5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe roars to Cardiff! | The Cathedrals Express | 22/6/24

Today’s video is of my favourite, GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe hauling Vintage Trains’ “The Cathedrals Express” from Dorridge to Cardiff Central both out and back via Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury and along the Welsh Marches Line via Ludlow and Hereford to Newport where it was a short sprint along the GWML’s South Wales Main Line branch to Cardiff Central. 5043 used to be allocated to Cardiff Canton shed for a good portion of her pre preservation career, so it was a highly authentic recreation! The weather was forecast as sunny spells, thankfully one of which coincided with my shot at Abergavenny!

My trip to Wales commences at Dorridge, where a few static shots of 5043 are featured. After that a quick sprint up to Solihull ensued, allowing me to see 5043 getting underway after her stop at Widney Manor! After that I headed into Birmingham Moor Street and just about managed to catch the 7:30 from Birmingham New Street to Hamstead, which was my next location. Sadly there was a slack I was unaware of here, but the lighting was superb and it was great to meet Brian ‪@SYKAROST‬ here so I can’t complain. After that I headed back into New Street and took a 196 down to Hereford, where the next shot of 5043 is featured! Despite catching us out slightly on the arrival, she looked absolutely fantastic. It was also good to see ‪@harnettyrailways‬ and Barrie at Hereford! Next up I caught a TfW train southwards to Newport, meeting ‪@adtrainvids9569‬ and ‪@harrymorris5748‬. After that I continued into the Welsh capital to see 5043 pull away from Cardiff Central station into Pengam Sidings!

After a quick few refreshments, we all headed back to Abergavenny to await the return run. Great to see ‪@WestCountrySteamVideos‬ and ‪@LiamsLocos‬ here as well as everyone else there too! Catching the light, 5043 roared through, gathering pace for her attack on Llanvihangel Bank. Richard, Barrie, Liam and I continued to Hereford and changed to go to Birmingham New Street, where my next shot is filmed. After a spectacular departure, we sadly then missed the next shot at Tyseley because the signallers let 5043 out of Bordesley Junction early, a decision that turned out to be a big mistake because it caused a ton of congestion around Dorridge lol. At that I headed home.

Thank you to all who made today possible, to VT, NR, WMR and TfW as well as 5043 and her crews for some excellent displays! Today went extremely smoothly except for Tyseley which was a joy. I hope you enjoy watching as I did!