47828 & 47813 Quedgeley 16 December 2006

47828 Joe Strummer & 47813 John Peel provided super power for the Heartland Tours 1Z47 10:29 Gloucester to Westbury 'Festive Mystery Tour' on 16 December 2006. With a load of just five Mk 3 coaches (Virgin, Cotswold Rail, & First Great Western liveries) the tour is seen here passing Naas Crossing at Quedgeley at speed, perhaps trying to make up for the twenty minute late departure. The locos have certainly tried darkening the sky with their exhausts as they opened up a few moments before I took this picture! This once completely open location now has a couple of ash trees causing foreground shadows, hence the use of a 200mm lens.