Yeovil Junction
2006 September 2 (Saturday), 183 miles.
Bristol Temple Meads: 34067 Tangmere with The Somerset and Dorset Remembered
Today turned into an improvisation. After an overcast start to the day with a forecast of rain, I considered a kind of giant loop via Upwey and Southampton, but when I reached Temple Meads the departure board said that a steam charter was about to leave platform 10.
Yeovil Junction: 34067 Tangmere with The Somerset and Dorset Remembered
Long before I reached platform 10 I smelled a sulphurous tang in the air, saw clouds of smoke billowing down the staircases and through the underpass, and tried to imagine what it was like there when every train was belching smoke and steam. On the platform were numerous people, both railway enthusiasts and travellers who just happened to be there at the right time, watching 34067 Tangmere which was just about to leave with Kingfisher Railtours' "The Somerset and Dorset Remembered" excursion. I remembered that it would be returning from Exeter to London via Yeovil Junction, and decided to intercept it there. An added incentive was that this would be my first visit there, and the first time I'd travelled on any of the LSWR line.
Yeovil Junction: 67006 tailing The Somerset and Dorset Remembered railtour
Despite the gaudy upholstery, South West Trains' class 159 unit put FGW's assortment of crosscountry units to shame, being closer in interior style and comfort to an Adelante. Outside, there were plenty of railway stations, signalboxes and other infrastructure to watch en route.
By the time I reached Yeovil Junction a dull mizzle was sweeping across the station and its surroundings, but this hadn't stopped a small posse of rail enthusiasts from waiting for it. Tangmere and its train duly arrived just a few minutes late, and many of the passengers stretched their legs and took photographs while the loco took on water.
Salisbury: 34067 Tangmere taking on water
After it had left I took the next train back to Salisbury where 67006 was ready to take the train or the last part of its journey. It was only after it had gone that I saw Tangmere being watered in the bay platform behind.
The improvisation had worked out well: I'd seen a notoriously temperamental mainline steam locomotive in three prime locations in one day, and by travelling by rail.