TWO Class 33 locomotives will return to their old stomping ground this weekend.

The vintage diesel engines are making their way through Wiltshire on Saturday, August 6.

Numbers 33025 and 33029 were part of the 98 Class 33 diesel locomotives that were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company between 1960 and 1962.

Both are owned by West Coast Railways - the train operating company that runs both steam and diesel charter trains on the national network.

The Class 33s are set to haul the Dorset Coast Explorer from Burton-upon-Trent to Weymouth.

During the trip, the locomotives will be returning to their former patch.

While in service with British Rail, the engines were used to haul services through Wiltshire on Cardiff to Portsmouth via Westbury services.

They also used to haul services through Swindon.

Twenty-four locomotives of the class have persevered on heritage railways across the UK.

The special train which is being run by Pathfinder Tours will be making a large circular journey through Central Southern England, starting with a climb through the Golden Valley into the heart of the Cotswolds.

It will then reach Swindon before making its way towards Reading.

Here it will then its way south towards Basingstoke before joining the South Western route towards the South Coast.

The return leg will see the train make its way back to the midlands but via Westbury and Bradford Upon Avon to reach Cheltenham and Birmingham.

Timings through Wiltshire are as follows:

1Z33 0545 Burton-on-Trent to Weymouth

  • Rodbourne Junction: 10:06
  • Swindon: 10:09 departs 10:24

​1Z34 1635 Weymouth to Burton-on-Trent

  • Fairwood Junction 18:08
  • Westbury: 18:16
  • Bradford Junction: 18:27