Home»Archive Folders»Railtours»2009 The Cambrian Mountaineer

50044 Exeter (as D444) and 37676 Loch Rannoch were used for The Cambrian Mountaineer tour run by Spitfire Railtours. The locomotives worked from Bristol to Aberystwyth via Oxford and Wolverhampton, a total of over 600 miles for the one day trip. On the return leg the tour was diverted at Shrewsbury and had to run to Wolverhampton via Crewe. All proceeds from the tour went in support of the Railway Children charity which supports street children across the world.

The tour carried people wishing to visit Aberystwyth or the Vale of Rheidol Railway the last steam railway owned by British Rail until it was privatised in 1989.

The Class 50 was used for the first part of the outward leg. At Shrewsbury the Network Rail-owned locomotive 97301 (ex 37100) was attached to the rear and together with 37676 hauled the tour over the Cambrian Line to the seaside town of Aberystwyth. 50044 was used for the return leg from Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury and the subsequent diversion to Crewe. It was the first time a Class 50 had worked out of Aberystwyth and was only the second mainline run for 50044 since 1999, following fitment of the mandatory electronic equipment to allow for its operation on the national mainline.

Date: 2009-05-09