Visit to Reading
This month’s fixture was to Reading, a nice large centrally located station with easy access. Or so we thought, until the curse of the cancelled trains caused further disruption to our best laid plans. All in all, six members made it to Reading at various times in the day, the Chester contingent being held up for 90 minutes on the way and the Malvern contingent also having to claim delay-repay on the way home. This seems to be more the norm than the exception these days.
Those who were able to attend were however rewarded with a busy, varied and most enjoyable day. The weather was cloudy with occasional drizzle but mild as long as you kept out of the brisk wind.
The fixture was designed to help those from “up north” to complete their sightings of the GWR class 800s, of which there is a non-stop stream at Reading. But there was much more to enjoy: there was first and foremost a considerable amount of freight traffic (details on branch website), but also, by positioning ourselves at the east end of the station, we were treated to regular class 345 Elizabeth line visits, as well as an array of South West Trains units of classes 450, 458 and 701. Throw in a plethora of GWR class 165 and 387, as well as one old 150, and a busy day’s spotting was had by all!
Click the link below for a list of locomotive observations....
