The Green Shed

Sunday 25th May 2025

Our ‘Thundering Shed’ featuring a DB Cargo class 66 has proved exceptionally popular so today we offer enthusiasts the opportunity to red pen a rare Freightliner class 66 locomotive on our interesting circular tour around the Midlands. Admittedly, we can’t guarantee a ‘Green Shed’ – after all Freightliner operate class 66 locomotives in various liveries – but rest assured we have done our best to secure an example that has never worked a passenger service before.

For those who prefer heritage traction, Class 50 – 50008 ‘Thunderer’ will also be operating in top and tail mode on the train today.

Once again we start the day on the delightful Chinnor and Princes Risborough railway but this time at Princes Risborough itself – affording a further opportunity to secure the rare connection onto the national network.

With our class 66 leading, we begin our journey north towards Bicester. Since 2015, the railway line between Bicester Village and Oxford has been reopened to passenger traffic and represents the western extremity of the ambitious ‘East West Rail’ project connecting the varsity cities of Cambridge and Oxford.

Ultimately, new railway infrastructure will be built between Cambridge and Bedford but today’s objective will see us traverse the most recently reopened stretch of railway between Bicester and Bletchley. First however we head west to take in the western boundary of the line at Oxford, reversing in Hinksey Yard.

Now heading east, and with 50008 leading, we start our journey towards Nuneaton. The rebuilding of the line commenced in 2021 and involved the laying of 66kms of new railway and will eventually see a reopened station at Winslow. The most significant engineering achievement however is arguably the rebuilding of the Bletchley Flyover – originally opened in 1959, the flyover has been completely re-engineered in the form of a box tunnel around the West Coast Main Line.

Our train curves to the north and we briefly pause at  Milton Keynes before proceeding north down the West Coast Main Line via Northampton and Rugby before deviating into the West Midlands. At Coventry, we branch right and take the secondary route to Nuneaton which is our destination.

We enjoy a short break at Nuneaton before, with our Freightliner locomotive leading once again, we retrace our steps to Coventry. Here, we continue heading west through Kenilworth before joining the former GWR mainline through Leamington Spa and Banbury. We continue heading south through the Cherwell Valley until we once again reach Oxford, where we reverse. From here we retrace our morning’s route back to Princes Risborough where our journey ends.

Today’s traction is provided courtesy of Hanson & Hall and Freightliner. Our rolling stock will be LUL’s 4TC set.

All timings are provisional and intended only as a guide.

Please note that First Class accommodation is in compartments of six seats. There are no First Class Dining or Junior fares on this train. A buffet car serving hot and cold drinks and snacks will be available. 

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