European Railroad Discussion > One train, two tunnels

On Saturday I managed two pictures of the 6B33 Theale to Margam empty oil train behind 60001; the first leaving the two and a half mile long Chipping Sodbury Tunnel on the former GWR Badminton line (opened 1903) and the second of it emerging from the 4 mile 600 yard long Severn Tunnel at Severn Tunnel Junction. Both bits of railway - the Badminton line and the Severn Tunnel - were built to reduce the distance between London and South Wales. In the picture of 60001 emerging from the Severn Tunnel the original mainline, via Gloucester, is the track on the right.

The Great Western's somewhat circuitous routes betwen London and Birmingham (via Oxford), London and South West England (via Bristol) and London and South Wales (via Gloucester) was one reason why it was sometimes referred to as the Great Way Round. Construction of cut off lines at the end of the 19th century reduced both distances and journey times to all three destinations.

Getting two shots of this train is the product of a schedule which involves a 30 minute recess in the down goods loop at Pilning, on the English side of the Severn Tunnel. I've known it not to stop and to appear 30 minutes early, but on this occasion the schedule was adhered to.

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Nice ! Thanks for sharing! :D

Nice pix.

Those tunnels are rather long. Is ventilation a problem for train ops?

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It is certainly a problem in the Severn Tunnel which is under a river estuary, not so much Chipping Sodbury which has ventilation shafts, one of which can be seen on the top of the hill. The Severn Tunnel is worked as a single signal section, one reason why freight trains are often held on either side to let their faster passenger counterparts through