Rule "Britannia"!...

Hi everybody. Just a short one here. In the hot morning light, I headed along the A423 'Oxford Road' in the Saxo. I was hoping to find an ample location from which to film or photograph 70000 "Britannia" as she tore through on a main line excursion northwards. The loco was due to stop at Leamington, and Warwick, bound for Stratford. However, the closest location to us, as I saw it, was 'Fosse Road', where the Network Rail line crosses the Fosseway just outside Harbury. However, this isn't great; at all; so I looked at Leam station. But, allas, parking in the town on a Saturday is always a nightmare; especially with weather like this. So, I had to look further south. There were some bridges but, many of these didn't offer good views, and they were all straight track areas so a frontal image was the only choice. Therefore, Banbury Station, right in the heart of the town, was the only choice. So, I drove on. Arriving in Banbury only 5 minutes before 70000's 12:03pm passing time, I quickly parked the car in a '30-minute stay' zone and literally ran up to the station bridge. Unfortunately, the light was bad; far too bright with sunlight; and the location wasn't great either. But, with no time to find another place and smoke on the horizon; this was it. "Britannia" roared around the bend and through the platform with a heavy train running north. She sounded great, but then a Fire Engine; sirens blaring; came up behind! Oh well, at least I've seen her; running that is; last time I saw her was at Crewe, as just a boiler. In fact, below, we see Pete Waterman chatting about the importance of the Brit's £750K repairs...
Riddles' famous Britannia Class was led by the pioneer loco; 70000 "Britannia". They were a powerful (Class 7) express passenger engine, and the first of the BR Standard's. In total, 55 Brit's were built, two of which were preserved; "Britannia" and 70013 "Oliver Cromwell"; also a main line certified loco and based at the GCR; an NRM engine. "Britannia" herself was built in 1951 and only worked for 15 years before being withdrawn in May 1966; a terrible waste in my eyes. A bit of a trivia about 70000: for some years, she carried a white cab roof to commemorate that she hauled King George VI's funeral train in 1952. When withdrawn, it was hoped that "Britannia" would become an NRM loco due to her significance. However, it was not be as the museum preferred sister "Oliver Cromwell" due to the previous being a 'prototype design'. Therefore, 70000 was bought by a society and later sold to Pete Waterman. Waterman later got rid of the engine and sold her to Jeremy Hosking; a man who owns many other big name engines such as "Nunney Castle", "Braunton", "Royal Scot" and "Bittern" (plus more!). "Britannia" has now of course returned to main line work (in striking BR Black) and is proving very popular following the completion of overhaul in Autumn last year. My short video clip from today is spotted below...

Well everyone, following the spotting of "Britannia", I returned to Coventry via the M40, on route to CMES at Ryton-on-Dunsmore. I hope you enjoyed this short post. Thanks folks. Good Day...