Steam locomotive No.60009 Union of South Africa will be back in steam on the mainline and will be in Bristol and Appleby on Saturday 11th August 2018.

The A4 locomotive is on a special rail tour from Bristol to Appleby.

The steam locomotive will be assisted by a diesel locomotive due to the hot weather fire risk. The tour will depart Bristol Temple Meads, behind a diesel locomotive, at approximately 04:44 am.

The railtour will then leave the Bristol Temple Meads, bound for Appleby, where it will make stops at Bristol Parkway (04:56), Cam & Dursley (05:20), Cheltenham Spa (05:41) and Bromsgrove (06:13) before stopping at Birmingham New Street at 06:55.

After around a 10-minute break, the train will depart Birmingham for Appleby, where it will pass through Wolverhampton (07:29) and Stafford (07:45) before arriving at Crewe at 08:10.

Departing Crewe at 08:26, the tour will pass through Warrington Bank Quay (08:47) and Wigan North Western (08:59) before arriving into Preston at 09:17.

60009 Union of South Africa

At Preston, A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa is added to the front of the train. Departing at 10:13, the A4 will steam through Lancaster (10:35), Oxenholme Lake District (10:55), Tebay (11:45), Penrith North Lakes (12:07) and Lazonby & Kirkoswalk (13:04) before arriving into Appleby at 13:26.

On the return journey, 60009 Union of South Africa will depart Appleby at 15:55 where it will then steam through Garsdale (16:27), Ribblehead (16:41), Hellifield (17:11) and Clitheroe (17:39) before stopping at Blackburn at 18:08.

Departing Blackburn at 18:28, the train will steam through Wigan North Western (19:19) and Warrington Bank Quay (19:32) before pulling into Crewe at 20:06.

Here, No.60009 Union of South Africa is taken off the train and is replaced by a diesel locomotive.

Departing Crewe at 21:05, the train will take the same route back to Bristol Temple Meads. The train will make stops at Birmingham New Street (22:06), Bromsgrove (22:34), Cheltenham Spa (22:59) and Bristol Parkway (23:35) before arriving back into Bristol Temple Meads at 23:48.

These above timings in brackets are approximate timings, please click the links below, which tracks the train throughout the day to keep you up to date on when it will pass through your local station.

Timings

For timings on these movements, please click the links below:

• Outbound: FRGT 0444 Bristol Temple Meads to Appleby via Cheltenham Spa, Birmingham New Street and Preston
• Return: FRGT 1555 Appleby to Bristol Temple Meads via Blackburn, Crewe and Birmingham New Street

If you do go out and see 60009 Union of South Africa, why not sign up to LocoStop. This is our brand new railway community, and share your photos from your adventures! Click here to sign up.

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As always, please respect the dangers of the railway. Please do not trespass on the railway to see this iconic locomotive – stay to public access spots!

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