Cheltenham Gold Cup day (13 March 2026) makes the perfect excuse for another rail excursion to ever-charming Moreton-in-Marsh, to photograph the luxury £799-a-head Gold Cup Special (1Z25) on its journey from London Paddington to Evesham.
This year’s special, formed of the Northern Belle Pullman coaches was top-and-tailed by West Coast Railways’ maroon-liveried 47812 and 57314 and made a fine sight as it approached and passed the Cotswold station and its array of semaphore signals.
Once they had disembarked at Evesham the well-heeled punters aboard 1Z25 were being shuttled by coach to nearby Broadway for a 16-mile steam-hauled journey on the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway to Cheltenham Racecourse station, returning the same way to Paddington after their day at Prestbury Park.
Having got the shots I was hoping for alongside a young fellow enthusiast who remembered meeting me when we were both out photographing a steam special in Shrewsbury two years ago (!) it was time for a short return visit to Worcester Shrub Hill and a few photos of its fine selection of mechanical signals.
Here there was another Gold Cup extra to add to the usual diet of GWR Class 166/80x units and WMR Class 172s on local services towards Birmingham, when XC 220026 made a rare appearance in the city, working the empty stock (5H14) to Birmingham of a race-day special it had earlier formed from Birmingham New Street to Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Two particular features of note at Shrub Hill are centre-pivot signal SH7, an up home signal for trains departing platform 2 to the south, and at the opposite (north) end of the station the fine bracket with its six semaphore arms (including two fixed distant signals) and a unique mechanical route indicator which will show either “Hford” or “B’ham” when a train is signalled out of platform 2 heading north.
In addition to these two notable signals, another couple of interesting features at sleepy Shrub Hill are a huge mechanical disc signal (SH80) halfway along platform 1 and, most remarkable of all, its restored and tiled Victorian waiting room on platform 2 which enjoys Grade II* Listed status for its uniqueness and historic value.
RailwayWorld.net 
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