73 and a Thumper.

[GearJammer]

Hi all, please be patient with me if ive put this in the wrong part of the forum but was unsure wether to put this here or in the preservation section, as some know on here im a truck driver, on a recent trip from Southampton to Milton Keynes i took the A4421 from Bicester to Buckingham, around what i believe to be the Newton Purcell area the road passes through a village and drops down under two what appear to be dis-used railway bridges, i think looking at old railway maps that this is the old Great Central railway (am i right at this conclusion?) As you head north/east towards Buckingham if you look left/north just before passing under the two bridges there are items of railway rolling stock, from what i could see there was definetly a class 73 (which looks like one of the ex Euro tunnel locos) its in what looks like a faded two tone grey livery and what appears to be a class 205 or 207 DEMU in green, it looks like there are other items there but due to the trees and bushes and me trying to concentrate on the road i can't identify it all, there are no signs advertising a rail site in the area!

My simple questions are.....

1, Is this the Ex Great Central route.
2, Is this a private site/railway or is it accessable to the public.
3, What 73 and Thumper have i seen.
4, What else is there.

Im not sure if the site/items are visible from the road in a car due to the bushes along the roadside but sat up high in the truck their quite clear to see if you know where to look.

I look forward to reading responces.

 

[sprinterguy]

Yes it's the Great Central route, the site where you saw the 73 is the location of Finmere station, which has now been demolished. As far as I know the old station entrance has been bricked up, and so the site is not accessible to the public, and I haven't heard of any preservation activity cropping up at that site, or even of it's use as a storage area.

However if you check out Googlemaps, which dates it to about 2006/7, you can see that there is one short section of track on the site with a set of buffer stops! So I'm completely mystified. I'm sure that someone has a much better idea than me.

If it was indeed a Eurotunnel 73 you saw, and I don't know of any other grey class 73s, then of the two, 73118 is preserved at the Barry island Railway, and 73130 has apparently been "loaned to an East London educational initiative"??? if the internet is to be believed on that one, so my money is on it being 73130 more than 73118. Of the Thumper, I have no idea. The plot thickens. Like yourself, I'd now love to hear something definitive on this one!

 

[Dreadnought]

It is the Finmere station location and currently 73130, the 2 x 2 car 416 deicers that were based at Selhurst and 1 coach from a 405 unit are based there.

 

[GearJammer]

Thanks SprinterGuy, my money was on 73130 as it seems to have disapeared lately, but was unsure if 73118 was still at Barry or not!
Whats the plans for 73130 Dreadnought, any idea? And are the 416 deicers painted green? The unit i seen was definetly in what looked like BR green and i think it looked like it had small yellow warning panels.

 

[Dreadnought]

Thanks SprinterGuy, my money was on 73130 as it seems to have disapeared lately, but was unsure if 73118 was still at Barry or not!
Whats the plans for 73130 Dreadnought, any idea? And are the 416 deicers painted green? The unit i seen was definetly in what looked like BR green and i think it looked like it had small yellow warning panels.

Was told that Rail Express reported that 73130 is to undergo a 2 year restoration before potentially moving to the Bluebell Railway.

The 416 deicers were painted in Railtrack Blue & Green livery when at Selhurst.