33103 Compton Beauchamp 15 April 2000

33103 passes Compton Beauchamp in the pouring rain on 15 April 2000 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z36 04:46 Crewe to Hamworthy 'Dorset Mariner' railtour. This was running 50 minutes late, as it had just dropped off 33109 Captain Bill Smith RNR at Swindon, after it had failed. This left 33103 to carry on alone with 12 fully loaded Mk1 coaches. It managed this surprisingly well, and recovered some time, arriving at Eastleigh only half an hour late. With only Fujichrome 100 to hand, the dire weather meant that I couldn't use a decent shutter speed, and even after considerable focus correction work in Photoshop, the front of the train is still not sharp. However, I haven't got many pictures of Class 33s on this line, and a single 33 on such a long train is worth recording.