47500 Great Western passes Hinksey Yard on 3 March 1984 with the 1O74 10:23 Manchester Piccadilly to Brighton service. The loco was Old Oak Common's royal train loco, which explains its smart condition, with silver buffers and white painted pipework. This picture shows the less famous Oxford skyline, with the distinctive Romanesque style church tower of St Barnabas in Jericho visible directly above the loco. Note also the large area of barren ground directly behind the rusting corrugated iron fence. This heavily contaminated land is the site of the former Oxford gas works.

Looking superb after its recent repaint into GW150 green, 47500 Great Western passes Hinksey Yard on 4 July 1985 with the 1F27 08:50 Oxford to Paddington service. A luxury service for the waiting passengers at Radley and Culham. Even some humble stopping trains were loco hauled in 1985!

Although naturally most of the special trains organised by BR to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway used GWR steam locos, some use was made of the diesel locos that had been painted into 'GW150 Green' livery. 47500 Great Western is seen here passing through Bedwyn station on a very gloomy 8 September 1985 with the 1Z47 09:15 Paddington to Plymouth 'Great Western Limited' GWR 150 special.

In the last of the low evening sunshine, 47500 Great Western rounds the curve at Churchill Heath on 9 April 1986 with the 1B46 17:05 Paddington to Hereford service. This is one of my favourite Cotswold Line pictures, not only because of the superb lighting and the presence of a GW150 green Class 47 on the train, but also because it is in one of the few locations that never seemed to be used by any other photographer. Unfortunately, for reasons which I can no longer remember, I did not take this picture using my Pentax 6x7, so the rather the poor technical quality is due to the use of a 35mm Fujichrome 100 slide, which in 1986 was no match for Kodachrome 64, and certainly not up to the quality of later Fuji slide films.

There cannot have been many occasions that a pair of GW150 green Class 47s worked a train together, in fact this may be the only one! 47500 Great Western & 47628 Sir Daniel Gooch run alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal at Crofton on 3 September 1986 with the 1C39 11:45 Paddington to Penzance service. The story was that both locos were needed in the West Country for royal train duties. Although this obviously saved a light engine movement, it certainly didn't save on crewing, as both locos would have required drivers, as they are not fitted for multiple working.

Ascott-under-Wychwood's last remaining semaphore signal for down trains was situated on a high embankment to the west of the village, but a gap in the lineside vegetation allowed a close up picture of a train approaching to be taken from the neighbouring field. This did however require split second timing to get it right! 47500 Great Western heads westwards on 2 November 1986 with the 1B16 09:40 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill Network SouthEast service (note the branding on the blue & grey Mk1 coach). Unusually for the period, this train was running 50 minutes late, presumably due to Sunday engineering works in the London area, or perhaps a future First Great Western employee was getting in some early practice for use two decades later!

The golden evening light accentuates the ripening wheat at Finstock on 25 August 1987, as 47500 Great Western speeds past with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service. In the 1980s there were numerous photographic locations on the southern end of the Cotswold Line, even if only small gaps in the bushes, as here. Normally a view such as this would be a little nondescript, but in this case the foreground colour nicely compliments the green of the loco and background bushes.

47500 Great Western passes Combe on 30 August 1987 with the 1A67 16:15 Hereford to Paddington service. This location became progressively more overgrown, until a massive clearance by Network Rail opened up the view, making it even more photogenic than this 1980s view. This section of line was singled in 1971, and unfortunately missed out on the recent redoubling of the Cotswold Line, and is therefore still an operational bottleneck.

47500 Great Western approaches Kidlington on 24 October 1987 with an Ian Allan Network Day Banbury to Paddington special. This had travelled to Banbury via the Chiltern Line. The local landmark of Shipton-on-Cherwell cement work's chimney (demolished in 2015) dominates the background.

47500 Great Western passes Exminster on 22 April 1988 with the 1C53 14:41 Paddington to Plymouth service. Three years after being painted into GW150 green, the loco was still the pride of the Western Region fleet, as witnessed by the white wheel rims and silver buffers. The random mix of coach liveries was quite common at this time.

47500 Great Western approaches Dunstall Bridge in soft evening light on 25 April 1988, as it slows down for the Moreton-in-Marsh stop with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service. This location got progressively more grown up over the next three decades, until Network Rail finally did some much needed lineside maintenance in 2018.

An extremely light load for a Class 47! 47500 Great Western arrives at Patchway station on 14 May 1988 with the 1O46 16:05 Swansea to Portsmouth Harbour service. It worked the train as far as Bristol Temple Meads.

Having been transferred from Bristol Bath Road to Crewe, 47500 Great Western's GW150 livery is no longer appropriate, although it is so filthy, that you can hardly tell that it is green! It is pictured here leaving Derby, and passing Wilmorton, on 2 June 1990 with the 1L82 08:00 Liverpool Lime Street to Great Yarmouth service.

47500 Great Western passes the remains of Aynho station on 15 September 1990 with the 1O05 07:18 Wolverhampton to Portsmouth Harbour service. In the background is the flyover taking the down Chiltern line over the Banbury to Oxford route.

Six years after being painted into GW150 green livery, 47500 Great Western is looking decidedly tatty, as it passes Culham on 10 July 1991 with the 1F62 18:50 Paddington to Oxford service. This was an InterCity sponsored train, with the stock making a change from the usual Network SouthEast coaches on this route. In the background are a couple of aircraft hangars from the former RNAS Culham (now an industrial estate).

47500 passes Compton Beauchamp on 22 August 2011 with the 5Z94 09:18 Bristol Temple Meads to Southall ECS. This is the stock off the previous day's 'Weymouth Seaside Express' steam special. Although it doesn't look too bad in the sun, this sludge brown livery is not what 47500 should be painted in at all. It should of course by rights be wearing GW150 green, in which it looked superb. This livery is claimed to be maroon, but that's the colour of the coaches behind - no comparison!

47501 pulls away from Oxford station on 1 August 1986 with the 1O34 06:15 Liverpool Lime Street to Portsmouth Harbour. A nice clean rake of InterCity liveried stock (apart from a single blue and grey vehicle hiding in the shadows at the rear) is somewhat let down by the well weathered large logo livery on the locomotive. Even part of the number is missing.

47501 passes West Drayton on 6 November 1986 with the 1A18 07:00 Hereford to Paddington 'Cathedrals Express'. Often around this time the Mk 1 catering vehicle was the only InterCity liveried coach in this train, but on this occasion it is the adjacent first class coach that is the one sporting the new colour scheme.

47501 has just crossed from the up relief, to the up main line, at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 8 November 1986, as it heads towards London with the 1F33 13:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. The train has just avoided Didcot, by taking the curve from Didcot North Junction.

Looking very smart after its recent repaint into InterCity colours, 47501 approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 24 June 1987 with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service. This photo is taken from a very convenient public footpath crossing, which allows the inclusion in the picture of Moreton's down outer home signal.

47501 accelerates away from Kingham station, and approaches Churchill Heath on 9 July 1987 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. I don't often take this kind of low level frame filling picture, although ironically I took several similar pictures of this particular locomotive around this time. The lack of time in finding anywhere else, after discovering shadows across the line from my intended viewpoint, left me no choice, as it was a long walk back to the car from this remote location, and there certainly wasn't time to go anywhere else.

47501 Craftsman passes South Moreton on 6 August 1988 with the 1O10 08:47 Leeds to Poole service. Although this is an InterCity service, as was quite common at the time, a couple of interloper Network SouthEast coaches have been included in the train.

47501 Craftsman slows down for the stop at Oxford on 5 November 1988 whilst working the 1O04 06:41 Wolverhampton to Poole service. The train displays the typical mix of InterCity and blue & grey stock, which was more common than uniform rakes at the time on these inter regional trains.

A colourful combination of liveries on the Cotswold Line on 12 February 1989. InterCity liveried 47501 Craftsman hauls a rake of Network SouthEast liveried Mk 2 coaches past Shorthampton with the 1B31 13:45 Paddington to Hereford InterCity service, amazingly the first down train of the day on a Sunday at the time. 47501 had been named in 1987 in recognition of the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers.

47501 passes Elmswell with the Pathfinder Tours 'Twenty Twenty Vision' railtour on 10 March 2007, now running as 1Z21 Ipswich to Cambridge via Leiston. The cloud which had built up while the tour was on the Leiston branch was now dispersing. The headboard reads: "DRS Anglia on a Mission".

47501 brings up the rear of the SRPS 1Z11 05:28 Darlington to Stranraer railtour at Barrhill on 9 June 2007. Creating a terrific racket on the front of the train is immaculately restored 40145, making a very unusual foray to this Scottish outpost.

47501 passes Drumburle (between Girvan and Maybole) with the SRPS 1Z12 13:32 Stranraer to Darlington railtour on 9 June 2007. Interesting enough, but the highlight of the tour was of course 40145, which had worked the outward leg of the tour.

47501 brings up the rear of the SRPS 1Z12 13:32 Stranraer to Darlington railtour at Cample on 9 June 2007. The highlight of the tour was the use of 40145, which is leading. The village of Closeburn can be seen in the background.

47501 Craftsman & 47802 Pride of Cumbia pass the site of Bredon station with the Rail Blue Carters 1Z47 07:13 Chesterfield to Paignton 'Seaside Express' railtour on 15 August 2009. It seems that a pigeon has met a sticky end (literally) somewhere en-route, as some grey feathers can be seen on the left buffer.

In glorious evening light on 16 June 2011, 47501 Craftsman & 47810 Peter Bath MBE 1927-2006 pass Tackley at high speed with the Northern Belle 1Z64 18:26 Ascot to Manchester Victoria 'Ascot Ladies Day' special. Fortunately the train was running six minutes late at this point. Had it come at the correct time the sun would still have been behind a large black cloud. As is so often the case on a summer's evening, the clouds start to melt away at the end of the day. Although there were still plenty of clouds about (especially in the Oxford direction), there was just the one left where the sun was, and I was extremely glad when the strong wind hastened its departure just a minute or so before the 47s could be heard approaching in the distance.

47501 Craftsman & 47805 John Scott 12.5.45 - 22.5.12 pass Dalnacardoch on 26 June 2013 with the Compass Tours 1Z43 16:01 Aviemore to York 'Highland Clansman' railtour. Plenty of colour contrast here, with both the DRS blue locos and the ex Virgin red coaches standing out well from the green landscape. At 17:00 the sun was finally breaking through the cloud, and of course would be out virtually all of the time as I commenced the long drive home!

47501 Craftsman & 47805 John Scott 12.5.45 - 22.5.12 pass the flooded fields at Yarnton on 21 February 2014 with the 4Z30 09:12 Bicester Central Ordnance Depot to Crewe. A leisurely walk across the fields for a second shot, on the way home from seeing the train at Islip.

D1944 (47501) Craftsman passes South Marston on 29 June 2018 with the 5Z23 07:35 Crewe Holding Sidings to Bristol Barton Hill ECS, conveying Mk2 coach 3330. Ideally I would have liked to have photographed this in the Oxford area, but the lighting would have been very head on, compounded by the fact that it was running over an hour early. I therefore opted for this Great Western Mainline location. It was held in Hinksey Yard, and was only a few minutes early when it passed me. The five wind turbines of the Westmill Wind Farm can just be seen on the horizon.

D1944 Craftsman & D1935 Roger Hosking MA 1925 - 2013 pass Heyford on 31 July 2020 with the Statesman Rail 1Z32 05:35 Westbury to Scarborough 'Yorkshire Coast Statesman' railtour. I had chosen this location as it is one of the few spots in the Oxford area where the sun would be on the front, but the colourful field of yellow ragwort in the foreground was an unexpected bonus.

Running 22 minutes early, D1944 (47501) Craftsman passes Shrewley on 24 July 2022 with the 5Z47 14:06 Chaddesden Sidings to Southall ECS. This was the stock from the previous day's 'Cornish Riviera Statesman' railtour. D1935 (47805) Roger Hosking MA 1925 - 2013 is bringing up the rear.

D1944 (47501) Craftsman brings up the rear of the Saphos Trains 1Z60 06:40 Wolverhampton to Kingswear 'English Riviera Express' railtour at Standish Junction on 6 August 2022. Heading the train is classmate 47614. Although the far side of the cutting still looks reasonably green, the parched grass in the foreground is typical of the extremely hot summer of 2022.

47502 calls at Moreton-in-Marsh on 8 May 1982 with the 1A51 11:46 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service. A very poor picture, with awful head on lighting, but this was taken shortly before most of the Cotswold Line loco-hauled trains were replaced by DMUs, leaving just a pair of up morning trains, and corresponding down evening workings. Note the driver holding the token out for the signalman.

47503 passes Lock 61 on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Crofton on 25 September 1982, as it heads towards the capital with the 1A67 11:05 Paignton to Paddington service. Note that Lock 60 in the background does not yet have any gates. The route had not been fully restored at this time, and was not open for through navigation. This is one of the very few railway pictures that I took using a 28mm wide angle lens on my Canon A1.

47503 approaches Cholsey on 31 January 1987 with the 1F35 14:00 Oxford to Paddington service. Not being an Old Oak Common loco, it was a bit of a surprise to see this working a Network SouthEast service. It wouldn't have been such a surprise it if had turned up on one of the many inter-regional trains that also traversed this line at the time.

47503 passes between the down refuge siding and Moreton-in-Marsh's up advance starter signal, as it approaches Moreton-in-Marsh station on 13 April 1988 with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service. Over three decades later, the 47s may be long gone, but the semaphore signals and the siding remain.

47503 The Geordie passes Didcot North Junction on 22 June 1989 with the 1V97 15:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Paddington service. The fields visible behind the train have now all been built over. The Ladygrove housing estate was built in the 1990s, extending the town of Didcot to the north of the original Great Western Mainline for the first time.

47507 arrives at Oxford station on 27 August 1983 with the 1M88 06:00 Weymouth to Liverpool Lime Street service, which it worked between Reading and Birmingham New Street. The platform canopy on the left predates the station's rebuilding in 1971, and when this photo was taken was the principal remnant of the original Great Western Railway station.

47507 leaves Banbury on 24 April 1984 with the 1M88 06:25 Poole to Liverpool Lime Street service. This slightly unusual viewpoint shows the train about to pass underneath the old Grimsbury Road bridge, with evidence of the building of the new bypass road on the left. In the background, behind the pylon, is the large Kraft coffee factory, which often gives this location a pleasant coffee smell! The small group of buildings in front of the factory are the only ones that would have been seen from this spot a century earlier, as the entire background is Banbury's modern urban sprawl.

47508 Great Britain approaches Kingham on 16 January 1982 with the 1B78 12:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill service. The bridge in the background is a little used farm occupation crossing, with the abutments of the Churchill Heath bridge just visible through the arch.

47508 Great Britain passes Oxford North Junction on 28 July 1983 with the 1A75 07:05 Hereford to Paddington service. Cotswold Line trains at this time could easily be recognised by the inclusion of a GUV at the front of the train. This used to be one of my favourite Oxford locations, now unfortunately ruined by the addition of a huge signal gantry.

47508 Great Britain arrives at Honeybourne on 14 August 1983 with the 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service. After a brief stop the train set off for Evesham as normal, only to stop a short distance up the line and then reverse back into the station! Apparently somebody had been left behind, but even so, a bizarre move that I have not seen happen since! Note the empty shell of the long closed signal box in the background. This was demolished shortly afterwards.

47508 passes Hinksey Yard on 4 July 1985 with the 1A45 07:33 Oxford to Paddington service. The loco is pictured here running unnamed, which it did for a very short period between the original Great Britain plates being removed, and the application of the S.S. Great Britain plates on 26 July 1985.

47508 S.S. Great Britain passes the site of Shrivenham station on 25 October 1985 with the 6A21 11:30 Malago Vale to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans, which had just had some vans added at Swindon, changing the headcode from 3A21. Note the inclusion of a non brake Mk1 coach at the front of the train.

47508 S.S. Great Britain speeds past Ascott-under-Wychwood's last remaining semaphore signal (since replaced) with the 1B16 09:55 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill service on 10 November 1985. The loco had been re-named four months earlier, with the S.S. Great Britain nameplates replacing the original Great Britain ones. For a brief period it ran in service unnamed. Note that I am being watched by one of the occupants of the field!

47508 S.S. Great Britain passes Lyneham on 7 May 1987 with the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service. The following week this train went over to HST operation. It was a 50/50 chance whether trains on the Cotswold Line were Class 47 or 50 hauled at this time. I preferred 50s at the time, but with hindsight either was acceptable!

47508 S.S. Great Britain arrives at Charlbury station on 8 May 1987 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. Extended platforms and a new footbridge have now completely altered this viewpoint, although the brick road bridge, with its painted semaphore signal sighting patch, still remains unaltered, although the white patch is gradually getting more indistinct.

With 72½ miles to go, according to the milepost, 47508 S.S. Great Britain approaches Combe on 17 October 1987 with the 1A07 08:08 Hereford to Paddington service. This picture is taken from the extremely tall Grintleyhill Bridge.

An unusual, and slightly puzzling picture taken at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 16 November 1988. 47508 S.S. Great Britain heads westwards with a rake of four wheel TTA oil tanks, a train which does not match up with anything in the working timetable. Possibly an oil train to Littlemore, but at the time the 'as required' service to Littlemore came from Stanlow. An InterCity Mainline liveried Class 47/4 is also noteworthy on an oil train. To add to the weirdness, the loco is quite clearly sporting freshly applied 'smiley face' markings on its silver buffers. Presumably it had been spruced up for some special event, but I can find no mention of it, and have yet to come across another picture of it with buffers in this condition. Any information would be gratefully appreciated.

47508 S.S. Great Britain passes the site of Uffington station on 14 March 1989 with a Cheltenham Gold Cup race special. I always liked to have a few days off work in mid March to photograph the Gold Cup specials, but unfortunately it nearly always seemed to correspond with a period of miserable weather!

The Cheltenham Gold Cup used to produce numerous race specials from London in the 1980s, and although it often seemed to correspond with bad weather, they were always worth photographing. 47508 S.S. Great Britain emerges from Kemble Tunnel in the rain on 16 March 1989 with one of several loco hauled trains heading for Cheltenham.

Running 15 minutes late, 47508 S.S. Great Britain passes Didcot North Junction on 22 June 1989 with the 1M31 17:16 Folkestone Central to Manchester Piccadilly service. This used to be a good location to photograph northbound trains on a summer evening, but lineside vegetation, and development of the field on the right mean this view is no longer possible.

47508 S.S. Great Britain approaches Oxford on 7 April 1990 with the 1O99 06:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Folkestone Central service. This train nearly always ran with either just five or six coaches, a very easy load for a Class 47!

47509 Albion approaches Shipton station on 16 January 1982 with the 1A51 11:46 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service. If this looks bad, it was nothing compared with the huge drifts on the nearby Stow-on-the-Wold to Burford road.

47509 Albion passes Lyneham on 19 April 1982 with the 1C56 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service. Its been a long time since this location was as open as this! This may have been in the so called 'bad old days' of British Rail, but at least then you had a comfortable train, without engines underneath the floor!

When Honeybourne station reopened in 1981 only very basic facilities were provided, and the desolate feel was not helped by the abandoned platform opposite the one reopened platform. Recent years have seen the line doubled and the station rebuilt. The old order is pictured on 30 March 1985, as 47509 Albion arrives with the 1A31 08:05 Hereford to Paddington service.

An unusual head on viewpoint at Moreton-in-Marsh on 16 June 1985, deliberately chosen to give a good view of the down refuge siding and numerous semaphore signals. 47509 Albion arrives with the 1C48 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service.

47509 Albion passes Bourton on 13 July 1985 with the 1C49 14:05 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service. This was booked for a Class 50, and looking at various reports, it seems that it usually was Class 50 hauled, so I was very unlucky on this occasion!

47509 Albion passes South Moreton on 12 September 1985 with the 6A21 11:30 Malago Vale to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. This had started out running as 3A21, but the 1985 working timetable indicates that the headcode changed at Swindon to 6A21, presumably with the addition of some vans, as the timing load changed from 630 tons to 700 tons. It's certainly a lengthy train, made up of 19 assorted GUVs and BGs.

I was most surprised to see this whilst visiting Moreton-in-Marsh station on 5 June 1988. 47509 Albion parked in the siding next to the former goods shed with the Chipmans weedkilling train. As there was no crew around and no prospect of it moving, I had to make do with this record shot. 47509 was a regular on the Cotswold Line at the time on Paddington to Hereford trains.

47509 Albion passes Madeley Junction on 15 August 1988 with the 7C19 13:15 Shrewsbury Coton Hill to Bescot Speedlink, conveying armoured vehicles and MoD stores from Donnington. This is one of the few occasions that I saw an inappropriately InterCity liveried Class 47 working a freight.

47509 Albion pulls out of the up loop at Waltham St Lawrence on 2 June 1989 with a lengthy train of spoil wagons. It was always good to photograph inappropriately liveried locos at work, and this is definitely not an InterCity train!

A colourful, although slightly inappropriate InterCity / Network SouthEast combination at Didcot North Junction on 27 June 1989. 47509 Albion rounds the curve from Didcot Parkway station with the 1F68 18:32 Paddington to Oxford service.

With the beached former Sealink 'Duke of Lancaster' ship dominating the background, 47509 Albion passes Mostyn on 30 March 1991 with the late running 1D43 09:35 Euston to Holyhead service. There was plenty of Class 47 activity on the North Wales coast line on this Saturday, as ten minutes later 47337 appeared from the opposite direction with the 7F18 Llandudno Junction to Ellesmere Port chemical tanks.

47510 Fair Rosamund heads north from Banbury on 24 April 1984 with the 1S61 06:45 Paddington to Glasgow Central service. It is passing the construction works for the new Banbury bypass (later named Hennef Way). The town of Banbury can be seen in the background. Although the town has expanded enormously since this picture was taken, the fields directly behind the train haven't been built on, as they now form Spiceball Country Park.

47511 Thames passes Lyneham on 31 October 1981 with the 1B58 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill service. Just visible on the skyline (on both sides of the train) are the masts of Leafield Radio Station. With approximately 80 tall masts, the station was a distinctive landmark for miles around. Originally built in 1912 with Poulsen arc transmitters, the station was converted to conventional transmitters when spark gap and arc transmitters were banned in the 1920s. The station remained in use by the Post Office until 1986. The masts were then demolished.

47511 Thames passes Chalford on 16 April 1983 with the early running 3B42 09:15 Gloucester to Swindon parcels train. 47511 received the name Thames at Old Oak Common in March 1979, but it lost its plates upon conversion to 47714 in 1984. The name was then transferred to 47611.

While everyone else was watching Live Aid on TV, I was photographing van trains on the Great Western Mainline! 47512 passes Bourton on a brilliantly sunny 13 July 1985 with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common vans. If a train of seventeen vans seems amazing for today's photographers, the fact that there was a similar train following an hour behind is even more impressive!

47512 passes Langford Lane, Wendlebury, on 22 April 1986 with the 6V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. 47512 could easily be recognised from virtually any distance in 1986 (at least from this side), by virtue of its partially missing BR logo. This well known freight train had only started running the previous year, but I don't suppose anybody in those days would have thought that the old brick pits at Calvert could go on taking Bristol's rubbish for another quarter of a century!

47512 arrives at Charlbury on 10 April 1987 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. Charlbury station's new footbridge now straddles this view, and the original double track has been reinstated. However, the brick road bridge is still just the same, even including the white painted signal sighting patch, although this has become a little more faded.

47512 passes Didcot North Junction on 22 June 1989 with an Ascot race special, believed to be the 18:43 Ascot to Manchester Piccadilly (confirmation anyone?). The water tower and coaling stage in the Great Western Society's Didcot headquarters can be seen in the background, as the Ladygrove housing estate was still just a planner's dream, and was a few years away from swallowing up the field directly behind the locomotive.

47513 Severn passes Hinksey on 14 June 1983 with the 3V19 04:50 Banbury to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. This was running over an hour early, as it often did, as the booked four hour layover in Oxford was a bit excessive!

The Cotswold Line Promotion Group has been running special trains to various locations since the early 1980s. The 'Cotswold-Ouse Special' on 14 April 1984 was so popular that a relief had to be run a few weeks later. 47513 Severn stands in the gloom at Shipton station on 5 May 1984 with the Oxford to York 'Cotswold-Ouse Special 2'. Note that only a small part of the train is actually able to access the extremely short platform. Some idea of how dull it is can be gauged from the fact that the station lights are still on.

Looking very smart with its silver buffers, and white painted wheels, 47513 Severn approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 3 November 1984 with the 3A12 08:55 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. 47513 was an Old Oak Common loco between 1978 and 1989, and was often used for prestigious trains, hence the painted embellishments.

Another Cotswold Line view that is now no longer possible due to the uncontrolled growth of lineside vegetation. 47513 Severn passes Lyneham with the 1B46 17:05 Paddington to Hereford service on 30 May 1985. I would not normally include quite so much sky in the picture and the composition is getting a little close to the photographic faux pas of the subject dividing the picture in two. However, in the absence of any foreground interest I was anxious to include the moon in the picture, which can be seen near the top of the picture. 47513 acquired the name Severn at Old Oak Common in March 1979 and until being transferred to Tinsley in 1989 was a regular on the Cotswold Line.

47513 Severn passes Whitehill (between Finstock and Combe) on 22 August 1985 with the 13:12 Great Malvern to Paddington 'Cotswold & Malvern Express'. This was booked for a HST, and it was certainly a surprise when this turned up. Obviously the Cotswold Line does not fully exploit the HST's speed advantage, so it's no surprise that this was only running ten minutes late.

Viewed from a lofty vantage point that is unfortunately now obscured by trees, 47513 Severn approaches Grintleyhill Bridge at Come with the 1A25 08:00 Hereford to Paddington service on 31 January 1987. A bright but cold winter morning with the remains of some snow under the hedges and a light mist obscuring the background slightly. This location is not a total loss now, as pictures can still be taken from the bridge, but even if this 1987 viewpoint could be recreated, the rampant growth of lineside vegetation would hide the train today. Lower Westfield Farm is prominent in the centre of the picture, while on the extreme left Whitehill Bridge can just be seen.

47513 Severn heads south light engine past Blanchworth (between Gloucester and Bristol) on 28 September 1989. Note the red soil, which is typical of this area of the Vale of Berkeley, at the foot of the Cotswold Hills.

47513 Severn passes Beeston on 11 September 1990 with the 5L80 09:56 Derby Etches Park to Cambridge empty parcels vans. Note the large logo livery variation of small numbers and yellow window surrounds. A housing estate now occupies the waste ground on the right.

47513 Severn passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 29 January 1992 with the 1A71 13:43 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington mail train. Note the non-standard livery, with smaller than normal numbers (for a large logo liveried loco), and no black window surrounds.

47513 Severn passes Frosterley on 10 April 1993 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z43 14:15 Eastgate to Swindon 'Weardale Explorer' railtour. This was the last train to traverse the line under BR ownership. Evidence of quarrying can be seen on the hillside in the background. There were once numerous rail served quarries on both sides of the valley.

47513 Severn is about to dive under the A68 road at Witton-le-Wear on 10 April 1993, as it runs along what is now the Weardale Railway with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z43 14:15 Eastgate to Swindon 'Weardale Explorer' railtour. 37506 British Steel Skinningrove & 37512 Thornaby Demon are out of sight on the far end of the train.

47513 Severn accelerates away from Kidderminster on 26 August 1996 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 07:10 Swindon to Holyhead 'North Wales Coast Explorer' railtour. The 47 would be replaced by preserved Class 46 D172 Ixion at Crewe.

47515 calls at Kingham station on 23 April 1983 with the 1A75 07:05 Hereford to Paddington service. The biggest shock for anyone who is familiar with this location today, is just how open and free of vegetation this view is. It would not be possible to take this picture today because of a tree growing near the bridge. But a more head on viewpoint would show that the house is now completely hidden from view by trees that had not even been planted when this picture was taken!

47515 passes Hinksey Yard on 14 June 1983 with the 1A75 07:05 Hereford to Paddington service. It may look like I am about to get a chance of a Class 25 hauled freight picture, however, 25051 is not waiting in the loop in the background in order to proceed south once 47515 has got out of the way. It has in fact just arrived with the 6V19 06:32 Bescot to Oxford Speedlink, and will leave the train at this point, for Oxford's resident 08 to move as required. I had to make do with a light engine picture!

47515 passes Claydon on 1 July 1986 with the 2B59 19:15 Worcester Shrub Hill to Cardiff Central service. A full length mostly air-conditioned train, complete with catering vehicle was certainly luxury provision for this 'all stations' local service! Throughout the summer of 1986 it was worked either by Class 47s or 50s.

47515 passes Daylesford on 18 July 1986 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. There probably aren't too many pictures of 47515 in this livery, as it only carried it for a few months. It was in plain BR blue at the start of the year, but by November it was in the colourful InterCity colour scheme. Quite how long it was in this large logo livery isn't clear, as I only saw it twice, both in July. Two repaints in one year is a bit of a waste of resources.

47515 Night Mail passes South Moreton on 8 November 1986 with the 3V19 09:35 Oxford to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. Note the inclusion of a Mk 2 passenger coach in the consist, presumably after having been removed from a train at Oxford due to some fault and now being taken back to Old Oak for rectification.

With the shadows lengthening, 47515 Night Mail passes Hinksey Yard, near Oxford on 14 March 1987 with the 1O09 08:12 Newcastle to Poole service, running 50 minutes late. Note that the only two Mk1 vehicles in the train are the InterCity liveried restaurant car and the BG at the front. This brake vehicle highlights another area where the railways have deteriorated over the last few years. In 1987 there was a whole vehicle dedicated to luggage and bicycles!

47515 Night Mail approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 8 May 1987 with the 3A12 06:50 Milford Haven to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. Up trains were being warned of a broken rail, but clearly it wasn't that serious, as they were being allowed to proceed at reduced speed.

A colourful InterCity / Network SouthEast combination at Churchill Heath on Sunday 15 May 1988. 47515 Night Mail accelerates away from Kingham station (just out of sight in the distance) with the 1A65 16:15 Hereford to Paddington service. This was running 20 minutes late, which was fairly unusual for Cotswold Line trains in the 1980s, but much more common several decades later!

Cotswold Scot! 47517 Andrew Carnegie passes the very basic Combe station on 11 April 1988 with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service. The Highland Rail logo is certainly not very appropriate for this part of the world. The loco was just starting its life in England, after being a Scottish allocated loco since being delivered new (as D1975) to Haymarket depot in November 1965.

47519 could easily be recognised from a distance in 1984, as it had what looked like the word 'Glen' crudely scrawled on one end. It is seen here passing Croome on 14 May 1984 with the 1V85 09:22 Newcastle to Penzance service.

Heritage repainted two tone green liveried 47519 passes Old Denaby on 13 February 1999 with westbound steel empties. It's special livery didn't save it, and it was withdrawn the following month, although it wasn't cut up until 2005.

Golden autumn tints at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 24 October 1989. 47520 runs along the up relief line with the 1V94 11:06 Birmingham New Street to Reading InterCity service. As most cross country trains through Oxfordshire at the time started from further afield (Manchester, Newcastle, York, etc) it seems odd that this relatively short distance train was always provided with a Mk1 restaurant coach (third vehicle). Luxury provision compared with what's on offer today!

47521 passes underneath the road bridge at Chilson on 26 April 1986 with the 1A25 08:05 Hereford to Paddington service. The grassy bank in the foreground is now completely covered by trees. They have been allowed to grow so close to the track that they almost touch the trains!

47521 passes Chilson on 16 August 1987 with the 1M08 09:00 Paddington to Wolverhampton InterCity service, diverted via the Cotswold Line due to engineering works. The presence of a dedicated buffet car near the rear of the train is a giveaway that this is not a normal Cotswold Line train.

47521 leaves Oxford station on 20 August 1989 with the 1F45 11:30 Network SouthEast departure for Paddington. The steel framework for the new station building can be seen between the trees on the right.

47521 passes Bourton on 22 December 1989 with the 1B29 13:02 Paddington to Cardiff Central relief. The Network SouthEast livery is not appropriate for the Didcot to Swindon line, and even less so for the train's Welsh destination!

47521 passes Cholsey on 18 February 1990 with the 1B31 13:45 Paddington to Hereford service. Normally I would have photographed this on the Cotswold Line, as loco hauled trains on that route were at premium, whereas in 1990, Cholsey still saw a procession of loco-hauled trains, both on Network SouthEast and InterCity services.

47521 passes South Moreton on 10 June 1990 with the 1B29 13:40 Paddington to Hereford Network SouthEast service. This picture shows how awkward this location was for anything on the fast line, with the lineside bushes getting in the way. Of course now there is no view whatsoever, thanks to the Great Western Mainline electfrication.

47521 is just a couple of minutes into its journey, as it passes Hinksey Yard on 19 January 1991 with the 1F61 14:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. The flush front on this end of the loco is the result of accident damage repairs carried out a decade earlier. Ironically, just a few months before this picture was taken, the loco sustained minor damage to the other end.

47521 passes West Drayton on 22 June 1991 with the 1F53 12:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This was a classic location for photographing trains approaching London from the west, now of course completely lost under a sea of wires.

47521 passes underneath the brick arch bridge at Appleford on 29 February 1992 with the 1F39 09:05 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This was during the last few months of NSE loco hauled trains on the route, although of course cross country services on the line remained in the hands of Class 47s for another decade.

47521 doesn't seem to be in the best of health, as it approaches Wolvercote Junction on 18 August 1993 with the 1S04 14:25 Tonbridge to Edinburgh Royal Mail vans. 47521 spent the last three years of its life as a parcels loco, moving from the NWRA Thames Valley passenger fleet in May 1992. It was withdrawn in May 1995..

Extremely lucky lighting at Asgarby on 1 September 1984. 47522 manages to find a brief patch of sunshine as it heads towards the coast with the 1D38 10:59 Kings Cross to Skegness summer dated service. This was just one of a number of loco hauled trains that headed for Skegness on a summer Saturday during the 1980s. All now a distant memory.

Unfortunately I only saw 47522 Doncaster Enterprise once whilst it was in its attractive LNER apple green livery. So here it is, trundling through Radley station on the evening of 20 July 1989, heading towards Oxford with a single brake van. It lost its unique livery a few months later, after an accident in Kent resulted in a major rebuild and repaint.

47522 Doncaster Enterprise heads through the Vale of White Horse, near Compton Beauchamp on 30 August 1991 with the 1B95 16:02 Paddington to Swansea parcels. Note the inclusion of an InterCity liveried vehicle near the rear of the train.

47522 Doncaster Enterprise hauls 50035 Ark Royal, two TPO vehicles, and two coaches past Horley on 21 September 1991, en-route from Old Oak Common to Lover's Walk Depot, for display at the following day's 'Brighton 150' open day. Ten minutes earlier a similar convoy from Willesden was hauled by 73136.

47522 Doncaster Enterprise passes Defford in miserable light on 12 April 1993 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 16:20 Gloucester to Hereford 'Severn-Wye' railtour. Not many people would have bothered to photograph this section of the tour, but many more would have gone out earlier in the day, when GWR King Class 4-6-0 6024 King Edward I was on the outward leg of the tour.

47522 Doncaster Enterprise approaches Iver on 19 October 1996 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z65 05:38 Cardiff Central to Hastings 'Kent & East Sussex Venturer' railtour. Luckily the fast lines were closed for engineering works, so the long shadows aren't proving too much of a problem. Langley oil depot, which can be seen in the background, closed a few years after this picture was taken.

47522 Doncaster Enterprise approaches Wolvercote Junction on 18 May 1998 with the 6M18 15:36 Eastleigh to Carlisle Enterprise wagonload freight service, on this occasion comprising just four china clay tanks from Quidhampton. The loco's bright red livery, a relic of its former parcels sector status, certainly shows up well in the late evening light.

47523 passes Bourton on 22 December 1989 with the 1A40 09:06 Swansea to Paddington service. Not only was this train unusual in being Class 47 hauled amid a sea of HSTs services, but also it was one of the few trains that didn't call at Swindon, though which it had passed non-stop a few moments before this picture was taken.

47523 leaves Oxford station on 26 May 1990 with the 1O04 06:45 Wolverhampton to Poole service. After several years of mixed liveried trains in the Oxford area, things had largely settled down by 1990, with complete InterCity rakes, as here, and complete Network SouthEast rakes on the Paddington trains.

47524 passes Lower Wick (Crossways) with the 1V85 09:23 Newcastle to Penzance service on 26 October 1985. A poor quality image, taken on a murky day, but one of the few pictures I took at this spot before it became hopelessly overgrown.

47524 passes Duffryn on 15 August 1987 with an unidentified up working. Nothing in the working timetable remotely matches this, and the Network SouthEast stock is certainly out of place in South Wales! 08:55 is a bit early for a football special, unless this is an ECS. Any information would be gratefully received.

47524 passes Shrivenham on 21 April 1988 with the 3A12 06:44 Milford Haven to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. I wouldn't normally bother to include a picture taken in such poor light of what at the time was a very ordinary working. However, the inclusion of what appears to be an inspection saloon at the front of the train is definitely not ordinary! The lack of any sun also meant that a picture from the north side of the line was possible, revealing the houses in the village of Bourton in the background.

47524 makes a typically smoky start, as it pulls away from Evesham station on 11 June 1989 with the 1B29 13:45 Paddington to Hereford Network SouthEast service. Note the surviving GWR brick built building in the yard, and the fact that in 1989 all the trackwork was still 95lb per yard bullhead rail on wooden sleepers.

A working which I should have photographed more often, particularly as it was usually double headed. 47524 & 47535 University of Leicester pass through Pilning station on 16 January 1992 with the 3V16 11:00 Crewe to Bristol Temple Meads parcels.

47524 passes Aynho at speed on 29 June 1993 with the 1E45 16:30 Swindon to Newcastle mail vans. Something I hadn't noticed until the box of slides came back from Fuji, is the moon directly above the front of the locomotive!

Overrunning engineering work on the Cotswold Line on Sunday 22 May 1988 resulted in 47525 with the 1B31 13:45 Paddington to Hereford service running wrong line between Ascott-under-Wychwood and Moreton-in-Marsh. It is pictured here confusing prospective passengers at Kingham. These Sunday trains were always worth photographing during the late 1980s, as they inevitably featured InterCity liveried Class 47s hauled Network SouthEast stock. Kingham is pictured here before the car park was tidied up and increased in size, work which removed the remnants of the bay platform visible in the foreground. Note also the pre-war jointed bullhead track.

47525 passes Yarnton on 14 June 1988 with the 1M58 17:50 Paddington to Wolverhampton InterCity service. The line of trees in the background mark the course of the 'Yarnton Loop', a link line that formerly connected the Oxford to Worcester line with the Oxford to Bletchley line.

47525 runs along the down relief line at South Moreton on 6 August 1988 with the 1M09 14:00 Poole to Nottingham InterCity service. This was in the good old days, when a pleasant afternoon could be spent at this location, watching a procession of Class 47 & 50 hauled trains, all viewed from a quiet farm occupation bridge, which had a low parapet that doubled as a seat. Unfortunately the modern replacement requires a stepladder just to see over the top!

47525 passes Hinksey Yard on 5 July 1991 with the 1V92 05:40 Wolverhampton to Paddington InterCity service. The well know footbridge than spans both the yard and the adjacent lake, can just be seen through the morning mist in the background.

Sporting a slightly early 'Merry Christmas' headboard, 47525 passes Lincoln Street level crossing signal box, Old Basford, on 2 December 1995 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z54 07:50 St Pancras to Hammersmith (Midland Railway Centre) 'Butter Mountain' railtour. Although taken on a miserably dull day, with the early morning fog only slightly dispersed, this picture is full of interest, as the scene has now changed completely. The signal box has been demolished, and the level crossing is now a major piece of infrastructure, as it also includes the new Nottingham tram line to Hucknall, which now parallels the line on the left. The David Lane tram stop is now situated where the bushes are on the left.

Complete with seasonal headboard, 47525 passes underneath the A38 dual carriageway at Lower Kilburn on a misty 2 December 1995 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z54 07:50 St Pancras to Hammersmith (Midland Railway Centre) 'Butter Mountain' railtour. This location was near the northern end of what was then the freight only Denby Branch, part of the former Midland Railway Derby to Ripley line. Passenger services were withdrawn as early as 1930, but the line lived on to serve Denby Colliery until 1999. The track was lifted in 2011.

47525 brings up the rear of the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z54 07:50 St Pancras to Hammersmith (Midland Railway Centre) 'Butter Mountain' railtour at Breadsall on a very misty 2 December 1995. 31551 & 31466 are the lead locomotives. The car park lights in the background give a clue as to how dark it was!

47526 Northumbria passes Uffington on 14 March 1989 with the 1A32 09:10 Swansea to Paddington service. The loops here were still in use at this time, although not necessarily very frequently, judging by the film of rust, especially on the down loop on the left.

47526 Northumbria passes Wolvercote on 4 May 1989 with the 1M85 12:08 Gillingham to Preston parcels. Obviously a warm evening, as the canal boat owner on the left is enjoying the sunshine from the top of his narrowboat on the Oxford Canal.

47526 Northumbria reaches the bottom of the Lickey Incline at Bromsgrove on 23 September 1989, as it works the 1V43 08:35 Liverpool Lime Street to Penzance service. The Northumbria name have been transferred from 47405, when that loco was withdrawn in 1986.

Viewed from the end of the station's platform, 47526 passes Cholsey at speed on 16 August 1991 with the 1F83 18:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. The weather beaten loco had just been transferred to Old Oak Common, a move which also entailed the removal of its former Northumbria nameplates, the site of which can clearly be seen on the bodyside.

A slightly different viewpoint on a well known photographic location at Oxford. A very tatty 47526 pulls way from Oxford station on 2 October 1991 with the 1F45 11:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service and passes under the Osney Lane footbridge. In 2007 this bridge was removed for essential repairs, but due to typical Network Rail incompetence was not replaced for many months, causing a severe nuisance to local residents. Shortage of materials was blamed for the delay. I cannot believe that the structure of the bridge detiorated so quickly that it had to be closed before replacement parts were available!

47526 passes South Moreton on 9 May 1992 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury Network SouthEast service. The large bush on the right did not help when trains ran along the down main line, as here. It was particularly annoying in this case, as this train was booked to use the relief line from Reading.

Not a good advert for Network SouthEast, either with the appearance of the loco, or the poor timekeeping. Running 45 minutes late, 47526 passes Didcot North Junction on 20 May 1992 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury service. The marks left by the removal of the former Northumbria nameplate add to the general neglected appearance of the loco's bodyside.

47526 approaches Didcot North Junction on 8 December 1992 with a brand new Class 465 on delivery from York to Slade Green. Unfortunately my notes as to which 465 this is seem to have gone missing. Any ideas? A bit more overnight rain would have provided a much more complete reflection in the foreground!

47527 Kettering passes Rangeworthy of 5 May 1990 with the Pathfinder 1Z17 Meldon Quarry to Manchester Piccadilly 'Taw & Tor Tourer' railtour. Please note: several internet sources incorrectly claim this section of the tour was worked by 47588 Mayflower. The 47 had just taken over from 50020 Revenge, which went on ahead of it, in order to be displayed at the Bescot Open Day.

47528 The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry passes Kings Sutton on 26 July 1990 with the 1M85 14:32 Tonbridge to Preston parcels. The loco had been named the previous year, but had only received the additional coat of arms a month before this picture was taken.

47528 The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry passes Abergele on 11 August 1991 with the 1A27 13:30 Holyhead to Euston service, which it would work as far as Crewe. Driving van trailer 82108 is directly behind the loco. Although a train like this would bring out the photographers now, the photographers on the left are in fact waiting for the much more unusual sight of 20151 & 20059, which were working the 1T20 14:45 Llandudno to Crewe special

47529 passes Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) on 21 June 1986 with the 1B56 18:12 Paddington to Hereford service. Network SouthEast had been launched as a major branding exercise just a few days before, but of course it took a long while for the identity to be applied to the majority of vehicles, hence we have a classic corporate image scene here, with a complete train of Mk 1 coaches.

47530 passes Hinksey Yard on 4 July 1985 with the 1F29 10:35 Oxford to Paddington service. The buildings of the Osney Industrial Estate can be seen in the background, directly above the locomotive, and directly above the rear of the train, the roof of Oxford's former power station can just be seen.

47530 takes a break from its Network SouthEast duties, and gets used for some Sunday engineering work on 13 May 1990. After dropping ballast further up the line towards Reading, it is pictured heading back to Didcot along the up main line at South Moreton.

47530 approaches Buckhorn Weston Tunnel on 14 April 1991 with the 1V09 08:55 Waterloo to Exeter St Davids Network SouthEast service. I visited this location several times during 1991, but with the lack of any trains that would warrant such a long journey to photograph, I haven't been back since!

47530 passes Motcombe on 14 April 1991 with the 2O02 14:22 Exeter St Davids to Waterloo Network SouthEast service. This is one of those locations that I went to just once during the mad dash to record the last of the loco hauled workings on the Waterloo to Exeter route during 1991.

47530 passes Potbridge on 28 April 1991 with the 2L18 08:24 Salisbury to Waterloo Network SouthEast service. This was the first up train of the day from the West of England line on a Sunday at this time. I was disappointed that this wasn't Class 50 hauled. Never mind, a two hour wait secured a picture of 50037 on the next up train.

Soft evening light at the then semi rural location of Didcot North Junction on 4 July 1991. 47530 heads north with the 1F52 18:08 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. This is an all stations service, which in addition to Didcot, has already called at Reading, Pangbourne, Goring and Cholsey, and will shortly be stopping at Appleford, Culham and Radley.

If you wanted to photograph a colourful train around the Oxford area in the early 1990s, this was the one to go for. The 1M85 14:32 Tonbridge to Preston parcels was often hauled by a Network SouthEast liveried 47, and the inclusion of a Royal Mail red van was a distinct possibility. Such is the case here, as 47530 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 29 August 1991.

47530 passes through Didcot Parkway station on 31 July 1992 with the 1B95 16:02 Paddington to Swansea Royal Mail vans, running 20 minutes early. Note the two sets of lampposts, with the red Network SouthEast ones about to be replaced by a completely new set just a few feet away from the originals.

47531 approaches Hinksey Yard on 12 February 1985, as it heads north with the 1M07 12:54 Brighton to Manchester Piccadilly service. I can't remember now how easy it was to get a day off work at short notice for some snow and sun photography!

Sub-zero conditions at Hinksey Yard on 17 January 1987. 47531 begins to slow down on its approach to Oxford station with the 1E63 10:40 Poole to Newcastle service, which it worked between Reading and Birmingham New Street. Photo taken from the now closed Tuckwell's Crossing.

47531 approaches Pirton level crossing on 7 May 1993 with the 1E43 17:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Newcastle Royal Mail vans. This was during the locomotive's second period of being numbered 47531. It originally carried the number from May 1974, until June 1990, when it assigned to test duties, and renumbered into the 47/9 series, as 47974. It reverted to 47531 in June 1992, and remained so until the end of 1993, when it was converted to a 47/7, and renumbered 47775.

47531 crosses Saddleworth Viaduct on 14 August 1993 with the SLOA Carlisle to Euston 'Cumbrian Mountain Express' railtour, which has been worked as far as Bradford Forster Square by LMS Coronation Class 4-6-2 46229 Duchess of Hamilton.

A vintage scene at Oxford on 5 July 1980, as 47532 arrives at the station with the 1M38 06:28 Poole to Birmingham New Street service. It is about to pass the disused Oxford Station South signal box, which was taken out of use in 1973 with the introduction of colour light signalling to the area. Although the corresponding Oxford Station North signal box was quickly demolished, this structure survived for a number of years, but was demolished shortly after this picture was taken. Another sign of a bygone age is the complete lack of high visibility clothing, as two train crew members walk alongside the line over the bridge crossing the Botley Road.

47532 heads north at Ashchurch on 2 June 1985 with a mystery working. This is 08:55 on a Sunday morning, and there is nothing in the working timetable remotely near this time. The previous day the loco worked the 1A32 08:05 Grantham to Kings Cross service, and the following day it worked the 2C42 16:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Taunton train, but that doesn't explain what this is!

47532 passes Shorthampton on 18 April 1987 with the 1M14 13:15 Paddington to Liverpool Lime Street service. The train was diverted onto the Cotswold Line because engineering works had closed its usual route via Banbury.

47532 passes through the chalk cutting at Cholsey on 4 September 1987 with the 1O03 08:08 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service. This used to be an excellent location for photography, from what was known locally as the 'Silly Bridge'.

47532 passes Hinksey Yard on 25 June 1993 with the 1S04 14:25 Tonbridge to Edinburgh Royal Mail vans. This would shortly be calling at Oxford station to pick up mail. It was then booked to recess in Oxford Carriage Sidings for over an hour, before continuing north.

Unfortunately I have got very few pictures of my local Cotswold Line from the 1970s, and most of those seem to have been taken on dull days! 47533 is seen here passing Chilson on 9 September 1979 with the 1C42 16:25 Paddington to Hereford service.

47533 passes Cogload Junction on 22 April 1988 with the 2C13 07:26 Swindon to Taunton service. My Vauxhall Cavalier is on the right, which at the time had 137,000 miles on the clock, but would unfortunately be written off by an under bonnet fire a few weeks later.

47533 is just four miles into its journey, as it passes underneath the farm occupation bridge at Charlton, near Cogload Junction, on 22 April 1988 with the 2C71 10:00 Taunton to Bristol Temple Meads local service. This seems like luxury provision for what you would think would ordinarily be a DMU service. Note the bridge's 18 tons weight restriction notice on the extreme right.

47533 rounds the curve at Ascott-under-Wychwood on 25 June 1989 with the late running 1O06 07:10 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole InterCity service. Normally time keeping on the Cotswold Line was quite good in the 1980s, but when these inter regional trains were routed via the line, late running was more common. The moon is just visible directly above the locomotive.

47533 passes Oxford North Junction on 19 August 1989 with the 1O04 06:18 Wolverhampton to Poole service. Behind the loco are the Trap Grounds allotments, the access for which at this time was the foot crossing visible by the first coach.

47533 crosses the Somerset Levels near Lympsham on 25 April 1990 with the 1E06 14:10 Plymouth to Newcastle parcels. Despite this train's lengthy journey, it regularly had only four vans at this time. The mist is almost obscuring Brent Knoll, the hill in the background that dominates the otherwise flat countryside.

47534 passes St Devereux (between Hereford and Pontrilas) on 10 November 1984 with the 07:12 Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central service. This was in the good old days, when not only could you expect to see 47s on the Welsh Marches line, but 33s as well.

47535 University of Leicester passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 October 1982 with the 1A81 07:40 Taunton to Paddington service. By this date most trains on this line were worked by HSTs, but there were still a reasonable number of Class 47 or 50 hauled trains such as this.

47535 University of Leicester passes Hinksey Yard on 8 February 1986 with the 1O74 09:58 Manchester Piccadilly to Brighton service, which it took over at Coventry. The snow covered land behind the rusty fence marks the site of Oxford gas works.

47535 University of Leicester passes Stenson Junction with the 1O09 08:12 Newcastle to Poole service on 16 October 1986. Unlike a lot of the ETS fitted Class 47s, this loco did not undergo various renumberings throughout its life, going straight from D1649 to 47535 with the advent of TOPS in 1974. Initially the number 47065 was allocated, but the fitting of ETS prevented this. The loco was named University of Leicester in 1982 and renamed Saint Aidan in 1995.

With the remains of the previous week's snowfall still visible beside the track, 47535 passes Beeston Castle on 12 March 1987 with the 1D27 11:16 Crewe to Holyhead service. This was the only occasion that I visited this location, which is down a rough track, at the end of the oddly named Crimes Lane.

47535 University of Leicester passes Hargrave on 12 March 1987 with the 1V09 14:08 Holyhead to Cardiff Central service. This loco was originally allocated the number 47065 with the implementation of TOPS in 1974. However, it was converted to a Class 47/4, so went straight from D1649 to 47535.

47535 University of Leicester passes Bathampton on 5 April 1990 with the 1A27 09:03 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington InterCity service. Not only has the loco now gone (being cut up at Old Oak Common in 2004), but part of the field on the right has also gone! The re-routed A4 trunk road now parallels the railway here, swinging round in a curve to pass behind the farm in the background. Large bushes have grown up along the roadside, changing this viewpoint considerably.

47535 University of Leicester approaches Wolvercote Junction on 30 April 1990 with the 1M85 14:32 Tonbridge to Preston vans. A splash of the then new parcels red livery livens up the scene, although the other four vans are in the traditional parcels livery of unwashed grime!

47535 University of Leicester passes Flax Bourton on 21 September 1990 with the 1E06 14:10 Plymouth to Newcastle parcels. The loco had only just been repainted into the parcel sector's then new red and dark grey livery, having previously carried the large logo colour scheme.

47536 passes Denchworth on 5 December 1981 with the 1A01 08:05 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service. This picture is taken from Circourt Bridge, and clearly shows one of the two trackside ponds that were a feature of this location until the late 1980s, when they were both filled in. The ponds were created by digging out material for the approach roads to the bridge, when it was built to replace the former level crossing, during the Edwardian period.

47536 passes Cholsey on 14 April 1984 with the 1O74 10:23 Manchester Piccadilly to Brighton InterCity service. This used to be an excellent location for photography, and although I visited it a few times, I don't know now why I didn't make more use of it. Electrification has of course ruined it forever.

47536 crosses over the trackbed of the former Cheltenham to Stratford-upon-Avon line as it heads up the Cotswold Line with the 16:15 Hereford to Paddington service on 12 August 1984. As can be seen by the fresh ballast, the track had only been removed a few years previously and indeed various bits of railway equipment were still scattered about. Just under the bridge was the site of a junction giving access to the Cotswold Line via a sharply curved chord diverging to the left.

A close up of view of 47536 at Kingham, as it waits to depart with the 1C48 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service on 16 September 1984. The photo is taken from the remains of the old bay platform, which has now been replaced by an extended car park.

The driver of 47536 piles on the power, as he passes Didcot North Junction on 9 December 1986 with the 1S39 08:34 Poole to Glasgow Central service. The footbridge now links a housing estate on the left to an industrial estate on the right, neither of which were there in 1986. At the time the footpath just linked Didcot to the villages of Appleford and Long Wittenham.

47537 Sir Gwynedd / County of Gwynedd approaches Wolvercote Junction on 14 June 1983 with the 1M40 17:05 Poole to Derby service. This was one of the first pictures that I took at what later became one of my favourite photographic locations in the Oxford area, although it hardly ever seemed to be used by anyone else! As can be seen here, it was completely clear of bushes in the early 1980s. Unfortunately this was not to last, and for some time now has been very heavily overgrown.

47537 Sir Gwynedd / County of Gwynedd passes South Moreton on 12 September 1985 with the late running 1E31 14:13 Portsmouth Harbour to York service. A sadly missed photographic location, now lost to route electfrication, and a ridiculously high parapet bridge.

Glimpsed through the gaps in the lineside bushes, 47537 Sir Gwynedd / County of Gwynedd passes Aynho on 3 July 1987 with the 4M79 16:19 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. Not the best quality image, but it is one of the few pictures that I have of a large logo liveried Class 47/4 working freightliner.

The shallow cutting at Baulking, in the days when the tallest thing that grew on the grassy banks was the abundant (on the north side only) gorse. 47537 Sir Gwynedd / County of Gwynedd heads towards the capital on 8 April 1989 with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans.

47537 Sir Gwynedd / County of Gwynedd passes through the remains of Shrivenham station on 27 October 1989 with the 3A03 13:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington parcels. 47537 carried its bilingual nameplates for almost exactly a decade, from November 1982.

47538 stands at Oxford station on 19 May 1979 with the 1V28 08:22 Liverpool Lime Street to Paddington service. This was running exactly on time, something which seemed to be much more common in the 1970s and 1980s, despite what some people say about the 'bad old days' of BR.

47538 passes the disused station at Aynho on Sunday 5 June 1983 with an unidentified southbound working. The time is 11:50, so the only obvious candidate is a very late running 1O74 09:05 Wolverhampton to Brighton. However, this was composed of Mk2 stock, so it seems unlikely. Any information would be gratefully received. Obviously still in use by a coal merchant and several years before it was converted into a house, the station building seems reasonably intact except for a missing chimney (later replaced). There even appears to be the remains of the up platform nameboard surviving on the grassy bank in the immediate foreground. Note the flyover in the background where the Marylebone line joins the Cherwell Valley route.

47538 passes Hinksey Yard on 3 March 1984 with the 1M14 13:07 Paddington to Liverpool Lime Street service, which it would work as far as Birmingham New Street. The loco has clearly worked an important special (Royal?) train during the previous few days, as the silver buffers, white painted wheel rims and bogie pipework do not feature in a picture I have seen of this loco taken a month earlier. What is also interesting about this picture, is how open the view was in the mid 1980s, with an unobstructed view of the delightfully named Spragglesea Mead and Dean's Ham Allotments, Hinksey Lake, and New Hinksey church.

47538 approaches Oxford on 23 August 1985 with the 1O62 06:02 Derby to Brighton service. This loco was one of the original Western Region named locos, receiving the name Python at Old Oak Common in 1966. The nameplates were removed when the loco received its TOPS number in 1973, and although a new set of plates were cast in the 1980s, these were never applied.

Summer Solstice at Chilson. 47539 Rochdale Pioneers runs along the Cotswold Line on 21 June 1987 with the 1B16 09:55 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill service. Midday on the longest day is not the ideal time for photography, but a Class 47s on Mk1s on my local line was always worth recording, even if at the time I was probably hoping for a Class 50!

47539 Rochdale Pioneers passes Didcot North Junction on 21 July 1990 with the 1M88 06:40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. Note the rake of London Underground tube stock stabled in the yard in the background.

47540 arrives at Kingham station on a very dull 27 October 1979. This was at a time when the Cotswold Line's service was very sparse, although most trains were still loco hauled. This is the 1B58 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill service. This view is included, despite the gloomy conditions, as it shows the southern end of Kingham station before it got surrounded by trees and bushes. The former Banbury to Cheltenham line platforms can be seen on the left.

47540 passes a field of oilseed rape at Culham on 12 May 1987, as it heads north with the 1M10 07:03 Paddington to Wolverhampton service. This is the early days of BR's new sector liveries, when often just a single vehicle in a train would be in the new colours, as here.

47540 passes underneath the roadbridge at Compton Beauchamp in the very last of the weak evening light on 19 May 1989, Making a change from the constant procession of HSTs, this is the 1C71 18:29 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads InterCity service. The empty trackbed in the foreground was formerly the up relief line, which ran from Shrivenham to Knighton Crossing.

Although by no means rare, a pair of Class 47s on the Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast trains in the late 1980s was always worth photographing. On 2 June 1989, 47540 & 47538 speed past Waltham St Lawrence with the 08:15 Paddington to Oxford service. As this was the start of the period that saw a multitude of liveried locomotives on these trains (rail blue, large logo, InterCity, NSE, and even ScotRail!), it was a bit of luck to get a matched pair of large logo machines.

47540 heads west past Iver on 22 February 1990 with a short rake of ballast hoppers. Initially I thought this was the 6V96 09:32 Tonbridge West to Meldon Quarry (despite the couple of still loaded wagons), but that passed by half an hour later, hauled by 33102.

Luxury provision for the commuters! Instead of the usual Network SouthEast Mk1s, 47540 has a rake of mainly first class InterCity Mk2s in tow, as it approaches Culham on 22 June 1990 with the 1F54 18:17 Paddington to Oxford service. Also included is a Mk1 catering vehicle. The reason for this unusual stock is presumably because the loco had worked the 1A60 13:10 Plymouth to Paddington train a little earlier in the day.

47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers negotiates the sharply curved line between Retford and Whisker Hill Junction on 17 February 1996 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z45 07:45 Kings Cross to Rossington Colliery 'Friar Tuck' railtour.

47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers passes Kirk Sandall Junction on 17 February 1996 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z45 07:45 Kings Cross to Rossington Colliery 'Friar Tuck' railtour. The train had just arrived from St Catherine's Junction, via the line on the right, and has reversed in Kirk Sandall station, which can be seen in the background. 37718 Hartlepool Pipe Mill is on the rear.

47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers brings up the rear of the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z45 07:45 Kings Cross to Rossington Colliery 'Friar Tuck' railtour at Kirk Sandall on 17 February 1996. 37718 Hartlepool Pipe Mill had been added to the train at St Catherine's Junction, and was now the lead locomotive.

47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers crosses the River Don at Thorpe Marsh on 17 February 1996 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z45 07:45 Kings Cross to Rossington Colliery 'Friar Tuck' railtour. Note the change in gradient as the train approaches the bridge.

47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers approaches Middlesbrough on 22 July 1996 with a rake of freightliner flats for Wilton. The Tees Newport Bridge dominates the background. The bridge was built by Dorman Long (most famous for building the Sydney Harbour Bridge), and was opened in 1934.

A severe shortage of Virgin CrossCountry Class 47/8s on 14 August 1997 resulted in 47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers being borrowed from the DAET railfreight pool. It is seen here approaching Wolvercote Junction with the 1M79 16:47 Reading to Liverpool Lime Street service, which it worked as far as Birmingham New Street. The Dutch civil engineer's livery certainly makes a change from the InterCity livery that was the dominant colour scheme on cross country trains at the time.

47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers heads north through Oxford on 16 August 1997. This view looks very different now, with Cherwell College's long brick built student accommodation building now dominating the scene.

The Queen Mother on the Cotswold Line! One of the joys of photographing trains on the Cotswold Line in the 1980s was not only the predominance of Class 50s, but the fact that all kinds of unusual Class 47s could turn up. I was a bit surprised to see Scottish snowplough fitted 47541 The Queen Mother on the 1C48 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service on 29 May 1983, and it was well worth photographing it as it passed Chilson, despite the awful weather.

47542 arrives at Oxford station on 25 September 1987 with the 1O01 06:45 Wolverhampton to Poole service. This loco sustained considerable damage when it collided with 08527 at Stratford depot in 1989, resulting in it being withdrawn.

47543 leaves Oxford station on 1 December 1983 with the 1O01 06:00 Derby to Poole service. The sidings on both sides of the main line have subsequently been removed, and the scrapyard on the right is now a car park.

The Black-headed Gull makes a rapid exit, as 47543 passes Hinksey Yard on 28 July 1983 with the 1M23 14:40 Poole to Liverpool Lime Street service. The two principal differences in this location now, are the jungle of trees that now occupy the grassy area between the tracks in the background, and the fact that unlike in 1983, the yard is actually intensively used.

47543 approaches Barnt Green station on 4 July 1987 with the 1V36 07:00 Milton Keynes to Penzance 'Holidaymaker Express' service. Much has changed since this view was taken. Although the line the train is traveling on hasn't been electrified, the Redditch branch in the foreground has, with the result that the resultant 'knitting' has completely ruined this view. Note the typical consist for this train at the time - Mk3s for the 'normal' coaches and Mk1s for the catering and brake vehicles.

47543 approaches Yarnton on 10 April 1988 with the 1E63 14:48 Southampton to Newcastle service. The reason for photographing this at what is clearly not a very photogenic location, is that it marks the site of the Buckinghamshire Junction Railway, the so called 'Yarnton Loop' - a former line that connected the Great Western Railway at Yarnton Junction with the LMS Oxford to Bicester line at Oxford Road Junction. This line crossed the Oxford to Banbury line at right angles by means of a bridge, the footings of which can be seen on the right. The line closed in 1965.

A short but very colourful train heads north at Quedgeley on 6 May 1988. 47543 is heading to Gloucester with a rather antiquated looking weedkilling train, which includes a bright red former LSWR 'Ironclad' coach. This was probably the last year that sights like this could be seen, as Hunslet Barclay took over most weedkilling duties the following year, using their fleet of Class 20/9s.

47543 approaches Finstock on 26 March 1989 with the 1B31 13:45 Paddington to Hereford service. By this date there were lots of large logo, InterCity and Network SouthEast liveried Class 47s around, so a BR blue loco on the Cotswold Line was getting to be a bit of a novelty.

Network SouthEast stock well away from its normal area of operation. 47543 passes Duffield in the rain on 2 June 1990 with what is presumably the 1E33 08:14 Tenby to Leeds service. Confirmation anyone? 47543 could easily be recognised from a distance at this time by the large white mark just below the horn grille.

47543 passes Didcot North Junction on 31 July 1992 with the 1E45 16:30 Swindon to Newcastle Royal Mail vans. The train has just traversed the west curve from Foxhall Junction. At the time this curve was still used extensively by MGR coal trains from the Midlands to Didcot Power Station, but from the following year that traffic mostly ceased, with the opening of the Avonmouth bulk handling terminal.

47543 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 12 July 1995 with the 1C53 16:02 Paddington to Plymouth Royal Mail vans. In the 1990s this location was almost completely free of lineside vegetation, and the view was clear all the way to Compton Beauchamp bridge in the distance. It isn't like that now!

47565 Responsive failed to live up to its name on 21 August 1995, and failed whilst working the 1C53 16:02 Paddington to Plymouth Royal Mail vans. It was rescued by 47543, and the duo are pictured passing the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, running nearly 90 minutes late. This late running was a definite advantage, as the lighting angle was much better.

47543 runs slowly along the down relief line at Pilning on 2 October 1996, prior to working through the Severn Tunnel with the 5M24 14:20 Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff TPO empty stock. 47543 had less than two years left in traffic at this time, and was cut up at Booth Roe, Rotherham in April 1998.

47544 approaches Dalwhinnie on 14 July 1983 with the 08:30 Inverness to Edinburgh service. The road sign in the background is one of the sections of General Wade's Military Road that is still in use as a public highway. The battered remains of the snow fence next to the railway is probably not going to be very effective!

In the 1980s there were numerous special trains run in connection with the Cheltenham Gold Cup Festival, with several loco hauled specials converging on the town on the final Gold Cup Day. On 17 March 1988, 47544 has deposited its train of racegoers at the station, and is pictured accelerating away with the ECS, heading for Cardiff.

A strange place to leave a Class 47! 47545 is pictured dumped at the far end of Oxford South Yard, adjacent to Osney Lane, on 6 October 1979. Hemmed in by a rake of MDO wagons, which presumably were there in connection with the adjacent scrapyard, it clearly hasn't moved for a while, but quite why it was there is unclear. I never saw any other locos in this particular position.

A slightly unusual viewpoint for a railway picture at Oxford. 47545 crosses the Sheepwash Channel as it pulls out of the station with the 1B58 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill service on 5 July 1980. The Sheepwash Channel is a short backwater of the River Thames, connecting the main river (just behind the footbridge on which I was standing), with the Castle Mill Stream, which is itself another backwater of the Thames. The brick wall at the end of Abbey Road was partially demolished in 2017, when a car crashed through it, and ended up in the river!

47545 passes Hinksey Yard on 28 July 1983 with the 1O74 10:23 Manchester Piccadilly to Brighton service. Although this vantage point has been well known since steam days, in the 1980s you hardly ever met another photographer here.

47545 approaches Oxford on 24 April 1984 with the 1O91 13:20 Manchester Piccadilly to Portsmouth Harbour service. This is the view from the Walton Well Road bridge, with the Aristotle Lane footbridge in the background. In the 1980s it was still possible to take a picture from the west side of the line here, without the bushes getting in the way.

47547 passes Fiddington in slightly misty conditions on 1 September 1987 with the 1Z45 13:48 York to Newton Abbot relief. Extra trains like this were quite common until the 1980s, but would be impossible to organise on today's fragmented railway network. Even if the stock was available, which it isn't, being able to arrange something at short notice is not usually possible.

47547 speeds past Heytesbury with the 1O39 10:10 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour service on 14 May 1988. This loco had taken over the service at Bristol Temple Meads, and was a bit of a surprise on the day, as all the other services were being worked by Class 33s on what was their last day on the route. This bridge has since been substantially rebuilt.

47547 arrives at Moreton-in-Marsh on 12 August 1989 with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service. This was an InterCity service that routinely used Network SouthEast stock. This photo is taken from the old end loading dock.

Several special rains were run in connection with the Wales v All Blacks rugby match at Cardiff Arms Park on 4 November 1989, including a number of Newport to Cardiff shuttles. One of these, hauled by 47547 is pictured passing Marshfield.

The unveiling before the unveiling! After having arrived at Oxford station with its new nameplates covered on 3 October 1990, 47547 has its University of Oxford plates uncovered, prior to them being covered up again in preparation for the official unveiling a little later by the Right Honourable Lord Jenkins of Hillhead (Oxford University Chancellor). The loco receives some last minute cleaning before the dignitaries arrive. Behind it is 47587, which received the name Ruskin College Oxford at the same ceremony.

There was a double naming ceremony for two Class 47s at Oxford station on 3 October 1990. The Right Honourable Lord Jenkins of Hillhead (Oxford University Chancellor) named 47547 University of Oxford, while Dr Stephen Yeo (Principal of Ruskin College) named 47587 Ruskin College Oxford. After the naming ceremony the two immaculate ex-works Network SouthEast liveried locos made there way back to Old Oak Common light engine, from whence they had come a few hours earlier. 47547 & 47587 are pictured leaving the station. The area behind the locos had just been cleared from its previous use as a scrapyard, and was soon to become a car park.

47547 University of Oxford & 47521 pass White Waltham on 6 January 1991 with the 1F08 11:30 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This working was not booked for a pair of locos, so presumably this Sunday morning train was used to get a spare loco back to Old Oak Common.

47547 University of Oxford approaches Radley on 15 May 1992 with what would ordinarily have been the 1F52 18:08 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service, but as that had just gone over to Class 165 Turbo operation, and would follow this, I'm at a loss to explain what it is. An ECS working presumably.

A frosty morning at Charlbury on 14 April 1984, as 47549 calls to pick up passengers with the Cotswold Line Promotion Group's Oxford to York 'Cotswold-Ouse Special'. Note the original short platform that existed here in the 1980s - approximately a third of the length of this train! Health & Safety wouldn't like that now!

47549 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 13 October 1985 with the 1M03 11:59 Portsmouth Harbour to Manchester Piccadilly service. The former wartime marshalling yard behind the train had been lifted in the late 1960s, and would become increasingly overgrown until the site was requisitioned for use as an engineering depot for the electrification of the route in 2011.

47549 heads up the Cherwell Valley near Somerton on 22 October 1985 with the 1S39 07:34 Poole to Glasgow and Edinburgh service. 47549's minor claim to fame is that it was one of the three Class 47s that were stranded on Anglesey in 1970, after fire seriously damaged the Britannia Bridge. It was numbered D1724 at the time. The other two locos were D1851 & D1940.

The good old days, before inter-regional trains were downgraded to five car DMUs! 47549 passes Hinksey Yard on 22 October 1985 with the 1O19 08:01 Newcastle to Poole service. Prominent in the foreground is a train of Royal Corps of Transport containers, which had arrived a little earlier from MoD Bicester.

47549 Royal Mail stands at Kingham station on 8 September 1987 with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service. In the foreground is the remains of the old goods loading dock, which later got swallowed up when the car park was extended. On the right is my Vauxhall Cavalier, which provided reasonably reliable transport for seven years during the 1980s.

In the days when Shrewsbury had direct loco-hauled trains from London, 47549 Royal Mail approaches Madeley Junction on 15 August 1988 with the 1J24 10:40 Euston to Shrewsbury InterCity service. The bridge in the background is the then recently opened Telford bypass link road, with the original farm occupation bridge just beyond.

An appropriate job for 47549 Royal Mail on 27 October 1989. It is pictured passing Chaddington Lane, Wootton Bassett, in foggy conditions with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common vans, with a Royal Mail liveried van directly behind the loco.

47551 passes Yarnton in the last of the weak evening sun on 14 June 1988 with the 1M31 17:18 Folkestone Central to Liverpool Lime Street service. Uniquely, this loco has carried the number 47551 on three separate occasions. Firstly it briefly received the incorrect TOPS number 47551 in 1974, before quickly being renumbered 47153, as it wasn't yet ETH fitted. When it was converted the following year it received the number 47551 for the second time. Its number was changed to 47801 when it was fitted with long range fuel tanks, but reverted to 47551 three years later.

47551 passes Wolvercote on 7 September 1988 with the 1M23 15:08 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. The random mix of blue and grey and InterCity liveried coaches is very typical of the period, seemingly much more common than complete uniform rakes.

With the Ashchurch Industrial Estate on the horizon, 47551 passes Claydon (Gloucestershire) on 28 May 1989 with the 1V35 07:30 Wolverhampton to Paignton service. Unfortunately 47551 disgraced itself on the return working (1M32 16:43 Paignton to Wolverhampton) when it failed at Exeter. It had to be rescued by 47326.

47551 arrives at Whimple station on 24 May 1992 with the 1V08 08:15 Basingstoke to Exeter St Davids Network SouthEast service. Note the unusual arrangement with the single line passing the former down platform, even though the entrance to the station is on the other side, therefore requiring all passengers to cross the footbridge. Shortly after this picture was taken the track was moved over to the former up platform, and the footbridge and the down platform with its brick built waiting shelter were demolished. This is the only time I visited Whimple, so despite the poor weather it serves as a record of a different era.

47552 crosses the M5 at Junction 11 (near Churchdown) on 3 January 1987 with the 1V55 09:20 Liverpool Lime Street to Penzance InterCity service. 47552 still survives (as 47802), but I doubt very much whether any of the other vehicles in this pictures are still around!

47552 passes Wolvercote Junction on 29 January 1989 with the 1O10 09:19 Liverpool Lime Street to Southampton InterCity service. Apologies for the poor image quality, but for some inexplicably reason I decided to try using print as well as slide film around this time. While the 6x7 rollfilm ones are just about acceptable, the 35mm ones like this, are not very good. Thankfully I soon reverted to using slide film exclusively for colour work. I haven't got many pictures taken at this particular spot, and will not get any more, as the footpath has since been closed.

47553 passes Hinksey Yard on 28 July 1983 with the 1A61 14:15 Oxford to Paddington service. The wartime marshalling yard was barely used at this time, as can be guessed from the various rusty sidings. Just visible in the background, waiting for 47553 to clear the section, is 50032 Courageous working a southbound Speedlink trip freight.

With the houses of Chilson visible in the background, 47553 approaches Ascott-under-Wychwood on 21 June 1984 with the 1C56 17:05 Paddington to Hereford service. With the exception of the timeless Cotswold landscape, everything in this picture is now history. The sadly missed Rail Blue era of loco hauled trains on the Cotswold Line is long gone, and 47553 has been cut up. On a positive note, the single line of vintage bullhead track has been replaced by double track - a reversal of the 1971 economies on the route.

47553 approaches Standish Junction on Saturday 7 July 1984 with an unidentified northbound working. This train does not match up with anything in the timetable, and although I can find a reference to the locomotive working the 1A33 16:33 Cardiff Central to Paddington train the following day, I have not been able to identify this train. Apart from the Mk2 BFK at the rear, and the Mk1 catering vehicle in the middle of the rake, the train is composed entirely of Mk2 first class air-cons.

47553 passes Abergele in the rain on 2 April 1988 with the 1D33 07:55 Coventry to Holyhead service, which it had taken over at Crewe. This may be in Wales, but it is not the most scenic background - a swage pumping station, and lots of caravans!

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit passes Cholsey on a very cold 31 January 1987 with the 1M07 13:07 Portsmouth Harbour to Manchester Piccadilly service. This loco was originally going to be named The Spirit of the Commonwealth, but apparently that was considered to be too long!

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit nears the site of Yarnton Junction on 18 April 1987 with the diverted 1O07 09:02 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service, which it worked as far as Reading. The train's normal route via the Banbury line was closed for engineering works.

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit rounds the curve at Wolvercote on 28 May 1988 with the 1O04 06:20 Wolverhampton to Poole 'Holidaymaker Express' (a pointless branding that BR adopted for a few years in the 1980s). Unfortunately this viewpoint is no longer possible, due to the footpath crossing being closed, and the inevitable palisade fencing blocking off the view.

An easy load for 47555 The Commonwealth Spirit, as it passes Wolvercote on 4 May 1989 with the 1M58 17:50 Paddington to Wolverhampton service. This is the location of Wolvercote Siding and its associated signal box (or Wolvercot as the GWR called it).

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit passes a fine selection of semaphore signals at Abergele on 30 March 1991, as it heads towards Anglesey with the 1D48 11:35 Euston to Holyhead service, which it had taken over at Crewe. The caravan sites are a prominent feature of this stretch of the North Wales coast, stretching for miles between Rhyl and Llanddulas.

Although working for Railfreight Distribution, 47555 still wears InterCity livery (albeit with the branding painted out) on 20 July 1995, as it passes Kings Sutton with the lightly loaded 4M29 17:20 Didcot to Crewe MoD stores. In a matter of weeks it would lose this tatty colour scheme in favour of the then current RfD livery, and would also receive white wheel rims and buffer edges.

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit brings up the rear of the Pathfinder Tours 1Z45 04:20 York to MoD Pig's Bay 'Pigs Trotter' railtour, as it arrives at Pig's Bay on 28 October 1995. 47307 & 47309 are out of sight at the front of the train. The stop board is next to Blackgate Road, the other side of which are the gates into the army base. The Pig's Bay site (officially MoD Shoeburyness) was established as long as 1849.

As the sun sets on 28 October 1995, 47555 The Commonwealth Spirit runs alongside the Thames Estuary at Chalkwell with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z45 'Pigs Trotter' railtour. The popular footpath runs between the railway and the river all the way from Chalkwell station (which can be seen in the background) to just before Leigh-on-Sea. At this point the tour (which had originated from York) was running as the 14:00 MoD Pig's Bay to Grays, where 47307 & 47309 (just visible on the rear amid the boat masts) would take the train down the Thames Haven branch. Unfortunately the train was running over an hour late, so any chance of a further picture was out of the question.

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit detaches from the 4C13 11:11 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner empties at Claydon Junction, prior to running round the train and heading off down the freight only line towards Oxford on 21 July 1998. A visit by the weedkilling train seems to be needed, but it probably never ventured to this backwater.

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit makes a typically smoky getaway, as it pulls away from the signal protecting the London Road level crossing at Bicester Town on 21 July 1998. It is working the 4C13 11:11 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner empties.

47555 The Commonwealth Spirit arrives at Westerleigh on 27 July 1998 with the 4B05 17:47 Bath Oldfield Park to Westerleigh portion of the Avon Binliner. It would very quickly run round its train, and reverse the containers into the waste terminal.

Having just arrived with the 4B05 17:47 Bath Oldfield Park to Westerleigh portion of the Avon Binliner, the driver of 47555 The Commonwealth Spirit reverses the train into the unloading facility at Westerleigh on 27 July 1998. This was 47555's final year in traffic, being withdrawn in early 1999, and cut up at the infamous Wigan disposal centre later in that year.

Leggett Freightways trailers fill the old station yard at Shrivenham on 19 December 1981, while the remnants of the previous week's heavy snowfall can still be seen next to the old platforms. 47556 passes by with the 4A21 11:55 Bristol Temple Meads to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. Over three decades of lineside growth have done their best to camouflage the old platforms since this picture was taken, but pending the route's electrification, they are still there.

47556 passes Milton on 16 November 1988 with the 4V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. It is a matter of opinion whether the fog obscuring Didcot Power Station in the background improves the picture or not!

47556 arrives at Moreton-in-Marsh under leaden skies on 11 June 1989 with the 1B40 16:10 Hereford to Paddington service. By this time Class 50s did not have any booked workings on the Cotswold Line, leaving 47s to work the few remaining loco hauled services.

During the summer of 1989, the Cotswold Line benefited from diverted cross country trains on a Sunday, considerably increasing the line's normal weekend service. The first diversion of the day, the 1M48 08:10 Paddington to Manchester Piccadilly, passes Chilson on 18 June 1989, hauled by 47556.

47556 passes through Kings Sutton station on 17 March 1990 with the 1O11 07:45 Newcastle to Poole service. Along with virtually everywhere else, this location was much more open in the 1990s, and with hindsight I should have made more use of this before the lineside trees got too big!

47556 passes Oxford North Junction on 7 April 1990 with the 1O04 06:42 Wolverhampton to Poole service. On the left work has just started to clear vegetation from the course of the old down relief line. 25 years later, after the vegetation had grown back again, it was cleared again, and the former wartime relief line reinstated. Why it was cleared in 1990 is a mystery!

The 1F12 08:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service was often used to test locomotives after repairs at Old Oak Common. Such was the case on 4 September 1987, when 47557 & 50029 Renown worked the train. The duo are pictured arriving at Oxford. 47557 immediately headed back to London, light engine.

After piloting 50029 Renown on the 1F12 08:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service on 4 September 1987, 47557 immediately headed back to Old Oak Common, light engine. It is pictured here passing the backs of the houses on Mill Street, as it leaves the station. 1F12 was often used at the time to test locomotives after repairs at Old Oak Common.

47557 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 22 October 1988 with the 1A32 09:10 Swansea to Paddington service. There often seemed to be a stray Network SouthEast coach in this train, which was surprising as it originated from South Wales!

Recently named 47558 Mayflower approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 October 1982 with the 3A12 08:15 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans, on this occasion running 20 minutes early. It looks like the loco is planning on going on holiday, as there is a GB sticker in the former headcode box!

47558 Mayflower passes Rangeworthy on 4 September 1986 with the 1S61 07:35 Cardiff Central to Glasgow Central service. This was at a time when BR were busy littering the timetable with named trains in a bid to add prestige to certain services. Consequently this one is called 'The Principality'. As none of them carried headboards, the whole effect was probably wasted on the general public, who most likely weren't in the least interested anyway!

47558 Mayflower passes Hinksey Yard on the approach to Oxford with the 1M07 13:02 Portsmouth Harbour to Manchester Piccadilly service on 14 March 1987. 47558 originally entered service as D1599 in June 1964. It became 47027 with the advent of TOPS and then 47558 when ETH fitted in December 1980. Its final renumbering came in July 1995 when it became 47722.

The early morning mist has just cleared, revealing Walcot Farm in the background, as 47558 Mayflower arrives at Charlbury on 10 August 1987 with the 1A51 06:04 Hereford to Paddington service. Note the BG full brake at the head of the train, that by this time was becoming more common than the previously used GUV van. 47558 received the name Mayflower in 1982, to commemorate the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed to America in 1620.

47558 Mayflower passes Compton Beauchamp on 16 May 1988 with the 1A91 18:07 Paddington to Swindon service. The loco returned light engine 25 minutes later. A booked loco hauled working to Swindon amid a procession of HSTs heading further west was certainly unusual, and I don't know why I didn't photograph it more often.

47558 Mayflower passes Bromsgrove on 23 September 1989 with what is clearly a railtour, but which one which I have been unable to identity. There is no mention on the normally comprehensive Six Bells Junction website, but the 'Victoria Travel Manchester' headboard suggests a point of origin, if not a destination. Any help with the identification would be greatly appreciated. On the left the Lickey bankers 37274 & 37013 are stabled, pending their next job of pushing something up the bank.

Having just come off the line from Church Fenton, 47558 Mayflower passes through Micklefield station on 12 May 1990 with the 1M15 08:25 Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street service. Unfortunately I have got very few pictures of these Trans-Pennine workings, and none at all from the Class 45 days. Since this picture was taken, the A1(M) road bridge in the background has been repositioned slightly further back, when the road was realigned.

47559 passes Wolvercote Junction on 27 March 1982 with the 1V18 08:25 Birmingham New Street to Paddington service. This loco was named Sir Joshua Reynolds a month after this picture was taken, and this is the only time I saw it prior to it being named. Unfortunately this location is nothing like as open as this now. The Cotswold Line can be seen curving away into the distance, and although it is mostly being obscured by the mist, Yarnton church can just be seen behind the trees.

47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds climbs through the Golden Valley near Chalford on 16 April 1983 with the 1A67 07:32 Cheltenham to Paddington service. This train had only a few more weeks of booked locomotive haulage, before being replaced with a HST diagram for the summer 1983 timetable. Note the telegraphic poles on the left, which were set to disappear from this route during the next few years. Hardly surprising, as the semaphore signals were replaced years before.

47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds passes Hinksey Yard on 14 June 1983 with the 4M63 03:30 Millbrook to Lawley Street freightliner. There are still a few of the early Freightliner branded boxes on this train, a sight that was rapidly disappearing by the early 1980s. Although of course there was much more freight on the railways in 1983 compared to today, the volume of freightliner traffic was much lower, with coal and stone block loads being the dominant traffic through Oxford, along with some wagonload traffic. 56102 can just be seen in the background, having just arrived with a rake of HAA hoppers, which it would shortly detach from, before heading north, light engine.

'The European' passes through Chinley on 20 October 1983, hauled by 47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds. This named train was the only through train of the day between the Essex Coast and Scotland, and in 1983 ran as the 1S85 07:17 Harwich Parkeston Quay to Glasgow Central.

47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds passes Oxford North Junction on 12 May 1984 with the 1A75 07:05 Hereford to Paddington service. Even without reference to the timetable, it is easy to tell that this is a Cotswold Line train, by the inclusion of a GUV at the front of the train. The single track line to Bicester and Bletchley is in the foreground.

47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds passes Hinksey Yard on 12 May 1984 with the 1A45 13:15 Oxford to Paddington service. The loco had been named two years earlier, on 25 April 1982, at Plymouth Laira Open Day, by Andy Richards, the winner of a depot organised competition.

With a wave to the children on the footbridge from both the driver and the secondman, 47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds speeds past the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham on 28 September 1985 with the 1A15 09:25 Cardiff Central to Paddington service. I have deliberately used a wider view here, not only to show the location of the former crossing in the foreground, but to minimise the effect of the early morning fog, which thankfully was just starting to disperse. Apologies for the poor quality of this image, but at the time 35mm Fujichrome film was no match for Kodachrome 64, even the ISO 50 version, as used here.

Is this an upgrade, or not? 47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds passes Compton Beauchamp on 27 June 1986 with the 1C64 17:25 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service, deputising for an unavailable HST. This substitution would result in a slower journey (it was already running 20 minutes late), but on the plus side, the entire train is made up of first class air-con stock, so even second class passengers would have a first class experience.

47559 Sir Joshua Reynolds emerges from underneath the roadbridge, as it pulls away from Charlbury station on 22 July 1986 with the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service. The loco is displaying the typical two tone brown and blue livery so common at the time. A few more visits to the washing plant might have helped!

Strange goings on at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 25 November 1993. Not only is this short mail van train not in the working timetable, but 47559 is also travelling wrong line. The down relief line is in place, but the up relief line has only been laid in the far distance, with the ballast recently spread to accept the new track in the foreground.

47560 Tamar passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 1 December 1983 with the 3A12 08:55 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. The 6M23 10:12 Fawley to Longport LPG tanks can just be seen disappearing into the distance.

47560 Tamar passes Songar Grange (between Claverdon and Bearley) on 6 December 1986 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z40 08:12 Letchworth to Stratford-upon-Avon 'Pullman Christmas Party' railtour. 47560 worked the train from West Ruislip, where it took over from 47415.

With a little snow still lying by the side of the track, 47560 Tamar passes Cholsey on 31 January 1987 with the 3A21 11:40 Malago Vale to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. In the 1980s, with the general stagnation of the railways, nobody would have predicted that this line would finally get electrified!

47560 Tamar approaches Daylesford, on the Cotswold Line with the 1B40 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service on 29 March 1987. Very nearly a complete corporate blue rake, save for the one InterCity coach near the rear of the train. Note also the ex-works BG at the head of the formation, complete with red painted springs. Entering traffic in August 1964 as D1610, this loco was always a Western Region machine, prior to its privatised life with DRS. It was renumbered 47031 in 1974 and then 47560 upon ETH conversion in 1980. The name Tamar was applied at Laira in 1982 and was retained even after renumbering to 47832 in 1989. Unfortunately this pleasant rural location has now been largely obscured by lineside vegetation.

80¼ miles from Paddington. 47560 Tamar approaches Ascott-under-Wychwood on 28 April 1987 with the 1B56 18:07 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express'. Unfortunately this was running 15 minutes late, and during that time the sun had all but disappeared into high cloud. This section of the Cotswold line was singled in 1971, and redoubled 40 years later.

47562 passes Killiecrankie on 15 July 1983 with the 1G57 08:30 Inverness to Edinburgh service. The loco is just crossing the bridge over the Allt Girnaig, a small river that rises in the mountains to the east, and joins the River Garry just a few yards off to the left of this picture.

47563 leaves Oxford station on 2 July 1985 with the 1F13 06:53 service to Paddington. This would call at all the local stations between Oxford and Didcot, providing a full train of Mk1 coaches to the stations that would normally only be served by the local Pressed Steel Class 117 DMUs.

47564 passes Walton Well Road, Oxford, on 23 August 1985 with the 1O15 09:00 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service. 37120 can just be seen in the background, heading north light engine, underneath the Aristotle Lane footbridge.

47564 Colossus passes Uffington on 14 March 1989 with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common vans. Note the oil soaked ballast on the loop line, where locos have stood at the signal. It's a good job cars don't leak oil in the way that classic British Rail diesels seemed to!

47564 Colossus passes through Radley station on 14 March 1991 with the 4S59 12:32 Southampton to Coatbridge freightliner. The way that just the area around the number has been cleaned harks back to the last days of steam, when locos were so filthy that identification became difficult.

With a Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 sequence of coaches directly behind the locomotive, 47564 approaches Rhyl on 11 August 1991 with the 1A18 09:36 Holyhead to Euston service, which it will take as far as Crewe. Considering that this is a seaside resort in August, there seems to be a remarkable lack of traffic on the roads!

A dramatic low level shot of 47565, as it leaves Kingham station on 6 July 1984 with the 1B46 17:05 Paddington to Hereford service. Note the vintage bullhead track. Three years after being allocated away from Stratford, the loco still retains that depot's distinctive grey roof, although as can be seen from the rusty patch below the cab window, it has recently lost its original works plate.

47565 passes Ascott-under-Wychwood's last remaining semaphore signal on 10 November 1985, as it heads up the Cotswold Line with the diverted 1S61 07:34 Poole to Glasgow Central service. The Banbury line was closed for engineering work, but I hadn't checked up on this beforehand. It was the clatter of the signal arm dropping to clear that gave me enough warning to get in the right position to photograph this.

47565 approaches Culham on 12 May 1987 with the 1F12 08:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. Didcot Power Station was not yet half way through its 43 year life when this picture was taken, and at the time it seemed like it would be a local landmark for ever!

47565 passes through Kemble station on the slightly misty morning of 21 May 1988 with the 3A42 07:15 Gloucester to Swindon parcels. The distinctive water tower formerly supplied the Great Western Railway locomotive works at Swindon.

47565 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 18 August 1993 with the 1E45 16:30 Swindon to Newcastle Royal Mail vans. There was plenty of parcels traffic in those days, as just half an hour later, the much better loaded 1S04 14:25 Tonbridge to Edinburgh vans passed by hauled by 47521.

47566 passes South Moreton on 6 August 1988 with the late running 1F55 13:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This picture clearly shows the impracticality of a light grey roof on a diesel loco!

Six vans (three BGs and three GUVs), two each in blue and grey, Royal Mail red, and plain blue livery, form the 1S04 14:20 Tonbridge to Edinburgh mail, pictured here passing Culham on 30 September 1991, behind 47566.

47567 Red Star approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 25 April 1986 with the 3A12 08:30 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. Note the variation in colour of the vans, obviously depending on how many months (or years!) it was since their last wash!

Highly appropriate traction for the 3A03 13:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington parcels on 31 July 1986. 47567 Red Star (complete, not only with Red Star plaque above the nameplate, but also a sticker on the front end) passes Foxhall Junction, Didcot on 31 July 1986. The loco had been named the previous year, at Plymouth.

47568 Royal Engineers Postal and Courier Services passes South Moreton on 18 August 1991 with what is presumably the very late running 1M39 12:03 Paddington to Manchester Piccadilly service. Confirmation anyone?

47569 passes Cossington on 23 October 1989 with a southbound parcels. Sileby church can be seen in the background, and the 14:19 Coventry to Nottingham Class 150 DMU can also be seen disappearing into the distance.

Having been named just 11 days previously, 47569 The Gloucestershire Regiment is still in ex works condition as it approaches Wolvercote Junction with the 1M85 14:32 Tonbridge to Preston parcels on 11 July 1990. Unfortunately this location is now virtually useless for photography, as the vegetation growth has resulted in a very head on shot, to say nothing of the shadows that would now ruin what used to be an excellent evening location. Perhaps it is lucky then that now there is very little worth photographing here on a summer evening! 

A Gloucestershire named loco in Gloucestershire. 47569 The Gloucestershire Regiment passes Standish Junction on 5 July 1991 with the 1V62 16:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Plymouth service. The loco's nameplates were removed in 1993, and the regiment itself was disbanded the following year.

47569 The Gloucestershire Regiment passes Didcot North Junction on 10 September 1991 with the 1S04 14:20 Tonbridge to Edinburgh Royal Mail vans. The following year an industrial estate was constructed in the field on the right, which together with uncontrolled lineside growth, eventually prevented a wide view like this.

47570 approaches Banbury on 11 July 1987 with the 1O09 16:10 Liverpool Lime Street to Poole service. The loco is still sporting its Stratford grey roof and 'Cockney Sparrow' logo, although by this date it was allocated to Eastfield (Glasgow).

47572 Ely Cathedral passes the aviation fuel depot at Flax Bourton on 5 April 1990 with the 1E06 14:10 Plymouth to Newcastle parcels. Although the track was still in place to the depot in the 1990s, I unfortunately never did get a picture of a train in the sidings. The track was removed many years ago.

47572 Ely Cathedral passes South Marston on 25 July 1995 with the 1C53 16:02 Paddington to Plymouth Royal Mail vans. Many years later, when the line was electrified, a footbridge was installed in background of this view, between the two trains.

47573 The London Standard passes Wolvercote on 28 May 1988 with the 1O05 06:08 Sheffield to Poole 'Holidaymaker Express'. A little surprising to have a Network SouthEast liveried machine on this train, but then it was often a good bet for unusual traction. This view looking across the buttercup filled Port Meadow towards the houses in Godstow Road is no longer possible, as the footpath crossing from which it was taken has since been closed.

47573 The London Standard passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 18 March 1989 with the 1A32 09:10 Swansea to Paddington service. A very dull day, but worth recording, as it's the only time that I saw a Network SouthEast liveried loco on this train.

47573 The London Standard runs along the up relief line at Waltham St Lawrence on 6 June 1989 with the 1F31 08:13 Didcot to Paddington Network SouthEast service. With the clouds building up rapidly, I was lucky to get this one in the sun. If there were any photographers on the bridge at Ruscombe, which can just be seen in the background, they were not so lucky!

With Langley oil depot prominent in the background, 47573 The London Standard passes Iver on 22 February 1990 with the 1F29 08:32 Reading to Paddington Network SouthEast service. The bridge from which this picture was taken has now been demolished.

A panned shot of 47573 The London Standard, as it speeds past South Stoke on 10 July 1990 with the 1F60 18:37 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. This loco spent a couple of brief periods as an Old Oak Common loco. Firstly during during 1988, and then again between April 1989 and October 1990.

47573 The London Standard speeds past Chilson on the Cotswold Line with an additional Hereford to Paddington Network SouthEast service on 15 July 1990, on a Sunday when the line was being used to capacity by inter regional services diverted off the Banbury to Oxford line. Obviously in situations such as this the 14 mile single track section that the train is pictured on was a severe handicap. This location is still a reasonably good photographic spot, but in 2007 the amount of vegetation has increased somewhat! 47573 was the first of its class to be painted into the Network SouthEast colour scheme, which seemed revolutionary at the time. Subsequent liveries have made this seem quite restrained!

A familiar photographic location for Oxford railway photographers in steam days, and even into the 1990s, was the low angle viewpoint from the cemetery next to Osney Lane. 47573 The London Standard is pictured passing underneath the Osney Lane footbridge on 18 July 1990, as it starts out on its journey with the 1F83 18:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. The station can just be seen in the background. This view is no longer possible.

47573 The London Standard passes Kings Sutton on 26 July 1990 with the 1F51 17:37 Paddington to Banbury (Via High Wycombe) Network SouthEast service. The light blue NSE liveried loco, and mostly dark blue stock was exactly the opposite combination to the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury (via Oxford) service, which had passed by 15 minutes earlier.

47573 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 25 July 1993 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z41 08:10 Taunton to Worcester Shrub Hill 'Cotswold Venturer' railtour. The train would return an hour later hauled by BR 7MT 4-6-2 70000 Britannia. The new down relief line in the foreground was not yet in use at this time.

47574 Benjamin Gimbert G.C. arrives at Swindon on 15 July 1989 with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common newspaper empties. This was booked to stop at Swindon for 20 minutes, although it may have been even longer on this occasion, as it was running early.

47574 Benjamin Gimbert G.C. approaches Wolvercote Junction on 11 June 1992 with the 1S04 14:20 Tonbridge to Edinburgh parcels. I could easily have got an earlier picture of this (assuming I could have left work early!), as it was booked to lay over in Hinksey Yard between 17:27 and 17:35, and Oxford Carriage Sidings between 17:47 and 19:05.

47574 Benjamin Gimbert G.C. has 86230 The Duke of Wellington in tow, as it passes Postwick on 29 August 1992 with the 1P52 08:55 Liverpool Street to Great Yarmouth service. The tower of Postwick church can just be seen in the distance.

47574 Benjamin Gimbert G.C. leaves Great Yarmouth on 29 August 1992 with the 1P31 14:10 service to Liverpool Street. The modern building on the right occupies the site of the once extensive goods yard and engine shed.

47574 Benjamin Gimbert G.C. passes Compton Beauchamp on 6 July 1993 with the 1B95 16:02 Paddington to Swansea Royal Mail vans. This used to be an excellent spot for late evening photography in the summer. Latterly lineside bushes started to cause shadows, and then of course the location was ruined by the electfrication of the line.

47575 arrives at Evesham station on 20 March 1982 with the 1A09 09:06 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service. This was just before most of the loco-hauled trains were replaced by DMUs, marking a low point in the Cotswold Line's fortunes.

47575 arrives at Moreton-in-Marsh station on 9 April 1983 with the 1A49 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. The yard in the background, which at the time housed a company running regional markets, was the site of the original station on the Stratford and Moreton Tramway.

47575 has just passed through Cholsey station on 14 April 1984 with the 09:20 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service, while Class 117 DMU L402 (51335, 59487, & 51377) pulls out of the station with the 12:35 Oxford to Paddington 'all stations' service. It should not have been possible to get both these trains in the same picture, as the 47 should by this time have been running round it's train at Reading prior to departing south for Basingstoke.

47575 crosses the Castle Mill Stream, as it heads north from Oxford station on 24 April 1984 with the 1C56 17:07 Paddington to Hereford service. This picture is taken from a bridge that leads from Walton Well Road (some houses of which can be seen in the background), to the Cripley Meadow Allotments.

47575 passes Oxford North Junction on 12 February 1985 with the late running 1A75 07:05 Hereford to Paddington service. The loco is just passing the footpath crossing that leads from Aristotle Lane to the Trap Grounds allotments (on the left of the picture). Network Rail have been trying to close this for years, in line with their policy of closing as many footpath crossings as possible.

47575 City of Hereford passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 8 November 1986 with the 3A12 06:50 Milford Haven to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. The loco had been named the previous year in a ceremony at Hereford station, performed by the city's mayor.

47575 City of Hereford catches the last of the winter afternoon's light, as it passes Shrivenham on 10 December 1986 with the 6V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. The shadow in the foreground is caused by the concrete footbridge that replaced the level crossing on the Shrivenham to Ashbury road.

47575 City of Hereford passes Ashchurch on 6 May 1989 with the 5Z81 ECS to Cheltenham, presumably from Birmingham. This was prior to working the 1Z81 11:02 Cheltenham Spa to Cardiff Central rugby special. This was in connection with the 1989 Schweppes Cup Final, featuring Llanelli v Neath at Cardiff Arms Park.

Class 47s featured a number of one off and hybrid liveries in the late 1980s and 1990s. This view of 47575 City of Hereford passing Alstone (Cheltenham) on 4 August 1990 shows one of them, the Rail Blue colour scheme with the addition of full yellow ends. It is working the late running 07:03 York to Penzance 'InterCity Holidaymaker' service.

47575 City of Hereford passes through Gleneagles station on 28 April 1998 with the 6D46 13:30 Inverness to Mossend Enterprise service, conveying four OTA wagons loaded with timber, and two VGA vans. The rather dilapidated station buildings have been smartened up considerably since this picture was taken.

47575 City of Hereford approaches Taplow on 26 January 2000 with the 8X05 09:20 Didcot to West Ruislip London Underground Northern Line tube stock. Built by GEC Alsthom at Washwood Heath, this set of 1995 stock would have made its way down to Didcot from the West Midlands the previous day. This was one of the final units to be delivered.

47575 City of Hereford leaves Ystrad Mynach on 18 March 2000 with the 2D12 14:16 Bargoed to Cardiff Central service. There was plenty of classic traction in use on the Rhymney Valley line on this day, with various Class 47s, in addition to the usual Class 37s.

47575 City of Hereford pushes the 2D11 15:06 Cardiff Central to Rhymney service away from Aber station on 18 March 2000, after the lead loco, 47781 Isle of Iona had failed. The train was terminated at Ystrad Mynach.

The 1G18 14:35 Liverpool Street to King's Lynn Network SouthEast service rounds the curve at Queen Adelaide on 16 April 1988, appropriately hauled by 47576 King's Lynn. Despite the fact that this is taken on a really dull afternoon, I quite like this picture, showing as it does a view that has now completely changed. The tall semaphore signal has long gone, and so has the view of Ely Cathedral on the right, now blocked by the new workshops of the Queen Adelaide Garage. The elderly couple in their garden full of daffodils and aubrieta completes the scene.

King's Lynn speeding through Oxford! A panned shot of 47576 King's Lynn as it heads north towards Oxford station on 26 May 1990. Photo taken from the well known vantage point of the Osney Lane footbridge, just south of the station.

47576 King's Lynn on a full set of matching Network SouthEast Mk1 coaches makes a fine sight as it passes Oxford North Junction on 20 July 1990 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury. This loco had recently been transferred to Old Oak Common from Stratford, where of course its King's Lynn name was slightly more appropriate. Not only have loco hauled commuter trains on the Oxford to Banbury route long since been replaced by units, but this location is also now history, as fast growing willow trees now cover the site.

47576 King's Lynn weaves across onto the down platform line at Oxford with the 18:37 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service on 24 July 1990. 155326 waits in the siding on the right (known locally as the West Midland siding) prior to forming the 20:35 train to Worcester Foregate Street. I would think this view would be difficult today, as high security fencing now hinders access to this point, which is next to the emergency level crossing near to the underbridge on Botley Road.

47576 King's Lynn leaves Oxford station on 28 June 1991 with the 1F27 07:26 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This was one of those occasions when it paid to look both ways, as approaching from the other direction was 37131 on the late running 6M05 02:00 Radyr to Washwood Heath Network Coal working.

47576 King's Lynn passes South Moreton on 15 August 1991 with the 1B95 16:02 Paddington to Swansea parcels. The inappropriate livery is explained by the fact that the loco had only just been transferred from Network SouthEast's NWRA pool to the RXLC parcels pool.

In the late 1980s, 47577 carried this unusual version of 'large logo' livery. The standard Rail Blue livery has been modified by adding a full body height double arrow and medium size numbers. An Eastfield 'Westie' completes the strange hybrid colour scheme. It seems to have spooked the dog in the field on the left, as it passes Ashchurch on 6 May 1989 with the 1S85 07:07 Plymouth to Glasgow Central, which it worked as far as Birmingham New Street.

47579 James Nightall GC approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 8 May 1987 with the 3A03 13:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington parcels. Very unphotogenic backlighting, but this is the only photo I have of 47579 in this unusual livery. Only four Class 47s ever featured this variation of the large logo livery. Even without the Cockney Sparrow logo, there is no mistaking that this is a Stratford allocated loco!

47579 James Nightall GC passes Kings Sutton on 26 July 1990 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury (via Oxford) Network SouthEast service. The loco is in the later NSE livery, with the darker shade of blue, while the coaching stock is mostly still painted in the earlier lighter shade of blue. Just 15 minutes later, the reverse happened, when 47573 The London Standard, which was still in the original NSE livery appeared, hauling a predominately dark blue set of stock with the 1F51 17:37 Paddington to Banbury (via High Wycombe) service.

47579 James Nightall GC passes Hinksey Yard on 3 October 1990 with the 1F79 17:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. 47579 only spent just over a year as a NWRA allocated loco, working commuter trains out of Paddington.

47579 James Nightall GC passes Hinksey Yard on 5 July 1991 with the 1F39 09:20 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This loco was one of a number of Class 47s drafted into Old Oak Common's NWRA fleet during the previous year, to replace the Class 50s on these Thames Valley services.

Cholsey station was mostly served by DMUs, but in the 1980s & 1990s a few loco hauled trains also stopped there. 47579 James Nightall GC calls at the station on 16 August 1991 with the 1F52 18:08 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service.

A frosty scene at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 11 December 1991, as 47579 James Nightall GC runs along the down main line with the 1F16 11:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. A few yards further on it would start weaving across to access the relief line on the approach to Didcot Parkway station.

47579 James Nightall GC leaves Salisbury on 19 March 1992 with the 1O34 08:10 Exeter St Davids to Waterloo Network SouthEast service. I only went to this location once, specifically to photograph 50033 Glorious, which was due a short while later from the opposite direction.

47579 James Nightall GC catches a brief patch of sunshine, as it passes Coker Wood (between Crewkerne and Yeovil) with the 1O35 10:25 Exeter St Davids to Waterloo Network SouthEast service on 25 July 1992. Photo taken from halfway up a tree!

A train in trouble! 47579 James Nightall GC approaches Wolvercote Junction at walking speed on 17 August 1993, hauling withdrawn Class 413 4-CAP EMUs 3311, 3302 & 3322 from Eastleigh to MC Metals at St Rollox. An hour earlier the train had come to a stand just beyond the bridge in the background. It stayed there, holding up several trains, until a fitter arrived in a van. After doing something to one of the units, he got back in his van, and was going to race it to Tackley, saying that he didn't think it would get to Banbury, let alone Glasgow! He was almost right, as the train was terminated at Banbury. It was very fortunate that it was travelling at such an unbelievably slow speed, as the picture had to be taken at 1/250 sec with the lens wide open, as the light had totally collapsed during the long wait for it to move!

47579 James Nightall GC brings up the rear of the 1D04 10:35 Wymondham Abbey to Dereham service at Crownthorpe on 5 April 2014, during the Mid Norfolk Railway's Diesel Gala. 47596 Aldeburgh Festival is the lead locomotive. Note the approaching bank of cloud in the background, which would soon put and end to the glorious spring sunshine.

47579 James Nightall GC leads the 1W07 11:30 Dereham to Wymondham Abbey service past Crownthorpe on 5 April 2014, during the Mid Norfolk Railway's Diesel Gala, with 73210 Selhurst bringing up the rear. Judging by the signpost, it seems that there are vandals even in rural Norfolk!

47580 County of Essex heads north past Horfield on 13 March 1989 with Class 127 DPU 915 (55975 & 55985) in tow. Although clearly formerly a Stratford loco, with appropriate name and 'Cockney Sparrow' depot logo, 47580 had in fact just been transferred to Bristol Bath Road, and so is on its home patch here. The DPU had been converted from a four car Class 127 DMU in 1985, but did not have a long life in its new role, being withdrawn just two months after this picture was taken.

Two red, two blue and grey, and two blue vans, arranged in a mirror image formation, head north past Goring on 28 August 1991 behind 47580 County of Essex. The train is the 1S04 14:20 Tonbridge to Edinburgh parcels.

47580 County of Essex is a very long way from its namesake county, as it heads south past Winwick on 25 March 1993 with just three vans. One each in Res red, corporate blue and grey, and Royal Mail red liveries.

The County of Essex in the County of Oxford (or Berkshire if you are really old)! With the 3000 year old Uffington White Horse prominent on the hill in the background, 47580 County of Essex runs light engine as 0Z25 Bristol to Paddington, tailing 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe on the 'Bristolian' railtour on 17 April 2010. Obviously following in case of a problem with the steam loco, in the event it was all it could do to keep up with it! After taking the picture of the steam special it was a case of a quick sprint across the old quarry to find a spot with the iconic white horse in the background, then with 1/2000 sec set on the camera, just hope I pressed the shutter at exactly the right moment as the loco flashed across the viewfinder. Luckily I seem to have got it right!

47580 County of Essex approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 19 August 2010 with the Statesman Rail 1Z62 06:20 Shrewsbury to Weymouth 'Dorset Coast Statesman' railtour. Definitely a highly colourful combination, with two different liveried locomotives (47826 can just be seen on the rear), and no less than five different liveries in the nine coach train! I suppose all this bright paintwork goes some way to make up for the fact that the sun wasn't quite out fully. Although bright and only half a stop off the full sun setting, just moments after the train passed it was full sun, as indeed it was most of the time as I was driving home! Anyhow, the result doesn't look too bad, and the weather really went downhill in the afternoon.

47580 County of Essex passes Steeple Aston on 27 November 2010 with the Retro Railtours 1Z32 06:32 Leeds to Oxford 'Retro Oxford Christmas Extravaganza' railtour. I have been been waiting to use this location for some time. The ideal conditions would be no sun (too much shade) and preferably autumn. Definitely the right combination here, as not only is there some good autumn colour left on the trees, but there was no chance at all of any sunshine, in fact the lighting was atrocious! Despite the awful conditions, the 47 makes a fine picture with its full rake of blue and grey stock. It sounded impressive as well, bringing back memories of the good old days.

Looking superb in its Union Flag blue livery, the Stratford 47 Group's 47580 County of Essex passes underneath the B1222 road bridge at Sherburn-in-Elmet on 22 July 2014 with the West Coast Railways 1T38 10:15 York to Scarborough 'Scarborough Spa Express' railtour. The 47 was deputising for the normal steam locomotive. Due to recent hot weather, a steam ban had been imposed to prevent the risk of lineside fires.

Union Flag liveried 47580 County of Essex brings up the rear of the Steam Dreams 1Z45 08:31 Paddington to Pwllheli 'Cambrian Coast Express' railtour, as the train passes underneath the M40 motorway, just north of Banbury, on 5 June 2016. Doing all the work at the front was LMS Jubilee Class 4-6-0 45699 Galatea.

47580 County of Essex brings up the rear of the Steam Dreams 1Z72 09:40 Holyhead to Paddington 'Cambrian Coast Express' railtour at Compton Beauchamp on 8 June 2016. LNER A3 4-6-2 60103 Flying Scotsman can be seen at the head of the train. The sun had just disappeared into some cloud coming in from the west, although admittedly it had only been very weak hazy sun. Just how close it was can be seen by the fact that Flying Scotsman is just about to enter the sunny patch, a little further up the line!

47580 County of Essex brings up the rear of the Steam Dreams 1Z46 08:42 Victoria to Minehead 'Cathedrals Express' railtour at Crofton on 23 August 2016. William Stanier designed LMS Princess Royal Class 4-6-2 6201 Princess Elizabeth was at the head of the train.

47580 County of Essex & BR 7MT 4-6-2 70013 Oliver Cromwell approach Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 24 November 2017 with the 5Z60 11:20 Southall to Bristol Kingsland Road West Coast Rail ECS. This was in preparation for the following day's Bristol to Chester 'Christmas Cheshireman' railtour. Unfortunately this was just before the sun appearing from behind a large bank of cloud. My original plan was to go to South Marston, but when I set out it looked like there would be more chance of sun at Denchworth. When I got closer, it was obvious it was going to be under the cloud, so I started to head for South Marston again. Driving along the A420 I didn't seem to be getting any near the edge of the cloud, so again headed for Denchworth. When it was too late to move, it looked very likely that South Marston would have been in sun. Motto: Always stick to your first plan!

47581 Great Eastern passes Margaretting on 8 May 1985 with the 1C38 09:35 Norwich to Liverpool Street service. There is clearly a difference in the shade of BR blue paint on the loco, compared with the coaches. With hindsight I should have visited East Anglia more often in the 1980s to photograph Stratford's Class 47s with their smart silver grey roofs.

47581 Great Eastern in the loco line up at the famous Basingstoke Rail Show on 27 September 1987. On the right is Deltic D9000 Royal Scots Grey, and in the background are Class 46 97403 Ixion & Class 44 D4 Great Gable.

47581 Great Eastern makes a smoky departure from Oxford on 26 May 1990 with the 1F45 10:00 Network SouthEast service to Paddington. The loco had been transferred from Stratford to Old Oak Common the previous month, but would hang on to its now inappropriate name for a further three months.

47581 Great Eastern passes South Stoke under a dramatic sky on 10 July 1990 with the 5F50 18:43 Twyford to Oxford ECS. I always thought that this was a bit of a strange working, as instead of following the example of the other peak hour Network SouthEast services from London to Oxford, it started out from Paddington as the 1F50 17:53 passenger train to Twyford, from where it became an empty stock working, and then just carried on to Oxford anyway!

Newly arrived in the Thames Valley from its former duties in East Anglia, 47581 Great Eastern approaches Wolvercote Junction on 11 July 1990 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury train. Class 50s had just been ousted from these services and at the time this was viewed very negatively. However, looking back now the replacement traction is very nearly as good! A nine coach train working from the capital to Banbury is a bit of a shock to modern eyes, when today's service from Oxford consists of a two car unit!

47581 Great Eastern approaches Oxford in lovely soft evening light on 18 July 1990 with the 5F50 18:43 Twyford to Oxford Network SouthEast ECS. On the right is Osney Cemetery, and consequently this section of line, just to the south of Oxford station, was known locally as 'Cemetery Curve'.

47581 passes West Drayton on 22 June 1991 with the 1F24 13:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. In the background, a rail worker has just clipped the point, enabling L417 to head back towards West Drayton station, after having crossed from the up to down relief lines. All local trains were terminating here due to engineering works.

47581 passes Uffington on 30 June 1991 with what I assume is the 5Z66 Old Oak Common to Swansea ECS. It would return later with the 1A66 15:53 Swansea to Paddington service, but the working timetable does not show any westbound working, either passenger or empty stock. The grass area on the left marks the site of Uffington station, former junction for the Faringdon Branch.

47581 passes Compton Beauchamp on 30 June 1991 with the 1A66 15:53 Swansea to Paddington service. This Sunday train was diagrammed for a Network SouthEast Class 47 and coaches, but unfortunately from a photographic point of view, ran at an awkward time, being backlit the whole way.

47581 takes the Didcot avoiding line at Didcot North Junction on 1 July 1991 with the late running 1F87 18:39 Banbury to Paddington Network SouthEast service. Note the ghost image of where the Great Eastern nameplate was formerly affixed. It was sunny most of the time while I was here, which clearly wouldn't have been the case if I had been any further north!

Thames Valley loco-hauled sunset. With just a few weeks to go before the Class 47s would be removed from the route, 47581 passes South Moreton on 6 May 1992 with the 1F87 18:39 Banbury to Paddington Network SouthEast service. Not only have loco-hauled trains disappeared from this location, but so has Didcot Power Station in the background, and unless you want a picture taken through a forest of poles and wires, this photographic location no longer exists either.

With seemingly every passenger looking out of the windows to sample the rare track, 47582 County of Norfolk slowly approaches Oddington level crossing on 24 October 1987 with the Ian Allan 09:23 Paddington to Northampton (via the Bletchley Flyover) 'Brunel Cobbler' railtour. I'm surprised at just how open this location was in 1987, because it certainly is a lot more grown up in 2011.

47582 County of Norfolk passes Hinksey Yard on 6 May 1988 with the 1F48 17:02 Paddington to Oxford service. Although the Network SouthEast loco is appropriate for the train, the InterCity stock has obviously been borrowed, as the usual stock for this train was a rake of NSE liveried Mk1s.

47582 County of Norfolk passes South Moreton on 6 August 1988 with the 1V95 12:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Paddington service, which the loco had taken over at Coventry. The Network SouthEast loco may be on home territory here, but with a Manchester start point, the InterCity liveried coaches are obviously much more appropriate.

47582 County of Norfolk & Class 71 electric loco E5001 stand in the yard at Basingstoke on 25 September 1988. E5001 had been a static exhibit in Basingstoke station, during the Winchfield 150 event. The car park in the background has now been upgraded to a multi-level structure, which blocks the view of the old goods yard stables, which can clearly be seen in this view. The stables have remarkably survived, although now nearly unrecognisable after conversion into a car wash. If you are wondering about the blurred foliage in the top left hand corner of the picture, that is caused by wind movement, as this is a tripod mounted shot, taken at 1/8sec f16 on a 200mm lens.

The early morning clouds are not helping the photography, as 47582 County of Norfolk passes Waltham St Lawrence on 2 June 1989 with the 1F27 07:00 Banbury to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This train called at most of the minor stations on the route.

The setting sun accentuates the rusty red colour of the dogfish ballast wagons in Hinksey Yard on 28 January 1990, as 47582 County of Norfolk passes by with the 1B31 13:45 Paddington to Hereford service. The nearest two wagons are DB993314 & DB993375, but the graininess of Kodachrome 200 prevents reliable identification of any more!

47582 County of Norfolk arrives at Bicester North station on 4 May 1990 with the 1G58 18:12 Paddington to Banbury Network SouthEast service. This was the only northbound loco hauled train on the Chiltern Line at this time. By 1990 services had begun to improve, although still a long way behind the superb present day provision. However, during the 1970s and 1980s the line was a real backwater, which presumably explains why this superb Great Western Railway station building survived any drastic 'improvement'.

47582 County of Norfolk passes Pangbourne on 10 June 1990 with the 1F04 09:30 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. An extremely poor quality image, with terrible head on lighting, but this is the only picture that I took from this particular location. It does however show the former photographic vantage point at the top of the cutting in the background. Before it got grown up and fenced off, this was a very well known and scenic location.

The driver of 47582 County of Norfolk checks that everything is OK, as he pulls away from Kingham station on 8 September 1991 with the 1B29 13:40 Paddington to Hereford service. The combination of Parcels Sector red and Network SouthEast liveries was relatively common on this train at the time.

47582 County of Norfolk approaches Templecombe on 20 November 1991 with the 1O34 08:10 Exeter St Davids to Waterloo Network SouthEast service. Although I was mainly concerned with photographing the Class 50s in their final few months on the route, a red 47 in nice autumnal light was a more than acceptable alternative.

47583 County of Hertfordshire accelerates past Ascott-under-Wychwood in perfect summer evening light with the 1B59 18:38 Hereford to Paddington service on 12 June 1988. This was generally a very colourful train with a Network SouthEast liveried Class 47 hauling a mix of InterCity and blue and grey Mk 2 stock as seen here. It is pictured just at the start of the double track section to Moreton-in-Marsh, having just traversed fourteen miles of single track from Wolvercote Junction.

47583 County of Hertfordshire approaches Bridgefield Bridge near Stonesfield on the Cotswold Line with the 13:35 Paddington to Hereford service on 7 May 1989. Although running more or less on time at this point, this train would have to wait at Ascott-under-Wychwood as engineering work on the double track section between there and Moreton-in-Marsh was overrunning slightly.

47583 County of Hertfordshire passes Didcot North Junction on 22 June 1989 with the 5F60 18:53 Maidenhead to Oxford Carriage Sidings ECS. This was a direct continuation of the 1F60 18:20 Paddington to Maidenhead Network SouthEast service. It does seem odd that over half the train's journey from London to Oxford should be empty stock, when surely at that time of the evening there would plenty of demand for a through passenger service.

Running 20 minutes late, and with the light all but gone, 47583 County of Hertfordshire arrives at Radley station on 20 July 1989 with the 1F56 18:04 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. This was one of the few loco hauled trains to call at the station, which explains the door being opened near the rear of the train, long before it comes to a stop!

A complete train in Network SouthEast livery in South Wales certainly makes a mockery of dedicated stock pools and sectorisation! On 4 November 1989, 47583 County of Hertfordshire passes Marshfield with a rugby special (presumably Newport to Cardiff?), in connection with the Wales v All Blacks international match.

47583 County of Hertfordshire rounds the curve between Ascott-under-Wychwood and Shipton on 1 April 1990, after entering the double track section of the Cotswold Line with the 1B31 13:45 Paddington to Hereford service. Amazingly, this was the first down train of the day on a Sunday at the time, passing me at 15:20 - exactly on time. There would be no point in anyone trying to hunt out this location for a picture now, as the field in the foreground was planted with trees shortly after this picture was taken and it is now a well established wood!

47583 County of Hertfordshire passes Culham on 22 June 1990 with the 1F60 18:40 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. This was running just a few minutes behind the late running 1M40 17:10 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly InterCity service, hauled by 47832 Tamar.

47583 County of Hertfordshire accelerates away from Didcot on 21 July 1990 with the 1F08 08:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. It is just approaching Didcot North Junction, where the Didcot avoiding line comes in from the left. Note the rake of London Underground tube stock stabled in the yard in the background.

47583 County of Hertfordshire approaches Radley on 9 July 1991 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury Network SouthEast service. Despite reports to the contrary in the local press, these trains were generally good timekeepers, so it was a little surprising that this particular train was running half an hour late. Getting some practice in for First Great Western in a few years time?

47583 County of Hertfordshire leaves Oxford station on 2 October 1991 with the 1F45 10:00 Network SouthEast service to Paddington. The late running 2C26 09:00 Reading to Oxford Class 101 DMU arrives in the background.

Running 20 minutes late, 47583 County of Hertfordshire passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 11 December 1991 with the 1F49 11:03 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. It was a bitterly cold day, and despite the sun, there was still plenty of frost on the tracks at midday.

47583 County of Hertfordshire slowly approaches Theale on 11 January 1992 with the 1F55 12:25 Newbury to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This train would also have called at Thatcham. A location that I had not previously visited, but with the imminent end of Paddington loco hauled services, an effort was being made to cover as many different spots as possible.

47583 County of Hertfordshire gets under way again after a brief signal check at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 29 January 1992. It will shortly be crossing over onto the relief line, to access the Oxford line, as it works the 1F18 12:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. Note the rail worker's cars parked on the site of the wartime marshalling yard. Even though they are nowhere near the track, I don't think modern health & safety officials would like the idea of there being no kind of barrier between them and the running line!

47583 County of Hertfordshire emerges from Buckhorn Weston Tunnel on 21 June 1992 with the 1O35 09:28 Exeter St Davids to Waterloo Network SouthEast service. This location was visited multiple times during the previous year, as I chased the last of the class 50s, but I haven't been back since this June 1992 visit!

47584 County of Suffolk passes Milton Fen on 4 November 1986 with the 1C79 08:50 King's Lynn to Liverpool Street Network SouthEast service. They obviously had a different set of priorities at Stratford depot, as neither the name or number have been cleared of bodyside grime, but someone has made sure that the Cockney Sparrow emblem can be clearly seen!

47584 County of Suffolk approaches Wolvercote Junction on 11 June 1992 with the 1E45 16:30 Swindon to Newcastle Royal Mail vans. The County of Suffolk nameplates were removed the following year, having not really been appropriate since the loco moved from Stratford depot in 1987.

47585 County of Cambridgeshire passes Ufton Nervet on 1 October 1988 with the 1C44 13:05 Paddington to Paignton service. Officially this was transferred from Stratford to Bristol Bath Road in November 1988, but this picture seems to prove that the official date is at least a month out!

Definitely not the picture I was hoping for! 47585 County of Cambridgeshire traverses Didcot West Curve on 22 September 1990 with the 13:00 Swindon to Oxford football special. Unfortunately a loaded MGR for Didcot Power Station, headed by 58002, has come to a stand at the signal protecting Foxhall Junction, as obviously its path into the power station is blocked by the football special. Few trains use the west curve, and passengers trains are certainly a rarity, but other than the novelty of a pair of trains passing on the curve, this is not the result that I was expecting!

Pre health and safety days at Stratford-upon-Avon on 13 May 1989. Everybody (not just me!) wanders around to get their pictures of 47586, which had arrived with a VIP charter from Didcot. Although clearly nobody is going to get hurt, as nothing is moving, this behaviour, although commonplace at the time, would not be tolerated today. The main highlight of the tour was the use of GWR City Class 4-4-0 3440 City of Truro, which was waiting just behind me, ready to take the train back to Didcot. As City of Truro had worked the train from Didcot, presumably the 47 was used to drag the train back from Hatton North Junction. Tyseley's hybrid Class 116/127 DMU set T332 (53073, 59598 & 53865) is waiting in the bay platform.

47587 passes Grove on a slightly murky 7 February 1987 with the 3A12 06:45 Milford Haven to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. Visible in the background is Denchworth Bridge, with the well known Circourt Bridge in the far distance. Both these structures have been rebuilt since this picture was taken. They are not the only things that have changed, as newspaper trains no longer run, and 47587 has been cut up!

47587 passes Waltham St Lawrence on 2 June 1989 with the 1F09 06:35 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. I used to think that this large signal gantry spoiled the view, but that's nothing compared with the mass of posts and wires that spoil the view now!

47587 passes Kings Sutton on 20 June 1989 with the 1G58 18:12 Paddington to Banbury Network SouthEast service. At the time this was the only loco hauled train to travel from London to Banbury via the Chiltern Line. All other trains were Class 115 DMUs from Marylebone.

47587 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 24 October 1989 with the 1A40 09:06 Swansea to Paddington InterCity service. The front end of the loco looks a little battered, but it would have to wait nearly a year before it got a repaint, when it would emerge in Network SouthEast livery.

47587 approaches Iver on 22 February 1990 with the late running 1F39 10:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service, while in the background 47294 waits at a red signal, prior to entering the Langley oil depot, which can be seen in the background, with the 6V53 04:20 oil train from Humber Refinery. Note the damage on the front of 47587, which with areas of missing paint surrounding dents in the metalwork, looks very like shotgun damage!

47587 passes Oxford North Junction on 2 May 1990 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury Network SouthEast service. If there had been a bit less vegetation in the recently cleared stream, there would have been an almost perfect reflection. But I shouldn't complain, as just a few months previously you would have hardly been able to see the water!

47587 passes through Pangbourne cutting on 10 June 1990 with the 1F08 11:30 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This would presumably soon be having a long wait at Reading, as it was running almost ten minutes early here!

A fine start to the 1991 photographic year. 47587 Ruskin College Oxford passes White Waltham with the 1F03 11:10 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service on 6 January 1991. Superb low winter sunlight and a complete set of matching NSE vehicles. It's just a pity that the third coach doesn't seem to have had a wash in a very long time! This is still an excellent photographic viewpoint, but virtually all the buildings behind the train are now hidden by trees, including All Saints church, Maidenhead, which can be seen in the centre of the picture.

47587 Ruskin College Oxford makes a typically smokey departure from Oxford station on 28 June 1991 with the 1F39 09:20 Network SouthEast service to Paddington. This was the only occasion on which I managed to get a picture of this locally named loco actually leaving the city it was named after.

47587 Ruskin College Oxford passes Culham on 3 July 1991 with the 1F60 18:37 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. The sun had almost entirely disappeared into high cloud, which unfortunately often happens during periods of settled weather.

47587 Ruskin College Oxford passes Hinksey Yard on 1 August 1991 with the 1F34 15:20 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. A day of intermittent sun, but fortunately it was fully out for this colourful red, white and blue ensemble.

Although it is running half an hour late, 47587 Ruskin College Oxford still just manages to avoid the shadows from the coal bins on the site of Bletchingdon station, as it speeds down the Cherwell Valley on 2 August 1991 with the 1F87 18:39 Banbury to Paddington Network SouthEast service.

47587 Ruskin College Oxford passes Cholsey on 16 August 1991 with the 1F61 14:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. Cholsey station can be seen in the background. Only the relief line platforms are normally used, except in cases of engineering works.

47587 Ruskin College Oxford approaches Goring on 28 August 1991 with the 1F71 16:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. It was lucky that this train was booked to use the relief line, as clearly at this time of day the up main is already mostly in shadow.

A colourful combination at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 11 December 1991. 47587 Ruskin College Oxford passes over frost covered tracks with a rake of InterCity Mk2s (mostly first class), working the 1F53 12:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service.

Running 35 minutes late, 47588 approaches Oxford North Junction on 12 February 1985 with the 1S39 07:34 Poole to Glasgow Central service, which it would work as far as Birmingham New Street. Despite the arctic conditions, this was just one of a very few trains that I saw on this day that was running late.

47588 passes Natton in a brief burst of spring sunshine, as it heads towards Cheltenham with the late running 1V85 09:23 Newcastle to Penzance service on 24 April 1986. Clearly Bredon Hill in the background is not getting the sunshine!

A perfect late spring evening at the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 29 May 1986. 47588 heads west with a lengthy rake of vacuum braked open wagons. This was long before the trackside on the left became a dumping ground for old rails, sleepers, ballast, etc. Note also the last remnant of the previous decade's Dutch elm disease - the dead tree standing out starkly against the fields of oilseed rape.

47588 puts out some typical Class 47 clag, as it passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 8 November 1986 with the 1A39 10:15 Swansea to Paddington service. The loco seems to have been involved in some sort of minor accident, as there are two parallel scratches along the bodyside.

47588 Resurgent runs alongside the almost deserted M40 motorway at Rowington on 28 July 1992, as it heads north with the 1E45 16:30 Swindon to Newcastle Royal Mail vans. Although the first section of the M40 opened in 1967, this final section had only been opened just over a year when this picture was taken.

47589 approaches Ascott-under-Wychwood on 17 September 1983 with the 1C56 17:07 Paddington to Hereford service. I deliberately took this a little early, in order to include two pieces of vintage railway infrastructure which have now long since vanished from this location. The sleeper built platelayers hut was once a common feature on the network, but by the 1980s were already out of use. Out of use also (but still in place) was Ascott-under-Wychwood's siding, the buffer stop of which can be seen on the right.

47589 passes Shipton on 19 August 1984 with the 1C48 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service. At the time it was always a disappointment when a Class 47 turned up on these Cotswold Line trains, instead of the hoped for Class 50. Nowadays any loco hauled train would be preferable to a Class 800 DMU!

Presumably en-route from Old Oak Common to Laira, 47589 heads west past Hungerford Common on 3 September 1984 with three barrier vehicles, and what appears to be high speed track recording coach DB999550.

47590 Thomas Telford passes Standish Junction under a threatening sky on 22 August 1987 with the 1V71 10:20 Glasgow Central to Paignton 'Holidaymaker Express' service. As was quite normal in the early days of InterCity liveried coaching stock, the only vehicle in the new colours is the catering vehicle. The tracks on the right at a higher level head towards Stroud and Swindon.

47590 Thomas Telford  approaches Kings Sutton on 12 June 1988 with the 1E33 14:30 Poole to Newcastle service, which it would work as far as Birmingham New Street. Note the crane in the background. This is in connection with the Oxford to Birmingham M40 motorway construction.

The sheep take no notice of 47590 Thomas Telford as it passes Wanstrow on the freight only Merehead branch with the Hertfordshire Railtours 'Somerset Secret' railtour on 2 July 1988. The 'secret' referred to was that on the first part of the journey between High Wycombe and Paddington a wedding ceremony took place on board. Keith Webb and Carol Bates got married in one of the Pullman coaches. The tour also visited the Whatley nearby Whatley branch.

Under a threatening sky, 47590 Thomas Telford  approaches Dilton Marsh Halt with the Hertfordshire Railtours 'Somerset Secret' railtour on 2 July 1988. The 'secret' referred to was that on the first part of the journey between High Wycombe and Paddington a wedding ceremony took place on board. Keith Webb and Carol Bates got married in one of the Pullman coaches. Although seemingly insignificant, Dilton Marsh Halt is the subject of a poem by John Betjeman: 'Was it worth keeping the Halt open, we thought as we looked at the sky red through the spread of the cedar tree with the evening train gone by? Yes, we said, for in summer the anglers use it, two and sometimes three will bring their catches of rods and poles and perches to Westbury, home for tea.'

A Class 47 meeting at Cropredy on 10 May 1989. 47591 heads north with the 1M23 15:08 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service, while 47652 heads in the opposite direction with the 1V97 16:31 Wolverhampton to Paddington train. Note the Mk2 micro buffet coach at the rear of 1V97. There were no Mk2 catering vehicles built from new, but a number were converted in later years.

Sundays in the late 1980s brought an increase in loco-hauled activity to the Cotswold Line as inter-regional trains were diverted off the Oxford to Birmingham route. Rather than being an ad-hoc arrangement, this ran throughout the entire currency of the timetable. 47591 passes Aldington on 28 May 1989 with the 07:10 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service.

An unexpected bonus at Kingham on 16 October 1983. 47592 County of Avon speeds through the station under a very stormy sky with what is presumably a Worcester Shrub Hill to Oxford ECS. There was certainly no booked passenger train at this time, and half an hour later it was working the 1A79 16:25 Oxford to Paddington. The 1983 working timetable makes no mention of an ECS, so I was extremely lucky to be on the station at the time (over three decades later I can no longer recall why!). For a long time I thought that I had rather messed up this picture, by taking it a little too early. However, it is obvious that if I had taken it just a fraction of a second later, the shadow of the loco would have partly covered the old GWR nameboard. A good result after all!

47592 County of Avon passes Hinksey Yard on 4 July 1985 with the 4V16 09:33 Washwood Heath to Morris Cowley cartics. At a time when there were still plenty of loco hauled passenger trains requiring their use, it was a little surprising that an ETH 47/4 was being used for this duty.

47592 County of Avon slows down on the approach to Moreton-in-Marsh on the warm summer evening of 20 August 1986. It is working the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service, one of a pair of loco hauled trains to work over the Cotswold Line in the down direction on a weekday evening.

47592 County of Avon has obviously not seen the washer for a long time when pictured passing Marshfield on 4 November 1989. Any information regarding this working would be gratefully received. It was on the day of the Wales v All Blacks Rugby International at Cardiff, which saw a number of specials, alternatively it could be an additional 10:33 Paddington to Cardiff Central. Note the mix of coach liveries, including a single blue and grey and Network South East vehicle, and a mix of Mk 1 and Mk 2 Inter City liveried stock.

Transition time at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 21 December 1992. Sleepers are laid out for the new down relief line, which would later be complimented by an up relief line. No earthworks were required for these, as they were reinstatements of tracks that were added in Great Western Railway days. 47592 County of Avon runs by light engine, presumably en-route to Old Oak Common.

A close up view of the immaculate large logo liveried 47593 Galloway Princess, as it passes through the cutting at Up Hatherley on 13 May 2019, running as the 0Z10 09:30 Crewe to Goodrington Sands light engine. The loco was heading to the West Country for route learning duties.

Looking absolutely immaculate in the morning sunshine, 47593 Galloway Princess passes Thingley Junction on 21 September 2019 with the Statesman Rail 1Z02 04:47 Ely to Bristol Temple Meads 'Great Western Statesman' railtour. Out of sight on the rear is 47614. I could have photographed this nearer home, but this was definitely worth the extra mileage to be clear of the 25kV wires (the 400kV ones in the background aren't such a problem!), and to just about get the sun on the front of the loco.

47593 Galloway Princess & D1935 (47805) Roger Hosking MA 1925 - 2013 pass Standish Junction on 25 September 2020 with the Statesman Rail 1Z70 06:08 York to Penzance 'Cornish Riviera Statesman' railtour. This was day one of a three day tour. The second day would involve a trip to Kingswear.

47593 Galloway Princess & 47614 pass Stoke Orchard on 2 June 2021 with the Statesman Rail 1Z45 05:10 Wolverhampton to Penzance 'Cornish Riviera Statesman' railtour. By the time the tour got to West Country, this superb weather had given way to extremely dull conditions.

47593 Galloway Princess passes Kennington on 9 June 2021 with the Saphos Trains 1Z70 06:00 Solihull to Plymouth 'Devonian Express' railtour. The 47 would hand over to LMS steam locos 46100 Royal Scot & 45231 Sherwood Forester at Bristol Temple Meads.

47593 Galloway Princess & 47614 pass Yarnton on 30 June 2021 with the Statesman Rail 1Z73 16:26 Paignton to Wolverhampton 'English Riviera Statesman' railtour. In the still evening air, this pair could clearly be heard accelerating away from Wolvercote Junction, nearly a mile away.

47593 Galloway Princess brings up the rear of the Statesman Rail 1Z50 05:39 Crewe to Portsmouth Harbour 'Portsmouth Harbour Statesman' luxury charter, as it races through Tackley station on 30 March 2022, led by D1924 (47810) Crewe Diesel Depot.

47593 Galloway Princess passes Hinksey on 9 July 2022 with the Saphos Trains 1Z60 06:40 High Wycombe to Kingswear 'English Riviera Express' railtour. The 100% cloud cover was a surprise, as I left home with hardly a cloud in the sky!

47593 Galloway Princess passes South Marston on 7 December 2022 with the Statesman Rail 1Z41 06:00 Carnforth to Bristol Temple Meads 'Bath & Bristol Christmas Statesman' railtour. This had been retimed to start from Preston at 06:34 due to track problems, but in the event it left Preston 81 minutes late. Luckily it made up some time, and was only 28 minutes late here. The sun was just starting to disappear behind some high cloud, but five minutes later the light had completely gone. 47828 is on the rear of the train.

47593 Galloway Princess approaches Culham on 20 August 2023 with the late running 5Z29 13:30 Banbury to Southall Loco Services ECS. This was the stock from the previous day's Saphos Trains 1Z27 05:20 High Wycombe to Kingswear 'English Riviera Express' railtour. D1935 (47805) Roger Hosking MA 1925 - 2013 is bringing up the rear.

47594 arrives at Charlbury station on 7 July 1985 with the 1B56 18:10 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express'. Although hidden by the train, this picture gives some idea of just how short Charlbury's platform was in those days, with passengers only able to exit through the first few coaches.

47594 leaves Moreton-in-Marsh station on 3 July 1987 with the 1A10 06:04 Hereford to Paddington service. Although this is still an excellent location for photography, it is now surrounded by houses on the left, and bushes on the right.

In Railfreight Metals livery, complete with Thornaby kingfisher emblem, 47594 descends the Lickey Incline at Bromsgrove on 23 September 1989 with the 1V39 06:56 Rose Grove to Paignton service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. This was a good day for freight 47s on passenger duties, as an hour later 47152 appeared.

47594 passes Oxford North Junction on 20 July 1990 with the 1O90 10:50 Glasgow Central to Brighton InterCity service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. I wasn't really in the ideal position to photograph this, but a picture of a Railfreight Metals livered Class 47, complete with Thornaby Kingfisher logo, on a passenger train, was definitely worth a picture.

A colourful Network SouthEast and InterCity livery combination at Didcot North Junction on 1 July 1991. 47596 Aldeburgh Festival passes the junction at high speed, after avoiding Didcot via the east curve, as it works the late running 1M61 17:50 Paddington to Liverpool Lime Street service, which it would work as far as Birmingham New Street.

47596 Aldeburgh Festival passes Didcot North Junction on 4 July 1991 with the 1F62 18:50 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. Just three days earlier I had seen the same loco, at the same location, hauling InterCity liveried stock.

47596 Aldeburgh Festival approaches Culham on 3 July 1991 with the 5F50 18:43 Twyford to Oxford Network SouthEast ECS. Even on a slightly hazy day like this, the A415 road bridge at Culham was an excellent location for an evening's photography.

47597 catches the last of the weak spring sunshine as it passes Evenlode on the evening of 25 April 1984 with the 1C56 17:07 Paddington to Hereford service. This picture would be impossible to duplicate today, as not only has 47597 been scrapped, but more importantly this viewpoint is totally impossible due to the growth of bushes by the bridge. Not only are the bushes in the way, but you cannot even see the track at all now! Also, you can't take the picture in the same way now, as good old Kodachrome 64 is no longer made and the last processing lab has closed down!

47597 passes St George's on 20 April 1985 with what is presumably a Swansea to Cardiff rugby special (confirmation anyone?). Wales were playing England at Cardiff Arms Park. 47107 & 47618 are noted as working Rugexes on this occasion, but I can find no record of this working.

47597 enters Oxford station from the up carriage sidings on 25 September 1987 with the stock for the 1F27 09:55 Network SouthEast departure for Paddington. I chose the viewpoint to include the remains of Oxford shed (81F) in the background, which by this date consisted of little more than the water tower. It was however still used as a loco stabling point, and a Class 37 can just be seen behind the van. 47597 is crossing a bridge over a backwater of the River Thames.

47597 crosses Ribblehead Viaduct on 25 November 1989 with the 1M43 10:45 Leeds to Carlisle service. With no motor drive on a Pentax 6x7, there was only one chance of stopping the train in the right place, and clearly I didn't quite get it right here!

Hints of both Scotland and the South East in the North West! 47597 is still carrying its West Highland Terrier motif, despite having been reallocated to Crewe the previous year. It is pictured passing Farington Junction (near Preston) on 29 December 1990 with the 1M22 07:22 Edinburgh to Birmingham New Street service. The Network South East coach would have been out of place when it got to Birmingham, and in the wrong country when it started out from Edinburgh!

47597 rounds the curve from Sleaford North Junction on 24 August 1991 with the 1D20 09:15 Newcastle to Skegness service. This was one of a number of summer Saturday loco-hauled trains that served the east coast resort at the time. Prior to diverging at the junction (by the signal box that can be seen in the background) the train had been traveling south, it is now traveling west, and will soon turn through nearly 180 degrees to join the Nottingham to Skegness line at Sleaford station. It will then of course be heading east towards Skegness!

Under a sky that gives the impression that I was lucky to get this one in the sun, 47598 passes Baulking on 8 April 1989 with a westbound van train that doesn't seem to match up with anything in the working timetable. Presumably Old Oak Common to Bristol.

Running 15 minutes late, 47598 passes Tackley on 23 July 1990 with the 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury Network SouthEast service. The cottage on the left was demolished shortly after this picture was taken. The large 80 painted on the wall is the house number. It was the only house in Nethercote Lane that was on the east side of the railway.

47598 passes Lyneham on 9 September 1990 with the 1B29 13:40 Paddington to Hereford service. Note the difference in the Network SouthEast livery, with the coaches in the original shade of blue, and the loco in the later darker shade.

47598 passes Cholsey on 16 August 1991 with the 1A71 13:43 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington parcels. This view (from the unusually named Silly Bridge) is now completely obliterated by overhead wires and masts.

47598 passes Horley on 21 September 1991 with the 1M93 14:10 Eastbourne to Manchester Piccadilly service, which it would work as far as Willesden West London Junction. Gatwick Airport station can be seen in the background, just beyond the A23 road bridge. This is my only picture of this train, and although it's extremely backlit, I'm quite pleased to have captured this Network SouthEast and InterCity combination.

47599 passes the site of Shrivenham station on 25 October 1985 with the 3A12 08:30 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. After over two decades since the station was closed, the coping stones are still visible, but the rest of the platforms have succumbed to the grass and weeds.

47599 negotiates Foxhall Junction on 31 July 1986 with the 4V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. The large water tower in the Great Western Society's Didcot Railway Centre can be seen in the background.

47599 passes over Oddington level crossing at the regulation 10 mph on 1 August 1986 with the 4V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. Speed restricted ungated level crossings, a single track of vintage bullhead rails, and refuse trains are all things of the past on the Bicester to Oxford line.

Running 15 minutes late, whilst deputising for a HST, 47599 passes Ascott-under-Wychwood on 30 May 1987 with the 1A22 07:40 Hereford to Paddington 'Cathedrals Express'. The substitution is slightly ironic, as HSTs had replaced most loco hauled workings over the Cotswold Line only a few weeks earlier.

47600 passes through Kemble station on Sunday 4 March 1984 with the 3A16 14:00 Gloucester to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. What makes this worth recording on such a miserable day is the fact that in addition to the normal rake of vans, the train also includes a set of Mk1 coaches, resulting in the whole train loading to 14 vehicles. Although they are empty, this surely must have made 47600 struggle a bit coming up Sapperton Bank, especially as it was raining.

47600 leaves Moreton-in-Marsh station on 5 April 1984 with the 1C56 17:07 Paddington to Hereford service. This view clearly shows not only the course of the siding to the creamery on the left, but also the former loading dock on the right.

47600 accelerates away from Oxford station on 24 April 1984 with the 1C62 18:07 Paddington to Hereford service. Perfect evening lighting, a rail blue 47 on a rake of blue and grey Mk 2 coaches, what more could you ask for? Well, a black domino headcode panel and no off centre headlight actually, but that would be a few years previously! Unfortunately this location although not actually on railway land was an easy unofficial access point and so naturally has now been fenced off, making this viewpoint impossible.

Although I never succeeded in getting a picture of a train working into the concrete sleeper works at Quedgeley, at least I managed to get a picture that includes some vintage wooden bodied wagons in the siding. 47600 passes by on 18 August 1984 with the 1V64 07:17 Derby to Penzance service.

47600 passes Hungerford Common on 3 September 1984 with the 3A27 06:05 Plymouth to Paddington empty newspaper vans. I obviously wasn't paying attention, as I didn't get a picture of the Class 50 hauled passenger train, which can be seen receding into the distance. How I could have missed hearing its approach is a mystery!

47600 Dewi Saint / Saint David passes Baulking on 21 April 1986 with the 1A94 13:43 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington parcels, running exactly to time. The sun had just come out, after a very heavy shower. From today's perspective its amazing just how open this location once was. Small gorse bushes are the principal vegetation on the cutting sides, and there is a clear view to the roadbridge at the site of Uffington station in the background.

27 June 1986 was one of those mid summer days when the sun just get hazier and gently fades out. There is just a little light left as 47600 Dewi Saint / Saint David passes Compton Beauchamp with the 1C71 18:47 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service, one of a couple of Friday only loco hauled trains on the GWML in the evening in the mid 1980s.

47600 Dewi Saint / Saint David bursts out from under the farm occupation bridge at Daylesford (between Kingham and Moreton-in-Marsh) with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service on 3 June 1987. The large bilingual nameplate has the Welsh spelling first on this side of the loco, and the English first on the other side. When the name was transferred to 47790 in 1995 the English spelling took precedent on both sides!

47600 Dewi Saint / Saint David arrives at Oxford station for its booked crew change on 25 September 1987 with the 6V04 12:30 Calvert to Bath Avon County Council binliner. The distinctive Italianate style tower of St Barnabas church dominates the background.

47600 Dewi Saint / Saint David approaches Cosford on 31 May 1989 with the 7G19 13:39 Shrewsbury Coton Hill to Bescot Speedlink. Apologies for the very poor quality of this image, but it is one of the very few pictures I have of a Railfreight Distribution liveried Class 47/4 working a Speedlink service.

47600 passes Ashchurch on 15 August 1992 with the 1V40 07:33 Rose Grove to Paignton 'InterCity Holidaymaker'. This view would change completely a few years later with the creation of the new Ashchurch (for Tewkesbury) station. The original station was closed in 1971. Judging by the colour of the rails, nothing has been along the MoD branch on the right for a while!

A deliberately wide view of construction works for the new Banbury bypass (later named Hennef Way), taken from the Old Grimsbury bridge on 24 April 1984. 47602 heads north with the 1M03 08:05 Portsmouth Harbour to Manchester Piccadilly service. Note the tiny site office on the right, a lot more minimalist than the row of Portakabins that would be used nowadays. The classic ARC Bucyrus-Erie 22B crane seems to be the only substantial piece of plant on the site.

47602 passes underneath the recently completed Hennef Way bridge at Banbury on 4 May 1985 with the 1M07 13:22 Gatwick to Manchester Piccadilly service. Hennef Way was being constructed as a northern bypass for the town, and as a link to the nearby M40 motorway.

47602 Glorious Devon heads north near Tackley with the 1M23 14:55 Poole to Liverpool Lime Street service on 23 April 1988. This could be described as the middle period in this loco's life, as it carried two numbers prior to be numbered  47602, and two afterwards. It was introduced in 1964 as D1780, and changed to 47185 with the implementation of TOPS. ETH conversion saw it renumbered to 47602 in late 1983 and a couple of years later it acquired the name Glorious Devon. In 1989 it was renumbered to 47824, and then finally in 1994 to 47782.

47603 County of Somerset passes Chilson on 28 June 1986 with the 1A25 08:00 Hereford to Paddington service. Note the inclusion of a Mk 1 restaurant buffet coach in an otherwise uniform Mk 2 rake. A typical mid summer day with high pressure weather conditions has resulted in a very hazy day, with the view of Ascott-under-Wychwood village in the background obscured.

47603 County of Somerset passes Hinksey Yard on 27 September 1986 with the 1O09 08:12 Newcastle to Poole service. Note the highly inappropriate Trans Pennine branding on the leading coach. With little lineside tree growth, the famous spires of Oxford could still easily be seen from this spot in the 1980s.

47603 County of Somerset heads north from Oxford, and approaches Walton Well Road on 7 April 1990 with the 1E35 09:00 Poole to Newcastle 'Northumbrian'. In the foreground are the bridges over the Castle Mill Stream (a backwater of the River Thames). The bridge in use was built by the Great Western Railway, while the disused one in the foreground was built by the London & North Western Railway, and marks the course of that company's line into Oxford Rewley Road station. On the extreme right of this picture is the gate at which I watched Sir Winston Churchill's funeral train pass by on its way to Hanborough on 30 January 1965.

47603 County of Somerset passes Oxford North Junction on 2 May 1990 with the 1M85 14:32 Tonbridge to Preston parcels. Aristotle Lane footbridge can be seen in the background. This carries a well used footpath, that access from Oxford to the wide expanse of Port Meadow

47604 takes the Golden Valley line at Standish Junction on 7 July 1984 with the lengthy 3B42 09:15 Gloucester to Swindon parcels. This is my only picture of this particular locomotive taken while it was numbered 47604, although I have seen it many times since it acquired extra fuel tanks, and became 47854.

47606 Odin races through Heyford station on 14 April 1984 with the 1O52 07:38 Wolverhampton to Brighton InterCity service. This loco was one of the early Western Region namings, receiving its Norse God name whilst numbered D1666 in March 1965, just a few days after it entered traffic. It retained its Odin name when it received the TOPS number 47081 in February 1974, and again when it was converted to a 47/4 just a few months before this picture was taken.

47606 Odin passes Chilson on 17 April 1984 with the 1A51 05:55 Hereford to Paddington service. Without the luxury of a modern ten frames per second camera, it was critical to press the shutter at just the right moment with a fast moving subject like this, and I clearly didn't get it right here! At least the front of the loco (and its shadow) is still in the frame, which wasn't always the case when I got it wrong!

47606 Odin passes Stonesfield on 8 June 1984 with the 1A13 06:05 Hereford to Paddington InterCity service. This location, in the Evenlode Valley between Finstock and Combe, is only really useful for photography on sunny summer mornings. Surprisingly, it is still reasonably free of vegetation today, although of course Class 47s hauling comfortable Mk2 coaches have long since disappeared from the route!

A freezing cold, misty day with snow lying on the ground sees 47606 Odin passing Baulking with the 3A12 06:50 Milford Haven to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. The date is 19 January 1985 and the first bushes have started to appear on the sides of the formerly neatly maintained cutting. Within a few years it would become increasingly difficult to see the site of Uffington station in the background, which is just discernable here in the mist.

47606 Odin makes a characteristic smoky Sulzer departure from Kingham station on 17 May 1985 with the 1B56 18:07 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express'. Although unfortunately the impressive Great Western Railway brick built station building had been demolished in the early 1970s, Kingham station still retained some period features in the 1980s. Both lines are still 95lb per yard bullhead track, and the loading dock on the right has yet to be swallowed up by the later car park extension. In fact, in 1985 the passenger traffic was still so low that the small car park was hardly ever full.

47606 Odin passes non-stop through Moreton-in-Marsh station on 5 December 1987 with a Hereford to Colchester football special. Unfortunately none of the fans on board got to see their team lose 3-2 in the FA cup match, as the loco failed at Acton. In view of these unusual circumstances, I have included this picture, despite its very poor quality. Also note the tamper and engineer's support coach waiting in the siding for the following day's engineering works.

47606 passes through Pangbourne cutting on 28 April 1993 with the 1A71 13:43 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington Royal Mail vans. Not only is the loco spotless, but the whole train is remarkably clean, considering these van trains were usually covered in a thick layer of grime. The variety of liveries is also noteworthy.

47607 runs through the chalk cutting on the approach to Cholsey on 14 April 1984 with the 1M71 12:40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service, which it worked between Reading and Birmingham New Street. The loco had only been converted from 47138 a month earlier.

47607 Royal Worcester passes South Moreton on 12 September 1985 with the 1O74 09:58 Manchester Piccadilly to Brighton service. The loco's immaculate condition is a result of the naming ceremony, held eight days earlier at Worcester station. The nameplates were unveiled by the Mayor of Worcester, and the manager of the Royal Worcester pottery.

The fact that the station lights are still on gives a clue as to how dark it is, as 47607 Royal Worcester rolls into Moreton-in-Marsh station on 5 December 1987 with the 1A28 08:08 Hereford to Paddington service. Even the recently introduced Kodachrome 200 film only allowed an exposure of 1/125sec f2.

47609 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on a slightly misty 5 July 1985 with an eastbound stone train. Unfortunately, with no mention of this in the working timetable, and very little gen available at the time, this train's destination is a mystery.

47609 Fire Fly is deputising for a HST, when pictured passing Hinksey Yard on 22 October 1985 with the 13:35 Oxford to Paddington service. It was not unusual to see a set of HST trailers being hauled by locomotives in the 1980s due to a shortage of serviceable power cars. This is the well known 'HST Generator Set', comprising a BG van (directly behind the locomotive), a full rake of HST Mk3s, and ADB975325, the generator coach, providing 415V three phase power to the coaches. Despite having seen this combination a number of times, I have only seen a few pictures on the web. It would be interesting to know how much time 47609 lost on this 44 minute non stop dash to the capital.

With four each of BG & GUV vans in tow, all in the traditional 'parcels train grime' livery, 47609 Fire Fly passes through the remains of the disused station at Shrivenham on 25 October 1985 with the 3A03 13:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington parcels.

47609 Fire Fly passes Berkswell on 15 August 1988 with the 1S87 13:15 Brighton to Glasgow Central 'Sussex Scot'. Note the unusual split nameplate, with the Great Western Railway crest between the two halves. The inevitable spiky palisade fence has made this location much more difficult nowadays.

47610 passes Thrupp on 25 April 1986 with the 1O27 06:45 York to Portsmouth Harbour service. Shipton-on-Cherwell cement works, then its final days of operation, can be seen in the background. I've no idea why I didn't visit this location more often at the time, as it was an ideal location to photograph southbound trains in the morning. The bushes on the right are now mature trees, and there is no chance of replicating this picture!

There was clearly a strong westerly wind on 8 November 1986, and I was lucky that the smoke from Didcot Power Station's chimney wasn't getting in the way of the sun, as often happened in the Didcot area in the autumn and winter. 47610 heads north at Culham with the 1M88 06:33 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service.

Engineering work in the Banbury area over the weekend of 18 & 19 April 1987 brought some welcome additional loco hauled trains to the Cotswold Line. 47610 just manages to catch a fleeting patch of sunshine, as it passes Chilson on Sunday 19 April 1987 with the diverted 1O34 07:30 Manchester Piccadilly to Portsmouth Harbour service. The Eastfield depot's West Highland Terrier logo on the bodyside is two years out of date, as the loco was allocated to Crewe in May 1985, and then Bescot a year later.

47611 Thames rounds the curve on the approach to Ascott-under-Wychwood on 3 January 1987 with the 1A25 08:00 Hereford to Paddington service. A crisp winter morning and Kodachrome 64 have resulted in an excellent picture. Unfortunately a wood has been planted on the south side of the line since this picture was taken, so it would certainly not be a shadow free location in the winter now! The location is a public footpath crossing between Shipton-under-Wychwood and Ascott-under Wychwood.

The sun breaks through the clouds momentarily at Natton on 18 November 1988, to provide a little bit of backlighting for 47611 Thames, as it heads northwards with the 1S71 07:20 Penzance to Edinburgh 'Cornish Scot'.

47611 Thames approaches Shrivenham on 14 July 1989 with the Fridays only 1C71 18:29 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service. Note the two rows of small dots in the headcode panel - a distinguishing feature of this locomotive at the time.

A frosty morning at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 5 January 1985. 47612 Titan heads towards the capital with the 1A26 08:57 Cardiff Central to Paddington service. 47612 was one of the patch of Western Region 47s that received names in the mid 1960s. Although one or other of the plates was missing for short periods at various times, it managed to retain the Titan name for over two decades, from March 1966 to October 1989. During this time its number changed from D1665, to 47080, and then 47612.

47612 Titan passes Hinksey Yard in weak early morning light on 4 July 1985 with the 1F19 07:14 Oxford to Paddington service. The little hut was removed shortly after this picture was taken, and lineside vegetation soon took over the grassy area between the railway and the lane on the right.

47612 Titan passes underneath the roadbridge at Chilson on 28 April 1987 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. This was an interesting time to be photographing the remaining Cotswold Line loco hauled trains, as with no gen available, you were left guessing as to what would turn up. Often a Class 47 in the then new InterCity livery as here, but it could also be blue or large logo one, or it could be a Class 50, usually in the large logo colour scheme, but increasingly a Network SouthEast liveried loco would appear.

47612 Titan accelerates away from Wolvercote Junction and approaches the site of the former Yarnton Junction with the 1B56 18:07 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express' on 29 April 1987. I remember being disappointed at the time that neither this nor the earlier loco-hauled working were Class 50 hauled. As the other train was hauled by rail blue 47618 and this is a relatively clean original InterCity 47 time has since moderated this view!

47612 Titan comes off the Bicester line at Oxford North Junction on 13 May 1987, as it works the 6V04 12:30 Calvert to Bath Avon County Council binliner. Although this train was often worked by a Class 47/4, this is the only time that I saw an InterCity liveried loco on it.

Not quite the perfect glint shot I was hoping for, but dramatic lighting nonetheless. 47612 Titan passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 28 August 1987 with the 1V87 16:32 Wolverhampton to Paddington service. This was running half an hour late.

47613 North Star passes Hungerford Common on 3 September 1984 with the 1A83 10:45 Penzance to Paddington service. This was one of the handful of Western Region Class 47s that were named in the 1960s. As D1661, it received the name at ceremony performed by Ray Gunter, Minister of Labour, at Paddington station on 20 March 1965.

47613 North Star emerges from the fog at the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 28 September 1985. It is working the 1B22 10:07 Paddington to Pembroke Dock service. An eight coach train direct from London, instead of a basic shuttle service from Swansea, the residents of Pembroke Dock didn't know how lucky they were!

47613 North Star darkens the sky as it leaves Kingham with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service on 20 May 1987. This is on the double track section of the Cotswold Line between Ascott-under-Wychwood and Moreton-in-Marsh, the rest of the line being single. At this date the track was still pre-war 95lb per yard bullhead rail. The trees on both sides of the line in the middle distance mark the course of the Banbury to Cheltenham line, which used to cross this line, although the bridge was used virtually exclusively by freight traffic, all passenger trains calling at Kingham station, which can just be seen in the distance.

47614 brings up the rear of the Statesman Rail 1Z02 04:47 Ely to Bristol Temple Meads 'Great Western Statesman' railtour at Thingley Junction on 21 September 2019. 47593 Galloway Princess was the lead locomotive.

47614 & 47593 Galloway Princess cross over the River Avon at Eckington on 16 June 2021 with the Saphos Trains 1Z44 06:12 Wolverhampton to Portsmouth Harbour 'Portsmouth Harbour Express' railtour. There used to be a clear view of trains crossing the bridge, but a large tree has spoiled that, but on the other hand, the embankment strengthening work seen here, has resulted in a clearer view of trains just after they have passed over the river.

47614 & 47593 Galloway Princess sweep round the reverse curves at Tackley on 30 June 2021 with the Statesman Rail 1Z72 06:20 Wolverhampton to Paignton 'English Riviera Statesman' railtour. The miserable light has allowed a picture to be taken from what would normally be the shady side. There was a slim chance of sun, in which case I would have had to walk through the field to the top of the cutting visible in the background.

47614 & 47828 pass Souldern on 31 July 2021 with the Statesman Rail 1Z45 06:00 Chester to Weymouth 'Dorset Coast Statesman' railtour. This is not a location that gets visited very often, as it requires a lengthy walk from the nearest road, either via a long farm track from the village of Souldern, or along the Oxford Canal towpath from Somerton.

47614 brings up the rear of the Saphos Trains 1Z70 07:00 Crewe to Salisbury 'Magna Carta' railtour, as it sweeps through Heyford station on 4 September 2021. LMS Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 46100 Royal Scot is providing the motive power at the front of the train.

47614 passes Standish Junction on 6 August 2022 with the Saphos Trains 1Z60 06:40 Wolverhampton to Kingswear 'English Riviera Express' railtour. D1944 (47501) Craftsman is bringing up the rear. BR Steam loco 7MT 4-6-2 70000 Britannia would take over the train at Norton Fitzwarren.

47614 passes Bowbridge on 22 February 2023 with the 0Z37 09:44 Gloucester Horton Road to Gloucester Loco Spur (via Swindon and Didcot) Locomotive Services Ltd route learner. This is the site of Bowbridge Crossing Halt, one of a number of small stopping places opened by the Great Western Railway in the Stroud Valley in the early years of the twentieth century.

Another scene from the mid 1980s that it would be impossible to recreate now. 47615 Castell Caerffili / Caerphilly Castle passes the Bremell Sidings oil depot near Purton with the 4M31 17:45 Swindon to Longbridge British Leyland car panel train on 2 July 1985. The oil depot is now closed, British Leyland is no more (although the Swindon plant survives under the ownership of BMW), this train no longer runs, and you would very lucky to see a Class 47 on a freight nowadays! Happily though, this actual loco does still survive (as 47747) albeit at present in store.

A bitterly cold day at Hinksey Yard on 8 February 1986. 47615 Castell Caerffili / Caerphilly Castle passes the snow covered sidings with the 1M14 11:40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. The large nameplate and the red buffer beam was a clue to this loco's identity at the time, even before it was close enough to read the number.

A superb reminder of the sadly missed rail blue era. 47615 Castell Caerffili / Caerphilly Castle passes under the A423 Oxford ring road and approaches Hinksey Yard on 21 June 1986 with the 1M20 14:57 Poole to Derby service. The loco was one of a number of 47s given names in connection with the GW150 celebrations the previous year, a fact noted on the small plate that can just be seen below the nameplate. Alternative liveries were starting to appear by this date, but here we have a complete rake of nine Mk2 vehicles in matching corporate colours.

47615 Castell Caerffili / Caerphilly Castle & 47623 Vulcan arrive at Oxford on 1 August 1986 with the 1F14 09:17 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service, with presumably one of them under test. It was common practice for Old Oak Common to send a recently repaired loco in tandem with a backup on an early morning out and back trip to Oxford.

47615 Castell Caerffili / Caerphilly Castle passes Hampton Gay on 28 November 1987 with the 1V69 13:10 Birmingham New Street to Paddington service. This picture is taken from a footpath crossing linking the villages of Shipton-on-Cherwell and Hampton Gay. This has since been closed, with the path diverted to pass underneath the railway next to the nearby River Cherwell.

47616 stands in the snow covered Moreton-in-Marsh station on 16 January 1985 with the 1B46 17:05 Paddington to Hereford service. The station lighting at Moreton did not allow a very evenly lit picture, but it does still look atmospheric, especially with the snowy foreground. L403 (51336, 59488 & 51378) waits in the other platform with the 2A50 19:20 train to Paddington.

Just as the sun rises on 11 October 1986, 47616 Y Ddraig Goch/The Red Dragon passes Standish Junction with the 1V32 23:45 Edinburgh to Bristol Temple Meads sleeper. Now that's what you call a proper train! Fourteen coaches, with a mix of Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 stock.

47616 Y Ddraig Goch/The Red Dragon passes Colton Junction on 27 May 1990 with the 5V94 10:10 Neville Hill to York ECS. This was prior to working the 1V94 11:20 York to Paddington service. Mixed rakes of coaches were common at this time, but they were usually a bit more random than this four blue and grey, followed by five InterCity formation. Note the Colton South Junction sign. This is not really a junction, but merely a set of crossovers. The real Colton Junction (Colton North Junction), where the Leeds line joins the East Coast Mainline, is a little further to the north.

47618 Fair Rosamund passes St George's on 20 April 1985 with the 09:00 Pembrey & Burry Port to Cardiff Central rugby special. Wales were playing England at Cardiff Arms Park. The road runs right next to the railway here, and this is the view from a farmer's field access gate on the side of the road.

As the sun fades away into high cloud on the humid evening of 15 July 1986, 47618 Fair Rosamund passes Evenlode with the 1B56 18:07 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express'. This view has long since disappeared, not only because of the usual lineside tree growth, but also because of the exceedingly high roadside hedge which, without the use of a pole, slightly gets in the way!

The Cotswold Hills had received a light dusting of snow on 11 January 1987, which adds interest to the scene as 47618 Fair Rosamund passes Chilson with the 1B16 09:40 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill Network SouthEast service. Unfortunately this excellent viewpoint has long since gone. Nowadays there is a bush in the foreground that is so close to the line that it appears to have acquired the shape of the line's loading gauge. Have Network Rail not got any tree loppers?

47618 Fair Rosamund speeds past Burleigh Wood, near Hanborough with the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service on 29 April 1987. This is an exceedingly appropriate location to photograph a loco named Fair Rosamund, as the semi-mythical Fair Rosamund (Rosamund Clifford) reputedly lived a little over a mile from this spot, near the town of Woodstock, at the time that she was the mistress of King Henry II. 47618 was originally introduced to traffic in 1964 as D1609. With the introduced of TOPS it became 47030, and then it was renumbered to 47618 when it was equipped with ETH in 1984. Subsequently is was renumbered to 47836, then back to 47618, and finally finished up as 47780! 

47618 Fair Rosamund passes South Moreton on 6 August 1988 with the 1O11 08:05 Newcastle to Weymouth InterCity service, running ten minutes late, and not using the relief line, as booked. The mix of InterCity livered coaches along with the older blue and grey vehicles was very common at the time, with seemingly most trains containing both liveries. However, this train is noteworthy for also including a single Network SouthEast vehicle, and at the rear of the train, a Regional Railways coach!

In the 1980s Didcot North Junction was still free of surrounding buildings and vegetation, and it was relatively shadow free, even late on a summer evening. This is the scene on 22 June 1989, as 47618 Fair Rosamund heads south with the late running 1O14 15:50 Liverpool Lime Street to Poole service.

47619 pulls away from Moreton-in-Marsh station on 5 August 1986 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. Class 117 DMU L400 (51374, 59484 & 51332) rattles away in the siding, after arriving a little earlier with the 5A12 06:43 ECS from Oxford. It will shortly be working the 2A12 07:45 'all stations' train to Reading.

47619 approaches Kingham station shortly after sunrise on 10 September 1986 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. Although at the time this duty was shared equally between Class 47s and 50s, I remember being disappointed that after getting up so early, it was 'only' a 47! It would be pointless trying to take a picture here at this time of the morning now, as tall trees next to the line block out the sun. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing. 

47619 approaches Didcot North Junction on 9 December 1986 with the 1O34 06:15 Liverpool Lime Street to Portsmouth Harbour service. 1/1000sec shutter speed definitely need here, as the train will not be calling at Didcot, and so makes use of Didcot's east curve to avoid the station, traveling at full line speed from the Oxford line onto Brunel's original Great Western mainline.

The sun is out, but the early morning fog is still obscuring the background at Purley-on-Thames on 11 February 1989, as 47619 heads towards Reading with the 1O04 06:41 Wolverhampton to Poole service. The loco had been repainted from BR blue to InterCity Mainline livery just a few weeks earlier.

Possibly one of the finest pictures I have taken on the Cotswold Line. 47620 Windsor Castle passes Evenlode with the 17:05 Paddington to Hereford service on 29 April 1986 in perfect lighting conditions. Although the view from the bridge was certainly acceptable in 1986, mainly because I kept a nuisance willow bush trimmed, I decided to try something different and went in this field instead. The only problem with that choice was the large area of bland sky in the frame. I needn't have worried however, as so often happens just before the train was due clouds started to build up big time, and I was doubtful of getting it sun. Luckily the sun held on long enough to give this excellent view with the threatening sky forming a perfect backdrop.

47620 Windsor Castle passes Pirton on 15 June 1986 with the 1V87 10:00 Newcastle to Penzance service. This was just five minutes after the balancing working had passed in the opposite direction behind 47403 The Geordie.

47620 Windsor Castle races through Finstock station on 6 July 1987 with the 1A10 06:04 Hereford to Paddington service. With the train travelling at full line speed, and with no chance of a second shot (no motor drive on my Canon A1), I have been lucky to 'stop' the train in exactly the right spot, just before the lamppost.

47620 Windsor Castle leaves Oxford station on 4 September 1987 with the 1O01 06:45 Wolverhampton to Poole service. This was a very distinctive year for photography, with an almost equal mix of blue, InterCity, Network SouthEast and Railfreight liveried locos and stock to be seen in the Oxford area, but before the introduction of the Trainload Freight sub-sectors.

47620 Windsor Castle passes the disused signal box at Exminster on 22 April 1988 with the 1S15 16:20 Penzance to Glasgow Central parcels. The wide area of ballast on either side of the lines here identifies this as the site of Exminster station, which closed in 1964.

47620 Windsor Castle passes through a rain soaked Kemble station on 16 March 1989 with the Paddington to Cheltenham 'Tote Credit Gold Cup Special'. Grey skies and intermittent rain lasted all day, and consequently the best place to photograph the three loco hauled race specials was from under the covered footbridge at Kemble, therefore keeping the cameras dry!

47620 Windsor Castle passes Waltham St Lawrence on 2 June 1989 with the 1A27 09:03 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington InterCity service. Although of course the Bristol to London trains had been dominated by HSTs since the mid 1970s, there was still the odd loco hauled working, such as this.

The early morning sun is just starting to burn off the fog, as 47621 Royal County of Berkshire passes Hinksey Yard on 4 July 1985 with the 1M10 06:03 Paddington to Liverpool Lime Street service. The line of tall trees in the background was always a problem at the other end of the photographic day, as they naturally cast long evening shadows across the line.

47621 Royal County of Berkshire passes Shrivenham on 25 October 1985 with the 13:48 Paddington to Cardiff Central relief. As relief trains often ran ten minutes before the booked service, this is presumably the relief for the 1B32 14:00 Paddington to Swansea HST. This was in the days when Britain had a fully integrated railway, with enough flexibility to arrange additional trains. Nowadays, when the train operator's profit (or more recently their attempt to reduce their losses!) is more important than getting the passengers to their destination, these kind of trains hardly exist.

47621 Royal County of Berkshire (later renumbered 47839) has just started slowing down for the approach to Moreton-in-Marsh station whilst working the 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service on 18 June 1986. The loco and first half of the train have found a lucky patch of sun, but despite the otherwise clear sky a cloud has appeared from nowhere, with typical bad timing!

This is something you certainly didn't see every day! 47621 Royal County of Berkshire has QXV inspection saloon DB999506 tucked inside, as it leaves Oxford station on 4 September 1987 with the 1A10 06:04 Hereford to Paddington InterCity service. Hopefully locked to prevent any unsuspecting passengers finding themselves in unfamiliar surroundings, the vehicle was presumably hitching a lift with this train as a convenient way of getting to Old Oak Common.

47621 Royal County of Berkshire passes Silchester on1 October 1988 with the 1E41 09:10 Weymouth to Newcastle service. The random mix of coach liveries was typical of the time, almost as if someone had deliberately marshalled the train using vehicles with alternate colour schemes!

47621 Royal County of Berkshire leaves Oxford station on 21 October 1988 with the 1V92 06:54 Manchester Piccadilly to Paddington service. 47085 Conidae, running light engine, is waiting in the centre road, ready to follow it. This used to be my favourite location in the Oxford area before the car park was built on the old scrapyard on the right. In the 1980s you could even park for free right next to the footbridge.

47621 Royal County of Berkshire passes a field of beans at South Stoke on 27 May 1989, as it heads up the Thames Valley with the 1B46 17:02 Paddington to Hereford service, a train that was regularly worked by an InterCity liveried Class 47 with Network SouthEast stock.

47622 The Institution of Mechanical Engineers passes Knighton in soft evening light on 26 May 1989. This being a Friday, this is the 1B56 18:23 Paddington to Swansea service. If it had been any other day of the week it would have been the 1C71 18:23 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads.

47623 Vulcan approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 5 July 1985 with what is presumably an ECS working (confirmation anybody?). The same loco and stock were used on the  Cotswold Line Promotion Group's Oxford to Scarborough 'Cotswold - Ouse Special No.3' railtour two days later, but if this is the ECS, quite why it is travelling west is a mystery. No Realtime Trains (or mobile phones) in those days!

47623 Vulcan pulls away from Kingham station with the Cotswold Line Promotion Group's Oxford to Scarborough 'Cotswold - Ouse Special No.3' railtour on 7 July 1985. A truly vintage scene, with an original Western Region named rail blue Class 47 hauling a uniform rake of blue and grey stock (all except one vehicle being Mk 1s), running on 95 lb per yard bullhead track. Note the Great Western building on the right still in use by the permanent way department, complete with grindstone mounted outside. This scene has now changed considerably, not least a massive increase in the amount of vegetation, which has rendered this viewpoint impossible.

47623 Vulcan & 50026 Indomitable approach Appleford on 12 September 1985 with the 1F14 08:50 Paddington to Oxford service. Presumably Indomitable was only hitching a ride to Oxford in order to bring a train including the high speed track recording coach DB999550 back to Old Oak Common later in the day. This is just as an assumption, as I photographed it later in the day at South Moreton.

47623 Vulcan approaches Combe on 7 December 1985 with the 1A25 08:05 Hereford to Paddington service. Considering the relatively flat land all around, Grintleyhill Bridge offers an extremely elevated viewpoint, and is still one of the most scenic locations on the Cotswold Line.

47623 Vulcan passes Cholsey on 31 January 1987 with the late running 1F24 14:17 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. With no motor drive to makes things easier, it was important to press the shutter at exactly the right moment in the old days. Clearly I left it a little late here!

47623 Vulcan passes Oxford North Junction with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service on 13 May 1987. Note the random mix of blue / grey and InterCity liveried coaches typical of the period. 47623 is one of a handful of Class 47s that have carried names for virtually their entire career. As D1676 this loco received the name Vulcan at Cardiff when less than a year old, and retained the name when renumbered to 47090, 47623, and later 47843, although for the latter it was 'renamed' at Old Oak Common Open Day in 2000.

The signal is off, and the 'ghost' driver of 47624 Cyclops is ready to leave Moreton-in-Marsh on 16 January 1985 with the 1B56 18:07 Paddington to Hereford service, which on this occasion was running 15 minutes late. Punctuality on the Cotswold Line was much better in the 1980s compared with today, but I suppose considering the weather conditions, 15 minutes late isn't too bad!

47624 Cyclops passes Croome on 24 October 1985 with the 1V85 09:23 Newcastle to Penzance InterCity service. This was one of the original Western Region named 47s, being named at Bristol Bath Road in June 1966, when the loco was just over a year old. It retained the name after being renumbered from D1673 to 47087 in 1974, and again when it was renumbered 47624 in 1984.

After a ten minute station stop to load mail, 47624 gets underway from Oxford station on 24 July 1990 with the 1M85 14:32 Tonbridge to Preston parcels. 47052 is parked in the bay, while just visible behind the train, waiting near the Osney Lane footbridge, is 47827 with the 1M23 15:40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly InterCity service.

47624 passes Burngullow on 26 January 1991 with a parcels train bound for Penzance. The concrete towers in the background are just a small part of the large Blackpool Dries china clay works, which were still in use at the time this picture was taken. Neither of the cars on the left are still on the road, although it wouldn't have surprised me to find that the Volvo 240 was still around, such is their reputation for longevity.

47624 Saint Andrew emerges from Twerton Tunnel on 30 January 1995 with a rake of Royal Mail vans, not in the current Res colours like the loco, but in the previous Royal Mail red livery. Although they are all in the same livery, they are a mix of BG and GUV types.

47624 Saint Andrew passes through Severn Tunnel Junction station on 27 February 1996 with the 5A71 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Swansea empty Royal Mail vans. Note the large GWR water tower in the background.

47625 City of Truro approaches Hinksey on 12 February 1985 with the 1F28 13:10 Paddington to Oxford service. This is the location that was a frequent flooding problem, until the track was raised in 2016. The road in the background is the A423 Oxford ring road.

47625 City of Truro passes Hinksey Yard on 4 July 1985 with the 1A17 07:00 Hereford to Paddington service. Even without reference to the timetable, the presence of a GUV at the head of this train immediately identifies it as having come from the Cotswold Line.

47625 City of Truro passes Hinksey Yard on 8 February 1986 with the 1O27 06:45 York to Portsmouth Harbour service. The Oxford Ice Rink is in the background, with the Italianate tower of St Barnabas church in Jericho visible through the ice rink's roof supporting cables.

The solitary cow in the smallholding next to the railway at Claydon takes no notice as 47625 City of Truro passes by on 1 July 1986 with the 4M31 17:41 Swindon Cocklebury to Longbridge British Leyland car body panels. City of Truro was one of the early Western Region namings, shortly after the loco was delivered as D1660 in 1965. It then spent a decade as 47076, before becoming 47625 with ETS conversion in November 1984. However, the plates were removed four years later.

47625 City of Truro passes West Drayton on 6 November 1986 with four Mk2 coaches. Whether this is a scratch DMU substitution, or more likely an eastbound ECS working is unclear. What is certain is that it doesn't match up with anything in the working timetable.

Just after sunrise on 6 December 1986, with frost still on the tracks, 47625 City of Truro passes the footpath crossing just to the west of Ascott-under-Wychwood, as it works the 1A18 07:00 Hereford to Paddington 'Cathedrals Express'. 47625 was easily identifiable from a distance in the mid 1980s, due to the two white discs painted on the front end. Admittedly 47077 & 47157 also had this feature, but being 47/0s it would be extremely unusual for them to be working a passenger train on the Cotswold Line.

47625 City of Truro passes Duffryn on 15 August 1987 with the 1V02 06:20 Crewe to Cardiff Central service. At the time this train was sometimes worked by a Class 37/4, but while the 47 may have been a slight disappointment at the time, a Rail Blue 47 on a short set of vacuum braked Mk1s is a very acceptable substitute!

47625 City of Truro hauls a mixed rake of Network SouthEast and blue and grey liveried coaches out of the carriage sidings at Oxford, and into the station, prior to working the 1F19 07:50 service to Paddington on 25 September 1987. In the background the water tower is the last remnant of Oxford shed (81F), which was still used as a stabling point at this time.

47625 passes Badgeworth on 5 August 1989 with the 1M37 08:40 Paignton to Manchester Piccadilly service, which in those days was marketed as a 'InterCity Holidaymaker Express'. I don't suppose CrossCountry would dare give their Voyager operated trains such names, when they provide such a poor service compared with the nine Mk3s and Mk1 BG provided here!

47626 Atlas passes Basford Hall Junction on 3 July 1985 with the 1O92 13:52 Liverpool Lime Street to Portsmouth Harbour service. This was during the period when Crewe station was closed for major remodelling. Although this picture is spoiled by the multitude of wires, it does show the red flags across all of the running lines in the background.

47626 Atlas passes Shrivenham on 25 October 1985 with the 5B68 13:57 Old Oak Common to Swansea ECS. This is the stock for the 1B68 23:05 Swansea to Fishguard Harbour service. This connected with a ship sailing to Ireland, which explains the need for six coaches for a nighttime train from Swansea to the far west of Wales.

Sporting the standard 1980s 'rail blue with brown lower bodyside' livery, 47626 Atlas pulls out of Oxford station on 1 August 1986 with the 1A89 07:59 Oxford to Paddington service. London is obviously not the only destination for Oxford's early morning commuters, judging by the crowds waiting on the down platform.

47626 Atlas passes Churchill Heath on 12 April 1987 with the late running 1B40 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service. This picture proves just how good the old Canon FD lenses were (in some cases notably better than their EF replacements). This is taken with the Canon FD 100mm f2.8 lens wide open at 1/500sec on good old Kodachrome 64 Professional.

With the recently opened Oxford Bus Museum visible in the old station yard in the background, 47626 Atlas passes through Hanborough station on 22 April 1987 with the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service. Quite clearly this was formerly double track, as indicated by the disused and now marooned down platform.

47626 Atlas passes Claydon (Gloucestershire) on 4 August 1987 with the 1V32 23:50 Glasgow to Plymouth sleeper. Careful inspection of the original Kodachrome 64 slide shows a trespasser near the fence on the right. There is no chance of this one being prosecuted however, as it is one of the woolly four legged variety!

47626 Atlas shunts parcels vans at Penzance on 4 May 1991. Despite the station's cramped site next to the harbour, there were once extensive sidings here. Whilst this picture is taken by standing precariously on the sea wall, today a similar view would be easier, as the nearest siding has been lifted in order to provide room for the South West Coast Path.

Due to a shortage of DEMUs on 1 February 1992, the 1O86 09:45 Plymouth to Waterloo via Southampton Network SouthEast service was routed via Andover to provide a local service. 47626 Atlas pulls into Grateley station. At the time the loco was allocated to the RXLC (parcels) pool, so was an unusual visitor to the West of England Line, which was usually worked by NTWE locos.

47626 Atlas passes Kings Sutton in the last of the evening light on 20 July 1993 with the 1S04 14:25 Tonbridge to Edinburgh Royal Mail vans. Note the variety of liveries: Rail Blue, InterCity, blue and grey, and Parcels red.

47627 City of Oxford passes Clink Road Junction on 11 May 1985 with the 1Z60 09:40 St Austell to Paddington relief. This is something you wouldn't see now, an additional train put on at short notice to cater for unexpected demand. Today's railway is so inflexible that any special working has to be planned well in advance. In the 1980s British Rail was run for the customer's benefit, rather the private company's shareholders, and though the butt of jokes at the time, was a much more efficient organisation.

City of Oxford in the City of Oxford! 47627 City of Oxford arrives at its namesake on 2 July 1985 with the 2C04 06:00 Reading to Oxford service. This train called at: Tilehurst, Pangbourne, Goring, Cholsey, Didcot, Appleford, Culham & Radley, and yet in the mid 1980s it was booked for loco haulage rather than a DMU. Not only that, but the ten coach train includes two BG vans, and a restaurant car (presumably not in use)! Unbelievable luxury passenger provision compared with today. 47627 had been named by the Lord Mayor of Oxford, a couple of months earlier.

City of Oxford leaves the City of Oxford! 47627 City of Oxford pulls away from the city's station on 2 July 1985 with the 1F17 07:33 Oxford to Paddington service. Consecutively numbered 47628 Sir Daniel Gooch had preceded it twenty minutes earlier with the 1F19 07:14 Oxford to Paddington train.

47627 City of Oxford passes Thrupp on 25 April 1986 with the 1O03 06:50 Liverpool Lime Street to Poole service. The sun is trying to burn though the early morning fog, but the mist is still obscuring the background, and the chimney of Shipton-on-Cherwell cement works can only just be seen.

47627 City of Oxford has just left the city of dreaming spires on 1 August 1986 and is pictured making its way slowly to Bicester with the 6A49 Morris Cowley to Bicester Speedlink trip conveying military stores for the MoD base. The location is Oddington, which at the time was an ideal location for photography as not only was it completely clear of bushes (not so now!), but also trains had to slow to 10 mph for the ungated level crossing. Also on this occasion it was probably the ideal lighting conditions for photographing trains coming from the Oxford direction at this time of day. The sun was gradually fading out into high cloud, giving just enough contrast but without excessive shadows.

47627 passes Shrivenham on 6 June 1996 with the late running 1C54 16:02 Paddington to Plymouth Royal Mail vans. After many years of Rail Express Systems (Res) trains having mixtures of blue, parcels red, and Res liveried vehicles, by this date uniform rakes were finally becoming common, just as Res itself was lost in the privatisation shake up.

47627 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 12 October 1996 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z71 04:50 Crewe to Weymouth 'Bert Hooker Memorial' railtour. This loco would be swapped for Southern Railway Merchant Navy Class 4-6-2 35028 Clan Line at Didcot Parkway, so all I had to do was to wait for that to appear from the opposite direction a short while later.

47627 & 47745 Royal London Society for the Blind pass Little Heck on 20 March 2000 with the 1V64 14:06 Low Fell to Plymouth Royal Mail vans. This was 47627's penultimate working. It was the only Class 47 to carry unadorned EWS maroon livery, and it originally featured huge Mars 'Celebrations' advertising logos along the entire length of the bodyside, and was paired with an equally garish set of coaches for advertising purposes. The logos were quickly removed, and it spent the rest of its life in this unique colour scheme.

47628 Sir Daniel Gooch pulls away from Oxford station on 2 July 1985 with the 1F19 07:14 Oxford to Paddington service. Coincidentally, 47627 City of Oxford would follow it twenty minutes later. 47628 had been outshopped earlier in the year from Crewe, but with the wrong shade of green paint. By the time I saw it, it had gained the correct shade of GW150 green.

47628 Sir Daniel Gooch passes South Moreton on 12 September 1985 with the 3A12 08:50 Carmarthen to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. The area directly above the train is the site of the former wartime marshalling yard, and now, over a quarter of a century after this picture was taken, a new worksite in connection with forthcoming route electrification.

47628 Sir Daniel Gooch approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 25 April 1986 with the 13:48 Paddington to Cardiff Central relief. Presumbly this was using the loco and stock that would normally have worked the slightly later 5B68 13:57 Old Oak Common to Swansea ECS.

47628 Sir Daniel Gooch arrives at Charlbury station on 22 July 1986 with the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service. I'm not quite sure now why the back of the train is cut off in this picture, but it's probably because the Pentax 6x7 wasn't accurately aligned on my homemade dual camera bracket. However, it's too good an image not to include just because of that.

With Ruscombe village and church just visible in the background, 47628 Sir Daniel Gooch passes Waltham St Lawrence on 5 March 1988 with the 1A07 08:08 Hereford to Paddington service. 47628 lost its distinctive GW150 green livery a couple of years later, to become just another 47 in the InterCity Mainline colour scheme.

47628 Sir Daniel Gooch approaches Cheltenham on 17 March 1988 with the Tote Credit 1Z10 10:30 Paddington to Cheltenham 'Gold Cup Special', on the final day of the 1988 Cheltenham Festival. Less than a hour later it would return with the empty stock.

Having dropped off the racegoers, 47628 Sir Daniel Gooch accelerates away from Cheltenham on 17 March 1988 with the ECS from the Tote Credit 1Z10 10:30 Paddington to Cheltenham 'Gold Cup Special'. Note that they have taken the trouble to place the headboard on the front of the empty train. The chapel of Dean Close School dominates the background.

With fog still obscuring the background, and the grass covered with frost, 47628 Sir Daniel Gooch passes Purley-on-Thames on 11 February 1989 with a short train comprised of just three coaches. Despite the minuscule load, it is certainly a colourful combination, with a blue barrier vehicle, InterCity Mk3 HST trailer, and Network SouthEast Mk2.

With both the locomotive and the four vans in such a filthy state that you barely tell what livery they are in, GW150 green 47628 Sir Daniel Gooch passes South Stoke on 27 May 1989 with the 3C07 15:50 Paddington to Swansea premium parcels service. Not a particularly inspiring location, and one I have not used again since, but this low level viewpoint is certainly effective with such a short train as this.

47628 Sir Daniel Gooch passes Kings Sutton on 20 June 1989 with the 1M23 15:40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. Unfortunately early summer is hardly the ideal time to photograph a green locomotive, when virtually everything else in the countryside is the same colour!

47629 passes Silchester on 1 October 1988 with the BR InterCity Euston Travel Centre 1Zxx 08:20 Paddington to Exeter St Davids 'Cathedrals West' railtour. Instead of travelling all the way via the former Great Western Mainline, this train travelled along the former Southern route via Salisbury, hence its appearance at Silchester, on the Reading to Basingstoke line.

47630 Mentor climbs Ashley Down Bank and passes Narroways Hill Junction on 16 April 1991 with a lengthy 6B97 12:10 Tavistock Junction to Gloucester Speedlink. As was customary with this train, there is a varied selection of traffic in the consist, including timber from Lapford destined for Warrington, empty cartics wagons returning to Halewood, and an assortment of wagons conveying various china clay products. Obviously a good day for unofficially named Class 47s, as 47436 had passed by shortly before, and 47457 followed along later. This locomotive only carried the number 47630 between November 1985 and June 1994. Previously it had been 47041 (originally D1622), and it ended its days as 47764.

47630 passes light engine through Heyford station on 6 July 1992, just as the 2C62 17:21 Reading to Banbury DMU disappears round the corner in the distance. 47630 had been repainted into the then new Rail Express Systems livery a few months earlier, being one of the first of the class to receive the colour scheme.

47630 passes Defford on 8 June 1993 with the 1E43 17:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Newcastle Royal Mail vans. This loco would be named Resounding the following month, following the Res  theme applied to the Rail Express Systems fleet.

47631 passes Langley on 6 November 1986 with the 8Z64 Westbury to Harlow Mill, conveying stone loaded in vintage vacuum braked MCV 16 ton open wagons. I was a bit surprised to see an ETH Class 47/4 on this working, as the usual traction was a Class 47/0 or a pair of Class 37s. This is one of those workings that I knew nothing about at the time, or otherwise I would have made an effort to get more pictures of it. The easily available gen of today, with the more varied and prolific traffic of the 1980s would be an ideal combination!

On 22 April 1987, the very last weak rays of the setting sun highlight both 47631 with the 1B56 18:07 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express', and also Bristol FLF Lodekka bus GRX 145 D, formerly belonging to Morris Brothers of Swansea. The location is Hanborough, and the bus which is parked in front of the former GWR weighbridge hut, is part of the nascent Oxford Bus Museum, which at the time had just taken over part of the former goods yard. Prior to its use in Wales, the bus was part of the Alder Valley fleet.

47631 passes Claydon (Gloucestershire) on 2 July 1991 with the 1E06 14:26 Plymouth to Newcastle parcels. Not only have Class 47 hauled van trains passed into history, but so too has the prefab house and caravan by the side of the line at this location. A row of fast growing conifers unfortunately now borders that side of the line.

With the Cotswold Hills in the background, 47632 passes Claydon on 1 July 1986 with what is presumably the 17:40 Cardiff Central to Leeds HST substitution. Positive confirmation would be welcome, but with no HST appearing, and this running just 10 minutes after the booked time, it seems conclusive!

When the Avon 'Binliner' containerised rubbish train ceased running in 2011, every man and his dog was out taking pictures. It was a different story in the early years, when more interesting heritage traction was employed. Although I occasionally met other photographers, it wasn't very often! 47632 passes Shrivenham on a slightly misty 10 December 1987 with the 6V04 12:30 Calvert to Bristol empties.

A picture that would be impossible to replicate today, and I don't just mean because there are no longer any lengthy newspaper trains, or that this particular locomotive has been scrapped (47634 was in fact cut up in 2004). The real problem is that a lofty communications mast now sits right in the middle of this view! On an exceedingly gloomy 12 March 1988, 47634 Henry Ford passes Uffington with the 3A12 06:45 Milford Haven to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans.

47634 Holbeck approaches Magor on 18 August 1995 with the 5A71 10:25 Bristol Temple Meads to Swansea Royal Mail ECS. This was before such trains became a uniform rake of Res liveried vehicles. The loco here still carries the original parcels red and grey livery, and the train contains both InterCity, and blue vans.

47635 passes Lower Basildon on 25 January 1986 with the 1O15 09:00 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service. The large logo liveried 47 worked the train between Coventry and Reading. The River Thames is behind the line of bushes, and passes underneath the railway just behind the rear of the train.

During the final few days of Speedlink operations, 47635 approaches Standish Junction on 5 July 1991 with the 6B97 12:00 Tavistock Junction to Gloucester, running exactly to time. At the front of the train is a rake of PJA cartics. These would be destined for Halewood, working forward on the 6M17 19:15 Gloucester to Bescot.

A picture from the brief period when the Great Western Mainline between Wantage Road and Challow had three tracks, with a newly installed, but not yet commissioned down relief line in place, but before the up relief had been laid. 47635 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 July 1993 with the 5V37 09:00 Redhill Post Office Dock to Bristol Temple Meads empty Royal Mail vans.

A colourful juxtaposition at Portway on 25 May 2001. 47635 in obsolete parcels sector red livery passes a field of oilseed rape in full bloom as it works the 6P37 13:06 Toton to Bescot Enterprise. This should have been an even more colourful combination, with 37801 & 37714 dead in tow in the train, en-route to Spain. Prior to export these 37s had been painted in a startling light blue livery.

47635 passes the site of Stonehouse (Bristol Road) station on 1 June 2002 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 05:22 Yeovil Junction to Holyhead 'North Wales Excursion' railtour. The following year 47635 would lose its obsolete parcels red livery, in favour of the even older large logo colour scheme.

47635 The Lass O' Ballochmyle passes Bolton Percy in the rain on 14 February 2004 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z33 05:45 Cardiff to Newcastle 'Tyneside Valentine' railtour. One advantage of the awful weather is that there are no 'window hangers'!

47636 Restored approaches Water Orton on 2 April 1994 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 06:15 Bristol Temple Meads to London (via the world!) 'Sector Swansong' railtour. This mega tour, the like of which is totally impossible today, featured 14 different locomotives, from Classes 47, 86, 31, 33, 58, 60, 56, 20 & 37! 47636 is carrying a slightly ironic name here, as it didn't end up being restored, but was withdrawn by EWS in 2000, and cut up four years later.

A slightly inappropriate livery for the Thames Valley! ScotRail branded 47637 Springburn approaches Radley on 30 June 1988 with the 1M58 17:50 Paddington to Wolverhampton InterCity service. The loco had been named Springburn the previous year by Alex Ferry, General Secretary of the Shipbuilders and Engineering Union.

47638 County of Kent passes Standish Junction with the F&W Railtours 1Z39 06:55 Crewe to Nantgarw 'Red Dragon' railtour on 11 October 1986. 47638 started life as D1653, becoming 47069 with the introduction of TOPS. After carrying the number 47639 between February 1986 and November 1989, it was then renumbered as 47845. Note the strange coincidence of the 100 milepost and the 100 mph speed restriction sign on the left.

47638 County of Kent passes Beeston Castle on 12 March 1987 with the 1A45 10:10 Holyhead to Euston InterCity service. The loco's clean appearance and silver painted buffers are presumably as a result of it working a VSOE special the previous month.

47638 County of Kent passes through Cholsey cutting on 4 September 1987 with the 1E63 10:38 Poole to Newcastle service. It took a long time for the then new InterCity livery to be applied to all coaching stock, and in 1987 the sight of a single InterCity coach in an otherwise blue and grey rake was quite common.

47638 County of Kent just manages to avoid the worst of the afternoon shadows, as it traverses the reverse curves near Tackley on 23 April 1988 with the 1O90 10:50 Glasgow Central to Eastbourne service. This location used to be more popular with photographers in the 1960s than it is now, partly because of the gradient, which made steam locos heading in the opposite direction work hard, but also because there wasn't so many lineside bushes to get in the way of the picture!

47638 County of Kent speeds past Hampton Gay on 11 July 1989 with the 1V97 15:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Paddington InterCity service. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing, which has subsequently been removed, the footpath having been diverted to run underneath the railway, alongside the River Cherwell.

47638 County of Kent passes the grass covered platforms of the long closed Shrivenham station, as it heads east on 27 October 1989 with what is presumably either a an ECS or a relief working (remember them?).

47639 Industry Year 1986 passes through Oxford station on 1 August 1986 with the very lightly loaded 4V16 09:33 Washwood Heath to Morris Cowley empty car carriers. The loco had received its name just two months earlier, which presumably explains the generally clean condition (except the roof!) and the silver buffers.

47639 Industry Year 1986 approaches Shipton on 18 April 1987 with the diverted 1M88 06:33 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. Its normal route via Banbury was closed for engineering works, and this brought the welcome sight of a procession of Class 47 hauled trains to the Cotswold Line. It was just a pity that the weather wasn't a bit better!

Over the years I have photographed various types of rolling stock on the Cotswold Line, and that includes Southern Region 750V DC EMUs! 47640 University of Strathclyde passes through Moreton-in-Marsh station in the rain on 26 March 1996 with the 5Z94 10:33 Strawberry Hill to Long Marston special conveying former withdrawn EMUs for storage. The train consists of Class 414 2-HAP 4311, Class 416 2-EPBs 6402, 6309 & 6308, Class 414 2-HAP 4308 & Class 416 2-EPB 6213. Naturally, I drove the short distance to Long Marston for another picture.

47640 University of Strathclyde arrives at Long Marston in the drizzle on 26 March 1996 with the 5Z94 10:33 Strawberry Hill to Long Marston special conveying former Southern Region third rail EMUs for storage. The train comprises Class 416 2-EPB 6213, Class 414 2-HAP 4308, Class 416 2-EPBs 6308, 6309 & 6402, & Class 414 2-HAP 4311. At least the poor weather meant that the picture could be taken from the north side of the line for a change, with the outline of the Cotswold Hills just visible in the gloom in the distance.

47640 University of Strathclyde passes Congerstone with the 09:30 Shenton to Shackerstone service during the Battlefield Line's Diesel Gala on 19 September 2009. While waiting at this remote spot I could hear the local hunt from a few fields away. Whether they were hunting within the letter of the law or actually chasing a fox, knowing that miles from any road nobody is going to know, it was hard to say.

47640 University of Strathclyde approaches Market Bosworth in excellent lighting with the 14:15 Shackerstone to Shenton service on 19 September 2009, during the Battlefield Lines' Diesel Gala. Although not immediately obvious from this picture, the field on the right has been converted into a golf course since my last visit.

47643 arrives at Birkhill on 3 September 2000 with the 2G42 10:40 service from Bo'ness, during the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway's Diesel Gala. Adjacent to Birkhill station, in the valley of the River Avon, is the Birkhill Fireclay Mine, which is now open as a tourist attraction.

47643 leaves Birkhill on 3 September 2000 with the 2T42 11:05 Birkhill to Bo'ness service, during the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway's Diesel Gala. The ScotRail livery is certainly appropriate for the area, but not necessarily for this particular rural branch line!

47643 approaches Kinneil on 3 September 2000 with the 2T49 16:55 Birkhill to Bo'ness service, during the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway's Diesel Gala. This picture is taken from the side of the A904 Grangemouth to Bo'ness road.

There is certainly no mistaking that this is a Scottish locomotive! With a large West Highland Terrier motif and snowploughs, Eastfield allocated 47644 The Permanent Way Institution races through Berkswell station on 28 September 1986 with the 1O34 07:30 Manchester Piccadilly to Portsmouth Harbour service. This is not one of these locos that spent most of their career north of the border, as originally it was a Western Region machine, only moving to Scotland a few months before this picture was taken. They soon got to work making it look Scottish! Ironically, it was back on the Western after only a few years.

47645 Robert F. Fairlie Locomotive Engineer 1831-1885 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 8 November 1986 with the 1O07 09:02 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service. A commendably clean rake of coaches, including an ex-works Mk2.

47645 Robert F. Fairlie Locomotive Engineer 1831-1885 pulls away from Bristol Parkway station on 6 May 1989 with the 1M56 11:55 Plymouth to Manchester Piccadilly InterCity service. It is passing the stabled Avon 'Binliner' rubbish train. Bristol Parkway station was opened in 1971, and was the pioneer of the new large out of town 'park and ride' stations. Apologies for the poor quality if this image, but it has been salvaged from an Agfachrome 100RS 6x7 transparency, which in the best traditions of Agfa slide films has now gone completely purple, with hardly a hint of any other colour! Their claims in the 1980s that this well known problem had been cured led me to try a few rolls. A couple of decades have proved that they were wrong!

47647 Thor passes Didcot North Junction on 22 June 1989 with an Ascot race special, believed to be the 19:15 Ascot to Liverpool (confirmation anyone?). Unfortunately by the time this passed the sun had virtually disappeared, forcing the use of the very grainy Kodachrome 200. However, it was worth waiting as the maroon liveried Pullman Rail Mk1 set shows up well in the fading light.

47647 Thor pulls away from Oxford station on 20 August 1989 with the 1O06 07:10 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole InterCity service. Note the steel structure of the new Oxford station rising above the trees on the right hand side of the picture.

A viewpoint that has now been totally obliterated by the Great Western Mainline electrification scheme. In happier times, 47648 is pictured just north of Goring on 13 September 1986 with the 1M03 08:05 Portsmouth Harbour to Liverpool Lime Street service. Equally depressing is that now the equivalent train would be a four coach Voyager. Half the number of coaches, and yet the number of people travelling by rail is much higher than it was in the 1980s. That's progress!

47648 emerges from Wickwar Tunnel on 3 September 1987 with the 1V73 10:50 Glasgow Central to Plymouth service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. I should have arrived here earlier in the day, before the shadows were so prominent!

47650 approaches Water Orton on 17 March 1989 with the 1E40 10:10 Manchester Piccadilly to Leeds (via Birmingham) service. It may only be a six coach train, but one of those coaches is a buffet restaurant car. Luxury provision compared with the pathetic on train catering available today!

Not much of a load for a Class 47! Running exactly to time, 47650 passes Marshfield on 5 June 1989 with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common empty newspaper vans. What a come down for this once very well loaded train. Just four years earlier the load was much healthier. 47650 did not spend very long in this guise, only carrying the number 47650 between March 1986 and August 1989. It originally entered service in March 1966 as D1935, changing to 47257 with the introduction of TOPS numbering. Its final incarnation was 47805, after the fitting of extra fuel tanks.

47651 leaves Oxford station on 21 October 1988 with the 1O99 06:51 Crewe to Folkestone Central InterCity service. An appropriate departure time for this particular locomotive! You will not get many Crewe to Folkestone trains through Oxford nowadays! Note the differing size of loco numbers, with 651 being larger than 47.

47651 passes Little Haresfield on 24 June 1989 with the 1S85 07:02 Plymouth to Glasgow Central service, which it would work as far as Birmingham New Street. The loco was fitted with long range fuel tanks the following month, and renumbered 47806.

47652 passes Silchester on 1 October 1988 with the 1S39 09:00 Poole to Aberdeen service, which InterCity marketed at the time as the 'Holidaymaker Express'. Surely a bit of a meaningless term for a train traveling from the south coast to the east of Scotland in the autumn!

47652 passes Cropredy on 10 May 1989 with the 1V97 16:31 Wolverhampton to Paddington service. There seem to be an over supply of first class accommodation on this train, with half the train made up of first class Mk2 air-cons.

A slightly different perspective at Aynho Junction on 11 March 1989. The junction's semaphore signals used to be situated next to the bridge, and it was just possible to include them in the photo by using a wide angle lens. For some reason I only took one picture in this way, and as the signals have since been removed, there is no chance to repeat the exercise. 47653 approaches with the 1O99 06:47 Crewe to Folkestone. This used to be the boundary between the Western and London Midland regions, hence the mixture of upper and lower quadrant signals. The down direction lower quadrant (near the loco) always seemed to have an excessive droop.

High summer on the Cotswold Line in the late 1980s, when weekends saw the timetabled diversion of Inter-regional trains onto the line, instead of the Banbury to Oxford route. On Sunday 18 June 1989, 47653 was in charge of the 1O06 07:10 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service, seen here passing Chilson. The inclusion of a blue and grey Mk1 catering vehicle and BG in a rake of InterCity liveried Mk2s was quite common at the time. It's amazing to look at this picture and note that not a single bush is visible along either lineside fence, a marked contrast to today!

A slightly misty afternoon at Fiddington on 1 September 1987. 47654 Finsbury Park heads south with the 1V73 10:50 Glasgow Central to Plymouth service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. On this occasion I actually drove to this spot, something which today would be totally impossible without some serious off road vehicle!

47654 Finsbury Park passes Wolvercote on 28 May 1988 with the 1M10 07:02 Paddington to Manchester Piccadilly service, which it would work as far as Coventry. The loco's Finsbury Park name doesn't really match the West Highland Terrier sticker. As the loco had just been transferred from Eastfield to Bristol Bath Road, that isn't really appropriate either!

47654 Finsbury Park approaches Aller on 7 December 1988 with the 1M56 11:55 Plymouth to Manchester Piccadilly service. The train has just descended the famous Dainton Bank, and will shortly swing round to the left and join the line from Paignton.

47654 Finsbury Park passes Standish Junction on 24 June 1989 with the 1V48 10:25 Liverpool Lime Street to Paignton service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. Terrible high overhead midday lighting, but a picture that cannot now be repeated.

47656 swings round the curve towards Heyford station on 17 August 1988 with the 1M10 07:02 Paddington to Manchester Piccadilly InterCity service. This used to be an excellent location for early morning shots of northbound trains in the 1980s, with a clear view across the fields in the background to Rousham church. Unfortunately this is now a completely enclosed tunnel of trees.

47656 crosses the River Avon at Eckington on 16 June 1989 with the 1V59 12:10 Glasgow Central to Plymouth InterCity service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. Note how shallow the depth of field is. The detail the Pentax 6x7 has recorded on the subject is fantastic (at least on the high-res version!), but the foreground is far from sharp. It was this, rather than the oft quoted (but quite true) comment about the camera's enormous weight, that was the Pentax 6x7's biggest problem.

47656 approaches Swindon at speed on 15 July 1989 with the 1A30 07:25 Carmarthen to Paddington service. As can be seen from the typical Class 47 clag, this was not booked to stop at the station. Running as a local service in Wales, calling at Llanelli, Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot Parkway, Bridgend, Cardiff and Newport, it then became an express service, missing out both the Swindon and Didcot stops. The earlier running 1A27 08:01 Swansea to Paddington, which was also loco hauled, was similarly booked to miss out Swindon and Didcot.

A Westie in the Thames Valley! 47657 still has a very obvious sign of its former Eastfield home, as it passes South Moreton on 6 August 1988 with the 13:25 Portsmouth Harbour to Manchester Piccadilly service. The loco had been transferred from Scotland to Bristol Bath Road just a few months earlier.

An easy load of just five coaches for 47657, as it passes Spetchley on 22 July 1989 with the 1V46 09:33 Stockport to Paignton service. This was a bit of a disappointment at the time, as this train was usually worked by a pair of Class 31s, this being the last year that pairs of the veteran Type 2s worked to the west in any number.

47658 passes Aller on 7 December 1988 with the 1V45 09:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Plymouth service. This loco spent just three years numbered as 47658. Prior to conversion into a 47/4 in August 1986 it was numbered 47129. It was one of the last 16 47/4 conversions that were fritted with long range fuel tanks, and in August 1989 it was renumbered into the 478xx series to reflect this difference, becoming 47813. Later, other conversions were added to the 47/8 fleet.

47659 emerges from the mist, as it approaches Standish Junction on 3 December 1988 with the Hertfordshire Railtours Paddington to Carmarthen 'Red Dragon' railtour. Tour participants enjoyed a couple of round trips on the Gwili Railway, behind GWR Manor Class 4-6-0 7828 Odney Manor.

Not long after sunrise on 1 October 1988, 47660 passes Silchester with the 1M88 06:40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. Being operated by InterCity, it would normally be expected for this train to have either blue and grey stock, or increasingly from the mid 1980s, InterCity Executive liveried coaches. It was therefore quite a surprise to see this rake of Network SouthEast stock.

During 1989 there was a regular Class 47 hauled Manchester Victoria to Folkestone (via Dover) train, the stock for which stabled at Ashford during the day, prior to heading back north. 47660 is pictured here approaching Sandling Tunnel with the usual five coach 5M31 16:xx Ashford to Folkestone ECS, prior to working the 1M31 17:16 Folkestone Central to Manchester Piccadilly service. It had arrived in Kent earlier in the day as the 1O99 06:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Folkestone Central. This picture was taken from the old A20 bridge, which even then had been superceded by the bridge in the background, and has now been demolished.

47660 passes through Yate station on 10 August 1989 with the late running 1V54 13:20 Liverpool Lime Street to Plymouth service. The station had been reopened three months earlier, but unlike the original station (which closed in 1965), the platforms were staggered either side of the road bridge. The original station's platforms were on the other side of the bridge.

47661 makes a typical smoky departure from Oxford on 5 November 1988 with the 1O99 06:47 Crewe to Folkestone Central service. A direst service from Oxford to Folkestone - the good old days! This was the only time that I saw this loco whilst it was numbered 47661.

In May 1989 a rake of Mk1 coaches were converted into 'The Travelling College', comprising classrooms, staff vehicles and dormitory coaches. Finished in an unusual brown, cream and red livery, it certainly made an interesting sight. I only saw it once, on 26 May 1989. It is pictured heading eastbound, past the site of Knighton Crossing (near Uffington), behind 47662.

47662 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 22 June 1988 with the 1A91 18:07 Paddington to Swindon InterCity service. Only near the longest day can pictures be taken from the north side of the line at this location, and before the trees were planted on the north side of the line it was free of shadows. For some reason I only rarely photographed this working, so this very poor quality image (Kodachrome 200) will have to suffice. Virtually everything in this picture has changed, even down to the agricultural use of the fields!

47662 crosses the River Avon at Eckington on 19 June 1989 with the late running 1V60 14:42 York to Bristol Temple Meads service. Although still a popular photographic location, there are now a few riverside bushes, which spoil the view slightly.

47665 passes Coaley Junction on 30 May 1989 with the 1S71 07:20 Penzance to Glasgow Central service. The truncated remains of the former Dursley branch line can be seen curving away to the left in the background. Cam & Dursley station now occupies this site.

47665 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 25 June 1989 with the 1B59 18:32 Paddington to Hereford service. This loco only carried the number 47665 for less than three years. It had previously been 47232 (and before that D1909), becoming 47665 with the fitting of ETH in December 1986. In September 1989 it was renumbered 47820, and then in July 1995 it became 47785.

After acknowledging the driver of 47674 Women's Royal Voluntary Service, the track workers seem to have noticed the photographers on the bridge at Cossington on 21 July 1993! This southbound departmental working is passing the rose fields that did much to brighten up pictures here on dull days such as this.

I haven't got many pictures of InterCity liveried Class 47s worked freights, but here we see 47676 Northamptonshire passing Sileby on 18 August 1992 with the 6E98 14:27 Mountsorrel to Peterborough ballast. It is weaving across from the up main to the up relief line, as its point of origin (just around the corner) is accessed from the down main line. The British Gypsum plant dominates the background.