GWR ran a livery competition to design a train livery for a Class 802 to celebrate the key workers. Today I saw a Tweet and it said, along with two others, I had won the GWR livery competition.
I was invited to go and see the train in Stoke Gifford depot, in Bristol. GWR kindly offered some tickets from Gloucester to Bristol Parkway and then a taxi from Parkway to Stoke Gifford Hitachi Depot.
Today was the day I was going to see the GWR’s 802 020 being wrapped with transfers in Bristol. Our train to Bristol was leaving Gloucester at 12:42 – this was going to be my first train since the Coronavirus lockdown started.
My mum and I arrived at Gloucester station with our facemasks and hand gel ready to use. On platform 2 was our train, a Class 166, ready to take us to Bristol. We were waiting on the platform and saw a TfW Class 170 on platform 3 with a rainbow on the side of the train to celebrate the NHS. GWR had also released another livery a few weeks before with a facemask on the front of the train when facemasks became compulsory. Although the facemask train was not at Gloucester station, I was lucky enough to have seen it before whilst taking my dog out for a walk. Our train was now nearly ready for departure so we boarded the train. There were about 3 other people in our coach of the train so socially distancing was not an issue. Onboard the train it was quite warm so with a facemask on you got very warm. Luckily it was only a half an hour journey so wasn’t too long in a facemask. We called at a few stations and then it was Bristol Parkway.
Approaching Bristol Parkway there were a few people leaving the train so we waited until they had left the train. We walked up to the barriers and showed our day passes to the gate line staff, they let us through the barriers no problem. We sanitised our hands and then saw the taxi waiting for us outside of the station. We got in the taxi and they drove us all the way to the reception of the depot. We got out of the taxi and met one of the other winners. We then waited for the last of the winners to arrive. At the depot, while we were waiting, I saw a Class 43 ‘Castle Set’ and a class 158 and 166 combo. So had plenty to watch whilst waiting 😊.
Afterwards we were taken upstairs to get some PPE on and had a safety talk with a member of the Hitachi depot team. We were then taken to the “main shed” of the depot. It had two trains in; 802 020 being wrapped with new stickers and another one in for a service (I think). The keyworker train was also having a scheduled exam checking if it was fit for service. Being able to see how to add colour to a train with transfers was very interesting to watch. The highlight for me however was to see my (The Nation Says THANK YOU) being stuck onto the train. We walked to the end of the shed and saw the other driving car with all the stickers applied. The other side of the car could only be half done as it was up next to a walkway. After that, we went inside the cab of the train as a little treat.
Later on, we then all discussed what inspired each of our designs. My design was very simplistic with an easy motto the “Nation Says THANK YOU” I chose these words as it was a simple way for everyone to say thank you. The different languages made it so it was including everybody in saying thank you in 116 different languages. I was also really pleased to see that the GWR train used 802 020 which was suggested in my competition entry. I choose 802 020 as I thought it was very appropriate due to it being the year 2020.
Next, we were taken back up to take off the PPE and then we headed back to Parkway station. We got back in the taxi and were driven back to the station; we missed our original train the 15:51 so we caught the 15:56 from Parkway one-stop to Swindon and then we could catch the 16:28 back to Stonehouse so my dad could pick us up.
Both trains were very quiet which again made social distancing very easy. We boarded and alighted both trains from the indicated doors which worked really well. We travelled back on my favourite part of the Golden Valley, Stroud, as it is so pretty with all of the trees, hills and animals which feel like it is all around you. After Stroud a few minutes later, we were in Stonehouse our final stop on our days adventure.
Thank you very much GWR for the tickets and Hitachi and GWR for inviting me to the amazing depot.
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