D5301 & D5314 leave a rain soaked Bridge of Dun station with the 13:30 service to Brechin on 4 May 2008, during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala. Note the amount of stored stock in this picture, with three steam locos and two diesel shunters awaiting restoration visible in the line of wagons on the right. This view also emphasis the rural nature of the location.

D5301 passes Leuchland on the Caledonian Railway with the late running 10:00 Brechin to Bridge of Dun service during the line's Diesel Gala on 5 May 2008. Obviously the unexpected late running of the first train from Bridge of Dun, which resulted in this train's late departure resulted in some forgetfulness at Brechin, with the tail lamp being left attached to the front! Note the young child and her mother enjoying the £5 supplemental cab ride

D5301 & D5314 pass Kincraig on the Caledonian Railway with the 13:30 Bridge of Dun to Brechin service on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. Good use was made of the dry stone wall in the foreground to add to the photographic composition, although it did prevent a fellow photographer standing near the footpath crossing in the background, and therefore being in the picture.

D5301 passes Kincraig on the Caledonian Railway with the 14:15 Brechin to Bridge of Dun service on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. D5301 was the first Class 26 to enter traffic, being delivered to Hornsey depot in September 1958. It was one of a pair of Class 26s repainted into green livery in 1991 to mark the final years of the class on the national network.

D5301 darkens the sky with its exhaust as it blasts up the gradient towards the occupation crossing at Arrat on the Caledonian Railway on 5 May 2008. It was working the 14:45 Bridge of Dun to Brechin service as part of the line's Diesel Gala. As was the case at a lot of the locations I visited on the line during the event, I was the only person at this spot to witness this spectacle. The train could easily be heard leaving Bridge of Dun well over a mile away.

26003 & 26005 pass Reedley on the Colne Branch with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 13:40 Preston to Preston (via Padiham and Colne) 'Lancastrian Mini Excursion' on 23 May 1993. This was one of a number of mini railtours organised by Pathfinder over the weekend using (by today's standards) an amazing variety of traction. 60084 Cross Fell is out of sight on the rear of the train.

26004 & 25313 Chirk Castle/Castell Waun run alongside the River Dee at Ty Newydd on 18 April 1998 with the10:45 Carrog to Llangollen service, during the Llangollen Railway's Diesel Gala. At one time there was a 2ft 6in gauge horse worked tramway, which connected with this line approximately where the DMU is parked in the background. It climbed the hill in the background by way of a rope worked incline, to the Deeside Slate Works.

26004 passes Ty Newydd on 18 April 1998 with the 12:00 Llangollen to Carrog service, during the Llangollen Railway's Diesel Gala. It's not really a match for the maroon coaches, but the loco's immaculate Railfreight Coal livery certainly stands out.

26004 arrives at Carrog with the 12:00 train from Llangollen, during the Llangollen Railway's Diesel Gala on 18 April 1998. The locomotive was visiting from the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. The loco, owned by the 6LDA Group is in Railfreight Coal livery, the final livery carried by the class when in mainline use in Scotland. Note the remains of the winter's snow on the mountains in the background and the extremely neat and tidy preserved station.

26007 & 26043 pass Coppenhall Moss in atrocious light on 12 October 1991 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z16 07:00 Hereford to Carlisle 'Wye Not' railtour. Note that I am under observation from the large dog in the compound on the left!

The visiting locomotive at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's 2024 Diesel Gala was Class 26 5310 from the Llangollen Railway. It is pictured here passing Dixton with its first train of the gala - the 2C10 10:15 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service on Friday 12 July 2024.

5310 passes Dixton on 12 July 2024 with the 2B11 11:10 Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway service. The Llangollen Railway loco was visiting the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway for their Diesel Gala. The green livery with full yellow ends and original number minus the D, recreates the late 1960s / early 1970s period.

On loan from the Llangollen Railway, 5310 arrives at Toddington on 14 July 2024 with the 2C15 15:00 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Unfortunately the intermittent sunshine disappeared as soon as I arrived at the railway, and although it then looked like it was going to be a completely dull afternoon, by the time I got back home the sun was out again!

Although the sun shone all day on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May 2008 for the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala, the weather on the preceding two days was less good. However, D5314 is pictured here arriving at Bridge of Dun with the 11:00 train from Brechin in a brief patch of sunshine on 4 May. This is the site of the junction with the line to Guthrie, the area on the left now being used by the Caledonian Railway's engineering department. The headboard commemorates 50 years of the Class 26 locomotive (BRCW / Sulzer Type 2).

D5314 & D5301 arrive at Bridge of Dun in the drizzle with the 13:00 service from Brechin on 4 May 2008, during the Caledonian Railways Diesel Gala. Apart from the first and last trains needed to get the locos to and from Bridge of Dun, each of these locos plus 27024 worked two round trips each day of the gala. In addition there was this double header using the two green Class 26s.

A fine panoramic view of Brechin station on the Caledonian Railway on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. D5314 prepares to depart with the 11:00 service to Bridge of Dun, while 27024 waits in front of the former goods shed ready to take over on its return and work the 12:00 departure. Brechin lost its passenger service as early as 1952, although freight traffic continued until 1981. The preservation society started running trains in 1993 and perhaps because of its remoteness doesn't have the over commercialised feeling of some of the more famous preserved lines further south.

D5314 & D5301 pass Kincraig on the Caledonian Railway with the 13:00 Brechin to Bridge of Dun service on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. A perfect rural Scottish 1960s scene, with green Sulzer Type 2s on vintage bullhead track. We'll pretend that the maroon Mk 2 coaches are in fact Mk 1s and then the illusion is complete! Note the clouds in the background over the mountains, while thankfully being near the sea for once kept the weather near the railway cloud free.

D5314 arrives at Brechin station, on the Caledonian Railway, on 1 September 2018 with the 12:55 service from Bridge of Dun. Note the 'Celebrating 60 Years 1958 - 2018' headband. Brechin was formerly the terminus for three routes: from Montrose, Edzell and Forfar.

One of the highlights of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's 2013 Diesel Gala was the return to service, after a lengthy restoration, of D5343. The immaculately restored loco is pictured passing Gotherington's distant signal at Dixton on 26 July 2013, as it works the 2L66 14:10 Cheltenham Racecourse to Laverton service.

Superb evening light, and a superbly restored locomotive. Making its preservation debut at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's 2013 Diesel Gala, D5343 has swapped Scotland for the Cotswolds, and after a restoration taking nearly two decades, joins the line's impressive active diesel fleet. After a successful first day out, it rounds off the day with the 2W81 18:00 Toddington to Winchcombe service, seen here passing Hailes on 26 July 2013.

D5343 passes Stanton on 25 July 2014 with the 2C63 12:05 Laverton to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. A welcome sight in the Cotswolds, but a very long way from its original Scottish home!

D5343 arrives at Winchcombe on 25 July 2014 with the 2L72 14:10 Cheltenham Racecourse to Laverton service. The loco was taking part in the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's annual Diesel Gala. Greet Tunnel can just be seen in the background.

D5343 accelerates away from Gotherington, and passes Dixton on 25 July 2015 with the 2L66 14:10 Cheltenham Racecourse to Laverton service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala.

D5343 makes a rather smoky departure from Gotherington (just behind the trees), and passes Dixton with the 2T52 09:40 Cheltenham Racecourse to Toddington service on 29 July 2016, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala.

D5343 arrives at Ongar station on Sunday 24 September 2017 with the 2M02 09:15 service from North Weald, during the Epping Ongar Railway's Diesel Gala. The loco was visiting from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

D5343 arrives at North Weald station on Sunday 24 September 2017 with the 2E12 12:08 Epping Forest to Ongar service, during the Epping Ongar Railway's Diesel Gala. Class 117/121 hybrid DMU 51384 & 56287 waits in the opposite platform, ready to work the 2E13 12:20 service to Epping Forest. This is my first visit to this location as a preserved railway. The last time I was here it was a very strange London Underground backwater, with just a morning and evening peak service.

A brief burst of sunshine at Hayles Abbey Halt on 26 July 2019, as D5343 passes through the immaculate little station with the 2C59 11:15 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala.

D5343 passes Stanton on 28 July 2019 with the 2C69 15:00 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. The '60 Years Class 26 1959-2019' is slightly more accurate than the similar headboard I saw at the Caledonian Railway in 2018.

The only picture in my collection of a Class 26 in BR use on a freight train. On the balmy summer evening of 15 July 1983, 26046 crosses the viaduct at Killiecrankie with a short ballast train. Although the various waterfalls in the River Garry in the foreground were disturbing the peace of this idyllic location, that was nothing compared with the racket from the 26 as it headed north. The noise could be heard echoing across the wooded valley for some time before it appeared and after it had disappeared from sight. This was the final Class 26 to enter service, arriving at Haymarket depot in October 1959. It was withdrawn in April 1991 and cut up at MC Metal Processing, Glasgow in October 1993.