47002 Sea Eagle passes through Kings Sutton station on 17 March 1990 with the 4O81 07:10 Coatbridge to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The short load is typical of the period, as is the general lack of lineside vegetation. Kings Sutton station was formerly the junction for the cross country line to Kingham and Cheltenham, which closed in stages between 1951 and 1964.

47002 Sea Eagle pulls away from a signal check at Oxford on 18 July 1990 with the 4M79 16:08 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner. 47002 was one of a number of Tinsley allocated Class 47s that received unofficial painted names during 1989 and 1990. Note the recently constructed industrial estate in the background on the site of the former Oxford South Yard.

Extremely unusual motive power on the West of England line on 9 March 1991. 47002 Sea Eagle leaves Andover station with the 1L15 07:52 Waterloo to Salisbury Network SouthEast service. The booked locomotive (50036) had failed prior to departure, and the nearest available replacement was Tinsley's FDBT Railfreight Distribution reserve allocated 47002. So although the passengers had to make do with an unheated train, at least it ran, albeit 75 minutes late! This late running resulted in the stock staying at Salisbury, rather than working ECS to Southampton as booked, to form the 1V10 11:14 Southampton to Plymouth. This started from Salisbury, with a DMU filling in from Southampton. However, 47002's fun was over for the day, as 50018 took over 1V10. Although non ETH Class 47s did occasionally work on this route, the appearance of one of Tinsley's tatty unofficially named locos must be unique. Incidentally, 50036 was back in service two days later.

With four Sealion, and five Dogfish wagons loaded with ballast, 47003 heads south past Portway on 15 March 1989. Presumably this loco would have been a rarer sight here a few weeks earlier, as it had just been reallocated to Tinsley, after spending a year north of the border, allocated to Eastfield (Glasgow).

47003 approaches Water Orton on 17 March 1989 with a very mixed ballast train, including a varied selection of Grampus, Dogfish and Seacow wagons. Its hard to tell due to the loco's filthy condition, but it is still sporting a grey roof, applied when it was a Stratford loco, many years earlier.

47003 Wild Swan passes Flax Bourton on 21 September 1990 with the 6B97 12:10 Tavistock Junction to Gloucester Speedlink. At the head of the train are two OCA wagons loaded with bricks, en-route from Plymouth to Grangemouth. The single PBA contains dried china clay mound for Mossend. A couple of PGAs follow, then various VGA and VEA vans, with a cartic set bringing up the rear. A really interesting and varied train, it's just a pity the weather was so poor, although perhaps not, as at 17:00 this location would be exceedingly backlit!

47003 Wild Swan heads eastwards at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 January 1991. As this was just a light engine move, I decided to use the panning technique to add an impression of speed. Tricky to get right, but it seems to have worked reasonably well here. This close up view clearly shows the painted unofficial name, with Tinsley rose. This was applied in November 1989, but was removed in July 1991. The loco was withdrawn the following year, and cut up shortly afterwards at Booth Roe Metals, Rotherham.

47004 is pictured at Wolvercote Junction on 20 August 1987, long before its repainting into two tone green livery and its celebrity status as Old Oak Common's 'pet' locomotive. As can be guessed by the snowploughs and the Westie logo, at the time this picture was taken it was a Scottish loco, allocated to Eastfield. Therefore it is somewhat off the beaten track in the Oxford area, more so when you consider it has just worked up from the Southern Region. It is working the 4M79 16:19 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner, seen here running exactly on time.

47004, 37073 Fort William / An Gearasdan & 47280 Pedigree head north past Lower Basildon on Sunday 17 May 1992. The previous day, both of these Class 47s had not only been employed on scheduled passenger trains, but unexpectedly, the same one! 47280 Pedigree had worked the 1O99 06:40 Liverpool Lime Street to Dover Western Docks from Liverpool to Reading, where it was supposed to be replaced by 47846 Thor. However, 47846 was delayed en-route from Old Oak Common, so as 47004 was on hand, that was used instead.

47004 passes Denchworth on 17 August 1992, running light engine, probably en-route to Didcot. The wide spacing of the tracks here indicates that there were once four tracks, which at this time were just about to be reinstated.

47004 Old Oak Common Traction & Rolling Stock Depot heads along the Great Western Mainline at Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham on 8 May 1996 with a westbound engineer's train. This has become a very well known photographic location in recent years, although this view from the north side of the line is only really possible on late spring and summer evenings.

47004 Old Oak Common Traction & Rolling Stock Depot emerges from Twerton Tunnel on 23 April 1998 with the 4B05 17:47 Bath to Westerleigh Avon Binliner. The train originated at Calvert, and at this point is conveying both full containers from Bath, and empty boxes from Calvert.

47005 approaches Shippea Hill station on 20 September 1986 with the 1E66 08:19 Birmingham New Street to Yarmouth service, which it would work as far as Norwich. It would not be calling at this remote Fenland station, in fact virtually nothing else did either. This is my only picture of 47005. It was withdrawn in 1991.

47009 approaches Chinley on 19 June 1984 with the 1M70 10:09 Barrow-in-Furness to Nottingham. 47009 was one of the 47s that managed to hang on to its corporate BR blue livery right until the end, although it did later acquire a grey roof. It survived amid a sea of more colourful machines, until finally withdrawn in March 1991. It was cut up the following year.

With its point of origin just visible through the trees in the background, 47009 accelerates away from Langley on 6 November 1986 with the 6C08 13:30 Langley to Robeston oil empties. I only saw this loco twice, it being one of the relatively early withdrawals. It was stood down in 1991 and cut up at Booth Roe, Rotherham, the following year.

47011 accelerates away from Oxford on 2 July 1985 with the 3V19 09:35 Oxford to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans, running very early, as was often the case. 47011 had a relatively low key life, only ever carrying two numbers (D1538 & 47011), and only having two different liveries. Admittedly its former two tone green livery latterly had full yellow ends, and as can be seen here, whilst in BR blue it later acquired a grey roof. It was withdrawn in 1987, and this is the only time that I photographed it.

47012 passes Steventon on 7 December 1980, returning to Didcot with a rake of ballast hoppers during a Sunday engineering possession. Not ideal lighting, but I haven't got many pictures of Class 47s running wrong line on the Great Western Mainline.

A local farm worker cycles up the lane at Claydon on 2 June 1984 as 47015 rounds the curve with the 4O84 03:17 Holyhead to Millbrook freightliner. This train virtually always ran with this short consist, but notice how on this occasion it includes one of the original silver and red striped Freightliner containers. Holyhead Freightliner Terminal has long since closed, and 47015 is also no more, having been withdrawn in May 1987 and finally meeting its end at Booths of Rotherham in January 1994. Needless to say with such an early withdrawal date (relative to the time I've been taking pictures), this is the only picture I have of this particular machine. Note how lucky I was with the sun for this one, with the train just about to enter the cloud. You can't get closer than this!

47016 The Toleman Group passes Engine Common (near Yate) with the 6M29 14:25 Taunton to Bescot Speedlink on 28 July 1988. The very poor quality is due to the use of full aperture on Kodachrome 200, but it is included here not only for the interesting consist, but also because it clearly shows the light blue backed Toleman Group nameplate, as well as the cast Railfreight plate, in the position of the usual transfer.

47016 The Toleman Group approaches Wickwar Tunnel on 30 May 1989 with the 6B97 12:10 Tavistock Junction to Gloucester Speedlink. Note the variety of traffic, with at the front of the train, two PNA wagons loaded with Redland tiles, destined for Cardiff. Most of the rest of the consist will continue heading north on the 6M17 19:15 Gloucester to Bescot. Also seen on this occasion were the 6V79 14:34 Salisbury to Gloucester, and the 6B59 17:34 Stoke Gifford to Gloucester.

Running exactly to time, 47016 takes the Baglan Bay branch at Briton Ferry on 15 April 1991 with the 6B15 16:20 Barry No.1 Dock (Dow Chemicals) to Baglan Bay empty chemical tanks. 56108 waits for it to pass, so that it can enter the yard in the background.

47016 Atlas (also carrying its original number 1546) heads east along the Great Western Mainline at Cholsey on 22 July 1994 with a lengthy train of ZFA Gunnel ballast wagons. This had recently been converted from redundant PGA stone hoppers.

47016 Atlas passes Kempston on 2 November 1994 with the 6A61 08:11 Cricklewood to Forders Sidings binliner. Although this was an excellent photographic viewpoint, it certainly wasn't a very pleasant spot to stand whilst waiting, as there was constant procession of fast moving traffic crossing the bridge, which forms part of the Bedford bypass.

47016 Atlas passes Kempston on 2 November 1994 with the 4C51 10:45 Forders Sidings to Cricklewood empty binliner. A quick dash over the very busy road secured a picture of 55023 working the 10:40 Bedford to Bletchley service. This would be virtually impossible to attempt now, as the road is even busier, and has been upgraded to a dual carriageway.

Shortly after reversing at Bedford, 47016 Atlas passes Ampthill (Millbrook) on 2 November 1994 with the 4C51 10:45 Forders Sidings to Cricklewood empty binliner. Without the luxury of today's ten frames per second cameras, I'm amazed that I managed to take this at exactly the right moment, in the very small gap between the mast and the leaning milepost. There was also of course no way of being totally sure beforehand that the gap was big enough for a Class 47!

With just five former domestic coal HEA hoppers in tow, 47016 Atlas runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 29 February 1996 with a loaded (just!) test run from Didcot to Swindon, following repairs. 47016 retained this original Railfreight livery long after most of the class had been repainted. In fact it was withdrawn in 1999 still wearing this obsolete colour scheme.

47016 Atlas passes Baulking on 2 October 1996 with the 4C13 11:21 Calvert to Bristol and Bath Avon Binliner. These distinctive blue containers have ended up in some odd places. One has found its way to the course of the old Fairford Branch Line (closed in 1962)! It is carrying on the long tradition of redundant railway vehicles being used for farm storage.

47017 passes Croome on 9 April 1983 with the 1M22 11:38 Plymouth to Manchester Piccadilly service. I'm not sure why this is only six coaches, instead of the usual ten, but even so there is still plenty of provision for bikes, etc, in the BG at the front of the train. Take note GWR!

47018 passes the site of Wantage Road station on a foggy 20 January 1979. Technically rather a poor picture due to the miserable lighting and (to a lesser extent) the use of a Praktica PLC2, but full of interest as it shows the very rare appearance of Stratford allocated steam heat Class 47 on the Great Western Mainline. Unfortunately I have been unable to positively identify the working, but my best guess is that it is a football special. A train taking West Ham fans to see their team play Bristol Rovers (they won 1-0) seems very likely (thanks to James Sutcliffe for the information). This would explain the Stratford 47. Note that this is a long time before the relief lines were reinstated at this location and consequently the long disused platforms are still intact.

Its debatable as to which is carrying the most freight in this picture, the lorry on the A34, or the single wagon behind 47018 approaching Wolvercote Junction on 11 July 1990. The featherweight working is the 6E30 17:18 Eastleigh to Haverton Hill Speedlink.

47018 passes Lower Basildon on 28 June 1991 with the 6E30 17:18 Eastleigh to Haverton Hill Speedlink. This was an excellent location to photograph northbound trains on a summer evening, but only if they were on the relief line! I had photographed this train an hour earlier at Winchester.

47019 arrives at Oxford station on 5 July 1980 with the 1V18 08:25 Liverpool Lime Street to Paddington service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. It would return north a few hours later with the 1M13 11:50 Paddington to Birmingham New Street train.

Sporting a Stratford depot silver roof, 47019 passes Hinksey Yard under a threatening sky with the 1M13 11:50 Paddington to Birmingham New Street on 5 July 1980. A common question to be asked in the late 1970s and early 1980s at Oxford was "Seen any Stratford 47s?", as the white or silver roofs were just about the only variation to the standard rail blue livery. Nevertheless, with a variety of loco types, plenty of freight and loco hauled passenger trains it was still a golden age compared with today! 47019 was withdrawn in December 1993 and broken up at Eastleigh by staff from M.R.J. Phillips of Llanelly.

A freezing cold day at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 11 December 1991. 47019 restarts its short train of empty spoil wagons away from a signal check. At this time the site of the wartime Moreton Sidings in the background had been allowed to become covered with brambles. Various clearance operations happened in later years, culminating in full clearance work in 2012 in preparation for forthcoming electrification work.

47029 passes Bourton on 13 July 1985 with the 1A46 09:48 Pembroke Dock to Paddington service. Note the provision of two BG vans at the front of the train, so there was plenty of luggage and bike accommodation on this train, a far cry from the provision on today's DMUs.

47032 passes Margaretting on 8 May 1985 with the 6V73 10:32 Barham to Westbury Tilbury Roadstone stone empties. In the background is St Margaret's church, which apart from the nearby vicarage, is the only part of the village on the east side of the railway. The bulk of the village is nearly a mile distant, to the north.

47033 passes Bourton on 13 July 1985 with the 3A03 13:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington parcels train. Almost exactly the same consist had worked the 3A12 service from Swansea about an hour before. There is nothing like this on the railways now!

47033 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 10 December 1986 with the 6V17 10:00 Allington to Stoke Gifford ARC stone empties. Generally these trains were worked by Class 56s at the time, although 47s were not uncommon. Note that 47033 had just received the then recently introduced cantrail orange stripe.

47033 stands 'wrong line' with a ballast train on the down line at Ascott-under-Wychwood on 12 April 1987, during track relaying work on the Cotswold Line. Although at the the time this location was thankfully clear of lineside vegetation, it is still rather a nondescript location. With no prospect of the train moving for hours to come, I waited for an photogenic batch of clouds to drift across and then placed the train low in the frame to make a feature of the sky.

After taking a conventional picture of 47033 standing 'wrong line' with a ballast train on the down line at Ascott-under-Wychwood on 12 April 1987, I decided to take this close up side view of the locomotive, which shows off the large gap between the battery boxes.

47033 passes Gunstone Mill (near Crediton) with the 7C38 Exeter to Meldon Quarry ballast empties on 22 April 1988. Other than the addition of an orange cantrail stripe (and some graffiti) the loco still retains standard rail blue livery. Although this appears to be a double track line, it is in fact two parallel single track routes, with the other line being the Barnstaple branch.

A Railfreight Distribution meeting at Hallen Marsh Junction on 29 April 1993. 47033 waits at the head of a rake of seven VTG ferry vans, while 47299 rounds the curve with the early running 6E48 12:45 Hallen Marsh to Immingham Norsk Hydro fertiliser empties, which is less than a mile into its journey. After 47299's train had left, 47033 detached from the ferry vans, which were presumably conveying traffic from the nearby Commonwealth Smelting sidings.

A colourful Railfreight Distribution, Regional Railways & InterCity combination at Portway on 5 June 1993. 47033 heads south with the 1M93 10:14 Great Yarmouth to Birmingham New Street service. This train was booked for a Railfreight Distribution Class 47 during summer 1993.

47033 The Royal Logistic Corps approaches Wolvercote Junction on 29 July 1997 with the 6Z18 15:36 Eastleigh to Carlisle Enterprise service. This train could convey china clay tanks from Quidhampton, but more often than not it consisted entirely of MoD traffic, as here.

47040 passes Hampton Gay on the foggy and frosty morning of 12 January 1980 with the North Staffordshire Railway Society 'Knotty Rambler' railtour. The train is obviously easily identified by the huge headboard, but I can find no mention, either in print, or on the internet, of this train. As the North Staffordshire Railway Society was the forerunner of the Churnet Valley Railway, that probably gives a clue to the point of origin. But where was it going to? The train is just crossing the bridge over the River Cherwell.

47040 passes Evenlode in a brief, but very welcome patch of winter sunshine, amid the clouds on 16 February 1980, as it heads towards Oxford with the 2A91 14:25 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot service. This train only worked as far as Oxford on a weekday, and was extended to Didcot on a Saturday. Not a bad picture considering it was taken with a Praktica PLC2 with 50mm Pentacon lens. Good results could be obtained with even basic 35mm SLR cameras in those far off days, provided of course you used Kodachrome 64 film!

There are at least 14 diesel powered vehicles in this view! 47049 passes the bus depot at Patchway on 29 April 1993, as it heads towards Wales with what is possibly the 6V16 Wembley to Newport Alexandra Dock Junction service. Although running at the correct time, the lack of vans means it could be something else. No gen in those days!

47050 passes Marshfield on 28 April 1984 with the 3A12 08:55 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. Just visible in the far distance is 47462, which had just come to a stand with the 10:16 Cardiff to Paddington relief. Unlike today, where a failed train causes chaos for hours, a rescue loco was quickly summoned, and the train was on the move again within the hour.

An unusual sequence of events took place at Charlbury on 15 May 1988. The Cotswold Line was closed for engineering works during the early part of the day, and 47050 is seen here approaching Charlbury with empty ballast wagons returning from track relaying work at Ascott-under-Wychwood. Little did I expect to see the same loco return from the Oxford direction a couple of hours later with a passenger train! 47050 is wearing the original version of Railfreight grey livery with a white cantrail stripe. It was one of the early repaints and along with 47095 did not have the later standard black window surrounds.

Running over 40 minutes late 47050 arrives at Charlbury station with the 14:00 Paddington to Hereford on 15 May 1988, the first train of the day over the line on a Sunday at this time. There had obviously been a problem with the train's original loco, as I had earlier seen 47050 heading south at Charlbury with empty ballast wagons from the engineering possession at Ascott-under-Wychwood. So presumably it replaced the errant train loco at either Didcot or Oxford. Non ETH locos were very rare on passenger trains on the Cotswold Line, and I certainly don't ever remember seeing another Railfreight liveried example being used. Note that Charlbury's notoriously short platform was just being lengthened and the car park extended.

47051 approaches Didcot station on 27 February 1982 with what is presumably the late running 4S59 10:36 Southampton Maritime to Coatbridge freightliner. What is particularly interesting about this picture is that the train contains just one small very low blue container.

I have very few pictures of locomotives rescuing failed HSTs, and the ones that I do have are all Class 47s, despite the fact that 37s, 50s and even the occasionally 58 were used at times. In the very last of the weak afternoon light on 16 September 1990, 47051 Great Snipe passes Exminster dragging a HST, with 43144 leading. Presumably this is the 1C51 14:20 Paddington to Penzance service, but confirmation would be most welcome.

47051 passes through Sonning cutting on 26 March 1992 with the 4O79 09:36 Ripple Lane to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Apart from a couple of visits in 2016, when I was desperate to get pictures before the 25Kv wires ruined it forever, this was the only other time that I visited this iconic location.

47051 is deputising for an unavailable Virgin Class 47/8, as it speeds past Old Milverton on 29 August 1998 with the 1O38 14:06 Birmingham New Street to Bournemouth CrossCountry service. The late 1990s saw a spate of Railfreight Distribution hire ins, as Virgin struggled to cope with its own fleet.

1998 was a golden year for loco haulage on Virgin CrossCountry services, as the dedicated 47/8s were proving unreliable, and all sorts of traction was called in to help out. It was still a Class 47 on 30 August 1998, but a Railfreight Distribution 47/0, rather than a Virgin 47/8. 47051 races through Radley station with the 1O10 11:13 Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth service. Note the platform reconstruction taking place, with one finished, and one with 'Do not alight here' notices.

Just one day off from the longest day, but the light is still almost gone at 20:50. 47052 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 22 June 1988 with the 6V45 18:24 Willesden Brent to East Usk Junction Speedlink. This was actually running slightly early, which was very fortunate as the shadows were lengthening by the minute.

A panoramic view of the lush Gloucestershire countryside at Little Bristol (near Charfield) on 30 May 1989. 47052 heads north with the 6M29 14:05 Taunton to Bescot Speedlink. I was a bit annoyed that there were a couple of bushes getting in the way, but I bet it's a lot worse now!

Just a few days after the demise of the Speedlink wagonload network, it seems to be business as usual at Radley on 9 July 1991. The MoD still had need of a wagonload service, so immediately Speedlink ended, a dedicated MoD network was set up. This is the 6M79 15:08 Eastleigh to Crewe Basford Hall working, with 47052 hardly being taxed by the minuscule load!

Soft spring lighting at Wolvercote Junction on 8 April 1997. 47052 heads north with the 4S59 15:19 Millbrook to Coatbridge freightliner. This was my standard 'straight from work' location in the 1980s and 90s, with the sun just coming round onto the front of the train by the time I arrived at around 17:20.

47053 opens up as it passes through Stamford station on 1 August 1992 with the 1M03 10:34 Great Yarmouth to Birmingham New Street Regional Railways service. This working produced all manner of Railfreight 47s during the summer of 1992. The impressive station building in the background is now the home to Robert Humm & Co, the country's largest transport bookshop.

47053 Dollands Moor International approaches Wolvercote Junction on 7 August 1998 with the 6M18 15:36 Eastleigh to Carlisle Enterprise service. Two distinct traffic flows make up the train, with the front half being calcium carbonate tanks from Quidhampton, and the rear section MoD traffic from Marchwood, possibly with additions from Fenny Compton added at Didcot.

47054 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 1 December 1983 with the 4S59 10:18 Southampton Maritime to Coatbridge freightliner. There was far less freightliner traffic in the 1980s compared to today, and even this short train is only partly loaded. The white car is parked on the site of Moreton Sidings, which were constructed during the Second World War.

47054 passes Purley-on-Thames on 11 February 1989 with the 6B14 10:10 Theale to Robeston oil empties. Clearly this was a location that was only of any use for something running along the relief line, especially in February!

Civil and military containers at Hinksey Yard on 22 October 1985. 47056 heads south with the late running 4O81 03:00 Coatbridge to Southampton Maritime freightliner, passing a rake of Royal Corps of Transport containers, which had just arrived from MoD Bicester as part of the 6A50 13:56 Bicester to Morris Cowley Speedlink working.

47059 passes through Radley station on 4 September 1982 with the 1O17 08:56 Liverpool Lime Street to Weymouth service, which it worked between Birmingham New Street and Reading. Note that in the 1980s there was road access to this platform, as well as what is still the car park, on the left.

Something different on the Great Western Mainline. 47060 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 18 December 1985 with the 7Z35 09:10 Margam to Temple Mills, conveying 24 vacuum braked MDV wagons of coal from Onllwyn Washery to Bow. Special thanks to David Hamilton for the information.

Trying to find somewhere different to photograph the many northbound freights on a summer's evening around the Oxford area in the 1980s led to the discovery of this spot near the deserted medieval village of Hampton Gay. 47060 Halewood Silver Jubilee 1988 crosses the bridge over River Cherwell with the 6E30 17:18 Eastleigh to Haverton Hill Speedlink on 11 July 1989. The trackless bridge in the foreground once carried the Woodstock Branch (closed in 1954). The branch ran parallel with the mainline from Kidlington station, but then just past this bridge curved away to the west. This was a very precarious vantage point, trying to get enough height without stepping off the bridge and falling into the river. And no, I did not remove the top rail of the bridge to get a clearer view of the wheels!

To mark the 21st anniversary of F&W Railtours (now Pathfinder Tours), a train was run from Bristol to Pwllheli on 12 June 1994. 47060 Halewood Silver Jubilee 1988 is seen here rounding the curve between Gloucester Yard Junction and Horton Road Junction with the 1Z30 07:20 Bristol Temple Meads to Pwllheli '21st Anniversary Snowdonian'. Note the newly fenced off building site behind the train. This is now another housing estate. As the train was about to call at Gloucester, and the loco had to run round, there was ample opportunity to get another picture.

47060 Halewood Silver Jubilee 1988 passes Badgeworth on 12 June 1994 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z30 07:20 Bristol Temple Meads to Pwllheli '21st Anniversary Snowdonian' railtour. This was run to mark the 21st anniversary of Pathfinder Tours (formerly F&W Railtours), accordingly it is carrying both F&W and Pathfinder headboards. Very poor head on lighting, but this was a bonus shot, after seeing the train arrive at Gloucester a little earlier.

47061 arrives at Chinnor on 8 September 1982 with a coal train for the cement works. Unfortunately this is the only occasion that I photographed a coal train at Chinnor, and I can't remember now why I didn't take the conventional front view of the train. However, this picture does show the whole scene, with the run round loop and works in the background. This traffic came to and end in 1989, as the vintage vacuum brake HTV wagons were life expired. On this occasion the second wagon is an even older 16 ton open.

47061 approaches Hinksey Yard on 12 February 1985 with the 6M23 10:12 Fawley to Longport LPG tanks. Given the arctic conditions, it is not surprising that this was running 30 minutes late. Trees growing between the line and Kennington Road would cast a lot more shadows across the line at this location now.

Golden evening light at Compton Beauchamp on 16 May 1988. 47063 heads east with the 6O84 14:30 Velindre Tinplate Works to Dover Town, conveying tin-plated steel coil for export via the Dover Train Ferry. The ultimate destination would be the Sosek Fabrike works in Belgrade. The very poor technical quality of this picture is due not so much that it was taken with the Canon 100mm lens wide open at f2.8, but more to do with the fact that I was experimenting with Ektachrome 64 film, which was nothing like as good as my usual Kodachrome 64.

Unfortunately I never managed to get a decent picture of the coal trains that worked down the truncated remains of the Watlington Branch to Chinnor Cement Works. However, I did get this picture of the returning empties heading along the Great Western Mainline at Compton Beauchamp. In the last few years of this traffic coal for the works came from the Midlands, and then Halling in Kent, and finally in the last year of operation, from Newport. On 19 May 1989, 47063 heads westwards with the Chinnor to Alexandra Dock Junction empties. The reason for the cessation of the traffic can be seen here. The vintage vacuum braked HTV hoppers were life expired, and there was no money for replacements.

47069 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 7 June 1980 with the 1B42 09:23 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill service. Even before the line was electrified, this view had completely changed, with no visible point of reference between the old and new views. Just two tracks here, and the old brick arched Denchworth bridge is still visible in the background. However, the biggest change is the land use either side of the line. In 1980 the field on the left was permanent pasture, and on the right arable (a hay crop in this instance). The position is reversed today, and in addition, a wood has been planted adjacent to the line on the left.

Photographed from the closed Knighton level crossing, 47070 heads west along the Great Western Mainline on 26 January 1980 with an unidentified working. This doesn't match up with anything in the working timetable, but bearing in mind this is early on a Saturday afternoon, I am guessing it is a football special (remember those?). As Bristol City were at home to Ipswich Town in the FA Cup fourth round, that could be a possibility.

47076 City of Truro approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 October 1982 with the diverted Tavistock Junction to Dover china clay Polybulk tanks. There were two sets of 11 wagons used for this traffic, which was destined for Switzerland via the train ferry. Both sets of empties usually came back as one train. The train normally ran via the Berks & Hants line, and I cannot now recall why this was running via Swindon. Presumably this train ran with a Z headcode, as I can find no mention of it in the working timetable.

47077 passes Bourton on 21 October 1983 with what is either the 6M34 08:00 Llandarcy to Thame, or 6A21 08:00 Llandarcy to Southall. Both these oil trains ran in exactly the same path, on an as required basis, so unless you had some inside gen, there was no way of telling! At this time 47077 was temporarily running without its North Star nameplates (at least on this side), but you can clearly see where the plate was formerly fixed.

47079 passes Water Eaton on 17 August 1988 with the 4V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. This location saw a reasonable amount of freight in the 1980s, with ARC stone trains and MoD workings to Bicester in addition to this rubbish train. Two decades later the MoD working is all that survives.

47079 passes Hinksey Yard on 17 August 1988 with the 4V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. It wasn't very often that I got a picture of this appropriately liveried loco on this train, as at the time seemingly anything turned up.

47079 passes Grove on 26 October 1989 with the 6C13 12:15 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. A very poor quality image, but the only decent picture I took from this particular angle whilst this was still a two track mainline. Three years later work started to reinstate the former relief lines from Wantage Road (just visible in the far distance) and Challow. Also, note the completely rural background to this view, as this was before the large Williams Formula 1 headquarters was built behind the trees in the middle distance.

Unlike the other three Class 47s that were painted into GW150 green livery in 1985 (47484, 47500 & 47628), I never once saw 47079 in green, first seeing it in 1988, when it had acquired Railfreight Construction livery. In this guise it is pictured passing Bourton on 22 December 1989 with the 6C13 12:15 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties.

47079 passes Shrivenham on 29 December 1995 with the 4B50 14:42 Fridays only Didcot to Pengam freightliner. This was a portion off the 4S55 09:00 Southampton to Coatbridge service and ran at the ideal time of day for (weather permitting!) an excellent shot of a Railfreight Distribution 47 on the Great Western Mainline.

Looking very rough and sounding even worse, 47081 Odin makes a smoky departure from Oxford carriage sidings on 27 August 1983 with the 3V19 04:50 Banbury to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. Booked to recess at Oxford for over four hours, this train often left before the booked time, as here. On this occasion it had removed a single van and placed it in the up parcels bay. 47081 was one of the original batch of named Western Region 47s, and retained the Odin name after being renumbered to 47606. However, for some unexplained reason during 1973 and again during 1978 the plates were removed, only to be reinstated each time.

47083 Orion passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 1 December 1983 with the 9A27 09:00 Severn Tunnel Junction to Acton mixed freight. This was running exactly one hour early. An interesting assortment of wagons, including a number of vacuum braked HTV hoppers, both loaded with domestic coal, and empty.

47085 Mammoth passes through the deep cutting at Bridgefield Bridge, near Stonesfield on 6 June 1979 with the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service. Not a very good picture, with severe encroaching shadows, however it is one of the few pictures that I have of a steam heat Class 47/0 working a passenger train on the Cotswold Line. The next time I saw it on the line it was engaged in much humbler duties. Note the telegraph wires, and the distinctive Grintleyhill Bridge just visible in the far distance.

During 1984 long stretches of the Cotswold Line were relayed with continuous welded rail, including much of the single track section between Wolvercote Junction and Ascott-under-Wychwood. In this interesting view taken on 8 April 1984, 47085 Mammoth proceeds at less than walking pace between Combe and Hanborough, dropping ballast over the newly laid track. The ballast was dropped from each wagon in turn as the train inched forward. Note the cloud of dust around the fourth wagon as it is emptied. This high vantage point was chosen to show the whole sweep of the line right round to Combe station in the far distance.

After dropping fresh ballast onto recently relaid track between Combe and Hanborough on 8 April 1984, 47085 Mammoth slowly brings its train back into Hanborough station, passing the former station master's house. As can be guessed from the white roof, 47085 was a Stratford allocated loco at this time.

47085 Mammoth approaches Oxford on 1 August 1986 with the 5F19 Old Oak Common to Oxford ECS. After a quick runaround, it would shortly head back south with the 1F19 07:46 Oxford to Paddington service. I presume this working is the result of the failure of the booked Class 47/4 loco, as not only would a 47/0 not normally work these trains, but also this ECS is shown as only running on a Monday, not Friday, as here. Also, the normal 04:12 departure from Old Oak would see a much earlier arrival at Oxford than this.

47085 Conidae runs light engine through Oxford on 21 October 1988. It would return half an hour later with six TEA oil tanks, presumably from either Hinksey Yard or Littlemore Oil Terminal. This is the only time that I saw this loco while it was painted in Railfreight Petroleum livery, and with its Shell inspired name.

47085 REPTA 1893-1993 passes Hinksey Yard in the last of the afternoon light on 19 February 1994 with the 4M60 13:10 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner. It wouldn't be easy to take pictures at this location on a February afternoon now, as the trees that are just out of the picture on the right have grown considerably, casting much longer shadows.

On a murky 5 July 1985, 47086 Colossus passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 6E92 10:50 Severn Tunnel Junction to Ripple Lane Speedlink. Note the black backed nameplate. This was one of the early Western Region namings, applied at Cardiff Canton depot not long after 47086 (then D1672) had entered traffic in 1965.

47086 Colossus passes heads north through Oxford on 23 August 1985 with the 6A49 11:31 Morris Cowley to Bicester Speedlink. Note that as early as the mid 1980s some MoD traffic was being conveyed in containers. The waste ground behind the carriage sidings is the site of Oxford's former steam shed (81F).

47088 Samson passes Micheldever on 17 June 1988 with a short engineer's train, comprising three caterpillar tracked excavators, and three empty spoil wagons. At this time the loco was only named on this side, the other nameplate having vanished in 1978. By the following year the plate on this side had also disappeared!

47089 Amazon approaches Baulking in freezing conditions on 19 January 1985 with a short engineer's train. The bridge in the background marks the site of Uffington station. Two years later 47089 was involved in an accident at Chinley North Junction, when its overloaded stone train ran away and was derailed. The wreckage was hit by 31440 working the 1M34 16.22 Sheffield to Liverpool service. Both locos sustained substantial damage, and were withdrawn.

In the days when there were just a handful of daily freightliners through Oxford, rather than today's full timetable, 47089 Amazon passes Hinksey Yard on 21 June 1986 with the 4O90 12:25 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime. Note also the muted colours of the boxes, compared with today's colourful trains.

47090 Vulcan approaches Culham on 12 June 1983 with the 1M51 08:15 Weymouth to Liverpool Lime Street service. In the background the embankment is on fire, after the passage 15 minutes earlier of GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 5051 Drysllwyn Castle.

47090 Vulcan passes Hinksey Yard on 14 June 1983 with the 6M46 05:00 Northfleet to Greaves Sidings cement tanks. Unfortunately I have got very pictures of this Tuesdays only working, which on this occasion was running exactly one hour late. Note the variety of wagons in the yard in the background, including a couple of rakes of MGR wagons en-route to Didcot Power Station.

47090 Vulcan passes Bourton on 21 October 1983 with the 3A12 08:50 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. The train contains 13 vehicles, mostly GUVs, but also including four BGs. At this time a large number of BG vans used in these trains were in coaching stock blue and grey livery, but on this occasion the entire train is in plain Rail Blue livery.

Normally the Class 47s that worked the Cotswold Line in the 1980s were 47/4 ETH machines. However, on 5 January 1980, 47091 worked the 1A97 08:08 Hereford to Paddington service. It is pictured here approaching Bruern level crossing, running ten minutes late. It's hard to believe just how open this location was in 1980. It doesn't look like this now!

47091 just manages to catch the sun, as it passes through the deep cutting near Hullavington on 28 August 1982 with the 3A12 08:55 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. The bridge in the background is the now well known (to local photographers) Pig Lane bridge, Farleaze.

28 July 1983 was a very hot day, so 47091 was definitely not the best choice of motive power for the 1S61 06:45 Paddington to Glasgow Central service. It probably wasn't too hot in the coaches when I photographed the train approaching Oxford North Junction at 08:20, but with no way for the loco to operate the air conditioning, and no windows to open, the passengers would soon be getting a bit warm!

A vintage scene on the Cotswold Line, during Sunday engineering works on 10 June 1984. 47091 passes Bruern with a loaded ballast train from Moreton-in-Marsh to the track relaying site near Combe. This section of line was still open, with trains only running as far as Ascott-under-Wychwood. Note that the 47 has yet to be fitted with a high intensity headlamp. The fact that both up and down lines here still retain vintage bullhead track is proof that the Cotswold Line was a bit of a backwater at this time.

The view from Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, in the days before it became a well used photographic location, and when it was still a two track mainline. 47094 heads west on 27 October 1982 with an unidentified empty stock working.

47094 is nearly as filthy as the tank wagons, as it passes Sherrington on 15 January 1991 with the 6V62 10:34 Fawley to Tavistock Junction oil tanks. Despite the sunshine, the frost still evident in the field in the background proves that it is a bitterly cold day.

An unusual working photographed at sunset at Compton Beauchamp on 27 June 1986. 47095 heads east with a short rake of just 13 empty HAA MGR wagons. Other than guessing that this is 6Z??, I have no idea what the working is. The sun has all but disappeared, but the very last of the light is tingeing the wagons pink.

47095 passes Cholsey on 31 January 1987 with the 4M60 12:35 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. This loco was one of just two Class 47s that featured the original Railfreight livery, but without the normal black windows surrounds.

With hardly any opening windows, and 47095 unable to operate the air conditioning, the passengers on board the 1M84 10:05 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly Virgin CrossCountry service were in for a warm journey on 30 August 1998. The Railfreight Distribution liveried loco is pictured leaving Basingstoke. Is the chap at the window escaping the heat, or savouring the unusual traction?

A wave from 47096's secondman, as it passes Wormbridge on 14 May 1984 with the 6M81 06:45 Severn Tunnel Junction to Walton Old Junction Speedlink. The vans in the centre of the train probably come from nearby RAF Glascoed, and would have been tripped down to Severn Tunnel Junction the previous day.

An easy job for 47096 on the afternoon of 12 February 1985, as it trips a single VDA wagon from Morris Cowley to Hinksey. It has just passed underneath the Oxford Southern Bypass and is approaching the southern end of Hinksey Yard. Judging by the footprints in the snow, it seems like there were still numerous railwaymen regularly walking the track in the mid 1980s, either that or there have been some recent trespassers on the line!

Running 25 minutes early, 47096 passes Stenson Junction on 16 October 1986 with the 6V48 07:35 Lindsey to Bromsgrove oil tanks. I regret not visiting this location more often in the 1980s, when there was plenty of freight traffic, and a wide open uncluttered viewpoint.

47097 passes Wolvercote on 12 June 1982 with the 1V68 08:20 Liverpool Lime Street to Paddington service, which it had taken over at Coventry. The road in the background is the only means of vehicular access to the village of Wolvercote from nearby Oxford.

A scene that is now totally unrepeatable. 47098 passes Charfield on 13 March 1989 with the lengthy 6M29 14:00 Taunton to Bescot Speedlink, at least half of which on this occasion appears to be departmental vehicles. A rail blue Class 47 on a mixed freight is now sadly a thing of the past, and even this location where Little Bristol Lane parallels the line for some distance is no longer as open as this. My main concern here was whether a car would drive down the road and block off the shot at the critical moment!

47098 Oriole passes Millbrook on 30 November 1989 with the 6B63 11:35 Eastleigh to Fawley empty tanks, conveying an impressive mixture of vehicles, with fuel oil at the front and back of the train, a single bogie LPG tank, and a long string of bitumen tanks. The unofficial name Oriole had only been applied to the locomotive at Tinsley six days earlier.

Two freights in one picture, but not necessarily making a better picture. The 6S75 12:55 Severn Tunnel Junction to Mossend Speedlink slightly gets in the way in the foreground, while 47099 heads east with a lengthy rake of ZHV wagons at Magor on 4 September 1986. These are former 16 ton coal wagons converted for departmental use. Note the 'letter box' holes cut in the sides, to prevent them being overloaded with ballast and spoil, which is denser than coal.

A misty autumn day at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth. 47103 heads towards London on 20 October 1979 with the late running 1A93 08:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington service. Steam heat Mk1s, which mid-morning from Cheltenham in October in the 1970s are probably nearly empty. Luxury travel!

47103 passes Uffington in the rain on 27 September 1980 with the 3A02 08:15 Carmarthen to Reading parcels. Not a very good picture, but it is one of the few that I have of a parcels train with ex GWR Siphon vans in the consist. Note the old goods shed loading platform behind the loco.

The driver of 47103 puts on the power, as his train passes through Swindon station on 25 October 1982 with what is presumably the diverted Dover to Tavistock Junction Polybulk empties. The fence on the right has now been replaced by a much more substantial and photographer unfriendly construction!

A foogy day in the Thames Valley on 5 November 1983. 47103 approaches Goring with the 3A21 11:25 Malago Vale to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. As was often the case, this train includes some regular passenger stock. The second vehicle is a Mk1 BSK, which is clearly not using its passenger accommodation on this train!

47103 heads west past South Marston on the evening of 16 June 1984 with four Mk1 coaches. I've no idea what this working is, as it doesn't seem to match up with anything in the working timetable. Presumably it is a special ECS, but to where? The only clue is that allegedly earlier in the day the loco had worked the 1A52 10:45 Paignton to Paddington service.

47103 passes Hinksey Yard on 22 October 1985 with the 6M23 10:12 Fawley to Longport LPG tanks. Behind the loco is the strangely named Spragglesea Mead and Dean's Ham Allotments, with Hinksey Lake (a former gravel pit) beyond.

Withdrawn and partially cannibalised (note the missing buffer) 47103 stands next to equally forlorn 03112 at March on 16 August 1988. Both these locos were withdrawn the previous year, but whilst 47103 was cut up the following year at Vic Berry's yard at Leicester, 03112 escaped the cutter's torch, and can now be seen in action (as D2112) at the Rother Valley Railway.

The yellow front end adds a touch of colour to what is otherwise almost a monochrome image of 47104, pictured passing the former footpath crossing at Wolvercote on 6 October 1979 with the 1M38 05:55 Weymouth to Birmingham New Street service.

Not only was the 1F26 15:10 Paddington to Oxford HST on 22 October 1985 not actually a HST, but a Class 47 hauling a rake of HST coaches, but the 47 was the silver roofed Stratford loco, 47104. Double bonus! The loco had actually been transferred from Stratford to Carlisle the previous month. I have got a few pictures of the HST Mk 3 coaches being hauled by Class 47s with generator van ADB975325 providing the power, but this picture of the train passing Hinksey Yard is definitely the most unusual.

47105 passes Hungerford Common on 29 November 1981 with an unidentified westbound empty ARC stone train. The reason it is unidentified, is that this is a Sunday, and the working timetable makes no mention of any freight trains. Despite the poor quality, I have included this picture as it is one of the few pictures I have of Class 47s working the Mendip stone trains.

47105 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 October 1982 with the 1A01 08:02 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service. This loco had a 30 year lifespan on the national network, a record that has been exceeded by its second life in preservation!

Although I have lots of pictures of 47105 taken since its preservation at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, I have only a handful of it in BR service. This close up broadside view shows it calling at Oxford station on 27 August 1983 with the 1M03 08:05 Portsmouth Harbour to Manchester Piccadilly service. Note the slightly smaller size BR double arrow applied over the original.

47105 Goldcrest sits in Toddington Yard on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in the company of John Fowler 0-6-0 4240016 on 23 April 1994. The former Tinsley 47 had only arrived at the GWR a couple of weeks previously and is pictured here in its unrestored state, complete with the the unofficial name it acquired on 1989. Very little work was required to make the loco operational and initially the loco ran in the livery shown here, but a repaint into all over rail blue was carried out later in the year.

47105 stands next to the ill fated 31123 in Toddington Yard on 9 July 1994. While 47105 went on to become one of the staples of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's diesel fleet, 31123 did not fair so well. After a period running as fully restored D5541, it was stripped of all usable components and cut up in 2006. Note that 47105 still carries its unofficial Goldcrest name.

Freshly restored 47105 gleams in the evening sunshine at Toddington on 21 June 1995. The locomotive had arrived at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway the previous year, after being acquired for preservation by the Brush Type 4 Fund. Class 14 D9537 is in the background.

47105 emerges from the 693 yard long Greet Tunnel with the 15:00 Toddington to Far Stanley service on 10 August 1995, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Week. The immaculate Type 4 was (along with Railfreight liveried Class 20 20137) the star attraction of the event.

47105 & 20137 leave Winchcombe on 10 August 1995 with the 17:00 Toddington to Far Stanley service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. 47105 is resplendent in a fresh coat of BR blue paint, while 20137 still wears the tatty Railfreight livery that the loco carried when it arrived at the railway.

For a short period in its early preservation days, 47105 carried a Stratford style white roof. It is pictured leaving Greet Tunnel in grim weather on 3 March 1996 with the 13:32 Far Stanley to Toddington service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Judging by the unblemished expanse of white, this is presumably its first day in traffic in this guise!

During 1996, the Brush Type 4 Fund's 47105 sported a Stratford style white roof. It is seen here accelerating away from Winchcombe on 9 November 1996, with the 10:25 Far Stanley to Toddington service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala.

47105 & Class 25 D7629 power away from Gotherington and pass Dixton on 8 November 1997, en-route to Toddington. The 'Rat' was visiting the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, whilst of course the 47 is one of the line's resident diesel locos.

47105 passes Dixton on 8 April 2000 with the 13:40 Toddington to Gotherington service. This was one of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's booked diesel workings. It was often the Class 47, as at the time there wasn't a large choice of motive power available.

47105 emerges from Greet Tunnel on 8 April 2000 with the return working of the 13:40 Toddington to Gotherington service. At this time there was no public access to the line at Gotherington. This working was regularly diesel worked at the time.

47105 passes Hailes on 20 July 2000, returning to Toddington from Gotherington during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Week. The most famous recent use of the 1O99 headcode was the amazing use of Deltic D9000 on the 06:58 Birmingham New Street to Ramsgate Virgin CrossCountry service during 1998.

A fine rail blue pairing at Winchcombe on 19 October 2002. 47105 & 24081 have just emerged from Greet Tunnel, and arrive at the station with the 12:55 Gotherington to Toddington service, during the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. There can't have been many Class 47/24 pairings in BR day's, considering the impossibility of multiple working.

47105 crosses the Gretton to Prescott road on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway with the 15:00 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service on 24 October 2003, during the line's Diesel Gala. This is on the long straight section of track between Gretton and Gotherington, which offers very few vantage points, as for most of the way it on an embankment, with little chance of a clear view from the surrounding countryside.

47105 passes Didbrook on 24 September 2005 with the 09:40 Toddington to Winchcombe freight, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. The low lighting shows up the ripples in the bodyside, and to some extent, in the front end.

47105 passes Hailes on 24 September 2005, whilst running light engine from Winchcombe to Toddington, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Someone has actually taken the trouble to display a realistic light engine headcode!

Viewed from halfway up Salter's Hill and with the village of Toddington, and the distinctive white house at Didbrook Fields visible in the background, 47105 passes Winchcombe's fixed distant signal with the 10:20 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service on 4 November 2006, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire's Autumn Diesel Gala.

With a little characteristic Sulzer smoke, 47105 passes Hailes with the 12:02 Toddington to Winchcombe freight on 4 November 2006, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Autumn Diesel Gala. This was the site of the former Hayles Abbey Halt (note the different spelling), which opened in 1928 at the same time as a museum at the nearby abbey ruins.

47105 passes Didbrook on 5 November 2006 with the 10:20 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Note one of Toddington's bracket semaphore signals just visible on the extreme left of the picture.

47105 pulls away from the speed restriction as it leaves Winchcombe on 5 November 2006 with the 11:10 Cheltenham Racecourse to Toddington service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Although there were overlaps in liveries, carmine and cream had completely disappeared from BR by the time the corporate blue was introduced.

47105 has just reached the end of the long straight between Hailes and Winchcombe, on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, with the 12:02 Toddington to Winchcombe freight on 5 November 2006, during the line's Autumn Diesel Gala. It is very doubtful if the wagons in a freight train were ever this clean in BR days!

47105 does its bit for the environment at Didbrook on 31 March 2007, as it pulls away from a PW slack with the 13:20 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala.

47105 passes Stanley Pontlarge with the 15:00 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service on 1 April 2007, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Typically, although it was virtually a completely sunny day, just as the train came, a tiny squiffy bit of cloud passed in front of the sun. Luckily the loco is clear of the cloud, but notice how the middle of the train is in its own tiny spot of shadow! Stanley Pontlarge is an appropriate location to photograph a preserved locomotive, as the railway preservation pioneer Tom Rolt used to live just next to the line here.

The steam heat being provided by 47105 is obviously very welcome in the unseasonably wintry conditions, as the loco works the 10:00 Cheltenham Racecourse to Toddington service past Hailes, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Spring Diesel Gala on 6 April 2008.

47105 passes Hailes on 6 April 2008 with the 12:03 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse freight, comprising five ballast hoppers, with a brake van at either end. This was during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Spring Diesel Gala.

47105 passes Toddington's home signal as it heads south near Didbrook with the 09:45 Toddington to Winchcombe service on 5 April 2009, during to Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Not exactly an easy position to take pictures from, perched precariously on the edge of a steep embankment.

47105 approaches Hailes on 5 April 2009 with the late running 12:51 Cheltenham Racecourse to Toddington service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. 24081 can just be seen on the rear of the train.

Is this 1970 or 2010? Admittedly a whole train of maroon Mk1s would be getting very unlikely by 1970, but the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's resident 47105 looks splendid in its early 1970s guise as 1693. Of course, the headcode wound back to zero (typically misaligned) indicates a post 1976 date, by which time 1693 would have already received its 47105 TOPS number. However, when it looks this good, who cares! It is pictured approaching the yet to be commissioned Gotherington down distant signal near Dixton on 11 July 2010 with the 14:10 Toddington to Gotherington service, during the line's Diesel Gala.

Twilight at Toddington on 28 January 2012. The Cotswold Hills can just be seen in the background as 1693 stands in Toddington station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway with a short rake of ballast wagons, during an EMRPS photo charter.

Not a vantage point that can normally be used! 1693 stands underneath Toddington station footbridge on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway with a short rake of ballast wagons, during an EMRPS photo charter on 28 January 2012. Note how the station building, footbridge and water tower are all painted in matching GWR colours.

1693 (47105) is posed on a short rake of ballast wagons during an EMRPS photo charter at Toddington station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway on 28 January 2012. The 0000 headcode would date this scene from around 1976, but not with a pre TOPS loco number! That driver looks familiar!

1693 (47105) pictured inside the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Toddington Diesel Shed on 15 July 2017, midway through a major overhaul. In the background are 37215 & 47376. You know that you've been photographing for a long time, when you have seen a preserved locomotive go through two major overhauls, and have pictures of it before the first major rebuild!

Looking superb after its recent repaint, 47105 approaches Toddington on 26 September 2021 with the 15:30 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Unfortunately this was running late, which meant that the sunshine had disappeared!

47105 passes Hayles Abbey Halt on 19 March 2022 with the 15:30 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service. This, and the return working, were the only diesel worked trains on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway on this particular day.

Not many Class 47s looked this immaculate in BR days! 47105 passes Southam on 29 July 2022 with the 2C57 10:30 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's resident 47105 passes the prominent dead tree at Didbrook on 13 August 2022 with the 10:00 Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway service. Clearly this view is not going to be possible in a few years time, as if the tree doesn't get cut down, it will at some point fall down!

47105 passes Stanton on 13 August 2022 withthe Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's 11:10 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service. This was an extremely hot day, which explains the open driver's door!

47105 passes Dixton on 7 July 2023 with the 2B56 11:10 Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. The train is accelerating away from Gotherington station, which is just behind the trees.

47105 arrives at Toddington station on 14 July 2024 with the 2B14 14:10 Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. The line's resident Class 117 DMU (51405, 59510 & 51363) waits in the other platform with the 2W15 15:10 departure for Winchcombe.

47105 passes Hayles Abbey Halt on 27 October 2024 with the 2C17 10:20 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's 'Autumn Showcase' event, which featured an intensive service of both steam and diesel traction.

By midday on 27 October 2024, the earlier unbroken sunshine had given way to patchy cloud. However, 47105 just manages to find some sunshine as it passes Hailes with the 2B34 11:48 Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's 'Autumn Showcase' event.

47106 speeds round the east curve at Didcot ahead of the gathering storm on 27 February 1982. This is one of the numerous football specials that were such a common feature of rail operations in the 1970s and 1980s. In this case the destination is Wembley and the headcode is 1Z25, but I have no information as to where it has come from. Sheffield possibly? With the possible exception of two tone green, this is arguably the finest livery for a 47 - Rail Blue, with 'domino' headcode and no off centre headlight.

47106 passes Croome on 24 October 1985 with the 6V69 10:15 Gainsborough Lea Road to Llandarcy oil empties. This flow ceased two years later with the closure of Llandarcy oil refinery. The loco didn't survive much longer either, being withdrawn in 1988 following a collision with classmate 47140.

A derailed stone train partially demolished Bedwyn station on 6 May 1983. The following day the site was cleared, and this view shows 47107 slowly following the train of recovered ballast and sleepers, as it makes its way towards Reading hauled by 47333. The vacuum braked wagon that caused all the mayhem can just be seen, dumped upside down, in the old bay platform on the left. The River Dun wanders through the field behind the station, with the Kennet & Avon Canal in the background.

47107 passes St George's on 20 April 1985 with the 10:00 Swansea to Cardiff Central rugby special, one of a number of trains run in connection with the Wales versus England fixture at Cardiff Arms Park. This was one of those fortunate days, when despite the overwhelming cloud cover, most trains luckily passed in the sun.

47107 passes Lympsham on 25 April 1990 with the 6B97 12:10 Tavistock Junction to Gloucester New Yard Speedlink. The principal traffic on this service was china clay, both in bulk in the Polybulk tanks, and bagged in the vans. Brent Knoll, the isolated hill set amid the flat expanse of the Somerset Levels, can be seen in the background.

47107 runs past the traincrew and admin building at Severn Tunnel Junction on 15 April 1991. This building, along with virtually every other piece of railway infrastructure at this once busy depot and yard has now been demolished. Just visible through the haze in the background is the remains of Rogiet Windmill, standing in front of Slade Wood.

With just a few weeks to go before the end of Speedlink operations, 47107 passes South Moreton on 21 May 1991 with the 6E30 17:00 Eastleigh to Haverton Hill Speedlink. The majority of the train is made up of MoD traffic in various van types, but the train also includes some TTA tanks, and a single china clay wagon.

47109 is a long way from its home depot of Glasgow Eastfield, as it passes Oxford North Junction on 28 July 1983 with the 1O01 06:00 Derby to Poole service. This deliberately wide view shows the course of the former LMS line on the right. The gravel surfaced road was where the LMS lines ran parallel with the GWR, before terminated at Rewley Road station. The active part of the route, the single track line to Bicester, can be seen diverging to the right in the background.

Running 50 minutes late, 47110 takes the centre road at Oxford station on 25 September 1987 with the 6V19 06:32 Bescot to Oxford Speedlink. 47110 was withdrawn less than two years later, being one of the relatively few members of the class that only ever carried two tone green and blue liveries.

47111 passes South Moreton on 12 September 1985 with the late running 4O81 03:00 Coatbridge to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Not only were there far fewer freightliner trains in the 1980s, but usually they were much shorter than today's trains.

47112 passes Baulking in dismal weather on 10 October 1984 with the 6E92 10:50 Severn Tunnel Junction to Ripple Lane Speedlink, on this occasion containing just a single empty cartic set. Unfortunately I have got very few pictures of this train, and this is the only occasion that I saw it worked by a Stratford allocated white roofed loco.

47114 Freightliner Bulk gets under way again, after a five minute signal check at Tupton on 23 August 1997. The train is the 4O31 15:16 Leeds to Southampton freightliner, which I had expected to be hauled by a pair of DRS's recently acquired Class 37/6s. Both the previous and following weeks were 37 hauled (both of which I photographed), but I suppose this unique liveried 47 is not such a bad substitute!

Freightliner's unique green liveried 47114 Freightliner Bulk approaches Wolvercote Junction on 18 May 1998 with the 4S59 15:19 Millbrook to Coatbridge service. Unfortunately this stylish colour scheme was not perpetuated, and all further Class 47 repaints received Freightliner grey livery, using the same triangular logo as seen here. However, the grey livery does look quite smart and restrained compared with certain liveries that have appeared since, especially when clean.

47115 passes Compton Beauchamp on 27 June 1986 with the 1B58 18:09 Paddington to Swansea service. The loco is still wearing its Stratford grey roof, despite being reallocated to Carlisle in September 1985. In fact the loco retained this livery right up until it was withdrawn in 1991.

47115 passes Hinksey Yard on 14 March 1987 with the 4M60 12:35 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. Unlike today, when there are numerous freightliners passing Oxford during the day, in the 1980s they were much more infrequent. 47115's Stratford applied silver roof is almost lost under a coating of dirt, but it had been allocated away from that depot over a year earlier.

47115 slowly negotiates the extremely sharp curve at Firsby on 17 September 1988, as it heads for the seaside with the 1E82 09:39 Derby to Skegness. This was just one of a whole procession of loco-hauled trains and scratch DMU formations that made their way along the Lincolnshire line on a summer Saturday in the 1980s.

White out conditions at South Moreton on 9 February 1991. The horizon has disappeared and hedges and bushes in the distance merge with the sky as 47115 kicks up the snow with the 6E50 09:41 Langley to Lindsey oil empties. 47115 was withdrawn exactly two months later, and after spending some time in store at Frodingham, was finally cut up in 1995.

47117 leaves Whitemoor Yard on 16 August 1988 with the 6E99 10:00 Whitemoor to Peterborough Speedlink. Apart from the single tank wagon, the only loaded vehicles are the eight SPA wagons at the front of the train loaded with steel wire. 08711 can be seen waiting in the background with a single Polybulk wagon.

47117 Sparrowhawk darkens the sky with its exhaust, as it passes Winwick on 12 March 1990 with a southbound train of long welded rails. The loco had received the unofficial Sparrowhawk painted name at Tinsley four months earlier, although ironically it was then almost immediately allocated to Bescot. Directly above the loco is the Ruston Diesels factory, formerly the Vulcan Works of English Electric Ltd.

47117 Sparrowhawk calls at Irwell Vale station on 18 June 1995, whilst en-route from Bury Bolton Street to Rawtenstall during the East Lancashire Railway's Diesel Gala. The loco had only just entered preservation, and still retains its faded BR blue paintwork an unofficial Tinsley name. It had been withdrawn from traffic in 1991.

47118 Lapwing passes Brent Knoll on 6 July 1990 with the lightly loaded 6M29 14:00 Taunton to Bescot Speedlink. It's difficult to see from this angle, but at the time the last two digits of the loco's bodyside number were slightly larger than the others.

47119 passes Cheltenham on 17 March 1988 with the 6V66 18:58 (the previous day) Grangemouth to Llandarcy LPG tanks. The shell of Lansdown Junction Signal Box can be seen in the background. This closed in 1977. It is still in existence, although now virtually concealed by vegetation.

47120 passes Quedgeley on 6 May 1988 with the 6M72 22:00 St Blazey to Cliffe Vale china clay tanks. This was running approximately 3½ hours late, which was a bonus, as I was still at home at its booked time (at nearby Standish Junction) of 05:33!

47120 passes Yarnton on 14 June 1988 with the 6E30 17:18 Eastleigh to Haverton Hill Speedlink. This was long before the footbridge near Stonehouse Farm was installed, and therefore this picture is taken from track level at the footpath crossing that preceded it.

47121 passes through Pilning station on 28 May 1984 with the 1S54 08:15 Newton Abbot to Stirling Motorail service. A poor quality image, but it is the only time that I photographed this train. Unfortunately from this angle the cars at the rear of the train are barely visible. This is a very appropriate location to photograph a Motorail train, as before the Severn Bridge was opened, there was a Motorail service operating from here to Severn Tunnel Junction, saving drivers the long detour via Gloucester. Cars were loaded onto flat wagons in the bay platform on the left.

It's here at last! The passengers on the platform at Charlbury station on 27 August 1983 have had a very long wait for the 1C56 17:07 Paddington to Hereford service, which is seen here arriving, 35 minutes late, hauled by 47123. This sort of delay is normal now on the Cotswold Line, but in the 1980s it was quite unusual. The fact that this is a Class 47/0, rather than the usual Class 47/4 or 50, indicates that this was probably a last minute loco replacement.

47123 passes Hungerford Common on 3 September 1984 with the 1C54 14:45 Paddington to Plymouth service. This would normally have been a HST, but I am sure any enthusiasts on board would have been more than happy with a 47/0 hauling a rake of first class Mk1s! I was obviously taken by surprise, and managed to lose the back of the train. I think I was walking along the fence, looking for a gap between the bushes, when it suddenly appeared. I was therefore in a less than ideal location.

47125 heads west at Wolfhall on 2 July 1985 with a rake of empty MCV 16 ton open wagons. As there is no mention of this train in the working timetable, I assume it is a special working (6Zxx). At the rear of the train are the abutments of the former MSWJR bridge that once carried the Swindon to Andover line over the GWR line.

47128 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 18 December 1985 with the 6V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. This was my first picture of this train, which I would come to photograph many times over the years, with a varied selection of traction. It had started running almost exactly a month earlier, which explains why the light blue containers are still looking clean!

With its previous Stratford allocation indicated by its white roof, 47130 heads an engineers train through the remote countryside between the villages of Stonesfield and Wilcote, on the Cotswold Line on 10 March 1985. It had been engaged in track relaying operations at little further up the line at Fawler. This is on the long single track section between Ascott-under-Wychwood and Wolvercote Junction. Withdrawn almost exactly 3 years after this picture was taken, the loco was finally cut up at MC Metals in Glasgow in October 1990.

Running exactly one hour early, 47130 passes through Oxford station on 4 September 1987 with the 4V16 09:35 Washwood Heath to Morris Cowley cartics. 47130 carried this livery for well over a decade, and this picture shows what a white/light grey roof looks like after all that time!

47131 passes Hampton Gay on 12 January 1980 with the 1M11 08:50 Paddington to Manchester Piccadilly, which it would work as far as Birmingham New Street, being replaced there by 86024. When headcodes ceased to be displayed on the front of locomotives in the mid 1970s, the blinds were replaced by a pair of white dots in the position of the outer two digits. Something seems to have gone awry here, as one dot is in the wrong position. Note the vintage telegraph poles, which were replaced by trunked cables shortly after this picture was taken.

47131 approaches Oxford North Junction on 12 February 1985 with the 6M46 05:00 Northfleet to Greaves Sidings cement tanks. Unsurprisingly in view of the weather, this was running an hour late. Two years after this picture was taken 47131 was involved in a accident at Dorrington, that led to its condemnation. Whilst working the 6M27 Waterston to Albion oil tanks, it ran through catch points, and fell down the embankment onto its side, sustaining considerable damage. It was cut up by Vic Berry's, at Leicester in 1988.

Abbotswood, when the lineside was completely devoid of bushes! 47136 heads south on 17 March 1984 with the 1V72 08:25 Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff service. Although extensive vegetation clearance took place in 2018, the present day view is still nowhere near as open as this.

A very grubby 47137 heads south past Natton on an equally dreary 24 April 1986 with the Thursdays only 9B21 13:15 Worcester to Gloucester New Yard departmental working, running over an hour early. This is many years before Ashchurch station was reopened, the site of which is just past the bridge in the background.

A wave from the secondman of 47142, as the 3A27 06:05 Plymouth to Paddington parcels speeds past Woodborough on 20 June 1984. Note the vacuum braked wagons in the siding in the background, and the selection of typical early 1980s vehicles on the right. 47142 was cut up at Vic Berry's Leicester yard in 1999.

47142 passes Manea on 4 November 1986 with the 6N84 13:40 Duxford to Tyne Yard Speedlink. Not a great deal has changed at this location since this picture was taken, although the telegraph pole on the left has been removed. Unfortunately Class 47 hauled wagonload freight trains have disappeared!

47142 The Sapper rounds the curve at Millbrook on 30 November 1989 with an oil train from Fawley. Relatively few Class 47s carried this 'red stripe' variation of the 1980s Railfreight grey livery, just 19, as opposed to 52 which carried the original version.

47143 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 October 1982 with what is either an ECS, or a relief working. This was one of several Class 47s hauled trains that did not match up with anything in the working timetable. What is clear however, is that 47143 has recently been employed on Mendip stone trains, as some of it can be seen on the roof!

47143 arrives at Hinksey Yard on 22 October 1985 with the 6A50 13:56 Bicester to Morris Cowley Speedlink working. In reality this is virtually all MoD traffic, and 47143 would leave most of the train in the yard, before proceeding on to Morris Cowley. The then recently opened Oxford ice rink can be seen in the background, with St Barnabas Church, Jericho, in the background.

47145 Merddin Emrys passes Engine Common (near Yate) with the 6B97 12:10 Tavistock Junction to Gloucester Speedlink service on 5 July 1990. Note the wonderful assortment of traffic being carried on this lengthy train, including bricks from Plymouth, UKF fertiliser from Lapford, empty cartics returning to Halewood, scrap metal and china clay in both polybulk and VGA vans. 47145 was Tinsley's 'pet' loco at the time, hence the application of a cast silver BR double arrow logo, non-standard black window surrounds, and various white embellishments.

47145 Merddin Emrys passes Stenson Junction on 22 January 1992 with the 6G07 10:35 Toton to Bescot freight, which was conveying pet food from the Pedigree Petfoods factory at Melton Mowbray. I was a bit annoyed at the time that 58029 and its train of MGR hoppers coming out of Willington Power station was rather in the way in the foreground. Now however, I think it adds to the picture, and at least the long shadows cast by the wagons don't quite reach the mainline.

47145 Merddin Emrys runs light engine past the recently pollarded trackside trees at South Moreton on 30 April 1994. I don't normally bother photographing light engines, but this close up view shows off this loco's unique livery to advantage. I have numerous pictures off it in the former less flamboyant version of this colour scheme, but it tended to allude me in this final version.

47145 Merddin Emrys nears journey's end of 6 May 1994, as it passes Didcot North Junction with the 6V03 09:50 Fenny Compton to Didcot MoD stores. After leaving its train in the yard, it would briefly attach to the front of 47307, which was on a rake of cartics, before detaching again, and then heading off northwards light engine!

47145 Merddin Emrys passes through Horbury cutting in atrocious light on 15 March 1997 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z58 05:10 Reading to Cleethorpes railtour, which whilst advertised as the 'Spinning Gibbon', has now clearly become the 'Rotating Monkey'! The unique liveried 47 worked the train between Sheffield and Wakefield Kirkgate.

A welcome surprise at Wolvercote Junction on 19 June 1998. Unique liveried 47145 Merddin Emrys works the 6M18 15:36 Eastleigh to Carlisle Enterprise service, consisting of just four calcium carbonate tanks from Quidhampton.

47146 arrives at an almost completely deserted Swindon station on 25 October 1982 with the 6A08 03:00 Robeston to Langley oil tanks. Note the inclusion of a maroon liveried van at the front of the train. The train waited here for a few minutes in order to complete the booked crew change. The whole scene is dominated by the Signal Point office block, which at this time was Hambro Life Assurance.

The sun glints off the recently named 47146 Loughborough Grammar School as it passes the remains of Shrivenham station on 28 June 1995 with the 6M14 15:57 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to Wembley Connectrail mixed freight. Although obviously very backlit, midsummer does allow pictures to be taken from the north side of the line at certain locations on the Swindon to Didcot line. At least it did in 1995, before the lineside growth became so much of a problem!

47147 passes Thrupp with the 4V16 09:33 Washwood Heath to Morris Cowley Austin Rover cars on 25 April 1986. Presumably most of the vehicles in this picture are no longer with us. 47147 has certainly gone, being cut up at Vic Berry's at Leicester in 1999. I would image that most of the cars probably beat it to the scrapyard by several years and such was the poor quality of BL's products at the time that it is highly unlikely that any of this trainload survive. There is actually a cement works chimney in the background of this picture, although the mist had yet to clear to reveal it. It had cleared a little later by the time the first coal train to Didcot appeared behind 58006. It is totally impossible to take a picture from this location now due to the lineside tree growth.

47147 opens up, and blackens the sky, as it passes through Oxford station on 9 September 1995 with the 4O22 02:30 Garston to Southampton freightliner. It seems that the yellow front end has received a repaint, but the sides are a patchwork of peeling grey paint. This was certainly the day for extremely tatty 47s, as it was shortly followed by equally care worn 47361 on MoD stores.

Making a change from the usual Class 50s or 47/4s, 47148 approaches Charlbury on 7 July 1985 with the 1A25 16:15 Hereford to Paddington service. As it was running exactly to time, I presume the substitution of this steam heat loco for the more usual ETH variant was not a last minute one.

47150 approaches Wickwar Tunnel on 30 May 1989 with the 6B59 17:34 Stoke Gifford to Gloucester Speedlink. With just two wagons types, this train seemed a little prosaic compared with the much more varied 6V79 14:34 Salisbury to Gloucester, and 6B97 12:10 Tavistock Junction to Gloucester Speedlinks, which had passed by a little earlier. Although the sun never really came round far enough to light the front of the train, this was a good location to watch the procession of northbound freights in the 1980s. Nowadays of course there are no freights, and no viewpoint!

During the spring of 1991, there was a southbound train of new commercial vehicles (Ford Transits?) through Oxfordshire during the late afternoon. Any further information on this short term flow would be much appreciated. The train is pictured passing Claydon on 19 April 1991, hauled by 47150.

47150 passes Culham on 21 June 2001 with the 4M99 16:47 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. Luckily, as this is the longest day, the shadows from the lineside bushes are not too much of a problem. Unfortunately this once excellent location has become increasingly difficult due to the unchecked growth of the lineside vegetation.

It's hard to believe now that lengthy van trains such as this were a daily occurrence on the old British Rail. With seventeen vehicles in tow (including a GW150 chocolate and cream Mk1 coach), 47151 passes Llandevenny on 21 October 1985 with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common newspaper empties. The Bishton flyover in the background enables the up relief line to cross over the main running lines. 

47152 takes a break from its freight duties on 23 September 1989, as it works the 1V42 07:59 Leeds to Tenby service, seen here passing Bromsgrove. The cause if the substitution was the failure of 31454, with 47152 taking over at Sheffield. At the time Class 47s were omnipresent, so this one replacing a 31 was a bit of a disappointment. However, as it was a Tinsley allocation Railfreight Distribution machine, it does at least have novelty value on a passenger train.

47152 passes underneath Oxford station's newly opened footbridge on 24 July 1990, as it heads along the centre road with the 4M79 16:19 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner. I very rarely ventured on to Oxford station once I started taking pictures seriously, as there always seemed to be somebody getting in the way at the critical moment. However, it seems I've got the platform virtually to myself here!

47152 clags vigorously as it pulls way from a signal check at Oxford on 18 April 1991 whilst working the Thursdays only as required 7L56 14:20 Banbury to Ripple Lane oil empties. This was a very lucky picture as there was only a small sunny patch with ominous dark clouds all around, especially to the north as can be seen in the background here. Aristotle Lane footbridge can be seen in the background, which like the Walton Well Road bridge I am standing on gives access from Oxford onto Port Meadow.

47155 emerges from the 968 yard long Peascliffe Tunnel on 14 June 1986 with a Coatbridge to Felixstowe freightliner. The first few masts of the East Coast Mainline electrification scheme are already spoiling the viewpoint.

47156 just manages to catch the last of the evening light, as it passes through Radley station on 20 July 1989 with the 6E30 16:58 Eastleigh to Haverton Hill Speedlink. Like most Speedlink trains, the load on this service could vary enormously. A month earlier I had photographed a much more healthy and varied load at Didcot North Junction.

47157 heads west past Stormy on 15 June 1983. This was running in the path of the 6C14 12:00 Bristol Bath Road to Llandarcy fuel oil empties. However, it looks to me like the wrong type of tanks for that particular working.

47157 passes Clay Mills (Hargate) on 4 September 1991 with what is presumably the 6E70 09:50 Langley Green to Wilton chemicals service. Often this conveyed chlorine tanks, complete with barrier vehicles, but on this occasion the load is a rake of 12 ICI methanol tanks.

47157 heads west through Water Orton on 7 November 1992 with a rake of freightliner flats. A very dull day has allowed this picture to be taken from the north side of the line, something that would be hopeless if the sun was out, apart from very late on a summer evening.

The 6M79 15:08 Eastleigh to Crewe Basford Hall MoD stores train could vary enormously in length, from a single wagon to a really lengthy train. On 8 August 1994 it was a very well loaded train, but unfortunately a set of freightliner flats was marshaled at the head of the train, so it was less than ideal photographically. Just a couple of wagons are visible under the bridge, as the train approaches Wolvercote Junction behind 47157, but the unbroken shadow in the background hints at how long the train is.

47157 heads west past Coedkernew on 18 August 1995 with a featherweight feeder service from Alexandra Dock Junction. The RfD Connectrail trunk services centered on Newport, with trips heading west as required to Cardiff Tidal, Swansea and Cadoxton. The two IRB enclosed hoppers contain silicate sand from France, heading for Barry Docks (for Dow Corning). This traffic was one of the last true wagonload flows to use the Channel Tunnel. Thanks to David J. Hayes for supplying additional information.

47157 Johnson Stevens Agencies passes the site of Bletchingdon station (now in use as a coal distribution centre) on 12 August 2000 with the 4O27 13:05 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner. The loco had just a few months left in traffic, before succumbing to Freightliner's Class 66 invasion.

A poor quality image, but a working that would not normally have been very easy to photograph at this location. Running two hours late, 47159 passes Uffington at 06:50 on 26 June 1982 with the 6E46 20:50 (the previous day) Swansea Burrows to Dagenham Dock Speedlink, which principally carried Ford axles and suspension units.

47159 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 October 1982 with a rake of Mk1 coaches. As this is not in the working timetable, I assume it is a special, most likely an ECS working. Interestingly, the loco returned three hours later with a train of oil tanks. I can't think of many occasions when I have seen a loco working both a passenger and freight train on the same day!

47159 heads west past Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 October 1982 with a short rake of oil tanks. As I had seen this loco heading in the opposite direction three hours earlier, the point of origin of this train can't be that far away, and is presumably one of the infrequent train of oil empties from Didcot Power Station, which can be seen in the background.

I hope that 47166's steam heat boiler was working well on 12 January 1980, as it passes a freezing Hampton Gay with the 1O74 07:44 Manchester Piccadilly to Brighton, which it would presumably have taken over at Birmingham New Street. This picture is taken from the long since closed footpath crossing next to Hampton Gay church.

47172 passes through the centre road of Oxford station on 19 May 1979 with the 1O11 07:10 Bradford Exchange to Weymouth InterCity service. This was running exactly to time, passing Oxford at 12:00, which explains the terrible light angle. The white roof clearly gives away the fact that this was a Stratford allocated loco at the time, and therefore reasonably unusual at Oxford. A couple of months after this picture was taken it was named County of Hertfordshire, a name it retained even when fitted with ETS, and renumbered to 47583

47185 crosses the River Avon at Eckington on 9 April 1983 with the 1Z40 Weston-super-Mare to York BR excursion. I had no idea what this was at the time, but have recently been able to identify the working, the clue being the small window sticker in the first coach, showing the headcode. This can easily be read on the hi-res scan of the original 35mm Kodachrome 64 transparency.

A golden glint at Acton Turville on 13 March 1995. 47186 Catcliffe Demon catches the last rays of the setting sun as it heads towards Swindon with the recently introduced 6M14 15:57 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to Wembley Connectrail service. This was a brave attempt by Railfreight Distribution to increase European wagonload traffic via the Channel Tunnel.

47188 is turned golden by the setting sun, as it passes Defford on 19 June 1989 with the rather lightly loaded 6V93 07:30 Mossend to Stoke Gifford Speedlink. As this train often produced a Class 37 (or occasionally a 31), I was probably a little disappointed at the time that it was 'only' a 47!

With another load of brand new Austin Metros on their way to the car dealers, 47191 passes Oxford North Junction on 13 May 1987 with the 4V16 09:35 Washwood Heath to Morris Cowley cartics. The grassy area between the brick wall and the allotments marks the course of the wartime down relief line.

Running ten minutes late, 47192 approaches Oxford on 2 July 1985 with the 6M46 05:00 Northfleet to Greaves Sidings cement tanks. The train is composed of ten PDA twin tank wagons. Each bogie underframe contains two dropped centre tanks, as would normally be seen singly on the four wheel PCA vehicles. Steam rising from Didcot Power Station's cooling towers can be seen in the background, directly above the locomotive.

47192 approaches Basford Hall Junction, near Crewe, on 3 July 1985 with the 4D58 15:13 Lawley Street to Holyhead freightliner. Unfortunately the Holyhead freightliner terminal closed in 1991. 47192 was the first Class 47 to be preserved, and a decade later I photographed it again, at a very different location.

47192 arrives at Hinksey Yard on 7 August 1987 with what is presumably the 'as required' Stanlow to Littlemore oil train, although why it has to cross over into the yard, when the line to Littlemore diverges to the left just a little further south at Kennington Junction, is a mystery. As I had to leave in order to go to work, I couldn't hang around to see what happened, or wait to get the identify of the Class 47 waiting in the loop in the background.

You get more interesting lineside vegetation on a heritage railway! D1842 passes the trackside lupins near Nuttall on 18 June 1995, as it heads north whilst en-route from Bury to Rawtenstall, during the East Lancashire Railway's Diesel Gala.

47192 was the first Class 47 to be preserved, being bought from BR in December 1990. After repainting into two tone green, and receiving its original number D1842, it quickly became a favourite of the Diesel Gala circuit, It seen here emerging from Brooksbotton Tunnel on 18 June 1995, en-route from Rawtenstall to Bury, during the East Lancashire Railway's Diesel Gala.

47193 heads north at Eastleigh on 25 June 1999, passing a classic Volkswagen Type 2 camper van. In the background, in front of the JCB and ice cream van, is my Honda Accord, which at the time was only nine years old, and with 'only' 190,000 miles on the clock!

Just after sunrise on 4 September 1987, 47194 finds a small patch of light amid the shadows, as it passes Oxford with a train of four wheel tanks. As there is nothing in the working timetable around this time, this is presumably one of the 'as requited' Stanlow to Littlemore oil trains. Behind it, the 1M09 05:50 Paddington to Liverpool Lime Street service is arriving at the station.

47194 Carlisle Currock Quality Approved passes Kings Sutton on 28 July 1994 with the 4M99 17:16 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. This loco only carried the Carlisle Currock nameplates for less than three years.

A very grubby 47194 passes Westwell Leacon on 14 February 1998 with the 7O56 09:18 Wembley to Dollands Moor Ford company train. This working, which is carrying car components from Ford's Dagenham factory, will then travel via the Channel Tunnel to Silla in Spain.

A typical burst of Sulzer clag, as 47195 passes Stoke Orchard on 13 March 1982 with the 1V89 12:23 Manchester Piccadilly to Paignton service. This used to be a favourite location for watching trains go by (with locals, as well as photographers), but sadly this is no longer possible, due to two things that hardly existed in 1982 - palisade fencing, and uncontrolled lineside vegetation!

47195 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 1 December 1983 with the 6M23 10:12 Fawley to Longport LPG tanks. The large area of waste ground behind the train is the site of Moreton Sidings, which handled vast amounts of freight traffic during the Second World War. After decades of dereliction, it was again brought back into railway use in the new Millennium, to act as a work site for the badly mismanaged Great Western Mainline electfrication programme.

Running 75 minutes early, 47196 passes South Moreton on a bright, but slightly misty 12 September 1985 with the 6M23 10:12 Fawley to Longport LPG tanks. This long standing working later acquired a more diverse look, when bitumen tanks for Bromford Bridge were added to the train. 47197 provides the traction.

47197 rejoins the mainline at Basford Hall Junction on 3 July 1985, after having traversed the normally freight only Crewe avoiding lines, during the period when Crewe station was being remodelled. The train is the 1A56 13:10 Holyhead to Euston service, which the 47 worked as far as Stafford.

Early morning at Bredon's Norton on 14 April 1990, and the unexpected appearance of a northbound oil train. This could be the late running 6Z51 20:55 Waterston to Weaste or Ravenhead tanks, otherwise nothing in the working timetable gives any clues. 47197 provides the traction.

47197 passes through Oxford station on 28 June 1991 with the 6O32 05:41 Longport to Fawley LPG tanks. The sidings in the former scrapyard are clearly now disused, and it wouldn't be long before the area was commandeered for the station's new car park.

47197 passes the remote station at Chetnole with the 2O81 08:03 Cardiff to Weymouth Regional Railways service on 21 August 1991. This train was diagrammed for a Cardiff Trainload Petroleum Class 47 during the summer of 1991. Chetnole station is a typical product of the Southern Railway's Exmouth Junction concrete works, with virtually every item assembled from concrete panels.

In the very last of the weak afternoon sunshine, 47197 accelerates away from Maiden Newton on 21 August 1991 with the 2V87 16:58 Weymouth to Cardiff Central Regional Railways service. The trackbed of the former Bridport branch can be seen on the right.

47197 passes a field of poppies at Culham on 22 June 1995, as it heads north with the 4E76 18:11 Southampton to Leeds freightliner. The loco had recently had a rebranding, with the red diamonds on yellow Railfreight Distribution decals replacing its former blue and yellow wavy lines Railfreight Petroleum livery.

47197 runs along the East Cast Mainline at Hambleton on 18 October 1997 with the 4D89 11:09 Wilton to Doncaster Railport freightliner. This is actually quite a healthy load compared with other pictures that I have seen of this working around this time, which probably explains why it only survived for a few years.

47197 runs alongside the River Severn at Gatcombe with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z70 06:26 Crewe to Margam 'Valley Vostock' railtour on 7 February 2004. Anyone tempted to emulate this picture should be aware that there is only room for one photographer at this spot! A footpath crosses the line and immediately drops down into the muddy waters of the Severn.

47197 ambles past Croome at a sedate 40mph with 220011, which it was taking from Bristol Barton Hill to Central Rivers on Sunday 31 July 2005, due to the unavailability of any of Virgin's own Class 57s. The booked stop at Spetchley easily allowing for a second picture as it exited the loop after being overtaken by a service train.

Now this is how you want to see a Virgin Voyager - with some quality traction on the front! Freightliner Heavy Haul's 47197 was used to move 220011 from Bristol Barton Hill to Central Rivers on Sunday 31 July 2005, due to the unavailability of any of Virgin's 57s. Limited to 40mph, the ensemble was booked in the loop at Spetchley to allow other trains to pass. As 47197 is a clag monster the expected result is shown here as it pulls out of the loop.

47199 approaches Basford Hall Junction on 3 July 1985 with the 1M14 11:42 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. The train is taking the Crewe freight avoiding lines, as the station was closed for extensive remodelling work.

47199 heads south at Croome on 24 October 1985 with a train of ICI caustic soda tanks and HBA domestic coal hoppers. The working timetable doesn't mention this, so a bit of an unexpected bonus. 47199 was withdrawn in 1987. It was stripped of all useable components at Carlisle Kingmoor, and then when that depot closed, Carlisle Upperby, before being sent to Glasgow for scrap.