MAIN LINE ‘WESTERN’ ON HOLD:
Hopes for the Diesel Traction Group’s Class 52 No. D1015 Western Champion returning to main line use were dashed when a serious issue was discovered during a test run. The loco was due to haul Pathfinder’s ‘Champion Torbay Express’ to Kingswear on September 25, but it suffered a seized engine while hauling No. 66719 and a cement train between Kidderminster and Bristol just over a week earlier on the 17th, which is pictured at Gossington (Gloucestershire). The ‘Western’ returned home on one engine, and the tour was worked instead by ‘Hoovers’ Nos. 50007+50049.