21st Feb 1997

12 minutes after my previous shot of an HST, at 15.46 Rail Express Systems Class 47 no. 47725 "The Railway Mission" is heading into Parsons Tunnel with 1E43 15.09 Plymouth to Lowfell and Preston. A mail train comprising 10 bogies that will presumably split somewhere en route, given that Lowfell is high up on the east coast, and Preston on the west. But a long old haul either way! Mail trains such as this are of course a thing of the past, but back then they were part of the everyday scene.