Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
On the morning of April 15, 2023 an anachronistic display of railway technology occured as British Railways 34046 "Braunton," an ex-Southern Railway West Country Class 4-6-2 steam locomotive intruded onto the electrified Great Western Mainline at Southall in West London. Weaving its way through the morning traffic of Heathrow Express trains to Paddington, Elizabeth Line trains to and from central London, and high-speed GWR trains to South Wales and Western England, the Bullied Pacific left the Locomotive Services Group's shed and backed down the GWML to the Hanwell goods loop where Saphos Trains' "Great Western Envoy" excursion train had been brought diesel-hauled from Rugby. Once an opening in the traffic was available, Braunton chuffed onto the mainline to take its passengers to the historic cities of Bath & Bristol.
On the morning of April 15, 2023 an anachronistic display of railway technology occured as British Railways 34046 "Braunton," an ex-Southern Railway West Country Class 4-6-2 steam locomotive intruded onto the electrified Great Western Mainline at Southall in West London. Weaving its way through the morning traffic of Heathrow Express trains to Paddington, Elizabeth Line trains to and from central London, and high-speed GWR trains to South Wales and Western England, the Bullied Pacific left the Locomotive Services Group's shed and backed down the GWML to the Hanwell goods loop where Saphos Trains' "Great Western Envoy" excursion train had been brought diesel-hauled from Rugby. Once an opening in the traffic was available, Braunton chuffed onto the mainline to take its passengers to the historic cities of Bath & Bristol.
