168215 Kineton 2 August 2014

A DMU well off the beaten track! 168215 comes to a stand at the stop board on the approach to MoD Kineton on 2 August 2014 with the Branch Line Society / Chiltern Railways 'Semaphore & Sidings Tracker' railtour. The tour had started from Birmingham, and spent a good part of the day traversing various sidings in the Banbury area. In the evening it visited the 3½ mile freight only branch from Fenny Compton to Kineton. At this point it was running as the 1Z72 18:06 Banbury to Birmingham Moor Street. The bridge visible in the background carries the line over the M40 motorway. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, but despite the fact that this is the just about the best location on the branch, especially considering the angle of the light, there were no other photographers present to record the scene. If it had been loco hauled, the place would have been swarming with people, and yet a Class 168 on a railtour, and especially here, is very unusual.