cjs11
Member
Checking Traksy to see if a southbound freight had passed through yet, I scrolled to Wolvercote Junction just north of Oxford, where the four tracks through Oxford funnel back down to two, with ample distance to hold freights whilst passenger services scurry through.
One evening in early March there was fun and games where three metals trains from south Wales to the North East got bunched up and funneled, including wrong-line working one along the Up Main... a peculiarity of 23:00 on a quiet night with nothing much around, I thought, a rare opportunity to mix it up for the signallers and drivers.
But lo, today at 16:30 (albeit not peak traffic under Covid) the same trick on the mainline north of Oxford... 414F freightliner Sohants-LawleySt had already passed through Oxford onto the Down Slow and brought to a stand at Wolvercote; 498D is actually 4M51 Sohants-Trafford and followed through Oxford, pathed over to work "wrong way" on the bi-directional Up Main up to Wolvercote; so that 1M58 XCountry RDG-MAN could follow them into Oxford, stop, and then scamper between them on the Down Main away towards Banbury.
The LawleySt liner then got away behind the Voyager to the north, but not the Trafford liner... that had to wait for the following GWR Hitachi working 1W31 to Malvern to pass on the Down Main and turn at Wolvercote Jn for the Charlbury line, before it finally got a clear road to rejoin the Down Main and head north, which it has only just done.
Rare daytime viewing! Much excitement!
One evening in early March there was fun and games where three metals trains from south Wales to the North East got bunched up and funneled, including wrong-line working one along the Up Main... a peculiarity of 23:00 on a quiet night with nothing much around, I thought, a rare opportunity to mix it up for the signallers and drivers.
But lo, today at 16:30 (albeit not peak traffic under Covid) the same trick on the mainline north of Oxford... 414F freightliner Sohants-LawleySt had already passed through Oxford onto the Down Slow and brought to a stand at Wolvercote; 498D is actually 4M51 Sohants-Trafford and followed through Oxford, pathed over to work "wrong way" on the bi-directional Up Main up to Wolvercote; so that 1M58 XCountry RDG-MAN could follow them into Oxford, stop, and then scamper between them on the Down Main away towards Banbury.
The LawleySt liner then got away behind the Voyager to the north, but not the Trafford liner... that had to wait for the following GWR Hitachi working 1W31 to Malvern to pass on the Down Main and turn at Wolvercote Jn for the Charlbury line, before it finally got a clear road to rejoin the Down Main and head north, which it has only just done.
Rare daytime viewing! Much excitement!