9600 Ardley Quarry 3 July 2010

An extremely unusual visitor to the Chiltern Line! With the M40 motorway in the background, GWR 57xx 0-6-0PT 9600 makes a fine sight on 3 July 2010 as it heads north past the site of Ardley Quarry with the Chiltern Railways 1Z38 13:45 Chinnor to Banbury 'Centenary Express' railtour, celebrating 100 years of The Great Western Railway's direct line via Bicester. Although running fifteen minutes late, it was going extremely well considering its seven coach load, and made a fantastic noise as it passed me. Incidentally, because this location requires a walk of nearly a mile from the nearest road (not counting the motorway!), I was the only photographer here. Luckily, after several long periods of cloud, the sun decided to come out just at the critical moment!