Lower Basildon to Didcot

Lower Basildon on Brunel's superb road to Bristol from London is a new location for me and an up working approaches with 43171 at the front of this HST working 1A07 0635 Weston Super Mare to Paddington.

The five car class 180 units are mainly running on the shorter high intensity routes like the Oxford corridor. Here Adelante 180111 forms an up service, 1F24 0830 Oxford to Paddington, running on the up slow line.

A down working catches the morning sun and 43036 leads, with 43025 on the rear, 1B12 0815 Paddington to Cardiff service.

A late running freight approaches on the up relief road. 66123 works 6L46 2341 Bridgend to Purfleet Ford parts train. It is running over 5 hours late.

A class 180 Adelante unit speeds by on the down main line with 1D13 0822 Paddington to Oxford class 1 working. The unit is 180110 with its front cover over the coupler missing.

An engineers working rumbles by on the up relief with 66056 hauling a lengthy rake of 40 MHA and MTA wagons loaded with ballast.

This section of the GWML sees a great deal of freight workings each day, the largest number are operated by Freightliner. 66504 comes by on the down relief with 4M50 0725 Southampton to Hams Hall freightliner service.

The sun is coming round fast as the morning wears on. A down service speeds by with 180109 working a 1D15 0852 Paddington to Oxford. Oh how I wish it was a class 50.

A well loaded freightliner, powered by 66574, heads towards London with 4O14 0435 MX Garston to Southampton. The train will bear right at Reading West Junction for Basingstoke and onto Southampton.

Another down working to Oxford is formed by DMU's 165117 and 165107. This pair are on the down slow and their service is 2N19 0833 Paddington to Oxford.

Class 220 Voyager unit 220005 heads for Reading on the up fast with an unknown working.

On the left is a FGW high speed train on 1L34 0730 Swansea to Paddington. Whilst on the up relief is a class 220 Voyager with a Virgin Cross Country service, 1O06 0600 Leeds to Bournemouth.

EWS have made inroads into Freightliners core business and operates container trains of their own, they call them Intermodals. 66244 forges on for Southampton with 4O53 0430 Wakefield Europort to Southampton.

This was a real surprise, FM Rail's Nanking Blue liveried 47712 heads west with 5Z47 Old Oak Common to Minehead ECS. The stock is the SRPS mkI train from Bo'ness.

It is hard to identify the Voyager units due to the small unit number located low down on the front side valance. This unknown set is working 1M07 0846 Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly.

A piece of On Track Plant trundles along the up relief. 73112 is a Plasser and Theurer 09-3X-D-RT tamper and liner.

A well loaded freightliner from Southampton to Lawley Street comes by during a period of cloud. The service, 4M55 0858 off, is rostered to a work stained 66537.

66544 hurries west light engine following a job which look it to Reading West Yard. Now it heads off to its next working.

Another engineers working heads for Eastleigh. 66203 is in charge of 6O26 1019 MX Hinksey Virtual Quarry to Eastleigh Yard and is conveying new concrete sleepers.

The Adelante unit seen earlier returns from Oxford with 180109 forming 1F34 1032 from Oxford to Paddington.

Obtaining the set numbers on Voyagers is notoriously hard, but this has been identified as 220034 working 1O08 0724 Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth cross country.

An unidentified HST set tears along the up fast with a working from west Wales. The train details are 1L40 0730 Carmarthen to Paddington.

180101 is running between five and ten minutes late with service 1L22 0929 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington. This train would have taken in the Golden Valley route via Swindon and Stroud.

43172 leads a Paignton bound train with power on over the level grades at Lower Basildon, a few miles from Goring and Streatly station. This was the location of the Goring water troughs. This HST set would not be using them as it approaches with 1C24 1030 Paddington to Paignton.

165105 heads west on the down relief with 2N26 1003 Paddington to Oxford.

The second up service off Weston Super Mare nears the overbridge at Lower Basildon with powercars 43139 and 43125 on 1A12 0930 off to Paddington.

165107 forms a class 2 Oxford to Paddington stopping service, 2P43 1045 off, as an unidentified piece of OTP scurries westward.

An unknown class 221 Super Voyager shoots past on the down main with 1S61 0946 Bournemouth to Edinburgh.

A final shot at Lower Basildon, near to the location of Goring water troughs in GWR and BR years.

A move to Moreton, a couple of miles east of Didcot and Freightliner class 57, 57010 hauls the daily 4O51 1002 Cardiff Wentloog to Southampton Millbrook freightliner service. I've seen this working many times over the years and this is the best loaded I have ever seen it!!

DMU 166201 comes through the cutting on the down relief with a class 2 local service, 2N32 1103 Paddington to Banbury.

A four vehicle class 221 Super Voyager forms VXC 1O12 0925 Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth working. Some class 221 sets operate with only four vehicles rather than the usual five.

A long distance Cross Country service appears on the down fast with a class 221 Super Voyager forming 1S62 1046 Bournemouth to Edinburgh.

Network Rail has carried out extensive lineside vegetation clearance and as a result it has opened up the shot from the bridge of trains on the down fast.

Freightliner Heavy Haul re-geared 66/6 sub class loco 66617 comes along the up relief light running from somewhere to somewhere else!!

A lightly loaded freightliner service to Manchester Trafford Park is powered by 66536. The service is 4M58 1100 off the Southampton Maritime terminal.

With the steaming cooling towers of Didcot Power Station in the background, 166220 gathers speed after its Didcot stop with an up class 2 local service, 2P50 1206 Oxford to Paddington.

Another sparsely loaded freightliner train is 4O54 0613 MX Leeds to Southampton with 66517. Well less than half the available capacity has been filled.

43017 leads 1L53 1129 Cheltenham to Paddington with 43030 on the rear.

This set passed here two hours previously on an up service and now forms 1C34 1230 off Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads with 43125 leading and 43139 on the rear.

Once the preserve of a class 50 and a rake of mkII coaches, now much of the London to Oxford fast services are entrusted to the class 180 Adelante units. Here 180103 heads for Paddington with 1F44 1300 off Oxford.

This is another long distance Anglo-Scottish Cross Country working operated by Virgin. 220006 forms 1O14 0600 Glasgow Central to Bournemouth. It is a very long way to travel in one of these units.

This EWS Intermodal is very well loaded as 66231 approaches with 4M71 1115 Southampton to Ditton Foundry Lane.

What looks like another EWS intermodal train is in fact a MOD stores train from the depot at Marchwood. It will be remarshalled at Didcot Yard and sent forward to its destination on other workings. This is 6V38 1140 off Marchwood to Didcot with power from EWS.

166210 runs along the down relief with 2N42 1303 Paddington to Oxford all stations stopper. The area to the right was once Moreton Freight Yard.

Voyager 220027 approaches at speed with 1M15 1246 Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly. It will cross on the ladder crossing just ahead and will bypass Didcot station as it turns north.

As of 1/4/06 EWS lost its aggregate traffic to Freightliner. 66246 forms 6C23 1029 T/ThO Hayes to Great Usk with 33 empty HGA hoppers. Going past in the opposite direction is a class 221 Voyager unit on 1O16 0852 Edinburgh to Bournemouth.

The view from the bridge onto the outside of the curve with an unknown HST forming 1C42 1400 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. I'm unsure if it will stop at Didcot.