Second southern jaunt for Jubilee Bahamas
THE Bahamas Locomotive Society has been gearing up for the second visit of LMS ‘Jubilee' 4-6-0 to the south of England in a year.
Last October, No. 45596 was the star guest at the Mid-Hants Railway's highly-acclaimed autumn steam gala. This September, Bahamas is scheduled return south with a series of main line trips for Steam Dreams and the Railway Touring Company (RTC).
No. 45596 is booked to seven Steam Dreams ‘Cathedrals Express' excursions, with at least two trains double-headed with David Buck's B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower, possibly a unique combination.
The first double-header is to Cardiff from Paddington on September 23, with the train making additional setdowns at Gloucester and Lydney. The second is one of Steam Dreams' popular ‘Holidays by Steam' promotions, the pair working out of Paddington with the ‘Mayflower to Cornwall', a four-day visit to Penzance from September 28 to October 1.
Capital first
On July 18, the first of the series will see No. 45596 working out of London for the first time since the 1960s. Running from Paddington to Salisbury via the Berks & Hants, Westbury and Warminster, there will also be an afternoon cream tea special.
No. 45596 remains south working four excursions for RTC, three of them departing London Victoria or Paddington. July 22 sees it head a tour from Victoria to Faversham, and on July 24 it leaves Paddington for a day trip to the West Somerset Railway.
Starting from Taunton on August 1, a day trip is planned to visit Plymouth and Par.
Finally, Weymouth is the destination on August 5, a first for the 4-6-0 travelling over the coastal route via Bournemouth, Poole and Wareham.
No. 45596 re-joins Steam Dreams by working the return leg of the ‘Welsh Dragon' from Holyhead to London on September 8.
On October 3, it returns north with a ‘Cathedrals Express' to York, the homeward journey being diesel-hauled.
Nene Valley visit
Bahamas Locomotive Society chairman Keith Whitmore said: “I am delighted we will be working with Steam Dreams for the first time and indeed for our first ever trip from London. We are excited to have this opportunity to showcase Bahamas over unfamiliar new routes in the south and west.
Mr Buck added: “We are extremely pleased to have teamed up with the society for an exciting series of rail tours this summer. We're equally delighted with the routes, which will allow the 4-6-0 to not only steam out of London for the first time since preservation but to also traverse lines which the engine – or any Jubilee, come to that – may have never worked over before and after nationalisation”.
Bahamas will also star in the Nene Valley's Jubilee gala on the August Bank Holiday weekend after heading service trains on August 21/22.