Weymouth Seaside Express

I had a couple of hours spare before the Weymouth Seaside Express was due to stop at Westbury station, so I detoured to Semington, where the Wilts & Berks Canal used to flow into the Kennet and Avon Canal. The spot where this used to happen is still visible, but now there is a new information board a few hundred yards away indicating where a new cut of the revived Wilts & Berks will join the Kennet and Avon after leaving the new River Avon Navigation through Melksham. I walked both east and west from the canal bridge, watching holiday narrowboats going through the locks and stopped at a bench to read my copy of Mojo (until a sudden downpour).

When I arrived at Westbury I discovered, initially from the sound of steam, that the Express had arrived early. The last time I went to one of these at Westbury a late change of plan had meant that the train hadn't stopped there and I'd just grabbed a handful of shots of it steaming past, but this time, thankfully, it was sitting placidly beside the platform with a full complement of passengers replete with cream teas and luncheons served on the train.

It was being pulled by Nunney Castle, offering me a second chance, as I had been ill-prepared for the speed with which the same engine appeared and disappeared in the gloaming at Bradford on Avon a couple of years ago. I got plenty of shots this time, although they were all rather similar because of the viewing angles that were available. I chose this one because the billowing steam conveys to me the atmosphere of the occasion. It pulled out at 1910 hr, a few minutes before the advertised departure, so I was glad I had turned up when I did.

L.
31.7.2013

Blip #1032
Consecutive Blip #003
Day #1220

A Trip To Westbury via Semington, 28 July 2013 (Flickr set)

Railways series
Weymouth Seaside Express series
Nunney Castle series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Everything Is Everything - Witchi Tai To (1969)
The American-Indian Movement was founded on this day in 1968.