Description

Full description from the producer:

A Day at Westbury including Hawkeridge Junction and Fairwood Junction.

Sunrise Sunset UK spends a full day at a busy and popular location, recording a typical day of passenger and freight trains.

The counties of Wiltshire and Somerset are probably best known for Stonehenge, the Glastonbury music festival and large white horses, cut into the chalk hillsides. In railway terms, they are famous for white gold – limestone – cut from the Mendip Hills, and the well-known railheads at Merehead and Whatley quarries.

First introduced in 1986, the five original 59/0s (for Foster Yeoman) were supplemented by four Class 59/1s (for ARC Southern) in 1990 and six Class 59/2 (for National Power in 1994) and almost 40-years later, as of summer 2025, all but two of these locos can be found working stone trains in the Mendips, all now owned and operated by Freightliner.

Sunrise Sunset UK spends at day at Westbury, looking at the quarry stone traffic as well as other freight and passenger trains. The station itself is not an ideal location to spend a day as many trains take the avoider, but there are great vantage points either side at Hawkeridge Junction, Fairwood Junction and many overbridges on the main line towards Pewsey.

The days starts at first light with freight passing the station and DMUs heading into service from Westbury Yard. The lesser-used curve at Hawkeridge Junction now sees regular DCR Class 60 stone trains running between Tytherington and Quainton and on the mainline near Lavington, Class 800s pass at speed with more freight.

Fairwood Junction is a well known location where the Westbury avoider joins up with lines to/from the station and more freight and passenger trains were recorded. Next is stunning aerial footage of Westbury Yard, itself having been upgraded in recent years with various locos and wagons stabled. In the early evening, from the station, top-and-tail Colas 70s head off on an overnight engineers job.

Filmed on 1st July 2025, this is what you would call a typical day of railway action from Westbury with all three sub-classes of 59 featured plus 60s, 66s and 70s and Class 158, 159, 165, 166, 800 and 802 units.

BONUS FOOTAGE: Freight and passenger trains at Westbury and Fairwood Junction from 2001, 2011 and 2016 featuring Classes 47, 58, 59, 60, 66, 70 and HSTs.

Additional information

Weight	1 lbs
Producer	Oldham Video Productions