingham Snow Hill to Birmingham Moor Street (50ch). Until recently, TransPennine Express had a shorter 44ch leap with their Class 68 powered services between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road. There were many more going back to a time when most services were loco hauled in the steam era.

The 1:38 incline up to Exeter Central was no trouble for the three 59s and a brief pause was made at the station before the tour continued to just past Exeter Central Goods Jn (171m 07ch), where the Class 73 was fired up on its diesel engine. This gave slightly more than the standard 62ch of haulage from St Davids. The 73 now led the ensemble into Exeter Central Down bay P3, for a break of around an hour. Hmm, what to do? Photograph the locos from all angles, stock up on supplies from nearby shops, or beer. Yep, beer it was. Not needing any Wetherspoon pubs in Exeter, a walk to the nearby Good Beer Guide listed Ship Inn for a pint of Salcombe Brewery's 'Lifesaver' and some charge put back into my tired phone battery. A quick retreat back to the station was made, ready for the restart.






During the break, the 59s were detached and departed back to Westbury. Their job done; the next section was the West of England Line also known as 'The Mule'. The train headcode changed to 1Z33 and 33012 set-off on a very familiar journey for Class 33s in 1970s, 80s & 90s. The 73 was still on the rear and the curse of the coaching stock reliability was kicking in when it was announced the toilets couldn't be used, as the power supply had failed. For this tour, it wasn't the coaches at fault, an Electric Train Supply (ETS) fault on the Class 33 meant there was no electrical power which made sense of the (electric!) kettle failure in the morning. Then the lighting stopped working, followed by the toilets, with special measures needed for door monitoring as the central door locking was also not working. The 73 was unable to provide ETS in diesel mode (understandably from a 420hp engine) and so the tour would have to wait until Basingstoke when its shoes could be put down on to the third rail and restore ETS.

In the meantime, the pint I'd had in Exeter was wanting to make a bid for freedom; a 20-minute pathing stop at Honiton was made in P2 but the ticket office was shut. Damn. The South Western Railway 159s arrived on an Exeter service, so the single line was ours to go forward on. Platform 2 at Axminster was passed before the Up Exeter Loop was visited at Chard Junction for another pathing stop. An on time departure was made and the tour continued onwards, passing though Yeovil Junction P1, continuing to the next pathing stop at Gillingham in P2. Getting close to bursting point, similar to others, a toilet was spotted on P1 and 'The Waterloo Bridge Handicap' race began. However, I was behind the front runners who rapidly discovered that the toilet door was locked. Errr. Hmm. Fortunately, the station area wasn't particularly busy and shrubbery on a nearby estate road had to do, with others already having found the area.









Back to the station and another pair of South Western Railway 159 DMUs came in on an Exeter service so we were on our way again. The route was correctly challenged after Tisbury as the tour had been routed mainline instead of the loop as booked. The inevitable delay waiting for a route to timeout and the subsequent reset added 10 mins to the schedule. The loop was duly covered and Salisbury reached with the lateness reduced to 4 mins. A P2 set down was made and we made for Basingstoke, via the Up Fast after Worting Jn, then crossing over to the Down Slow to stop in P1 where this reporter alighted



The tour departed via the ladder to the Up Slow where sparks could be seen coming from the Class 73, restoring ETS. It continued to Waterloo to set down before returning to Eastleigh where it terminated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ei4HckosRY is an advert free 8-min video. Along with the tour the previous day £11,000, a shed-load of cash, was generated for Martin House Children's Hospice.

[59104 has since lost its Hanson livery and is in Freightliner orange and black livery but retains its name.]