BillStampy
Established Member
Fingers crossed we've got a run to Wales starting Monday, if it can get to it without the doors acting up again.
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New Belmond train in England & Wales
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Western 52
Established Member
Yes I hope it will run smoothly. Looking forward to seeing it pass my house, although too dark for a picture!
BillStampy
Established Member
Shame it's starting so late now, will be nearly dark each time it passes me within the next month!
Hopefully will catch it on Monday whilst it's still somewhat bright.
michaelh
Member
Having travelled Platinum Class on the Ghan and the Indian Pacific in Australia, I think that I'll give this one a miss.
Deepgreen
Established Member
Most who have booked are also giving it a miss...!
I thought the train was giving it a miss as well!
Western 52
Established Member
5Z65 appears to be running.
Deepgreen
Established Member
All going OK so far with the ECS, it seems. Crunch time approaches...
Western 52
Established Member
1Z90 now activated on RTT.
BillStampy
Established Member
Fingers crossed now, if all goes well I should see it through Llanharan tonight.
xotGD
Established Member
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On its way...
Deepgreen
Established Member
Road coaches are waiting at Reading to take passengers to Premier Inn... (only joking).
Deepgreen
Established Member
That's concerning - it was meant to stop there!Just seen it pass through Reading so no.
D6130
Established Member
Oh well....the coaches can take the pick-up passengers from Heathrow to join the train at Cranmore!
Pete_uk
On Moderation
From 5 late to 5 early!
Well to be fair it was obscured by a couple of Class 800s. I saw it from a distance approaching from the east. At first glance I thought it was Liz line service given its length.
D6130
Established Member
Gloster
Veteran Member
Realtime Trains says it was a ‘service stop for staffing reasons’. Perhaps the restaurant staff were going to board with the meals: sandwiches from Swindon’s buffet, anyone?
Deepgreen
Established Member
Indeed - it's quite possible the "staffing reasons" didn't materialise. Perhaps it was to take up a posse of fitters, just in case...
BillStampy
Established Member
Seen it! Past Cardiff and through Llanharan, even if it is a bit dark. The livery looks quite nice in my opinion. The rear 66 was supposedly dropped off further back.
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What I have noticed by looking over my footage, is anyone actually on board? I can't really tell unless I am just terrible at people spotting!
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Maybe they were all waiting to get on at Reading
simondonovan27
New Member
I saw the train at Bridgend. The dining car was full which would probably be the full complement of passngers. About 30 i reckon. It was running slow behind a maesteg service waiting to leave the main line
Deepgreen
Established Member
An interesting feature of the rake is the apparent fitting of hopper windows to mk3 loco-hauled coaches - unique, I believe. My contact tells me that he was told during an official visit to he train that it is for 'overnight ventilation', which rather calls into question the reliability of the aircon on this ultra-luxury train! In any case, it is an interesting feature of these mk3s. This photo is from his web site. https://www.railway-centre.com/
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Was looking at photos on Flickr
www.flickr.com
According to the comment on here, the train is actually empty and on a trial run? Is that right?
First Welsh Trip
After many 'will it, won't it moments', the Britannic Explorer made its first tour to Wales, a four day trip (Monday 18 to Thursday 21 August 2025) from London Victoria to Haverfordwest, Pwllheli and Morton-in-Marsh and back to the capital all in absolute luxury. My image was captured on 19...
www.flickr.com
According to the comment on here, the train is actually empty and on a trial run? Is that right?
Sun Chariot
Established Member
On National Rail, yes. Irish Rail ran push-pull Mk3 rakes (now withdrawn), which had two-part hopper opening windows.
Doesn't seem to tally with the observation from Bridgend in post #324 which said: