5029 Oxford 12 June 1994

I do not normally take pictures of steam locomotives working tender first, but this one has a certain novelty value. Castle Class 4-6-0 5029 Nunney Castle passes underneath the Osney Lane footbridge at Oxford in lovely evening light on 12 June 1994, with a special train from Didcot. This was one of a number of trains run to mark the 150th anniversary of the Didcot to Oxford line. Whilst tender first running is very common on most preserved railways (usually 50% of the time!), mainline tender first running is a lot more unusual. This footbridge has been the best known railway photographic vantage point in Oxford for generations.