66001 passes Abbotswood with the 6V07 13:21 Round Oak to Margam steel train on 20 March 2009. It has just traversed the line between Norton and Abbotswood Junctions, which can just be seen to left of the signal in the background. The main line from Birmingham curves around to the right in front of the large buildings on the horizon.

A contrast in trains sizes at Kings Sutton on 3 June 2011. As 66001 slowly heads north with a very lightly loaded 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working, 66541 heads south with a much more substantial 4O17 15:44 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. 66001 is pictured here at exactly its booked departure time from Hinksey!

Gleaming after a repaint into DBS colours, pioneer 'Shed' 66001 looks superb as it passes Frisby-on-the-Wreake with the 6L41 09:25 Mountsorrel to Barham stone train on 2 April 2013. This was its first revenue earning working since being repainted, which explains why the buffers are still silver. The Leicester to Melton Mowbray line seemed to be just on the edge of an area of better weather, with almost cloudless skies to the south, but with much cloudier conditions to the north.

The very last rays of the setting sun illuminate 66001 as it plods northwards past Tackley on 11 July 2013 with the 6X65 19:43 Didcot to Mossend. A massive train, with the last few wagons just visible behind the bushes in the far distance. As well as a large number of Ford cars and vans, the consist also includes a number of VGA vans and a couple of tanks. Just about the closest thing we have now to the mixed freight trains of the past.

66001 brings up the rear of the Pathfinder Tours 1Z61 09:55 Round Oak to Oxford 'Mini Tug' railtour at Moreton-in-Marsh on an exceedingly dull 2 January 2016. Note the pair of semaphore signals in the background, including the one that controls the exit from the little used down refuge siding, which seems to be blocked by a recently fallen tree.

66001 passes Hinksey Yard in the rain on 2 January 2016 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z62 14:23 Oxford to Birmingham New Street 'Mini Tug' railtour. 08742 can just be seen the background, waiting for its moment of glory, hauling the train back down the yard. Also present are 70805 & 70808.

66001 passes Hungerford Common on 9 May 2022 with the 6Z25 09:16 Westbury to Cricklewood stone train, conveying yet another load of aggregate for the HS2 construction project. Hungerford station can just be seen in the background.

66001 passes Heck Ings on 16 July 2022 with the 4A65 16:40 Drax Power Station to Milford West Sidings biomass empties. This classic location is now getting a bit overgrown, requiring a more head on viewpoint.

66001 passes Appleford on 5 August 2022 with the 4O43 05:47 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Unfortunately all of the boxes were right at the back of the train, completely hidden from view!

Running 25 minutes early and in abysmal light, 66001 negotiates the reverse curves near Tackley on 13 December 2023, as it heads south with the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal.

66002 passes through Barnetby station with an Immingham to Drakelow special MGR coal working on 31 December 2001. The 1914 built Great Central Railway Barnetby East signal box can be seen in the background, still controlling a forest of semaphores around the station area. The final day of 2001 turned out to be perfect photographic weather, with unbroken sunshine and a light covering of snow - at least in Lincolnshire!

A rare passenger working for 66002 Lafarge Quorn on 14 January 2012. It is picturing passing Yarnton with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z52 07:22 Bristol Parkway to Appleford Sidings (via Birmingham) 'Abercot Generator' railtour. The fact that it was running one minute early here was not a sign of things to come. By the time it had completed its booked circuit of Didcot Power Station it had reverted to Railtour Standard Time - in other words, late!

Running 45 minutes late, and consequently having lost its booked path along the main line, 66002 Lafarge Quorn is instead traversing the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 14 January 2012 as it heads west with the Pathfinder Tours 'Abercot Generator' railtour, now running as the 1Z55 12:27 (in theory!) Appleford Sidings to Aberthaw Power Station. As it seemed to be a perfect winter's day, without a cloud in the sky, I hadn't been constantly looking around for clouds, as photographers usually do. I was therefore surprised to see a bank of clouds to the south as I walked back to the car. Within a few minutes this superb lighting had disappeared, albeit temporarily.

66002 passes Bourton on 17 June 2014 with the 6O32 12:37 Llanwern to Dollands Moor covered steel wagons. Disappearing into the distance is the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties, unusually hauled by classmate 66118. High summer and backlit, hardly the ideal lighting combination, but this will be the last year of uninterrupted pictures here.

Running 23 minutes early, 66002 passes Edington on 26 March 2020 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. The loco may be drab, but the colourful mix of blue and orange boxes certainly compensates!

66003 passes Hampton Gay on 20 August 2001 with the 6M14 14:25 Avonmouth to Rugby coal. The girder bridge carries the line over the River Cherwell (amid the shadows on the right), and still has an empty space on this side of the bridge where the former Woodstock branch ran parallel with the main line, before diverging away to the west just after the bridge.

An extremely grubby 66003 passes Brentingby (near Melton Mowbray) on 25 June 2008 with a Corby to Toton departmental working. Bretingby's tiny church can just be seen on the horizon directly above the second wagon. Note the unusual consist with a shark plough brakevan in the centre of the train with five seacow ballast hoppers on either side.

66003 pulls out of the down freight loop at Pilning on 27 April 2010 with the 6B50 16:25 Swindon to Alexandra Docks steel empties. Note the variation in colour of the BYA covered steel carrier wagons, partly due to weathering, but I'm not so sure about the one nearest the loco.

66003 emerges from the lichen covered bushes at Denchworth on 24 February 2011, as it ambles along the down relief line with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. Running to the booked time, it will sit at the end of the loop at Challow to allow four HSTs to pass.

66003 passes Melton Ross on 6 November 2017 with the 4R13 09:00 Drax Power Station to Immingham coal empties. It would return two hours later with another load of the black stuff. A once common occurrence, and the main reason the railway system was built, but now fast disappearing.

Glorious autumnal light at Melton Ross on 6 November 2017. 66003 heads westwards with the 6H33 12:45 Immingham to Drax Power Station loaded coal hoppers. The empties had passed by in the opposite direction a couple of hours earlier.

Running 17 minutes early, and therefore passing here just before sunrise, 66003 slowly approaches Didcot North Junction on 29 July 2019 with the 6A17 04:00 Westbury to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train.

66004 passes over Appleford level crossing on 9 August 2012, as it nears its destination with the 6V03 09:29 Kineton to Didcot MoD stores. It would shortly be heading back from whence it came (at least as far as Oxford) with the 6A49 12:10 Didcot to Bicester. This very short train just neatly fits this location.

66004 runs along the down relief line at Denchworth on 16 February 2013 with the early running 4D12 12:52 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The relief lines here were added in the early 1990s specifically for this imported coal traffic.

A sight that would become history just over a month after this picture was taken. 66004 passes Steventon on 19 February 2013 with the 4D12 12:52 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties, while the train's point of origin can clearly be seen in the background, throwing great columns of steam into the still spring air. Amazingly, this was the first time that I visited this particular location, and therefore only just in time to get a picture that includes Didcot's well known landmark in the background!

66004 passes Lower Basildon on 30 March 2015 with the 6Z23 10:39 Thorney Mill to Appleford Sidings spoil hoppers. An interesting train, but I would have preferred it to have been hauled by 56301, as it was the previous week. This view has recently been opened up considerably by the removal of a tree. A shame that it will soon be ruined by the overhead catenary!

66004 passes Baulking on 23 April 2015 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. Hard to believe that at nearly 17 years old, this loco has now lasted longer in traffic than the venerable Class 52 'Westerns', which were the principal motive power on this route in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A busy moment at Wychnor Junction on 3 June 2015. 66004 heads south with the 4O76 16:40 Burton upon Trent to Southampton Western Docks intermodal, while in the background the 1S52 13:46 Southampton Central to Edinburgh CrossCountry service disappears into the distance, passing another Voyager that is doing a spot of shunting at the southern end of the Central Rivers depot.

66004 passes Wantage Road on 13 July 2016 with the 6B35 10:46 Hayes & Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. This was an extremely brief patch pf sunshine, in fact the sun didn't come out until the loco was passing the small lineside hut.

66004 passes Wolvercote on 28 August 2017 with the 6M73 16:20 Swindon Cocklebury to Liverpool Euro Metal scrap. Although this was virtually a cloudless day, half an hour before this was due the sun had disappeared behind a very localised patch of high cloud, and the light only returned a couple of minutes before the train appeared! Note that 66004 has one non-standard headlight.

66004 shows off its 'I am a Climate Hero' green livery, as it passes Didcot North Junction on 10 October 2022, running 36 minutes early as the 0D11 10:46 Didcot to Appleford Sidings light engine. The loco has been converted to run on hydro-treated vegetable oil, which is claimed to reduce emissions by up to 90% compared with diesel.

Vegetable oil powered 66004 pulls slowly away from a signal check at Didcot North Junction on 10 October 2022 with the 6E11 12:00 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. We were very lucky to get this in the sun, as while it was sat at the signal it was alternately in sun and cloud, and just after it had passed the sun disappeared again.

Vegetable oil powered 66004 passes Uffington on 4 November 2022 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. The lime green 'I am a Climate Hero' livery certainly stands out, certainly compared with a lot of DB's other 66s, which still retain faded and peeling EWS livery!

Vegetable oil powered 66004 slows down on the approach to loop at Hungerford Common on 25 November 2022 with the 6M47 09:53 Westbury to Acton Mendip Rail stone train. In addition to the autumn tints on the bush in the foreground, the pink seed cases of the Spindle bush (Euonymus europaeus) add some colour to the scene.

'I am a Climate Hero' lime green liveried 66004 passes Fiddington on 26 January 2024 with the early running 6V92 10:32 Corby to Margam steel empties. It may only be a Class 66, but it was still well worth the long muddy walk!

With just a few minutes to go before sunset, and with the sky rapidly gaining a purple tint, the very last rays of the sun weakly illuminate 66005 as it passes Great Bourton on 3 August 2011 with the 4E70 16:10 Southampton Western Docks to Wakefield Europort intermodal. Two public footpaths cross the line here with a short distance. The other one is just past the electricity poles in the background. It doesn't offer quite the same uninterrupted view as this particular spot.

66005 Maritime Intermodal One passes Uffington on 25 November 2023 with the 6C03 09:28 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Although this is definitely a container train, I don't think boxes full of rubbish was what Maritime Transport Ltd had in mind for this loco!

With a few traces of the previous day's snow still visible in the fields, 66006 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham on 11 February 2012 with the 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. As usual, there is plenty of evidence of graffiti on the wagons.

This picture graphically illustrated the deplorable state that Network Rail have let certain parts of the rail network get into, through their total lack of maintenance. 66006 runs along the up relief line at Wolvercote on 24 August 2016 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The trees and bushes are touching the tops of the standard size boxes on this train, but crashing into the taller 'high cub' containers, and effectively being trimmed to (almost) the loading gauge by the constant passage of trains! You can clearly see the foliage above the fourth box about to get whacked by the bright orange Hyundai container.

Shaken, not stirred! 66007 & 66017 pass Charfield with the 6B13 05:10 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks on 2 March 2010. Unfortunately this is now the standard traction on this particular train since DB Schenker mothballed virtually all the Class 60s at the end of 2009. A graphic illustration that a 66 is not as good as a 60!

66007 & 66017 pass Gossington with the 6B13 05:10 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks on 5 March 2010. The locos rostered for this working are liable to stick on it all week, and the same pair were observed three days before at Charfield.

66007 seems to have received some very selective cleaning, with the middle section of the loco still left in a filthy state. It is seen here passing under the first of the electfrication gantries after a long mast free section at Steventon on 5 January 2017 with the 7B38 11:34 Southall to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. The massive reduction in rail borne coal traffic has resulted in these relatively new HTA bogie coal hoppers now being used for aggregates.

66007 passes through Tackley on 19 April 2017 with the 6O42 11:31 Halewood to Southampton Eastern Docks car carriers, conveying Range Rovers for export. With a number like that, shouldn't 007 be hauling Aston Martins?

66008 passes Patchway on 16 September 2006 with the 6B80 07:30 Westbury to Machen empty Hanson stone hoppers. This is the point where the up and down lines start to take different levels, prior to entering the twin single bores of Patchway Tunnels.

On 1 December 2007 I visited a new location (for me) on a footpath across the fields between Uffington and Knighton. It proved to be an excellent location for a train of this length. 66008 heads west with the 4V14 05:30 Dollands Moor to South Marston empty Honda covered car wagons. The loco returned east shortly afterwards as 0V14 Swindon to Didcot.

66008 passes Barby Nortoft on 21 April 2010 with the 4M00 08:18 Ipswich to Hams Hall intermodal. The large building in the background is the Daventry International Railfreight Terminal (DIRFT), the rail connection to which is just beyond the bridge in the background. At this locations the relief and main lines are separated by some considerable distance. However, since the demise of loco hauled passengers workings, virtually all the interesting trains can be seen from this location.

A photo that breaks all the rules. Taken from the wrong side, and with a massive reflection off the windscreen. As the lighting was getting very head on, and the subject is only a 'Shed', I decided to go for the artistic approach at Denchworth on 8 July 2013. 66008 heads eastwards with the 02:35 Tondu Llynfi Goods Loop to Hinksey ballast empties, running 86 minutes early.

Unfortunately corresponding not only with the passage of the 1C03 07:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads HST, but also with a lengthy cloudy spell, 66008 passes Cholsey on 8 July 2014 with the diverted 6A49 07:32 Didcot to Bicester MoD stores. This was travelling via London due to the closure of the Oxford to Didcot line. The doomed Didcot Power Station is in the background.

66009 passes underneath the Aynho Flyover on 20 July 2000 with a southbound train of concrete sleepers. The flyover carries the northbound track of the Chiltern Line over the Banbury to Oxford route. The repainting of 66009's front end hasn't entirely hidden the graffiti attack!

66009 heads north past Cossington on 1 September 2002 with a lengthy rake of spoil wagons from a Sunday engineering possession. The field of roses in the background certainly brightens up the scene. Various fields around this area have been used over the years for rose growing.

With no traffic on offer, 66009 passes Badgeworth on 4 December 2018, running as the 0V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam light engine, instead of the usual 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties.

66009 brings up the rear of the completely empty 4M71 08:08 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal at Oxford on 2 February 2019. 802005 waits at the platform with the 1P43 10:45 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service.

66009 passes underneath the footbridge at Woodborough on 18 April 2024, as it runs eastwards along the Berks & Hants line as the 0W06 11:20 Westbury Down Yard to Acton light engine. This is the site of Woodborough station (closed in 1966).

66010 passes Balderton Crossing, Claypole on 30 May 2012 with the 6E88 12:39 Middleton Towers to Goole Glass Works sand train. 66010 is easily identifiable has having worked for Euro Cargo Rail, with an additional data panel, and striped sticker on the front end.

66011 rounds the very sharp curve out of Liskeard station on 24 October 2000, as it starts its journey down the Looe branch with the Hope (Earles Sidings) to Moorswater cement tanks. This was not only before Freightliner took over the traffic, but also the inevitable fencing was erected to prevent this roadside view!

66011 weaves off the Wakefield line at Hatfield & Stainforth on 15 March 2007 with the 6E93 21:37 Mossend to Immingham Enterprise service. The field in the background between the two lines is known by the unusual name of the Haggs!

66011 passes Little Haresfield on 22 September 2016 with the 6V51 03:03 Arpley Sidings to Portbury empty car carriers. I certainly wouldn't normally bother to go out for this, but in this case it was running a mere five minutes in front of the much more interesting 66779 Evening Star on the 6V80 19:53 Gascoigne Wood to Portbury Coal Terminal gypsum.

Running 35 minutes late, but thankfully just before a rouge cloud blotted out the sun, 66011 passes the former rail served Bremell Sidings oil depot on 6 July 2018 with the diverted 6B35 14:21 Acton to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties.

A new DB Cargo operated stone train commenced on 22 July 2020, taking stone from Moreton-on-Lugg, via the Severn Tunnel and Oxford, to Birmingham. It did not start well, as although it seemed to be OK here, I have seen several other pictures of the loco putting out considerable quantities of black smoke. There was a revised later schedule, which was not picked up by Realtime Trains, so the apparent late running may not have been so great. 66011 is pictured here passing the footbridge in the fields near Uffington, running 82 minutes late (by the original schedule) with the 6Z41 07:50 Moreton-on-Lugg to Small Heath.

66011 brings up the rear of the 3Z98 09:06 Didcot Fuelling Point to Toton North Yard Rail Head Treatment Train at Heyford on 26 November 2022. The loco has obviously had most of its 'RHTT grime' washed off. Not so the lead locomotive, 66139.

66011 passes Claydon on 4 April 2023 with the 6V50 13:11 Burton upon Trent to Cardiff Tidal steel empties. The usual heavily vandalised VGA wagons have been supplemented by seven BDA bogie bolsters.

66012 passes Baulking with the 6A32 Ashchurch to Didcot MoD working on 24 March 2009 with its usual short load, today consisting of a single VGA van and five OCA open wagons. Its approach was announced by the flashing amber signal further down the line indicating it would be looped at Challow. Interestingly the HST drivers must have got wise to this because the following train crawled past me and despite the signal clearing to green was making no attempt to accelerate. Presumably not applying full power till past Challow to avoid catching up with the freight.

66012 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 3 February 2019 with the 6W30 07:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Hinksey spoil train, with classmate 66025 bringing up the rear. As this train was being worked by DBS 66s, I initially wasn't going to bother going out early enough to see it. However, when I noticed that surprisingly it wasn't running early, I decided to go for it. Although the roads were mostly free of ice, this wasn't really the best day to drive briskly in order to compensate for my lack of forward planning. I arrived at the location with one minute to spare!

66013 weaves around the reverse curves at Greenholme with the 6M32 Greenburn to Ratcliffe loaded coal on 19 June 2006. These bogie HTA were at this time rapidly replacing the older four wheel HAA type, as seen hauled by 66119 at the same location a mere five minutes later.

66013 moves slowly along the bi-directional line at the south end of Hinksey Yard with the 4V40 03:49 Purfleet to Cowley empty car carriers, which it has just run round in the yard. It will wait to gain access to the line to the Mini car plant at nearby Kennington Junction. This was not what I wanted to see, as BR Standard 70000 Britannia was due any minute!

Running over four hours late, and therefore providing a rare daylight picture in the Denchworth area, 66013 passes underneath Circourt Bridge on 25 May 2017 with the 6A35 02:03 Moreton-on-Lugg to Hayes & Harlington stone hoppers. This had actually started a few minutes early, with the delay occurring later, in the Bristol area. Note the huge rusty patch on the relatively new bridge in the background. As Network Rail do not understand what paint is for, that will probably now be permanent!

Running 16 minutes early, 66013 passes Yarnton on 23 January 2023 with the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Well over a decade since the demise of EWS, nothing has changed with this loco!

66013 seems to dominate the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal in early 2023. Here it is again on 7 February, passing Wormleighton Crossing. The superb winter light only highlights just how filthy the loco is!

This is definitely something out of the ordinary! 66014 passes Bunbury on 2 April 1999 with the 1K67 12:51 Holyhead to Crewe, substituting for an unavailable Class 37/4. The earlier outward working was the first use of a Class 66 on a passenger train (railtours excepted). Despite the novelty of the traction, the fact that it replaced a Class 37 did not go down well at the time. Even though the weather was awful, I'm glad I took this historic picture, as it seems from perusal of the web that virtually nobody else did!

66014 approaches Radley on St George's Day, 23 April 2013 with the 4L40 16:42 Morris Cowley to Purfleet BMW Mini car carriers. The distinctive wagons on this train always make a good picture, but not as interesting as the unusual working I saw this particular loco on fourteen years previously!

66014 passes South Moreton on 7 May 2013 with the 6X38 13:50 Eastleigh to Didcot, which with its mixed load of cars, vans and containers looks a little like a classic 1980s Speedlink train, only considerably better loaded!

66014 approaches the site of Shrivenham station on 18 February 2015 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The loco is still in its original livery, although with its EWS branding painted out, and no signs of it present DBS ownership.

Plenty of late autumn colour at Heck Ings on 29 November 2016, as 66014 heads westwards with the 4R51 11:45 Drax Power Station to Immingham biomass empties. It will of course shortly be travelling in entirely the opposite direction, to get to Immingham.

66014 slowly passes Melton Ross on 6 November 2017 with the 6E53 09:14 Kellingley Colliery to Killingholme spoil train, with classmate 66068 bringing up the rear. This is a short term flow to move colliery waste for use in the construction of a new wharf near Immingham.

With the masts of the temporarily abandoned electfrication scheme in the background, 66014 approaches Didcot North Junction on 16 February 2018 with the 4O43 05.49 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal..

66014 approaches Didcot North Junction on 20 April 2018 with the 4L40 16:32 Morris Cowley to Purfleet covered car carriers, conveying new Minis from the BMW plant. This view is living on borrowed time - note the masts in the background.

I almost didn't bother with this, it being a Class 66 in less than ideal light. However, 66014 is hauling the diverted 6C76 14:04 Acton to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties at Challow on 14 May 2018, so maybe worth a record shot.

66014 passes Compton Beauchamp on 23 August 2021 with the 4V64 13:24 Calvert to Tytherington stone empties. Definitely not the most photogenic of locations, but at least there are no electrification masts on this side of the line at this particular spot. 

66014 passes through Hailey Wood (between Kemble and Stroud) on 28 April 2023 with the diverted 6E11 11:07 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. Instead of its normal route via Oxford, this has to travel via Swindon and Cheltenham due to the line being closed for repairs to Nuneham Viaduct.

66015 passes Farleaze on 18 November 2014 with the 6Z47 08:15 Wembley Euro Freight Operating Centre to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf refurbished and repainted HKA hoppers. Initially I wasn't going to take this, as there was no possibility of a conventionally angled picture. However, I quite like the different viewpoint, and it certainly shows up the colourful autumn foliage.

66015 passes Baulking on 23 April 2015 with the 6V47 10:57 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties. Due to the growth of lineside vegetation at this location, this more head on viewpoint is now needed in order to include the entire train.

Running 48 minutes late, 66015 passes Croome on 29 June 2019 with the 6W02 06:26 Awre to Bescot ballast empties. Some unexpected high cloud had drifted in from the west, which was probably just as well for this backlit location.

66016 passes Overthorpe on 16 June 1999 with the 6M14 14.29 Avonmouth to Rugby cement works imported coal. Unfortunately this train had just gone over to Class 66 operation, in place of the earlier Class 37 or 56 haulage.

66016 passes Kings Sutton on 27 July 1999 with the 6M14 13:45 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to Rugby cement works imported coal. Not all of the coal is going to get to Rugby, as the fields here are getting a good dusting!

66016 runs alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal at Crofton on 17 February 2001 with the 6W55 Westbury to Didcot Foxhall Junction engineer's train. Crofton Lock No.62 can be seen in the background. This is one of nine closely spaced locks in the area.

In dramatic evening lighting at Goole on 4 October 2007, 66016 departs with the 6D88 14:39 Goole Docks to Scunthorpe steel empties, running over two hours late and consequently departing at the booked time for the 6H93 Goole to Peterborough sand empties, which was held on the glass factory line behind me, unable to gain access to the main line! Luckily the large bank of dark clouds stayed just to the north, so the sun remained out with an impressive dark background.

A filthy 66016 passes South Moreton with the 6Z35 Moreton-on-Lugg to Hothfield stone train on 8 May 2008. This train is easily recognisable as it always seems to run with a couple of ex RMC hoppers in an otherwise uniform rake of EWS wagons. You can understand Network Rail's insistence on erecting high security lineside fencing everywhere (although not yet at this location), when you can see the amount of potentially lethal materials left lying by the side of high speed lines. Just look at the amount of old rail sections lying next to the 125 mph line in this picture!

66016 passes Yarnton on 20 October 2016 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The train was slowing down in preparation for taking the relief line at Wolvercote Junction, as booked.

Rounding off a morning's photography of minuscule freight trains at Radley on 31 August 2012, 66017 ambles by with the 6O26 10:19 Hinksey to Eastleigh departmental working, comprising just three wagons. Neither 66081 with MoD stores, nor 66040 with car carriers had been much longer. Note the cloud building up in the background, a definite cue to start the long walk back to the car!

Still accelerating after pulling out of Ashchurch loop (just beyond the bridge in the background), 66017 passes Claydon on 17 February 2015 with the 4V70 05:18 Ratcliffe Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The 'Big Sheds' of Ashchurch Industrial Estate dominate the background.

The leading cab of 66017 has certainly had a good splattering of something! It is passing the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 18 February 2016 with the 6Z36 11:41 Acton to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Note the assortment of wagons liveries, including some still in the National Power blue colour scheme.

66017 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 28 March 2017 with the 6Z47 08:49 Wembley Euro Freight Operating Centre to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf empty hoppers. It seems that loco cleaning is not a DB Cargo priority, but considering all the ailing company's other problems, its probably not surprising! Ironically the last time I saw this loco was at this same location, on a similar train, but before any electfrication masts were spoiling the view.

Just before sunrise on 21 April 2018, and only seconds after I had arrived at the location, 66017 passes Tredington with the 6M90 05:00 Avonmouth Hansons Siding to Clitheroe Castle Cement empty cement tanks.

66017 passes South Marston on 13 August 2024 with the 6C03 09:55 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Although worth photographing, I much prefer the binliner train that ran along this line thirty years earlier.

Running 12 minutes early, 66017 passes Wolvercote Junction on 26 November 2024 with 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park Euro Terminal to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This was within a few seconds of being blocked off by the 1Z46 13:15 Reading to Manchester Piccadilly CrossCountry Voyager.

After seeing 47787 on the Royal Scotsman at Linlithgow on 5 October 2007, I drove to Lathallan (near Polmont) to see it again. During the ten minute wait, the first train to turn up was 66018 with the 6J13 12:22 Longannet Power Station to Hunterston MGR empties. It makes a nice change to see the vintage HAA 4 wheel wagons rather than the high capacity bogie HHA type.

66018 passes Grove on 28 October 2019 with the 3J43 02:53 Didcot to Didcot (via the Berks & Hants Line) Rail Head Treatment Train. 66069 is bringing up the rear. Unfortunately the earlier sunshine had completely disappeared.

An exceedingly grubby 66019 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 19 December 2014 with the 4O40 08:21 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks covered car carriers, with BMW Minis for export. No way can this be confused with any other train!

The bridge over the railway in the village of Wolvercote is a constant source of problems for both Network Rail and the local council, due to its poor condition. It is weight restricted, and has traffic lights, restricting the flow of vehicles over the bridge. By standing on the adjacent footbridge, and stopping the lens well down to f11 (on a short telephoto) it is possible to add inertest to a mundane view of a red 66, by including this venerable structure in the picture. 66019 works the 4O21 11:00 Bescot to Southampton Western Docks intermodal on 19 January 2015.

Accelerating away from its half hour wait at a signal in the distance, 66019 passes Grove on 22 October 2018 with the 3J43 02:53 Didcot to Didcot (via the Berks & Hants Line) Rail Head Treatment Train. 66037 is bringing up the rear.

Just one single box! 66019 sweeps round the reverse curves near Tackley on 4 May 2021 with the extremely lightly loaded 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Due to signalling problems in the Basingstoke area, this train terminated at Didcot, continuing forward the next day.

66019 passes Hinksey Yard on 6 May 2021 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Lineside tree growth means that the large lake directly behind the train is now almost hidden from view.

66019 passes Purton Common in superb early morning light on 27 May 2022 with the 6V70 23:44 Liverpool Euro Metal to Swindon Cocklebury scrap empties. This photo is taken from a new access road for the waste disposal site which can be seen in the background.

On 22 December 2001, 66020 is just about to pass under the M40 motorway at Overthorpe, near Banbury with the 5Z12 10:45 Tyseley to Old Oak Common ECS comprising just two First Great Western Mk 2 coaches. This look a pleasant sunny shot, but it was absolutely freezing, and apart from certain days on the Settle & Carlisle line, I have never felt so relieved to get back to the car! If you drink instant coffee, the chances are it came from the building emitting steam on the left in the background. This is the giant Kraft Foods plant producers of  Kenco, Maxwell House, and Mellow Bird's instant coffees.

66020 passes the site of Grange Court station on 22 February 2016 with the 6V35 04:50 Masborough to Cardiff Tidal slag empties. One of the Great Western Railway's Scots Pine trees has obviously succumbed to old age, and fallen across the site of the former up goods loop.

66020 passes Didcot North Junction on 16 February 2018 with the 4O40 09:43 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks BMW Minis for export. This viewpoint has been improved slightly in recent years, with the cutting back of some of the lineside vegetation.

Running 23 minutes late, 66021 passes Beechingstoke on 25 February 2022 with the 6Z25 09:16 Westbury to Cricklewood additional stone train. There was no way to tell beforehand whether all of the train would be included in the picture, so it was fortunate that the train was short enough for it all to be visible. It looks like the signpost has seen better days!

66021 approaches Wootton Bassett on 19 November 2022 with the 6C03 09:28 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Just visible in the background is the Chaddington Lane bridge. Before the wires went up that used to be a favourite photographic spot. Now it requires a half mile walk along the canal towpath to get to this spot.

66021 passes St Peter & St Paul's church at Kings Sutton on 29 November 2024 with the 4M54 09:31 Southampton Maritime to East Midlands Gateway intermodal. This picture is taken from half a mile away, on the Adderbury Road, as I wasn't going to walk across the boggy field to get to the water's edge! It's a pity that the strong wind has killed any chance of a reflection.

Just the right size train for this particular viewpoint! 66023 passes through Crowle station on 4 December 2019 with the 6D79 08:35 Lindsey Oil Refinery to Neville Hill Depot fuel tanks. On the right is the Stainforth & Keadby Canal.

An extremely rare sight in 2022, but one which was commonplace here, in the Welsh Valleys, until a few years ago. 66023 passes through Aber station on 17 June 2022 with the 6C83 11:30 Cwmbargoed Opencast Colliery to Margam coal train, passing 150259, which is working the 2H13 12:33 Penarth to Ystrad Mynach Transport for Wales service.

Running nearly two hours early, 66023 passes Heck Ings on 11 March 2023 with the 6D19 14:56 (13:10 actual) Drax Power Station to Milford West Sidings flyash. After a mostly sunny morning, the sun was starting to disappear into high cloud.

To mark the coronation of HRH King Charles III, DB repainted 66023 into this very eye catching 'Celebrating The King's Coronation' blue livery. Looking superb in the afternoon sun, it passes Lower Wick on 16 August 2023 with the diverted 6V92 10:34 Corby to Margam loaded scrap and steel empties.

Coronation liveried 66023 approaches Ashchurch on 4 September 2023 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. This had left Round Oak very early, but as usual, it was held at Worcester until almost the booked time.

66024 heads down the ECML at Little Heck with the 6D47 10:49 Wardley to Doncaster Decoy Yard MGR on 20 March 2000. The weak spring sunshine seen here didn't last long, just look at those black clouds rolling in from north! The train is just about to pass under the M62 motorway bridge, and directly afterwards the site of the following year's terrible accident caused by a Land Rover driver falling asleep and crashing down onto the line, subsequently being hit by a southbound GNER service.

66024 passes Shrivenham on 27 October 2003 with the 4D14 11:59 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The cloud of steam rising in the background is the result of some earlier coal deliveries to Didcot!

66024 passes Claydon on 15 April 2008 with the 4O53 04:33 Wakefield Europort to Eastleigh Yard intermodal. This would only recess at Eastleigh, continuing south later in the day as the 4B53 12:52 Eastleigh Yard to Southampton Western Docks.

66024 passes Harbury with the 4O04 09:35 Washwood Heath to Eastleigh intermodal on 22 December 2008. Although a useful location for photography on a dull day, as it prevents any possibility of the dreaded 'blank sky' type picture one sees on many websites where no remedial action has been taken, this location is a mere shadow of its former self. The forest of bushes visible on the left completely prevent any picture from being taken on that side of the line

Hardly worth pressing the shutter for this! Purely a record shot of 66024 accelerating away from Goole station with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z29 05:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Monk Bretton 'Ousing Dove' railtour on 15 October 2011. This should have been a pair of 37s, which would just about have compensated for the chronic backlighting, but as I was already at Goole it seemed churlish not to at least take a look. For once I have included a going away shot, not only for the better lighting, but also the better traction!

66024 passes Rawcliffe Bridge with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z29 05:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Monk Bretton 'Ousing Dove' railtour on 15 October 2011. One of the highlights of this tour was the inclusion of the little used Goole to Knottingley line. Unfortunately the eastern end of this line is very overgrown, but rather than opt for the hackneyed location of Heck Ings, I wanted a picture on the section between Potters Grange Junction at Goole and Hensall Junction, where the heavily used line from Drax joins the route. So here it is in on one of the very few shadow free sections, approximately two miles from Goole, and just over half a mile from Rawcliffe station.

66024 passes Tackley in superb late evening light on 18 June 2015 with the 4M66 16:40 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. The Met Office had predicted a completely sunny afternoon, instead of which, large areas of cloud were present for much of the day, only dispersing just before sunset.

66024 passes the yet to be commissioned junction with the new down relief line at Wolvercote on 12 June 2018 with the 4O21 09:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Note the repainted horn grille.

66024 passes a verdant field of long grass, at the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 10 June 2023, as it heads westwards along the Great Western Mainline with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner.

66024 passes South Marston under cloudy skies on 28 July 2023 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Note how the bramble bushes on the right have almost engulfed the lineside fence.

66024 just manages to avoids the clouds, as it approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 10 August 2023 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. This loco seems to have monopolised this train during the summer of 2023.

A picture that came within seconds of being ruined! 66025 pulls away from a signal check at Oxford on 12 December 2017 with the 6C58 11:55 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties, while 70802 almost messes up the picture completely with the 6M50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot engineers train. Judging by the noise it was making, this was also unfortunately piling on the amps! The one redeeming feature of this picture is that by virtue of the Class 70's rear facing driver's door (with window) you can see both drivers acknowledging each other!

I suppose it's noteworthy, as DB Cargo are about to lose their contract for the Mendip Rail stone traffic, but I would have definitely preferred a Class 59 to be working the 6C58 11:45 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties on 20 September 2019, Instead, a very smoky 66025 was rostered, seen here passing Edington.

66025 runs slowly along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 13 November 2024 with the 6C03 09:55 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Circourt Bridge is still officially called Circourt Crossing Bridge, even though the original level crossing at the site was replaced by a bridge at the end of the nineteenth century.

66025 passes Kings Sutton on 29 November 2024 with the 6E11 12:00 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. Like every other train, it had just hooted for the public footpath crossing near the signal in the background. Not much point, as a boat would be needed to get anywhere near the crossing!

Immaculately clean 66026 passes Fiddington on 17 September 2024 with the 6V92 10:32 Corby to Margam steel empties. This was running 12 minutes early, having missed out its booked stop at Ashchurch. The forest of metal posts in the field marks the site of new 240 acre solar farm.

66027 passes the unusual combination of upper and lower quadrant semaphore signals at Fenny Compton on 19 June 2000, as it heads north with the 7M28 17:18 Didcot to Bescot departmental working. The three wagons at the front of the train are HGA 'Gunnel' hoppers, converted from former PGA stone wagons.

Unlucky thirteen! When 66013 failed at Bristol Parkway on 15 June 2018 with the 6M60 05:00 Exeter Riverside to Bescot china clay tanks, there were the inevitable delays until 66027 could be summoned to assist. A comparison of new and old liveries is possible, as 66027 & 66013 pass Badgeworth, running 147 minutes late.

66027 passes the recently cleared Hungerford Common on 27 September 2018 with the 6C58 11:55 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The only downside to this recently open up view is the enhanced view of the sewage works in the background!

66027 passes Yarnton on 24 January 2022 with the 4M71 09:49 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. Despite the awful weather, this was a well photographed train, as the Blue Pullman ECS was right behind it.

66027 passes Uffington on 14 June 2022 with the diverted 6A11 22:43 Robeston to Theale oil tanks. Luckily this was running 32 minutes late, as at 05:26 the sun was just starting to illuminate the track, whereas at the booked time of 04:54 it hadn't appeared over the horizon!

66028 arrives at Evesham station on 27 February 1999 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z45 06:34 Sheffield to Trowbridge 'Yankee Sidewinder' railtour. Presumably the highlight of the tour was the then novel appearance of a Class 66 on a railtour (certainly a first for the Cotswold Line). However, I was more interested in the superior form of US built traction that was added to the train at Oxford.

66029 passes Baulking on 27 August 2001 with the 6A66 11:07 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station coal. At this time Didcot was receiving a mixture of Class 66 hauled bogie HTA wagons, as well as Class 60s hauling the more traditional HAA four wheel wagons.

Glorious evening light at Kings Sutton on 24 July 2006 as 66030 heads northwards with the 6M28 18:01 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working. Unfortunately the expected Class 37 on the 6M65 MoD stores did not appear, and this is a very poor substitute!

On 23 March 2011, 66030 ambles slowly down the Cherwell Valley, near Upper Heyford with the 6Z27 11:56 Stud Farm to Hinksey ballast. I would imagine the train drivers were quite surprised to see a photographer in this field, as it is a fair walk from the nearest road - a fact that puts most people off!

66030 passes Edington on 1 June 2021 with the 6M15 09:05 Westbury to Calvert stone. Well over a decade since EWS was taken over by DB Schenker, this loco still carries the full branding of the former company, including the cabside 'Three Beasties' logo.

Freshly painted 66030 passes the flooded fields at Kings Sutton on 29 November 2024 with the 4M71 09:48 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. The fact that the train is composed mainly of orange Hapag-Lloyd boxes improves the composition of the picture.

66031 passes Compton Beauchamp on 23 July 2012 with the 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot ballast, running just five minutes behind 66416 on the 4O59 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The low wagons reveal one of the more distinctive wild flowers to colonise railways embankments - the Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus). The tall flower spikes can be seen above the third and fourth wagons.

66031 passes Tackley in the late evening light on 11 July 2013 with the 4E70 16:20 Southampton to Wakefield Europort intermodal. A very lightly loaded train, with all the boxes unfortunately at the rear of the train.

66031 passes Compton Beauchamp on 13 September 2016 with the 6A03 04:45 Severnside Sita to Brentford Binliner empties. Although this was 37 minutes after sunrise, it was in fact only a minute after the sun had finally appeared from behind a bank of cloud near the horizon. I had been meaning to get a picture of this new working for some time, despite it being hauled by a mundane DB Cargo Shed. However, I had been thwarted by early running, cloud and fog, and I was beginning to think that by mid September I had missed my chance, at least on the Swindon to Didcot section of the Great Western Mainline. This view will be ruined by summer 2017, although theoretically the ugly 25kV catenary should have been in place several years ago!

66031 passes Kennington on 9 September 2017 with the 4O43 06:31 Birch Coppice to Eastleigh intermodal. For some reason I never visited this spot in the good old days of Class 47s and 50s, and although the spot is reasonably open now, it was obviously a lot better back then!

66032 passes Compton Beauchamp on 30 May 2001 with the late running 6B24 15:33 Didcot Power Station to Cardiff Tidal oil empties. Signs of Railtrack wasting money on the right. Obviously signaling needs to be modified or upgraded occasionally, but why replace the whole post complete with new foundations? They haven't even moved it to a new position! Presumably the old one didn't meet some arcane new pointless regulation, although perfectly satisfactory for the job. Unfortunately this kind of stupidity and waste is now rife in Britain.

Catching the last rays of the setting sun, 66032 climbs out of Patchway Tunnel with the 6G81 14:36 Machen to Westbury Yard Hanson stone train on 11 December 2004. Note that in the background the two lines are on different gradients, the difference in level become quite marked at the two single line tunnels. This view clearly illustrates the difficulty of railway photography in the winter. Although there are only a few low bushes on the lineside, at this time off the afternoon even they start to shade part of the train.

A very grubby 66033 passes Culham on a cloudless 27 April 2011 with the 6A48 14:16 Bicester to Didcot MoD stores. The locomotive still sports evidence of its use with Euro Cargo Rail, including various logos, data panel and a under buffer valance.

With the sun popping in an out of the clouds, 66034 just manages to avoid the darkness at South Moreton on 19 August 2013, as it heads towards Didcot with the 4M66 09:32 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal.

66034 trundles along the up relief line at Denchworth on 22 August 2015, running as the 0O12 11:06 Margam to Eastleigh light engine move. Note the attempt to keep the cab cool by having both bodyside doors open! A very poor substitute for proper air conditioning.

66034 passes the site of Edington & Bratton station on 6 July 2018 with the 6M20 10:37 Whatley Quarry to St Pancras (Churchyard Sidings) stone train. Just a few weeks earlier this view would have been totally impossible, as the tree on the left, which is now just a stump, was overhanging the line.

66034 passes Heck Ings on 15 March 2022 with the 6H62 08:15 Immingham to Drax Power Station biomass. After over an hour of the sun being partially obscured by high cloud, the sun finally came out fully for this picture.

66034 passes South Marston on 19 January 2024 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. This was running 19 minutes late, as it had been held at Challow to allow the even later running 1B13 11:48 Paddington to Carmarthen GWR service to pass.

66035 passes Five Oak Green (near Paddock Wood) on 28 January 2001 with a train of reclaimed track panels returning from a Sunday engineering possession. This is the view looking west from the A228 Maidstone to Tunbridge Wells road.

With Closeburn Filling Station on the A76 visible in the background, 66035 rounds the curve near Cample on 9 June 2007 with the 6S55 22:27 Burngullow to Irvine china clay tanks. After nearly 19 hours of travelling from far away Cornwall, the train is finally getting near its destination!

66035 ambles along the up relief line at Langford on 12 May 2008 with the 6L69 Peterborough to Bow Plasmor block train. This train originates from the block works at Heck. Although settled high pressure brings sunny conditions, it does result in the misty pale sky as seen here. Although it doesn't look as good as a sky full of fluffy white clouds, at least you are confident one of those clouds is not going drift across the sun as the train comes!

Having noted 37410 stabled at Didcot earlier in the day on 24 May 2007, I assumed it would work back north on either the 6M28 18:10 Hinksey to Bescot engineers or the  6M65 18:07 Didcot to Carlisle 'Enterprise'. After the former had passed Yarnton with 60091 in charge, I was not at all surprised to find 37410 dead in tow behind 66035 on 6M65. I was however a little surprised at the miniscule load - a single VGA van! Unfortunately the sun dipped slightly when this ridiculous train passed Yarnton.

For a brief period during 2010, DB Schenker thought they could get away with running down their Class 60 fleet. As Class 66s were incapable of hauling some of the heaviest rains, wasteful double heading had to be employed. 66035 & 66051 are pictured here approaching Challow on 17 April 2010 with the 6B33 12:12 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties.

With its point of origin just beyond the bridge in the background, 66035 gets into its stride on 10 May 2014 with the extremely lightly loaded 6Z25 08:46 Hinksey Yard to Westbury. This passed at exactly the time the much more interesting Western hauled railtour was due, which was a bit of a surprise.

66035 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 February 2017 with the 6Z47 08:49 Wembley Euro Freight Operating Centre to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf empty hoppers. I almost didn't bother taking this picture, as a filthy DB Cargo Class 66 without the sun on the front is not my idea of a good photo. However, the wagons in this case are more interesting than the loco!

66035 Resourceful brings up the rear of the late running 6B41 11:15 Westerleigh to Robeston empty oil tanks at Box on 31 December 2021. 66119 is at the front of the train, approaching Middlehill Tunnel. Engineering works between Bristol and Gloucester had caused this lengthy diversion.

An extremely easy task for six month old 66037 at Wolvercote Junction on 20 May 1999. Two empty flat wagons make up the entire load of the early running 7M28 19:00 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working.

After being delayed by the late running 6D88 Goole to Scunthorpe steel empties, 66037 pulls out of the loop at Goole with the 6H93 17.04 Goole to Peterborough sand empties on 4 October 2007. The train had been held for a considerable time on the glass factory line, which can be seen in the foreground. Luckily a very smart run round was performed and the train was only a little late leaving, but even so the shadows were lengthening requiring a different viewpoint from the previous train.

While an articulated lorry crosses the A34 Oxford bypass bridge in the background, 66037 brushes past the trees as it runs along the up relief line at Wolvercote on 16 December 2014 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks freightliner.

66037 passes Barrow upon Trent on 17 March 2015 with the 6X44 11:09 Bescot to Toton engineers train. This would normally run with a 6D44 headcode, but the inclusion of the point carriers warrants a 6X44 out of gauge headcode.

66037 brings up the rear of the UK Railtours 1Z25 07:14 Finsbury Park to Goole Docks 'Galloping Goolie' railtour at Potters Grange Junction, Goole, on 14 November 2015. At the head of the train, 66206 is weaving across into the up goods loop, prior to the train reversing into the dock sidings.

66037 slowly negotiates the track into Goole Docks on 14 November 2015 with the UK Railtours 1Z25 07:14 Finsbury Park to Goole Docks 'Galloping Goolie' railtour. Railtours into Goole Docks are extremely rare, in fact the only reference I can find to a previous one is the Branch Line Society's 'Humber Navigator 3' of 20 July 1991, when a Class 101 DMU visited the docks. A three car DMU would have had not problem, but it was a very tight fit in the headshunt for this 12 coach train!

66037 returns from the former Railway Dock siding at Goole Docks on 14 November 2015, whilst working the UK Railtours 1Z25 07:14 Finsbury Park to Goole Docks 'Galloping Goolie' railtour. After reversing, it would visit the former Stanhope Street line (now truncated to Lower Bridge Street), which is the line just to the left of the loco. Although restricting the view somewhat, the silver birch trees do provide a splash of autumn colour on this dull day.

66037 returns from the former Stanhope Street siding at Goole Docks on 14 November 2015, whilst working the UK Railtours 1Z25 07:14 Finsbury Park to Goole Docks 'Galloping Goolie' railtour. The line on the left connects with the main line, and the one on the right heads towards the south side of West Dock, and formerly continued on to Railway Dock.

66037 slowly weaves across from the down platform at Goole station, into the up goods loop on 14 November 2015 with the stock from the UK Railtours 1Z25 07:14 Finsbury Park to Goole Docks 'Galloping Goolie' railtour. A little earlier the train had traversed the same line, in the opposite direction, after visiting Goole Docks. Now, after depositing the passengers at the station it would wait for over an hour, before once again weaving across the points to set off with the returning railtour in the direction of Hull.

66037 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 20 April 2016 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Westbury stone empties. To the left of the loco, and in the grass on the right are piles marking the site of the soon to be erected electrification masts that will ruin this location forever.

Running a staggering three hours late, 66037 runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 April 2016 with the 6A15 05:05 (actually 08:10) Westbury to Appleford Mendip Rail stone train. The Great Western Mainline electrification scheme continues at a snail's pace. Whilst the masts in the background have been in situ for several weeks, the only additions during the last weekend possession appears to be the mast near the rear of the train, and another just out of the picture to the right.

Empty stone and loaded stone at Hinksey Yard on 7 February 2018. 66037 passes the yard with the 6C58 11:55 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. In the foreground is a rake of loaded DB Schenker MXA ballast wagons.

Extensive lineside vegetation clearance took place to the north of Oxford in late 2019, opening up viewpoints that had been lost since the early 1990s. One such location is Thrupp, which although still not quite as good as it was in the 1980s, is still a vastly improved. 66037 passes by on 8 January 2020 with the 4O21 09:17 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal.

It was a novelty at the time, but the red EWS Class 66 invasion soon came to dominate most freight workings on the railway! 66038 passes Hinksey Yard on 6 June 2000 with the 4M08 14:15 Swindon to Longbridge Rover car body panels. 66s had just taken over from pairs of RfD Class 47s on this working.

66039 catches a little weak sunshine between the showers, as it passes Hinksey Yard on 19 October 2011 with the 6E55 13:35 Theale to Lindsey oil empties. A Network Rail sponsored nature reserve (their probable description of the untouched wilderness between the tracks!) has prevented the whole train from being visible. Three decades before things were much tidier.

66039 approaches Tackley on 20 July 2016 with the 4M66 16:40 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. The grass next to the track has been recently mown, which is a little unusual, as Network Rail very rarely bother with lineside maintenance until it gets totally out of control.

66039 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 26 February 2022 with the early running 6B33 11:42 Theale to Margam empty oil tanks. Despite the fact that this wasn't Class 60 hauled, the guaranteed sunny afternoon made the short journey worthwhile.

66040 has a relatively light load on 28 April 2008, as it passes Kings Sutton with the 4O53 04:33 Wakefield Europort to Southampton intermodal. I was very lucky with the sun for this one. Note the ominous dark cloud approaching across the field on the left.

66040 approaches Radley on 31 August 2012 with what is presumably the the 4A40 08:45 Morris Cowley to Didcot car carriers. Note how short the train is, the 4O40 08:21 Morris Cowley to Southampton that runs in the same path is a massively long train.

66040 passes Fiddington on 27 May 2023 with the 6M81 04:26 Margam to Round Oak steel. Although it turned out to be a sunny day, at this time of the morning there was still a lot of mist and low cloud, which explains the hazy conditions in the background.

The beginning of the end! The General Motors invasion, which signalled the end of the interesting variety of traction on the national network began in 1998, and caused me to partially lose interest in the freight scene for a number of years. Brand new 66041, 66034, 66037 & 66039 pass Coedkernew on 19 December 1998, en-route from Newport to Margam, for storage over the Christmas period. They had been unloaded from the M.V.Fairload two days earlier, and this is therefore their first movement in the UK, so I suppose was worth recording, despite the grim weather.

66041 approaches Collingham on 10 March 2011 with the 6M00 11:33 Humber to Kingsbury oil tanks. A red Class 66 on tanks is not a very inspiring subject, but as I was already in position waiting for the GBRf 66 on 4L78 and the sun was out, the picture was duly taken. The decrepit wooden fence in the foreground certainly adds to the composition, so much better (and shorter) than bright green palisade fencing!

66041 approaches Wantage Road on 15 January 2013 with 4D12 13:22 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties, only a few weeks before the power station was finally shut down. I was lucky to get this picture, as the step ladder on which I was standing was unbeknown to me slipping into the mud. Just after I fired the shutter it slowly tilted sideways, and I fell off into the mud! I bet 66041's driver was killing himself laughing!

66041 passes Standish Junction on 12 October 2016 with the 6V35 14:51 Bescot to Avonmouth Hansons Sidings cement tanks. I wouldn't normally bother taking a Class 66 hauled train in such poor light, but you never know how long these shiny tanks are going to remain shiny!

Only 13:36, but the shadows are already lengthening, as 66041 passes Yarnton on 5 January 2022 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This was running 23 minutes early, after missing out its booked stop at Banbury.

66041 approaches Culham on 14 January 2022 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The abundance of pylons is not that surprising, as this is not very far from Didcot Power Station (now reduced to the small gas fired Didcot B).

66041 passes Yarnton on 17 January 2022 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This was running just five minutes behind the completely empty 4O03 10:50 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner

Running 103 minutes early, 66041 passes Little Haresfield on 27 August 2022 with the diverted 6V05 09:20 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The train's usual route via Chepstow was closed for major engineering works.

Diverted via Cheltenham due to the closure of the Didcot to Oxford line, 66041 passes Badgeworth on 7 April 2023 with the 6E11 11:07 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. This was running 105 minutes late, which has unfortunately resulted in a very backlit picture.

66042 passes through the long closed Shrivenham station on 22 September 2002 with the 1Z27 09.20 Swindon to Paddington Countryside Alliance special. This was one of two special trains run from Swindon to London for pro hunt supporters to attend the so called 'Countryside March'.

In superb low evening light just before sunset on 21 May 2009, 66043 approaches Tackley with the 4E70 16:20 Southampton to Wakefield Europort intermodal. In the background on the right is the long closed Shipton-on-Cherwell cement works. Various proposals for the site have been mooted since the works closed in the mid 1980s, including rather bizarrely for a quarry site, residential development. Various plans have been thwarted by the fact that the site is now a haven for wildlife, which it certainly wasn't whilst it was in operation.

66043 approaches Oxford on 23 May 2009 with the 4O53 04:07 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks freightliner. Both relief lines have recently been relaid here, the line on the right now being a bi-directional line for use by Oxford to Bicester First Great Western trains.

On 8 September 2012, 66043 & 66016 were used to turn a crane, using the Didcot triangle. 66043 is shown leading here, as the train approaches Didcot North Junction on its short trip from Hinksey Yard. The pair returned north again within the hour, heading back to Hinksey.

66043 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham on 24 November 2014 with the 6B35 10:47 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Despite the Met Office forecasting a bright sunny day, the sun had only just come out from beneath a dense layer of high cloud.

Two different forms of transport at Heyford on 30 September 2015. All is quiet on the Oxford Canal as 66043 sweeps through Heyford station with the 4O43 06:43 Birch Coppice to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Note the station's name formed from clipped hedging.

A panoramic view of the lines leading to Goole Docks on 13 March 1999. 66044 draws forwards with the now empty wagons from that morning's 6D50 07:37 Rotherham to Goole Docks steel service. The loco would then attach to the wagons waiting on the left, before leaving as the 6J50 11:38 Goole Docks to Rotherham.

66044 is pictured shunting steel wagons in Goole Docks on 13 March 1999. Next to the loco are the wagons brought in on that morning's 6D50 07:37 Rotherham to Goole Docks service, which have been unloaded on the dock lines to the right. The loco is setting back onto the wagons from the previous day's trip before leaving as the 6J50 11:38 Goole Docks to Rotherham. Class 66s are not liked by enthusiasts because they have displaced more interesting heritage traction, and they are equally disliked by their crews due to their poor driving environment, high noise and general poor build quality. This would explain the 'Yanks go home' message scrawled in the dirt below the cab window!

66044 passes through the Kent countryside at Five Oak Green on 28 January 2001 with the 4B29 08:23 Wembley to Dollands Moor intermodal. This would later pass through the Channel Tunnel, en-route to its final destination of Milan.

66044 approaches Pilning station on 7 August 2005 with a Sunday engineering ballast train, destination unknown. A tricky location for freight photography, as if the train is routed via the loop on the right, there is no way you can get a decent picture.

The afternoon shadows are lengthening at Fiddington on 18 February 2008, as 66044 heads south with 6V41 14:33 Brierley Hill to Cardiff Tidal scrap. This is not a location that many people visit, as the track leading up to the bridge has now become so rough that it is no longer possible to drive right up to it.

With the customary single ex RMC wagon in an otherwise uniform consist, a work stained 66044 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham on 3 December 2008 with the 6B35 10:15 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties.

Inspiration for railway modellers with small layouts! 66044 passes Little Haresfield on 21 March 2011 with the 6B36 07:32 Didcot to Ashchurch MoD stores, conveying just a single open wagon with a jumble of indeterminate military equipment. If you think this load looks pretty small, the return was even worse, i.e. light engine! I wouldn't normally bother to take a picture of a Class 66 in such poor light, but the humourous nature of this train makes this an exception.

Following the failure of 60074 Teenage Spirit on the 6B33 13:00 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties the previous day, 5 March 2013 saw the train temporarily revert to Class 66 haulage. 66044 is pictured running along the relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth.

66044 approaches Didcot North Junction on 30 March 2019 with the 4O40 10:44 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks covered car carriers. This was just before the BMW Mini plant shut down for a month.

66044 passes underneath a monument to the failed Didcot to Oxford electfrication scheme, as it passes Appleford on 11 October 2022 with the 4O39 09:43 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks BMW Minis for export.

The 3J43 02:53 Didcot Fuelling Point to Didcot Fuelling Point Rail Head Treatment Train passes Uffington on 9 October 2023, with 66044 leading, and 66155 bringing up the rear. This train had earlier traversed the Berks & Hants line in both directions, via a reversal at Maidenhead.

66044 passes Claydon on 19 July 2024 with the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The last time I was here it was getting very overgrown, so the clearance and cutting strengthening work on the left is a definite improvement.

66046 passes Compton Beauchamp on 29 May 2002 with the 4D22 17:52 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. All this is now history. 66046 is now a GBRf loco, renumbered as 66782. Didcot Power Station has been demolished, and there are no longer any coal trains. Even this view doesn't really exist anymore, as the masts and overhead wires get in the way.

66047 rounds the curve at New Barnetby on 18 September 2012 with the 4R11 07:12 West Burton Power Station to Immingham coal empties. The field on the right contains the remains of a medieval moat, although like numerous similar sites throughout the country, it now looks just like a very rough hummocky field.

66047 moves very slowly along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 8 January 2015 with the 6V47 10:27 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties. It would shortly becoming to a stand at a red signal, as 66169 was in front of it in the loop. With the RHTT season having finished a month earlier, you would have thought the loco would have at least had a wash!

Although the major rebuilding of the Oxford to Bicester line was completed in October 2015, the section from the newly built Oxford Parkway station to Oxford North Junction was not finished at the same time, with the result that the MoD trains to Bicester, and the stone trains to Oxford Banbury Road have to travel via the Chiltern Line, accessing the Oxford route via the new chord at Gavray Junction. 66047 emerges from Brill Tunnel on 19 January 2016 with the 6V01 11:04 Oxford Banbury Road to Acton stone empties.

66047 Maritime Intermodal Two passes Wormleighton Crossing on 21 September 2020 with the 4M71 09:47 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. I wouldn't normally take a picture of a DB Shed in such strong backlighting, but made an exception for this blue one!

A perfectly colour matched train. 66047 Maritime Intermodal Two passes Heck Ings on 11 March 2023 with the 6H65 12:09 Immingham to Drax Power Station biomass. It seems a little strange not seeing the chimney of Eggborough Power Station in the background of this view. It was demolished in July 2022.

Instead of a pair of DB red Class 66s, the 6E11 11:47 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties produced a blue and a green loco on 27 March 2023. This was not to be missed, despite the fact that in the Oxford area it would be very backlit. 66047 Maritime Intermodal Two & vegetable oil powered 66004 are pictured passing Wolvercote, running 23 minutes late. The late running only slightly improved the lighting angle, but more importantly the sun was behind some high cloud, which has produced a much better result.

The new order on the Theale oil tanks. With DB Cargo having withdrawn its Class 60s, the less powerful Class 66s have to be used on the heavy oil trains, either singly, or in pairs. 66047 Maritime Intermodal Two approaches the public footpath crossing at Grove on 18 January 2024 with the 6B33 13:53 Theale to Robeston empties.

66048 passes Washwood Heath on 17 February 2007 with the 6M60 23:21 Tavistock Junction to Bescot china clay tanks, passing four of its classmates stabled in  the yard, which by this time was beginning to be used as much for storing redundant stock, as operational wagons.

66049 runs alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal at Crofton on 17 February 2001 with the 6W54 Westbury to Didcot Foxhall Junction engineer's train, taking a rake of spoil wagons for use on the following day's engineering possession.

The hawthorn is in full boom at Portway on 25 May 2001, as 66049 heads northwards with the 6E71 15:08 Wolverhampton to Aldwarke steel empties. I obviously wasn't very lucky on this occasion, as this train was still often Class 56 hauled at this time!

66050 EWS Energy plods along the down relief line at Denchworth on 24 March 2011 with the 6B33 13:35 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. Typically, the sun decided to find some wispy high cloud just at this moment!

The shabby condition of 66050 EWS Energy contrasts markedly with the shiny new bogie hopper wagons of the 4D87 14:56 Drax Power Station to Hull biomass empties, seen here passing Whitley Bridge Junction on 13 March 2014.

66050 EWS Energy passes Yarnton on 7 March 2022 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This may be very poorly loaded, but it is nothing like as bad as the 4O03 11:00 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner (which passed a few minutes earlier under a dark cloud), as that was completely empty!

66051 passes Tredington on 10 October 2008 with the 6V07 13:21 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The clouds in the background suggests that I was in the right place for a better chance of some decent light!

The 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot departmental working is booked to use the up relief line between Challow and Wantage Road. However, it often gets a clear run along the main line, as was the case on 16 October 2012, when 66051 worked the train. It is pictured here passing Denchworth.

Although the northern section of the Cotswold Line sees considerable movement of freight between Worcester and Honeybourne (for Long Marston), the southern section is virtually a passenger only railway. Therefore, when a freight working was scheduled for 29 July 2014, it just had to be photographed. Unfortunately its timing was very difficult for photography, with a choice between very backlit locations, and totally impossibly backlit locations! 66051 passes through Charlbury station with the 6Z36 08:28 Didcot to Long Marston, conveying two TEA bogie tank wagons, which are going to receive bogie repairs.

A disinterested member of the public watches 66051 as it speeds through Kingham station on 29 July 2014 with the 6Z37 14:45 Long Marston to Didcot, conveying eight TEA bogie oil tanks, fresh from bogie overhauls. Unfortunately this corresponded with a massive bank of dark clouds blotting out the sun, but I wasn't going to miss getting a picture of a freight on the Cotswold Line. As far as I can remember, this is the first time I have photographed a revenue earning freight train at Kingham. Note the reproduction GWR seat, and the original running in board, above the locomotive.

Not the type of train that Maritime Transport envisaged one of their blue liveried locos would end up on! 66051 Maritime Intermodal Four passes Crowle on 4 December 2019 with the 4R49 08:15 Drax Power Station to Immingham biomass empties.

66051 Maritime Intermodal Four passes Hungerford Common on 24 September 2021 with the 6M15 07:07 Tytherington to Calvert, conveying another load of stone for the HS2 project. The loco's bright blue livery is a nice match for the slightly more subdued mid blue wagons. Pointing work is taking place on the bridge in the background, with three way traffic lights in operation on the road.

66051 Maritime Intermodal Four moves slowly up to the red signal at the end of the down relief line at Challow on 29 November 2021, as it works the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. The sun had vanished over half an hour before this arrived, but luckily just as it approached it very briefly brightened up considerably.

66051 Maritime Intermodal Four passes Tackley on 13 December 2023 with the 6E11 11:47 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. This was moving quite slowly, as it was right behind the 2M32 12:35 Didcot Parkway to Banbury GWR DMU.

A scene that is now history, as Didcot Power Station closed in 2013. 66053 runs slowly along the up relief line at Denchworth on 27 July 2012 with the 6D13 11:00 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station coal train.

The low afternoon winter sun highlights 66053, as it approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 4 December 2012. A commonplace view with just a few months to go before the closure of Didcot Power Station would render it extinct. The working is the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties.

66053 runs along the down relief line at Milton on 13 December 2014 with the 6V13 08:12 Dollands Moor to Margam steel empties. Note the now commonplace traffic jam on the adjacent A4130 Milton to Didcot road.

With the three remaining cooling towers, and the tall chimney of the disused coal fired Didcot Power Station visible in the background, 66053 passes Steventon on 9 December 2015 with the 6B35 10:47 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Note the single red repainted DB Schenker wagon half way along the train. As the sun was not yet quite fully on the front for this train, I decided on a wider and more distant view. The ploughed field, and contrasting unploughed strip of grass makes an ideal foreground.

The bright red MXA wagons of the 6W14 09:55 Rumney River Bridge Junction to Westbury spoil train certainly stand out in the winter sunshine, as they pass Uffington on 22 January 2017, hauled by 66053. This had left 81 minutes early, which I thought was excellent news, as the lighting would then be perfect at Uffington. Unfortunately, the train dawdled, and passed Uffington 4 minutes late, so the sun had just gone off the nose!

66054 passes under the signal gantry that controls the double crossovers at Bourton (near Swindon) as it heads west with the 6B24 10:36 Didcot to Wentloog MoD stores on 4 February 2009. Snow had fallen during the night to top up the previous day's covering, so with the sun shining I set off for the Great Western Mainline hoping for some excellent photographic conditions. As I drove towards the line the sun just got weaker and by the time 66054 appeared it had virtually gone! Note the remains of the white painted sighting patch on the bridge in the background, a relic of the days of semaphore signaling. This section of line was converted to automatic colour light operation in 1965.

66054 passes Baulking on a rather damp 30 April 2009 with the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. A dull day has allowed a picture to be taken from the north side of the line for a change.

66054 passes New Barnetby on 18 September 2012 with the 6E46 04:35 Kingsbury to Lindsey empty oil tanks. The day had started with plenty of clear sky, but even by 09:30 the clouds were already building up. A prelude to some very heavy showers, at least while I was on the way home via the M180!

66054 passes some signs of Network Rail activity at Somerton on 28 November 2015, as it heads down the Cherwell Valley with the 4O43 06:31 Birch Coppice to Eastleigh intermodal. Unfortunately the promised early morning sun was already starting to disappear into high cloud.

66054 passes Bredon's Norton on 17 April 2021 with the 6M81 04:44 Margam to Round Oak steel. I wasn't initially going to bother taking this, as a backlit DB (EWS) 'Shed' is less than inspiring. However, the inclusion of the gate in the foreground turns it into a presentable picture.

66055 passes through the snowy landscape near Uffington on 10 February 2009 with the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The nearest road to this location is two fields away, by the tree on the extreme right of the picture.

66055 emerges from the 2½ mile long Chipping Sodbury Tunnel on 10 July 2014, as it heads for South Wales with the 6V47 10:27 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties. The houses of Chapel Lane, Old Sodbury in the background obviously have a fine view of trains approaching from the west!

66055 Alain Thauvette passes Churchdown on 5 July 2019 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. This is the site of Churchdown station, which closed in 1964. The station was formerly jointly operated by the Great Western, and Midland Railways, and had four platforms.

66055 Alain Thauvette passes Whitley Bridge Junction on 14 September 2020 with the 4R54 16:40 Drax Power Station to Immingham biomass empties. The weeds are already taking over the disused line to Eggborough Power Station behind the loco.

66055 Alain Thauvette passes through Kings Sutton station on 25 May 2021 with the 6Z20 08:08 Bescot Down Side to Didcot, conveying a single five vehicle set of WIA car carriers, presumably off maintenance, and destined for the BMW Mini traffic from Morris Cowley.

66056 passes underneath the footbridge at Didcot North Junction on 22 April 2002 with MGR empties from Didcot Power Station. At this time Didcot usually received its coal from Avonmouth, so empty coal trains heading towards Oxford, which were once commonplace, was then unusual.

66056 passes Didcot North Junction on 20 March 2024 with the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Note the additional hand lamp fixed to the front of the loco. I'm not sure what it's for, as it's not switched on, and the other lights are working.

66057 heads north at Cossington on 11 May 2001 with empty Redland stone hoppers, destined for nearby Mountsorrel. The 18:43 Nottingham to Leicester Midland Mainline Class 170 DMU heads in the opposite direction. Lineside vegetation now prevents a picture from being taken from quite this far to the side.

Viewed from the top of White Horse Hill, 66057 passes Uffington with the 4V14 Dollands Moor to South Marston empty Honda covered car wagons on 5 April 2008. Uffington's 13th Century St Mary's church with its distinctive octagonal tower can be clearly be seen in the foreground. Foreground being a relative term, as it is two miles away! The tower was formerly topped by a spire until it was brought down by a storm in 1740. The use of a long lens has compressed the perspective, with various details in the distance becoming visible. On the right is Kitemore House, Shellingford (5 miles), in the background on the left, Bampton church (11 miles), and near the horizon, the industrial units at Witney (15 miles). It had started as a sunny morning, but as can be seen from the patchy shadows, clouds were starting to build up. In fact the sun was only just reappearing on the village in the foreground shortly before the train came into view.

66057 passes Claydon, running south light engine on 15 April 2008, wearing a 'Slough IECC On Tour' headboard. This picture is taken from Claydon Crossing, a footpath crossing that only provides access to a nearby house.

An early morning surprise at Moredon on 21 May 2019. Just as I arrived, a distant hoot indicated something unexpected was approaching, and shortly afterwards 66057 & 66094 came into view with the 6V70 20:57 Liverpool Euro Metal to Swindon Cocklebury scarp empties. Although I knew this was running, I had assumed it would be long gone, and hadn't noticed that it was running late. Although only half an hour late here, at one point in its journey it had been nearly three hours late! As the delay started around Landor Street Junction in Birmingham, I assume that is where 66094 failed, and 66057 was summoned to assist.

With a hoot from the driver, 66057 approaches Culham on 24 May 2022 with the 4O39 09:43 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks BMW Minis for export. The use of a long lens accentuates the curves and the change of gradient.

66057 approaches Didcot North Junction on 10 October 2022 with the 4O39 09:43 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks BMW Minis for export, just as 165127 passes by in the opposite direction with the 2L26 11:04 Didcot Parkway to Oxford GWR service.

With DB Cargo having withdrawn their last remaining Class 60s, the Theale oil trains changed to Class 66 haulage in early 2024. Ten Class 66/0s will be re-geared and renumbered into the 66/6 series for these heavy trains, but prior to that standard Class 66s will have to suffice. 66057 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth just as the sun stats to disappear into cloud on 16 January 2024 with the 6B33 13:53 Theale to Robeston empty tanks.

66057 & 66205 pass Tumpy Green on 2 August 2024 with the 6B13 05:14 Robeston to Westerleigh oil tanks. This train had been diverted via the Severn Tunnel, and I had photographed it going the other way at nearby Gossington, over an hour earlier.

66058 passes the blackthorn blossom at Stoke Orchard on 6 May 2013 with the 4V13 Toton to Avonmouth coal empties. Due to the incredibly cold spring, the flowering of these lineside blackthorn bushes was approximately a month later than usual.

66059 passes Melton Ross on 26 July 2003 with a featherweight 6D66 14:52 Immingham to Doncaster Enterprise service, running very early, as was often the case at the time. With loads such as this, you can see why BR abandoned the Speedlink network over a decade earlier!

66059 approaches Tackley on 19 March 2009 with the 6V59 10:32 Mountsorrel to Westbury ballast train. Just enough room to fit in the train, and just in time to visit this location before the bushes grew up and started to obstruct the view.

Colas Rail Sheldon cranes DRC78226 & DRC78235 head up the consist of the 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot engineers train, as it passes Compton Beauchamp on 30 April 2013 behind 66059. Note the Margam sheep logo above the multiple working socket.

66059 approaches Culham on 30 June 2015 with the 4M66 16:40 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. Thistles and assorted weeds are already colonising the recently cleared field edge, while the oilseed rape crop in the field appears to have been seriously invaded by deadly poisonous hemlock.

66059 passes Harbury on 26 March 2016 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z36 05:55 Eastleigh to Eggborough Power Station 'Generating Finale' railtour. This is the site of the severe landslip of January 2015, which closed the line for several weeks. Evidence of the work to stabilise the cutting can be seen on the left, as well as scaffolding around Harbury Tunnel mouth in the distance.

66059 passes Hemington on 26 March 2016 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z36 05:55 Eastleigh to Eggborough Power Station 'Generating Finale' railtour. The 'Big Sheds' of Castle Donington Industrial Estate can be seen in the background.

66059 brings up the rear of the Pathfinder Tours 1Z36 05:55 Eastleigh to Eggborough Power Station 'Generating Finale' railtour, as it approaches its destination on 26 March 2016. The lead locomotive, similarly numbered 60059, is just passing underneath the A645 Knottingley to Goole road bridge.

66059 passes Hungerford Common on 27 February 2019 with the 6C58 11:55 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The red Sheds will disappear from these workings when Freightliner take over in November 2019.

66060 passes Plean on 24 May 1999 with the 6D46 13:30 Inverness to Mossend Enterprise service. A couple of the Safeway containers at the rear of the train would be have come from Georgemas Junction, on the Far North line. The bridge in the background carriers the Plean to Cowie road over the line, but the bridge from which this picture was taken has now been demolished. The Wallace Monument can be seen in the distance on the extreme right of the picture.

I suppose it is newsworthy, but this certainly isn't the picture I was intending to take when I went to the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham to photograph the 6B33 13:35 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 27 August 2009. 60059 Swinden Dalesman had worked the 6A11 loaded service, so I fully expected to get a shot of the 60 in its faded Loadhaul livery, if I could find a gap in the clouds. Unfortunately 60059 had obviously failed, so 66060 has been added to the front to take the train back to Wales. A good job the tanks are empty, as otherwise the total load including a dead 60 would obviously be too much for a 'shed'! Although the sun was out at the appropriate moment, the fact that the train was over an hour late meant that the lighting was a little head on.

Traffic looks busy on the A423 Oxford bypass, as 66060 passes underneath on 12 April 2013 with the 6M48 10:34 Southampton Eastern Docks to Halewood empty car carriers. The train is approaching the southern end of Hinksey Yard.

With the 655 feet tall chimney, and partially collapsed turbine hall of the disused Didcot Power Station dominating the background, 66060 approaches Culham on 4 May 2016 with the 6M66 05:04 Southampton Western Docks to Garston (Speke) Ford cars and vans. What I hadn't noticed until I viewed this picture on the computer is the heron stood in the field in the foreground.

66060 passes Grove on 2 January 2021 with the 6C03 10:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. With large rust patches, and numerous area of ill-matched patch painting, this loco could certainly do with some cosmetic attention!

66060 passes Popham on 27 May 2022 with the lightly loaded 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. It looks like the loco has had some kind of graffiti attack, which has been crudely painted over.

66061 approaches Little Kimble on 24 May 2010 with the 6A56 10:05 Calvert to Northolt binliner empties. Despite their filthy contents, the containers manage to still retain a more colourful livery that the very drab ex EWS livery of the locomotive.

66061 passes Great Heck on 11 March 2011 with yet another loaded coal train for one of the Aire Valley power stations. A common enough sight at the time, but now part of history. The gated line to the right leads to the Plasmor block works.

66061 passes the ripening wheat at Uffington on 12 July 2014 with the 6V13 08:12 Dollands Moor to Margam steel empties. This section of embankment has had extensive strengthening work carried out in recent years.

With the chimney of Eggborough Power Station dominating the background, 66061 passes underneath the East Coast Mainline at Heck Ings on 7 April 2015 with the 6H43 06:27 Immingham to Drax Power Station imported coal.

66061 slowly approaches Joan Croft Junction on 2 October 2017 with the 4R13 09:09 Milford West Sidings to Humber International Terminal coal empties. It will shortly be taking the sharply curved chord to Applehurst Junction, on the Wakefield to Scunthorpe line.

66061 passes Yarnton in the autumnal gloom on 29 November 2022 with the 4M71 09:49 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. Luckily the empty flats were at the rear of the train on this occasion.

66061 passes Claydon on 11 September 2023 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties, which on this occasion was terminated at Llanwern. The loco had only been back in service for a few days, after being freshly painted, which explains why it looks so clean.

Oh no, not again! 66063 with failed 60099 dead in tow passes the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham on 4 June 2011 with the late running 6B33 12:12 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties. The silver 'tug' had failed on the outward loaded working near Hawkeridge Junction. I must stop going to this location as it is obviously a jinxed spot when an interesting liveried Class 60 is on the Theale working, as two years previously I got a similar picture, only this time with 66060 & 60059! At least I managed to get this in an unbelievably lucky one minute's worth of sunshine.

66063 passes Baulking on 30 September 2015 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. This location will be ruined by the forthcoming electrification, but it is already massively overgrown compared with what it was like in the 1990s.

66063 passes Kings Sutton on 11 June 2018 with the 6E03 16:27 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. This was running to a revised time, roughly two hours earlier starting from Didcot, and by virtue of a much shorter layover in Didcot, a daylight appearance here!

EWS lives on, 16 years after its demise! 66063 in its 'heritage livery' passes Croome on 9 January 2024 with the 6V92 10:32 Corby to Margam steel empties. It may have been sunny, but there was a bitterly cold wind, and I was glad to get back into the car!

66063 approaches Defford on 15 January 2024 with the 6V92 10:32 Corby to Margam steel empties. This is a location that has been on my 'to do' list for some time, as although it is reasonably local, for some reason I had never got around to doing it.

66064 passes Woodborough on 17 February 2001 with the diverted 6V59 09:48 Purfleet to Cardiff Tidal Sidings steel empties. This 'as required' working was one of the few freight trains booked to run via the Swindon line on a Saturday. Due to that line's closure for engineering works on this occasion, it is here traveling via the Berks & Hants.

66065 passes Bardrill (between Blackford and Gleneagles) with the 6X88 06:10 Hartlepool to Georgemas Junction pipes on 23 April 2003. The pipes were destined for the gas fields off the coast of the Shetland Islands.

Even on a Sunday there is some freight activity at Thorne Junction. Showing clear evidence of having been used of the Rail Head Treatment Train, 66065 works the 6D37 10:15 Lackenby to Scunthorpe steel empties on 18 December 2016.

66065 passes Knighton on 9 August 2022 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. This was running 78 minutes late, which was not too bad considering it left Northolt 119 minutes behind time. The train is approaching the site of Knighton Crossing, which was replaced by an underbridge in the early 1970s.

66065 passes Baulking on 10 August 2022 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. This location is unfortunately almost totally useless now, as even before the wires went up, the lineside bushes in the background seriously restricted the view.

Palindromic 'Shed' 66066 passes Stenson Junction on 4 November 2009 with the 6M85 05:32 Tyne Yard to Bescot empty cartics. An ideal location for photography during the autumn and winter months, as the large clear space on the right where the former lines into Willington Power Station once were, means there is not a lot to shade the line.

Framed by the doomed signal gantry and its modern replacement at Baulking on 20 March 2015, 66066 heads westwards with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. This view makes an interesting comparison to the same train at the same location a couple of years earlier, just as a start was being made on the resignalling works.

Palindromic DB Shed 66066 Geoff Spencer emerges from Chipping Sodbury Tunnel on 7 April 2017 with the 6Z47 13:10 Acton to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf stone empties. Although some of the wagons are graffiti covered, the loco is in sparkling condition, having obviously recently had a wash, at least up to cantrail level!

66066 Geoff Spencer runs alongside the North Soak Drain near Crowle on 5 November 2018 with the 6X01 10:17 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh long welded rails, this time completely minus the rails! One of the turbines of the Keadby Wind Farm has just started to appear, as the mist slowly clears.

66066 Geoff Spencer is just about to disappear into Manton Tunnel on 14 May 2021, as it works the 4L38 11:39 East Midlands Gateway to Felixstowe Central intermodal. The village of Manton sits directly on top of the 749 yard long tunnel.

66066 Geoff Spencer passes Stoke Orchard on 4 April 2023 with the 6V05 08:22 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. This was running half an hour late. The only problem with this location is the lack of a footpath, and the constant procession of heavy lorries passing over the bridge going to and from the nearby landfill site.

66067 rounds the curve at Kirby Bellars on 5 September 2014 with the 6M64 10:57 Peterborough to Mountsorrel empty Redland self discharge train. The little bit of weak sun was neither expected or particularly welcome here, as the cutting is party in shade.

The pigeons on the electricity wires take no notice, as 66067 passes Cossington on 31 March 2016 with the 6L47 08:55 Mountsorrel to Trowse Redland stone hoppers. It's nice to see a battered rustic wooden lineside fence, rather than the now all too common green palisade variety!

Exceedingly scruffy 66067 takes the up relief line at Wolvercote on 11 August 2020 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The buddleia bushes are thriving well in the ballast!

66068 passes through Lowdham station on 21 July 2014 with the 6M00 10:32 Humber Oil Refinery to Kingsbury oil tanks. Because of the lineside trees, it is only possible to take this head on view at this location, but it does give a clear view f the signal box, and the impressive station building (now a private house).

Viewed through a long lens in order to avoid the encroaching late afternoon shadows, 66068 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham on 24 November 2014 with he 6V47 10:27 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties, which on this occasion was terminated at Margam.

66068 brings up the rear of the 6E53 09:14 Kellingley Colliery to Killingholme spoil train at Melton Ross on 6 November 2017. This is a short term flow to move colliery waste for use in the construction of a new wharf near Immingham. 66014 is leading the train.

66068 passes Uffington on 13 June 2023 with the 4C90 14:25 Acton to Tytherington Quarry stone empties. This was running 13 minutes early, which helped a little bit with the lighting, as the sun was getting very head on.

66068 just manages to avoid the worst of the shadows, as it passes Badgeworth on 15 November 2023 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Plenty of autumn colours, but a bit too near the track!

66069 passes the site of Uffington station in abysmal light on 13 July 2010 with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties, proving that the reappearance of Class 60 haulage on this train the previous week was just a fluke. Obviously I would not bother to go out to photograph this train in such poor light, but as it was running just half an hour before the Royal Scotsman was due from the other direction, I relented! The large building on the right was once the Station Hotel and at the time this picture was taken was up for sale for £465,000. This seems quite a reasonable figure for what is quite a substantial building, but then even the most creative of estate agents could hardly claim it is in a quiet location!

66069 slowly runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 14 January 2012 with the 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth MGR empties. This would be the final year of coal train operations on this line.

A lovely spring day at Great Bourton on 28 March 2012. 66069 heads south with the 4O30 13:19 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. A pity there weren't a few more boxes near the front of the train!

With its customary rake of bright DBS red hoppers, mixed with a few faded ex National Power blue ones, the 6Z47 08:49 Wembley Euro Freight Operating Centre to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf empties passes through Sonning cutting on 26 April 2016, led by 66069.

66069 passes Heck Ings on 11 March 2023 with the 4A63 14:50 Drax Power Station to Milford West Sidings biomass empties. As the sun had disappeared, I decided to take this from the less photographed north side of the line.

66070 crosses over the M5 near junction 11 at Churchdown on 17 June 2017 with the 6V81 15:32 Masborough to Cardiff Tidal scrap. With the relative quietness of the Class 66, and the noise from the motorway, there was no warning of this approaching, so knowing that it had left Cheltenham, it was a case of camera at the ready for a quick reaction!

Although the phenomenal heatwave of the summer of 2018 had only just started, the driver of 66070 is making the most of the cooling breeze, as he passes Kings Sutton on 11 June 2018 with the 4E68 15:53 Southampton Western Docks to Wakefield Europort intermodal.

66072 passes Shrivenham on 27 October 2003 with the 5Z21 Ilford to Caerwent, conveying former First Great Eastern EMUs 312720, 312716 & 312708 for scrapping. There were quite a few of these workings around this time, conveying both third rail and 25kV EMUs for scrapping at the former MoD site at Caerwent, but as I was still working, I didn't get to photograph many!

The early morning sun has just appeared over the nearby hill as 66073 leads the 3J43 05:29 Basingstoke to Didcot (via Westbury) Rail Head Treatment Train through valley of the infant River Avon near Wootton Rivers on 20 October 2010. Surprisingly clean for an RHTT loco (at least on this side), 66073 shows the various modifications that it received from its sojourn in France working for Euro Cargo Rail. Note the wasp stripe painted valance, modified livery and additional stickers. Classmate 66026 on the rear of the train is also a recent repatriation.

66074 approaches the site of Aynho station with the 6M19 07:06 Didcot Yard to Kineton MoD train on 15 August 2008. This was one of my briefest ever visits to a location. As my route this morning took me over the railway here, I decided to stop to see if the location was still OK photographically, not have been to the spot for a few years. As I arrived at the bridge the 66 was just coming round the corner, so I quickly got the camera out of the bag, took the picture, then walked straight back to the car!

66074 has a varied selection of wagons in tow, as it passes Tredington on 6 February 2023 with the 6V92 10:34 Corby to Margam steel empties. This was running 45 minutes late, which was all to the good, as the lighting angle was getting better all the time!

66075 heads west past Barrow-upon-Trent on 22 May 2001 with a loaded MGR. Two decades later the loco may still be around, but HAA wagons are a thing of the past, as the movement of coal on the railways has all but ceased.

66075 passes Bourton on 17 September 2014 with the 6O32 10:00 Margam to Dollands Moor covered steel carriers. Typical hazy summer lighting, but the less harsh light is at least a little more suitable for a backlit subject such as this.

66075 passes the site of Waddesdon Manor station on 25 November 2016 with the 6Z58 10:06 Calvert to Bow spoil empties. The first sunny morning for ages, and the prospect of some late autumn colour tempted me out to do this, despite the fact that the train is no longer Class 56 hauled.

66076 approaches Aller on 11 August 1999 with the Wessex Trains 1Z96 04:19 Victoria to Plymouth 'Wessex Eclipse Express' railtour, one of a number of special trains that traveled down to the west country to allow people to view the total solar eclipse, which could only be fully appreciated in Devon and Cornwall. I traveled down by car, which obviously entailed a ridiculously early start from Oxfordshire. The eclipse itself was spectacular, but unfortunately most of the many specials passed Aller in the fog, and it had only just cleared when 66076 came into view.

66076 passes Bourton on 2 July 2014 with the 6O32 10:00 Margam to Dollands Moor covered steel carriers. Note the Margam sheep logo between the two windscreens, just below the headlight. Very appropriate, considering the train's point of origin!

66076 passes through the centre road of Oxford station on 30 January 2015 with the 4O43 06:43 Birch Coppice to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Since I was here two years earlier, yet another new building has sprung up on the left of the picture.

As I arrived at Challow on 26 November 2017, there were three ballast trains parked in the engineering possession. The front one (which was already in an unphotographable position) moved off as I walked across the bridge, and the other two started to move up to take its place. I just had time to grab this picture of 66076, but as it only moved to just under the bridge, I had plenty of time to get a better picture of 66230, which can just be seen slowly following it in the background.

66076 passes Little Heck on 30 March 2024 with the 6D05 12:48 Lackenby to Scunthorpe steel empties. A dull subject and loco, but the impressive cloud formation lifts the picture out of the mere record shot category.

A conveniently short train for the limited view at Melton Junction on 5 September 2014. 66077 Benjamin Gimbert G.C. is viewed from the recently constructed footbridge, as it heads east with the 6M96 05:51 Margam to Corby steel coils. The residents of the new house will have a good few of the line for just a short time, as it looks like those trees are the infamous Leylandii conifers.

Running a staggering 268 minutes early, 66077 passes Elliot on 1 September 2018 with the 6D84 18:01 (14:31 actual) Aberdeen Waterloo to Mossend calcium carbonate tanks. While I suppose getting this was a bonus, it is an exceedingly poor substitute for the 1S11 10:00 Kings Cross to Aberdeen LNER HST, which is what I went here for, and which I missed. As the HST appeared to have come to a stand near Dundee, and as the weather was so grim, I decided to walk back to the car in Arbroath. I checked Realtime Trains whilst walking across the field in the background, only to find it was now on the move again and had passed Carnoustie. Despite running back to the bridge, I didn't make it in time!

66078 passes Cholsey on 15 June 2004 with the 7O26 10:45 Hinksey to Eastleigh departmental working. In the background, the 10:07 Paddington to Oxford Turbo unit calls at Cholsey station. Just visible through the trees in the background is the well known Manor Farm bridge.

66078 passes Churcham on 19 February 2019 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Highnam church spire can be seen in the distance on the left, while on the extreme right, the A48 road bridge can just be seen.

66078 passes Challow on 21 March 2020 with the 4V96 12:42 Banbury Reservoir to Bristol East stone empties. This had left Banbury 47 minutes early, but by Didcot had tuned that into a 42 minute deficit. It was only 11 minutes behind time here.

Another load of stone for the extremely controversial HS2 project. 66078 passes Froxfield on 20 July 2021 with the 6M15 07:07 Tytherington Quarry to Calvert. This DB working breaks the dominance of Freightliner trains on this route.

The 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal was running over half an hour late on 22 November 2021, and the shadows were getting a bit problematic when 66078 finally passed through Radley station.

66079 James Nightall GC approaches Creykes Crossing  to the south of Goole with the 6H93 17:04 Goole to Peterborough Yard sand empties on 13 March 2007. Unfortunately the glorious evening light which was turning the willow bushes along the ditch a rich fiery red had just faded out. If the train had just been a couple of minutes earlier! In the background the three major landmarks of Goole can be seen (not counting the huge new glass factory from which this train has come, which is off to the left). On the extreme left are the two water towers (Salt and Pepper Pot), in the gap in the bushes are the dock cranes, and just behind the rear of the train is the parish church.

66079 James Nightall GC passes Tredington on 10 October 2018 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. It's nice to have a named EWS liveried 'Shed' for a change, but I much prefer the original recipient of that name!

The last time I visited Appleford I photographed a freight train diverted from the Birmingham to Cheltenham line, and on my visit of 5 August 2022 the same thing happened! 66079 James Nightall GC should have arrived at its destination at 06:38 with the 6V70 23:44 Liverpool Euro Metal to Swindon Cocklebury scrap empties, but it is pictured here passing Appleford, running off route, and six hours late!

66079 James Nightall GC passes the flooded fields at Kings Sutton on 16 January 2023 with the 4M71 09:51 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. A good load at the front of the train, which was in marked contrast to the two intermodals that I saw heading in the opposite direction.

66080 just manages to avoid the advancing shadows, as it runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 26 February 2014 with the 6B35 10:47 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties.

66080 passes Cossington on 31 March 2016 with the 6L75 06:13 Peak Forest to Ely Papworth Sidings stone train. Note the much coarser than normal grade of stone in the leading wagons. The steam rising from Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station's cooling towers dominates the background.

66080 passes through the forest of new electfrication masts at Denchworth on 4 September 2016 with the 6B35 12:53 Southall to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Note the mix of recently repainted (and now vandalised!) wagons, along with some still in extremely faded National Power livery.

The Cotswold Hills were once extensively quarried for their stone, with all the towns and villages being built from the honey coloured oolitic limestone. However, unlike the Mendips, there has never been any serious rail borne stone traffic in the area. This therefore is something a little different, a stone train in the Stroud Valley, although admittedly only empties. 66080 passes Cashes Green on 30 June 2018 with the diverted 6B35 11:00 Southall to Margam stone empties.

Running 51 minutes late, 66080 passes Challow on 21 March 2020 with the 6C03 09:00 Brentford Town Day & Sons to Severnside Sita Binliner. Settled high pressure may mean sunshine, but it can also mean thin high cloud, which took the edge off the light for most of the time I was at the lineside.

66080 passes Natton on 4 November 2022 with the 6V05 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. This was running over two hours early, and passed me 15 minutes before its booked departure time of 09:15! It had been briefly held in the loop at Ashchurch, just beyond the bridge in the background.

66080 passes Fiddington on 17 September 2024 with the 6V51 12:39 Burton upon Trent West Yard to Cardiff Tidal steel empties. Around this time I should have been photographing 37425 with the 1Z58 11:43 Derby RTC to Canton Taff Vale Sidings Network Rail test train, but that only got as far as Washwood Heath. Loss of power on the rear loco (37421) saw it return to Derby after a long delay. So with a perfect sunny afternoon, I was reduced to photographing this nondescript Class 66 hauling a rake of heavily vandalised wagons.

66081 crosses the River Avon at Eckington on 25 June 1999 with the 4V22 16:03 Longbridge to Swindon Rover car body panel empties. At this time the then new Class 66s had just taken over from Class 47s, although there were still frequent Class 37 & 58 substitutions, but sadly not on this day!

66081 passes Yarnton, just to the north of Oxford, with the 4M04 16:36 Southampton Eastern Docks to Washwood Heath imported Ford cars on 2 June 2004. A recently constructed footbridge has created this new vantage point, which is handy for northbound trains in the evening, as from around 18:30 the sun is on the front of the loco. It is also a good location to watch the stationery rush hour traffic on the A34 a few fields away!

Viewed from the hillside half a mile away, 66081 rounds the curve near Rousham (between Banbury and Oxford) in superb late afternoon light with the 6V59 10:32 Mountsorrel to Westbury ballast train on 17 December 2008. Just visible in the trees in the distance directly above the second wagon is the Rousham Eyecatcher, a sham ruin created by William Kent (1684 - 1748) as a folly to be viewed from nearby Rousham House. Some idea of the length of lens needed for this picture can be gauged from the fact that this local landmark is over two miles away from where I am standing.

66081 passes Radley on 31 August 2012 with the 6M21 07:29 Didcot to Fenny Compton MoD stores. A wisp of steam from the cooling towers in the background shows that Didcot Power Station is using up some of its few remaining generating hours. It won't be long before this familiar Thames Valley landmark is no more.

66082 approaches Wantage Road on 26 March 2007 with the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. But for the misty conditions, it would normally be possible to see the steam rising from Didcot's cooling towers in the background.

66082 has just passed North Staffs Junction and is approaching Stenson Junction on 4 November 2009 with a slightly truncated 6M11 08:30 Washwood Heath to Peak Forest stone empties. This train is typically twice this length. Young silver birch trees now dominate the site of Willington Power Station, on the left.

A dull and damp Wolvercote, pictured on 10 May 2014, with even darker clouds (and presumably heavier rain) over the City of Oxford in the background. 66082 slowly heads north with the 6M44 05:18 Southampton Eastern Docks to Halewood empty Jaguar car carriers. On the right the works for the reinstatement of the former down goods loop can be seen, with a slightly superfluous stop board marking the end of the short section of relaid track from the trailing junction a short distance to the north.

66082 passes Steventon on 18 July 2015 with the 05:30 Margam to Acton, conveying 27 MEA wagons recently removed from storage. Several of the wagons are still in Mainline blue, and most seem to have been attacked by graffiti vandals. Unfortunately this came during a cloudy spell, but with the sun following the train down the track. It was running over an hour late (it had been nearly two hours late at one point) and that would have improved the angle of the light - but for this one pesky cloud! Note the electrification steel piling tube on the right.

66082 passes Souldern Wharf on 24 August 2016 with the 6O42 11:31 Halewood to Southampton Eastern Docks Range Rovers for export. Now totally hidden by the trees in the background, the Chiltern Line converges in from the right, on the approach to Aynho Junction.

66082 passes Ledburn on 19 April 2017 with the 4M12 04:02 London Gateway to Birch Coppice intermodal. This picture sums up why I hate taking pictures on 25kV lines. Admittedly in this case all the overhead clutter is augmented in the ugly stakes by the rusty portaloo!

With its train stretching all the way back to the Shrewley roadbridge in the background, 66082 passes Hatton North Junction on 19 April 2018 with the 6O30 14:27 Castle Bromwich Jaguar to Southampton Eastern Docks, conveying Range Rovers and Land Rover Discoverys for export.

You don't always need a fast shutter speed for railway photography! 66082 stands at the signal at Didcot North Junction in exactly the right spot to be photographed, whilst working the 6O30 14:27 Castle Bromwich Jaguar to Southampton Eastern Docks cars on 10 April 2018. I had seen this same loco, on the same train, the previous day.

66083 passes Yarnton on 6 June 2004 with the 4O26 14:48 Burton-on-Trent to Southampton intermodal. At this time it was a still a bit of a novelty to see EWS locos working intermodal trains, which were of course more usually associated with Freightliner.

66083 passes Yarnton on 6 July 2006 with the 6M23 14:04 Fawley to Bromford Bridge bitumen tanks. A long standing freight flow, that unfortunately ended a couple of years after this picture was taken, after running under the same headcode for nearly half a century! Naturally during this long period of operation the variety of traction (starting with steam) has been incredible.

Work to reinstate double track on parts of the Cotswold Line started in late July 2009, with initial work confined to slewing the track to its former position and moving signal cables, basically undoing all the realignment work done at the time of the 1971 singling. On 24 July, 66083 sits next to Charlbury station car park with the 6W88 ballast train from Hinksey. Unfortunately a buckled rail meant that it would be unlikely to move for some time, so I abandoned my original plan to photograph the return empties somewhere nearer Oxford, which would have been headed by 66118, which is well out sight round the corner here on the rear of the train. This is not a very photogenic location, but at least it was parked somewhere that was easily accessible. It was just a case of waiting for one of the brief bursts of sunshine before taking the picture and then heading home!

There is an interesting and varied load behind 66083, as it passes Up Hatherley on 4 May 2010 with the late running 6B36 07:32 Didcot to Ashchurch MoD stores. About the only time you see a really mixed load in a freight train nowadays is on one of the military services.

66084 slowly approaches journey's end with the 6V03 09:13 Kineton to Didcot MoD stores on 8 March 2011. This is one of the feeder services that brings military traffic into Didcot, other locations include Bicester and Marchwood. A trunk service works north to Carlisle in the evening.

66084 passes Didcot North Junction on 20 October 2011 with the 4O53 04:33 Wakefield Europort to Southampton intermodal. By a bizarre coincidence, the last time I saw this locomotive, was seven months previously at the same location, although on that occasion it was working a totally different type of train. Within the next thirty minutes two more Class 66s would appear, each in different liveries. 66721 in GBRf Metronet blue, and 66567 in Freightliner green.

66084 runs along the down relief line at South Moreton on 10 September 2015 with the 6V38 13:50 Eastleigh to Didcot, which looks for all the world like one of the sadly missed Speedlink trains of the 1980s, except for the traction of course! Three containers and two old HEA hoppers full of gravel make up the minuscule load.

66084 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 13 March 2017 with the 6V47 10:51 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties. This view clearly shows the inefficient random way in which Network Rail are installing the electfrication masts. Note the isolated pair, then one single mast on its own in the background. No wonder they are years behind with this haphazard way of working!

With 16 Mk1 coaches in tow, 66084 & 66020 pass Kings Sutton on 7 January 2022 with the 5Z45 09:40 Eastleigh Arlington to Burton upon Trent Wetmore Sidings ECS. This load should be no problem for a pair of 66s, but they still seemed to be recovering from a signal check at Aynho Junction, 3 miles away. I think this is the only time that I have been to this well known spot and been the only photographer present. Admittedly the weather was grim, but I would have thought the novelty of a pair of red DB 66s on such a long train would have attracted some photographers.

66084 approaches Didcot North Junction on 30 August 2023 with the 4O43 03:59 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The back of the train is passing the masts of the abandoned Didcot to Oxford electfrication scheme.

The 0Z24 04:36 Warrington Arpley Sidings to Long Marston light engine arrives at its destination on 24 June 2024, just as the last of the early morning sunshine disappears into cloud. 66084 had travelled nearly 200 miles merely to pick up a single wagon for return to Arpley!

66084 approaches the locked gates at Long Marston on 24 June 2024 with the 0Z24 04:36 light engine move from Warrington Arpley Sidings. Admittedly this was 15 minutes early, but it was still well past the booked time before someone came to let it in. Note the lines of stored stock in the background (mostly brand new Class 701 EMUs).

66084 leaves Long Marston on 24 June 2024 with the 6Z24 11:17 Long Marston to Warrington Arpley Sidings, conveying a single Imerys JIA china clay wagon. This was running 37 minutes early, not the almost right time departure indicated by Realtime Trains. Porterbrook's shunter 01543 can be seen in the background, standing in front of lines of brand new but stored Class 701 EMUs.

Signs of impending electrification at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 16 April 2015, with the piles on the north side of the line sticking up in the air to various heights. 66085 comes out of the gloom into a patch of weak sunshine, as it runs slowly along the down relief line with the 6V47 10:27 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties.

66085 passes Hinksey Yard on 24 October 2018 with the 4O21 09:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Electfrication of this section of line has been cancelled (for the moment), but there is still a lot of new lineside infrastructure that slightly imposes on the picture.

66085 passes Souldern Wharf on 25 October 2018 with the 4O21 09:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Predictably the loco as the previous day, but also the same two missing boxes at the front of the train!

66085 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 31 October 2018 with the 4O21 09:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. I wasn't initially going to bother taking this, as I had already photographed the same loco, on the same train, twice the previous week. However, the stunning light, with dark sky convinced me!

It may pong a bit, but this is certainly a very colourful train! 66085 passes Steventon on 24 February 2019, running exactly to time with the 6C03 13:14 Southall to Severnside Sita binliner. I'm not quite sure of the environmental benefits of hauling London's rubbish half way across the country to be incinerated at a plant near Bristol, but its probably better than burying it in a hole on the ground, as was done previously!

Hydrotreated vegetable oil powered 66085 runs slowly along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 17 May 2023 with the diverted 6E11 11:07 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties.

66086 passes Up Hatherley on 4 May 2010 with the 6M96 05:50 Margam to Corby steel coils. For many years this was a safe bet for Class 60 haulage, but now of course unfortunately like most of the remaining freight traffic that DB Schenker hasn't lost, it is 'shed' hauled.

66086 passes Great Bourton on 8 December 2010 with the 4O16 09:16 Ditton to Southampton Western Docks intermodal service. A very good photographic location for southbound trains, even in winter. As long as the hedge doesn't grow!

66086 passes through Sonning cutting on 26 April 2016 with the 6L35 08:08 Didcot to Dagenham empty car carriers. This was running a few minutes late, which was just as well, as I hadn't arrived at the bridge at the booked time, courtesy of an extra long traffic jam crossing the River Thames at Sonning Bridge.

66086 passes South Marston on 15 November 2024 with the 6C03 09:55 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. This overgrown area on the right is the site of South Marston Sidings, which were installed during the Second World War.

After the end of the Rail Head Treatment Train season in December 2009, DB Schenker withdrew all but a handful of their Class 60s, resulting in long standing 60 turns such as the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties being entrusted to Class 66s. Although empty here, the 24 tanks when loaded must be right on the limit of what can be hauled by a 66. 66087 heads west along the relief line at Milton on 10 December 2009, with Didcot Power Station dominating the background.

66087 passes Steventon on 19 August 2013 with the 6X50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot departmental working, principally made up of a lengthy rake of point carriers. The rear of the train is passing over Stocks Lane level crossing, while Causeway crossing can just be seen in the background.

66087 passes the site of Challow station on 10 October 2013 with the 6M26 08:55 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. An interesting working, but not as interesting as 60049 which passed by half an hour earlier with the 6M50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot.

A train that should by rights be hauled by a Class 59. Unfortunately on 22 September 2014 it was 66087 instead. The 7C54 13:06 Oxford Banbury Road to Westbury Mendip Rail stone empties trundles along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth.

Unfortunately no longer a Colas working, but still worth a picture on a warm sunny early autumn afternoon. 66087 passes Uffington on 30 September 2015 with the 6V62 11:26 Tilbury to Margam steel empties. While waiting a large herd of dairy cows that were in the field gathered around me, but once it was clear that I wasn't the farmer bringing food, they lost interest and wandered off!

66087 passes Didcot North Junction on 12 August 2019 with the 4M71 09:41 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice Intermodal. Note the minimalist parapet extension to the footbridge in the background. Not yet needed, as the planned electfrication of the route has been shelved.

With Ratcliffe Power Station dominating the background, 66088 passes Castle Donington on 29 November 2012 with the 6X01 10:25 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh continuously welded rails. A medley of reds and browns, bathed in fine autumnal light.

66088 passes Fiddington on 3 May 2023 with the 6V05 08:22 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The loco may look smart in its newly applied DB red livery, but the engine doesn't appear to be in the best of health. The black smoke seen here is nothing compared to the pollution it was throwing out as it came under the bridge in the background.

Extensive engineering work north of Hereford over the weekend of 6 & 7 July 2013, resulted in a whole procession of trains working back to Hinksey early on the morning of Monday 8 July. One of these, the 02:56 Shelwick Junction to Hinksey, is pictured passing Denchworth, with 66089 leading, and 66020 just visible on the rear of the train.

66089 passes Compton Beauchamp in soft evening light on 8 April 2015 with the diverted 6O42 11:31 Halewood to Southampton Eastern Docks car train, conveying Range Rovers from the Jaguar plant for export. Normally this train would travel via Basingstoke, but was being diverted via the Vale of White Horse due to ongoing signalling works in the Reading area. The venerable old brick road bridge will shortly be severely altered for the forthcoming electrification, and the pleasant brick arch structure that blends in with the countryside will no doubt be converted into the usual horrible white eyesore. Note the rookery in the background. This makes what is otherwise a very quiet rural location quite noisy, especially when the young rooks are clamouring for food! 

66089 passes South Moreton on 10 September 2015 with the 6X44 14:38 Dagenham Dock to Didcot Ford car train. Note that not only are there a mix of vehicles, but also they are being carried on four different types of wagon.

The 6V62 Tilbury to Llanwern steel empties, which had brought Colas Class 56s, 60s 66s & 70s to the Thames Valley on a regular basis, unfortunately changed to DBS haulage in September 2015. An unusual turn of events, as we are all so used to Colas grabbing traffic from DBS, not the other way round! As I was already at Denchworth on 19 September 2015, I decided to wait for the train, as the sun was out. Unfortunately it turned out to be a longer wait than I anticipated, as the train had a protracted layover at Didcot, and passed me an hour late. So here is the new order, 66089 with the 6V62 11:20 Tilbury to Margam passing under the signal gantry at Denchworth.  

Sita UK have redeveloped the old ICI chemicals plant site at Severnside, building a generating plant that will burn household rubbish. Paths have appeared in the working timetable, but as far as I'm aware, as of May 2016 no trains have yet run. However, on 16 May 2016 a train did run the path of the 6A03 05:14 Severnside Energy Recovery Centre to Brentford, running instead to Acton. This was actually the wagons from a stone train that had been cancelled, causing the empty wagons to end up at Avonmouth. This working was used to get the wagons back to the London area for their next working. Luckily this was running over an hour late when 66089 passed me at Compton Beauchamp, resulting in a much better lighting angle.

66089 passes Cromwell Moor on 29 June 2019 with the 6X47 12:12 Scunthorpe to Dollands Moor, loaded with rails for export via the Channel Tunnel to Duisburg (Germany). I hadn't intended to photograph this, as I assumed it would be long gone by the time I arrived at this location. However, it was held in Carlton-on-Trent loop, just a couple of miles north of here, for an hour, and so was running 54 minutes late at this point.

Scruffy 66089 approaches Culham on 12 July 2021 with the very lightly loaded 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. A day with lots of clouds, but thankfully most trains passed in good light.

66089 passes Tackley on 16 July 2021 with the  4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Definitely not ideal lighting, with the sun only just glancing down the side, but better than if the sun had disappeared behind one of the many clouds!

66090 passes Miskin in 1 July 2000 with the 6O32 13:27 Onllwyn Washery to Aberthaw Power Station MGR. Coal output from Onllwyn managed to hang on for another two decades after this picture was taken, outlasting nearly all other coal production in Wales.

At less than walking speed, 66090 approaches the impressive bracket signal at Evesham with the 6W85 Worcester to Aldington ballast train on 19 August 2009. The train of ballast was for use in connection with the doubling of the Cotswold Line, which will unfortunately see the end of these semaphore signals. This is why I was keen to get a picture of this particular train at this location, and was slightly surprised that I was the only photographer there. It is a little ironic that the little used siding on the right seems to have marginally less vegetation growing on it than the main line! I very nearly didn't get this picture in the sun, as although it was sunny while the train was stopped by the box, a cloud appeared as it moved off. Luckily with such a heavy load the train was moving so slowly that the sun had come out again by the time it was in the right position. Note tamper DR73912 in the siding, waiting to move off five hours later.

After seeing 66090 pass Evesham with the 6W85 Worcester to Aldington ballast train on 19 August 2009, I drove round to a spot near its final destination in the hope of another picture. In the event there was a long delay before it appeared, by which time the location was getting severely backlit. As well as this, the picture is not helped by the cloud of dust coming up from under the loco. Admittedly the track here is freshly ballasted, but as the train was moving at less than walking speed, it does seem a little odd.

With the hills in the background virtually obscured by lifted fog and low cloud, 66090 passes Broken Cross (near Gloucester) on 3 September 2010 with the 6M96 05:48 Margam to Corby steel coils. The weather improved slightly for the much more important 6B13, but even then the promised sunny day didn't really happen.

66090 passes Baulking on 19 December 2013 with the 6V47 10:13 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties. A lengthy train, that despite the reasonably open location, disappears from view behind the bushes in the background.

66090 slowly approaches Goole on 29 August 2015 with the 6H94 14:13 Hull to Drax Power Station biomass hoppers. The train is snaking round the curve on the approach to Goole station, having just crossed over the River Ouse via the Goole Swing Bridge, which if it wasn't for the bushes, could be seen in the distance on the right of this picture.

66090 passes Kemble on 11 June 2019 with the 6V70 00:25 Liverpool Euro Metal to Swindon Cocklebury scrap empties. Note the Wood Pigeon making a hasty course change as the loco interrupts its flight path! Kemble station can just be seen in the background.

The Shetland pony takes no notice of either me, or the train, as 66090 Maritime Intermodal Six heads south past Little Heck on 14 September 2020 with the 6D11 13:19 Lackenby to Scunthorpe steel empties.

Still flying the EWS flag despite now being owned by DB Schenker, 66091 heads south past Fenwick on 17 September 2012 with matching liveried coal hoppers. Eggborough Power Station is providing the clouds of steam in the background.

66091 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 27 February 2019 with the 6B35 09:51 Acton to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Even in full sun conditions like this, I wouldn't go out specifically to photograph a DB Class 66, but I was passing this spot anyway, and the freshly painted (and already vandalised!) wagons certainly make an eye catching picture.

66091 passes Tredington on 4 November 2020 with the 4V44 10:45 Daventry to Wentloog Tesco liner. The loco is on long term hire from DB Cargo, so long term that it was felt necessary to paint it in DRS colours.

66091 passes Defford on 15 January 2024 with the 4V44 10:45 Daventry to Wentloog Tesco liner. New houses and Defford Village Hall have altered the background of this view, compared with the rural scene in the 1990s.

A week old, and still looking immaculate, 66092 passes Hinksey Yard on 28 April 1999 with the 6L63 15:00 Avonmouth to Foxton (Barrington) Cement Works MGR. Cement production at the Cambridgeshire site dates back to 1918, but the plant didn't quite make it centenary, as it closed in 2009.

66092 passes Allandale on 16 June 2006 with the 6J12 10:55 Longannet Power Station to Hunterston MGR coal empties. Scotland was the last area of the county to use these 1960s built HAA wagons, the final ones being withdrawn shortly after this picture was taken.

66092 heads south past Tredington on 10 October 2008 with the 6V41 14:33 Brierley Hill to Barry Dock scrap train. Superb evening light, with the clouds in the background for once not causing a problem by getting near the sun!

66092 has Euro Cargo Rail 66212 dead in tow, as it passes Baulking on 29 March 2013 with the 6V13 08:12 Dollands Moor to Margam steel empties. A photographic bonus, but it would have even better if 66212 had been the lead loco!

Although no longer the classic location since the removal of the semaphore signals, the view from the main road near Fenny Compton is pleasant enough, especially with the bright spring foliage. On 22 April 2009, 66093 passes with a Castle Bromwich to Southampton Docks car train.

66093 heads up the bi-directional freight line at Souldrop on 21 April 2010 with the 6F93 11:11 St Pancras to Ketton Castle Cement empties. Note the difference in level between the passenger and freight lines at this location.

66093 heads south past Wadborough on 8 February 2011 with the 6V92 10:10 Corby to Margam steel empties. This is on the long straight section of track between Abbotswood and Croome. The Wadborough to Abbotswood road crossing can be seen in the background.

66093 passes Tredington on 22 July 2017 with the 6M90 05:00 Avonmouth Hansons Siding to Clitheroe Castle Cement empty cement tanks. Unfortunately this corresponded with a five minute cloudy patch, but at least it was running exactly to time, rather than the almost two hours early, and therefore before sunrise, of the previous Saturday! Note the fog shrouding the Cotswold Hills in the background.

A slightly different viewpoint at Heyford on 4 September 2021. Viewed from the station's footbridge, 66093 passes underneath the adjacent roadbridge with the 4M71 08:08 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. This was running a massive 96 minutes early.

Almost a bit of classic traction type clag from 66094 as it passes Churcham on 6 April 2011 with the 6V67 03:53 Redcar to Margam loaded coal. It wasn't until I was working on this picture that I noticed the vintage monoplane and biplane (complete with intrepid wing walker) in the distance. I remember seeing them over to the right a little later, but didn't realise I had caught them in the picture. Although they are quite remote, I thought I would resist the temptation to clone them out.

66094 passes through Cholsey station on 16 February 2018 with the 6C58 11:55 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. This train now travels via Reading and the Berks & Hants line, rather than via Swindon.

66094 passes the flowering Rhododendrons at Wootton Rivers on 15 June 2021 with the 6M15 07:07 Tytherington Quarry to Calvert, with another load of stone destined for the controversial HS2 project. I had taken a chance with the weather, as I was keen to get a picture of the Rhododendrons before they went over (like the bush in the background). It was mostly cloudy when I left home, but as be seen by the completely clear blue sky here, that all changed 30 miles to the south. 'f8 and be there', as the photographic saying goes (both true in this case)!

DB Cargo, GBRf & Colas variety at Hinksey Yard on 9 January 2023. 66094 heads north with the 6E11 11:47 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties, passing stabled 66784 Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

The short lived North of Scotland Safeway Intermodal service is pictured at its destination, Georgemas Junction on 7 August 2000. 66095 waits with its train at the unloading area at this remote Scottish location, next to the crane and road vehicles that will be used to move the containers to nearby Wick and Thurso. This train had originated from Mossend as the 4H44 00:56 to Inverness, from there it traveled north as the 4H45 05:18 to Georgemas Junction. Later in the day in would return as the 4H46 15:08 Georgemas Junction to Inverness and 4D66 19:45 Inverness to Mossend.

66095 passes Innerdunning (between Perth and Gleneagles) on 4 October 2001 with the 6D46 13:30 Inverness to Mossend Enterprise, conveying eight cement tanks, and, mostly hidden by the bushes, a rake of Safeway containers from Georgemas Junction. I'm not sure why I didn't find a better location, but I was probably running out of time!

66095 approaches Radley station with the 6A48 14:14 Bicester to Didcot MoD stores on 8 October 2009. The Army, like everyone else, now makes extensive use of containers for the movement of smaller items of equipment, with only the first vehicle in the consist being a traditional wagon.

A 'Shed' makes an unwelcome appearance on 6E41. Although not uncommon, Class 66s usually accede to the superior Class 60s on the 6E41 11:41 Westerleigh to Lindsey oil empties. However, on 3 September 2010 it was the turn of 66095. It is seen here passing Up Hatherley (near Cheltenham).

Running over 90 minutes late, 66095 passes Blagrove (near Swindon) on 14 May 2014 with the 6M26 07:37 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. For once the weather forecast was spot on. Full sun early was supposed to give way to cloudy periods after 10am. Looks what's appearing in the background!

66095 approaches Didcot North Junction on 17 March 2022 with the 4O43 05:14 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Not only could this loco do with a wash, it also needs a new coat of paint!

66095 passes Cheltenham on 23 June 2023 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties, which on this occasion was terminated at Llanwern Exchange Sidings. The train is actually booked to sit in the loop on the right for 20 minutes.

Despite the atrocious weather, a brief visit was made to Hatton on 27 November 2007 to see if any autumn colour was left on the trees. A few trees still retained a little colour which adds to this picture of 66096 on the 6M31 10:26 Banbury to Mountsorrel Lafarge self discharge stone empties. Considering this was around midday, this looked more like dusk, as it was already virtually dark!

66096 passes Denchworth with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 2 July 2009. Unfortunately a Class 66 is a regular occurrence on this train now instead of a Class 60, especially on a reduced load as seen here. The temptation was not to bother to take the picture, but as the sun was out and I was on the bridge anyway, why not!

66096 passes Hinksey on 7 April 2011 with the 4O53 04:33 Wakefield to Southampton intermodal. Note the work going on in the background to construct a new bridge on the site of the well known 'Redbridge' at the south end of Hinksey Yard. This work is being done to allow the loading gauge to be increased, benefiting trains such as this. Also just visible under the new bridge, is 66013 sneaking out of Hinksey Yard with the 4V40 03:49 Purfleet to Cowley empty car carriers.

66096 passes Chipping Sodbury on 15 April 2015 with the 6B35 10:47 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Note the Colas Rail tamper stabled in the sidings on the site of Chipping Sodbury station, which closed in 1961.

66096 approaches Tackley on 29 June 2015 with the 6Z71 17:16 Swindon Cocklebury to Aldwarke scrap. On this occasion the train is very well loaded, as the square blocks of compressed scrap metal can be seen above the tops of the wagons, even from this relatively low viewpoint. Often the load only partly fills the wagons.

66096 leads the 3J43 02:53 Didcot to Didcot (via Chippenham, Reading and Westbury) Rail Head Treatment Train past Compton Beauchamp on 17 October 2016, with classmate 66031 bringing up the rear. As this is at the start of the RHTT season, the locos are still relatively clean, not sporting the 'all over grime' colour scheme of later in the season!

66096 passes Hinksey Yard on 24 October 2018 with the 12:35 Banbury Reservoir to Didcot stone empties. The loaded train had worked up overnight as the 21:00 Bristol East Depot to Banbury Reservoir. Despite it being a desperately dull DB 66, I took this as I had not previously photographed this working.

The weak winter sunshine does little to improve the looks of grubby 66096, as it passes Badgeworth on 9 January 2019 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. A regular working, running at a good time of day for photography, but unfortunately with very predictable and uninteresting traction.

66097 passes the site of Bletchingdon station in its own little patch of sunshine with the 6V59 10:27 Mountsorrel to Westbury ballast train on 26 March 2009. The bridge the train is just passing over carries the line over both the Oxford Canal and the River Cherwell. Unfortunately the industrial unit occupying the former station site on the left is a little less photogenic than the original station buildings, which were demolished soon after the station closed in the 1960s.

66097 passes Tackley on 11 July 2013 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working. I was surprised to find that even after not having visited this spot for a couple of years, there has not been any increase in lineside vegetation, and it is still an excellent spot to photograph northbound trains on a summer evening. As can be seen from the glancing shadows on the front end of the loco, this is just about the first train where the sun is on the front.

66097 passes through the centre road of Oxford station on 1 April 2015 with the 4O43 06:43 Birch Coppice to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Several years after the introduction of the bright red DBS livery, still only a handful of 66s have been repainted.

In the very last few seconds worth of weak evening sun, just as a large bank of totally unforecast cloud arrives from the south, 66097 approaches Culham on 30 June 2015 with the 4V39 17:36 Southampton Eastern Docks to Morris Cowley empty car carriers. At least the bright DBS red livery shows up well in the weak light. Just before the train came, several flashes of lighting could be seen in the background over the Berkshire Downs.

66097 pulls slowly out of Didcot Yard, and approaches Didcot North Junction on 29 July 2019 with the 4E94 07:12 Didcot to Masborough intermodal. The train had originated at Southampton Western Docks two days earlier, and had stabled at Didcot over the weekend.

66097 passes a field of oilseed rape near Uffington on 24 April 2021 with the very late running 6C03 10:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. This should have passed here over 2½ hours before the 6B91 12:34 Hayes & Harlington to East Usk Yard stone empties. Instead of that, because 6B91 was 91 minutes early, and this was 103 minutes late, it passed half an hour after 6B91! The delay was caused by the failure of the cab radio in the train's original loco (66096), so the loco was swapped for what turned out to be he next highest numbered Class 66, at Didcot.

66098 passes Yarnton on 6 July 2006 with the 6M28 18:01 Hinksey to Bescot departmental, which even by this day would often produce a Class 37. Sadly not on this occasion however! The footbridge was new here, offering a better vantage point, but another decade would go by before Network Rail would remove the lineside vegetation!

66098 heads south at Croome on 25 March 2011 with the 6V67 03:53 Redcar to Margam loaded coal. What this picture doesn't show is that within a few seconds the train is about to be obscured by 66221 heading north with the balancing working, the 4E66 08:55 Margam to Redcar empties!

66098 passes a field full of buttercups near the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, as it heads west on 4 June 2011 with the 6Z12 07:50 Dollands Moor to Trostre steel. The day had started with full sun, turned to full cloud virtually straight away, gradually turned sunny again and was now clouding up again! At least this came in one of the diminishing sunny patches.

66098 passes Wolvercote Junction on 5 November 2012 with the 4O23 11:13 Hams Hall to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The single track Cotswold Line diverges to the left, with the relay room marking the site of Wolvercote Junction Signal Box (or Wolvercot as it was spelt in those days).

66098 passes Burn on 4 June 2015 with the 6H14 15:13 Hatfield Colliery to Drax Power Station coal. Hatfield and Drax are not that far apart as the crow flies, but this has to travel a devious route via Temple Hirst Junction, Hambleton Junction and Knottingley.

66098 passes Fiddington on 30 October 2017 with the 6V92 10:22 Corby to Margam steel empties. In the background is Bredon Hill, a four mile long outlier of the Cotswold Hills, standing alone in the Vale of Evesham.

66098 passes the oil depot at the site of Bremell Sidings on 6 July 2018 with the 6B50 14:50 Swindon to Llanwern Exchange Sidings steel empties. Not only is the diverted, but it also running several hours earlier than its original booked path.

66099 passes Ashchurch on 7 September 2012 with the 6O42 11:31 Halewood to Southampton Eastern Docks covered car carriers, conveying Land Rovers. This train only traverses this route on a Friday, the other days of the week it travels via Oxford.

'We Stand With Ukraine' branded 66099 passes Uffington on 9 November 2022 with the 6Z78 07:30 Tytherington to Southall loaded stone train. Unfortunately this was running 72 minutes late, which has resulted in the sun no longer being on the front.

'We Stand With Ukraine' branded 66099 passes Yarnton on 4 March 2024 with the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Unfortunately the sun disappeared into high cloud just after I arrived at this location!

Ashchurch's station (left) and church (right) can be seen in the distance as 66100 heads southwards down the long straight past Claydon with the 6V16 13:08 Washwood Heath to Portbury coal empties. The date is 5 April 2007 and the blackthorn blossom is still evident in the trackside bushes amid the new green leaves of the hawthorn.

66100 passes Uffington in some lucky winter sunshine on 7 January 2012 with a train of new track panels from Hinksey Yard. I particularly like this composition, with the road and underbridge on the left nicely balancing the composition.

The sheep turns its back on a 'Shed'! 66100 passes Aynho on 27 March 2012 with the 6V03 09:13 Kineton to Didcot MoD stores. I had no idea what the load would be this morning, but hoped the usually short train would fit in the available gap - and it did! Note the Chiltern Line flyover on the right.

A very smokey 66100 speeds past Ashchurch on 9 August 2014 with the 4Z42 06:37 Neville Hill to Westbury empty coal hoppers. A highly unlikely point of origin and destination for a rake of HTA wagons! Although this is mildly interesting, the main reason for visiting this spot, the DCR operated 6Z34 06:19 Chaddesden to Cardiff Tidal was canceled!

Running over an hour early, 66100 passes Tredington on 31 July 2015 with the 6V35 15:11 Bescot to Avonmouth Hansons Siding cement tanks. This was just a bonus, as my main target was 56081, which was working a train with a very similar headcode - the 6Z35 11:41 Chaddesden to Cardiff Tidal loaded scrap. I would photograph this from the brick bridge seen in the far distance.

66100 heads west past Steventon on 5 January 2017, approaching the first overhead gantry after the short 'Steventon Gap', caused by uncertainty over the fate of the road bridge in the centre of the village. Note the damage on the loco's front end.

66100 passes Hinksey Yard on 7 February 2018 with the 4O43 05:49 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. By a numerical coincidence, 66200 followed over two hours later with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks.

66101 has 47780 in tow, as it passes through Radley station on 25 June 2001 with the featherweight 6S65 15:19 Eastleigh to Mossend Enterprise (MoD) freight. I wasn't in the ideal position to photograph this, as when I saw it was Class 66 hauled I wasn't going to bother taking a picture. It was only when I saw the Res 47 tucked inside that I grabbed a shot. The predecessor of this train was well known for unusual loco combinations, and this is certainly an unusual combination, but it would have been so much better if the locos were the other way round!

66101 passes Uffington with the 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties on 27 September 2008. Almost every wagon in the consist appears to have suffered at the hands of graffiti vandals. This is the site of the former Uffington loops, made redundant when the relief lines were reinstated between Challow and Wantage Road in the early 1990s.

66101 passes Baulking on 4 March 2011 with the 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. It seems that the loco has some dragging brakes, which explains the slight smoke visible coming from the wheels.

The former station building awning, with its decorative edging adds a touch of steam age atmosphere to an otherwise modern railway scene at Culham on 9 August 2012. 66101 passes through the station with the 6O26 10:19 Hinksey to Eastleigh departmental, today comprising a lengthy train of rails.

66101 approaches Didcot North Junction on 20 April 2018 with the 6O42 11:31 Halewood to Southampton Eastern Docks Jaguar cars for export. Appleford church can be seen in the background, with the Culham Science Centre standing out clearly amid the trees in the distance.

66102 passes Abbotswood on 13 June 2014 with the 4V83 05.19 Toton North Yard to Portbury Coal Terminal empty coal hoppers. Although it was a sunny morning, it was a little damp wading through this field of dew soaked long grass!

An unwelcome Class 60 substitute! 66102 passes South Marston on 11 April 2019 with the 6B33 13:00 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. A cloudless day, so I suppose the picture had to be taken, despite the disappointing traction!

66102 passes Ashwell on 5 July 2020 with the 6E89 12:51 Peak Forest to Peterborough West Yard stone. This Sunday working would then stay at Peterborough overnight, before travelling on to it's final destination at Norwich the following day.

66103 passes Culham on 21 June 2001 with the 4M04 15:37 Southampton Eastern Docks to Washwood Heath empty car carriers. On this occasion the train comprises two five vehicle WIA 'blue sausage' covered car carrier sets, followed by a short rake of the older open vehicles.

66103 passes Hinksey Yard with the 6A48 14:14 Bicester to Didcot MoD stores on 24 September 2009. Such is the tree growth at this location in recent years that the lake on the right is now virtually invisible from this direction. Luckily there are no trees on the left to cause shadows across the line in the late afternoon.

66103 & 66150 head west through Rearsby on 28 March 2012 with the late running 6D32 08:56 Elstow to Mountsorrel stone empties. 66150 had failed, hence the late running and the addition 66103. A slight diversion whilst waiting for a much more interesting train in the shape of 7X09.

66103 passes Wolvercote on 19 July 2013 with the 6X65 19:43 Didcot to Mossend mixed freight. This lengthy train is mainly composed of new cars and vans, and is always worth photographing. It's just a pity that on this occasion the sun disappeared before it arrived!

Unfortunately the 6C54 13:06 Oxford Banbury Road to Westbury Mendip Rail stone empties can often produce a Class 66, rather than a Class 59. Such was the case on 10 December 2014, when 66103 was entrusted with the train. It is seen here passing Bourton, shortly before an unforecast bank of cloud rolled in from the west and put an end to the day's photography!

With the spires (and cranes!) of Oxford visible in the background, 66103 passes Wolvercote on 14 April 2017 with the diverted 6M60 03:05 Exeter Riverside to Bescot china clay tanks. I wouldn't normally bother taking a picture of a loco this filthy, in light as bad as this, but the off route working makes its noteworthy. I seem to have inadvertently captured my own reflection in the windscreen!

Brand new 66104 passes Coedkernew on 3 September 1999 with the 6B03 09:18 Swansea Burrows to Newport Alexandra Dock Junction Enterprise service. This working had just gone over to Class 66 haulage, replacing the former Railfreight Distribution Class 47s.

66105 passes Hinksey Yard on 11 August 2018 with the 4O43 04:11 Wakefield Europort to Didcot intermodal. Just four minutes later the much more colourful 66413 passed by with the 4O14 07:29 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

66105 passes Standish Junction on 11 September 2021 with the UK Railtours 1Z24 13:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Westerleigh 'Only Freight Track and Horses' railtour. 66514 is bringing up the rear. The train had just reversed at Gloucester.

66105 passes Uffington on 18 January 2023 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Despite there being nothing out of the ordinary running locally, I wasn't going to waste a sunny winter's day, with the perfect light for photography!

66106 gives 67004 a helping hand with the 4D05 11:37 Inverness to Mossend empty parcels vans on 10 June 2005. The train is just passing Drumochter Summit, as marked by the blue board on the right. At 1484 feet above sea level this is the highest point on the national rail network, and marks the end of am arduous climb all the way from Newtonmore, with several stretches at 1 in 80. The climb from the other direction is even worse with over six miles of continuous 1 in 70 gradient.

The June 2020 heatwave seemed to have had an unfortunate effect of DB Cargo's Class 60s, with several failing in traffic. Such was the case on 25 June 2020, when 60015 failed at Theale, prior to working the 6B33 13:35 Murco oil empties to Robeston. I was keeping an eye on proceedings, and noticed that 6B33 hadn't moved, then the unwelcome appearance of 66106, running as the 1Z99 rescue light engine from Westbury confirmed my suspicions. 66106 is pictured here, along with the disgraced 60015, passing Great Bedwyn, running 142 minutes late.

Running 44 minutes late, having taken a completely different route in the Birmingham area in order to avoid signalling problems in near Tyseley, 66106 passes Heyford on 11 June 2022 with the 4V43 04:13 Wakefield Europort to Didcot intermodal. Unfortunately the few containers were right at rear of the train, hidden by the bushes

A busy few minutes of freight activity at Compton Beauchamp on 14 March 2013. Just five minutes after 66250 had passed by with the 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot, along comes 66107 with the 08:01 Westbury to Stud Farm.

The shadows are lengthening at Wolvercote on 19 July 2013, as 66107 heads northwards with the 4E70 17:03 Southampton Western Docks to Wakefield Europort intermodal. This view clearly shows the work going on to reinstate the down relief line between Oxford and Wolvercote Junction. This line originally opened in 1942, and as can be seen here, was separated from the main running lines by a considerable distance. It is hard to believe now, but up until the 1980s there was a footpath crossing in the middle of this view, which made a good location to photograph northbound trains in the evening (this viewpoint from the Godstow Road footbridge was already obstructed by bushes in the mid 1980s, and has only just been cleared). The site of the crossing is where there is extra fencing close to the line, with the approach path marked out by the parched grass in front of the cows grazing on Port Meadow.

66107 passes Bourton 17 March 2016 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. In preparation for the forthcoming electrification, the lineside bushes have been cleared. Also, two new signals in the background have replaced the earlier gantry.

An unwelcome replacement for the usual Class 59. 66107 passes Grove on 27 July 2018 with the 7C64 15:26 Acton to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The only reason I took the picture was because the train was being diverted of its normal route via the Berks & Hants line.

66107 passes Hungerford Common on 15 January 2020 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. This was running nearly two hours late, which has resulted in a much better picture, with the sun fully on the front end.

66107 approaches Didcot North Junction on 12 February 2020 with the 4O43 03:59 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks Intermodal. Ideal photographic conditions, but unfortunately virtually no load on the train!

66108 passes Kidlington (Sandy Lane) on 22 September 2012 with the very late running 4O53 04:33 Wakefield to Eastleigh intermodal. The smoke in the background is not the result of some enthusiastic driving by 66108's driver, but is coming from a bonfire in the small industrial yard by Sandy Lane Crossing!

66108 crosses the A40 Gloucester bypass at Elmbridge on 23 March 2020 with the 4V44 10:45 Daventry to Wentloog Tesco liner. 66108 is one of a small group of DB Cargo Class 66s that is on long term hire to DRS.

66108 passes Bredon on 25 March 2020 with the 4V44 10:45 Daventry to Wentloog Tesco liner. I wouldn't normally bother to take a picture of a DB 'Shed' in such head-on lighting, but I was already at the location, so made an exception.

66108 passes Tumpy Green on 2 August 2024 with the diverted 4V44 10:44 Daventry to Wentloog Tesco liner. The train's normal route via Chepstow was closed for engineering works. Although still owned by DB, the loco has received DRS colours as part of a long term hire agreement.

66109 approaches Thingley Junction on 19 June 2017 with the 6A03 05:14 Severnside Sita to Brentford Binliner empties. As is often the case, this actually left around an hour early, but as usual was not far off the right time here.

Toton Depot, pictured on the evening of 9 June 2018. Although still a busy railfreight traction depot, unfortunately the interesting variety of traction of previous years has been replaced by the dull uniformity of Class 66s, with just a few Class 60s & 67s to relieve the monotony. 66109 is the nearest locomotive, with 66092 also being near enough to be identifiable.

With frost still covering the tracks, 66110 ambles across the flat Fenland landscape at Westry with the 6L38 07:29 Mountsorrel to Broxbourne stone train on 22 January 2005. Naturally this flat landscape has plenty of level crossings (note the one just behind the train), but very few bridges or other means of gaining a more elevated view, so full use was made of this new bridge which carries the March by-pass.  Typically this good lighting had disappeared by the time the Class 40 hauled railtour turned up 40 minutes later!

66110 catches the last of the late evening sunshine at Culham on 9 July 2015, as it heads north with the 6X65 20:28 Didcot to Mossend freight, which on this occasion is less than half the length of what is usually one of the longest freight trains in the country.

66110 passes Thrupp on 6 February 2020 with the early running 4O21 09:17 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Ironically I had photographed this same train, at the same location, a month earlier.

66111 arrives at Thoresby Colliery Junction on 21 February 2007 with yet another rake of coal empties for refilling at the nearby colliery. Only if you are a signalman would you park your car this close to the track!

66111 passes Woodhall (between Gilberdyke and Selby) on 14 March 2008 with the 6D72 11:32 Hull Dairycoates to Rylstone Tarmac stone empties. Once a regular Class 60 working, but more often than not 'shedded' now!

66111 passes the late flowering blackthorn at Stoke Orchard on 6 May 2013, as it heads south with the 6Z16 08:28 Doncaster Belmont to Westbury. This special working was taking the repaired stone hopper wagons back to Westbury. Partly hidden by the bushes is a single VGA van on the rear of the train. It is a pity that this train was running over an hour early, as the sun is still very much head on at this location in the early afternoon.

66111 runs along the up relief line at Denchworth on 8 July 2013 with the 6C35 04:45 Shelwick Junction to Hinksey track panels, with 66067 on the rear. This was one of a number of specials returning from weekend engineering work near Hereford.

66111 passes Shrewley on 10 July 2013 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working. It is accelerating away from its booked ten minute stop in Hatton Down Goods Loop. The tall bridge in the background carries the road from Shrewley to Pinley Green.

Just a few minutes into its journey, 66111 passes Burn on 13 March 2016 with the 4R19 14:35 Milford West Sidings to Immingham biomass empties. The pristine Drax liveried wagons contrasts very unfavourably with the filthy state of the loco!

66111 slowly passes Manningford Bruce on 15 February 2023 with the 6M47 10:23 Westbury to Acton Mendip Rail stone train. The time was 11:10, and the intermittent early morning fog had only just finally disappeared.

66111 slowly passes Fiddington on 27 May 2023 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. This was running late, as a result of being held up in a queue of trains being effected by a level crossing failure just north of Cheltenham.

66112 approaches the site of Wantage Road station on 17 November 2009 with the 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. This picture is taken from a little used footpath between Grove and East Hanney (hence the sign on the gatepost). It has been a few years since this gate has moved, and I wouldn't guarantee that it would stay in one piece if you tried!

66112 leads the 3J41 14:51 Didcot to Didcot (via Westbury) Rail Head Treatment Train past Cholsey in failing light on 15 November 2013. A totally filthy 66085 brings up the rear. This could well be my last visit to this well known photographic location, as once the wires go up, it will presumably be ruined.

With the sun darting in and out of the clouds, 66112 approaches Frisby-on-the-Wreake on 30 September 2017 with the 6E63 12:55 Mountsorrel to Peterborough sand. Note the reflection of the nearby radio mast in the loco's windscreen.

66112 passes Tackley in crisp evening light on 27 June 2018 with the late running 4E68 15:53 Southampton Western Docks to Wakefield Europort intermodal. This loco seemed to be a regular on this train through the summer of 2018.

66112 passes Wolvercote on 2 August 2018 with the 4E68 15:53 Southampton Western Docks to Wakefield Europort intermodal. The bright pink Ocean Network Express box at the head of the train is a new addition to the ever changing container train colour spectrum.

66112 tows failed 66080 past Ley Court (between Oakle Street and Grange Court) on 18 September 2019, running as the 0V05 10:59 Round Oak to Llanwern Exchange Sidings. This was in place of the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. 66080 had failed earlier in the day with the 6M11 00:01 Margam to Round Oak loaded steel, and 66112 had been the rescue loco.

Far North Shed. 66113 is pictured at Georgemas Junction on 19 April 2003, prior to working the 4H46 15:08 intermodal service to Inverness. With just a single Safeway container, this clearly wasn't an economic working. Both the platform I was standing on, and the footbridge have now gone, and a new nuclear flask unloading point has been constructed to the right of this view.

Is this DB Schenker's new livery, designed to appeal to the youth market? 66113 is definitely unlucky 13 to be subjected to this treatment! The most graffiti covered piece of rolling stock that I have ever seen approaches Didcot North Junction on 8 March 2011 with the 6O26 10:19 Hinksey to Eastleigh departmental working.

66113 passes Worting Junction on 14 May 2016 with the 6M48 09:28 Southampton Eastern Docks to Halewood empty car carriers. The rear of the train is still descending the gradient from where the line passes over Battledown Flyover.

Perfect evening light at Wadborough on 15 June 2021, so it was a pity that a 'Shed' was rostered to work the 6M53 15:55 Swindon Stores to Toton Up Sidings steel empties, rather than the usual Class 60. Also unusual was the fact that it was running to time here, having waited in Haresfield loop, as booked. It can sometimes be two early at this point. On the plus side, this is my first picture of 66113 since it acquired its 'Delivering for our Key Workers' livery.

66114 passes Allandale on 16 June 2006 with the 6S36 08:50 Dalston to Grangemouth oil empties. This is on the line from Cumbernauld, not far from where it joins the line from Glasgow at Greenhill Lower Junction.

66114 passes through Kings Sutton station on 23 April 2009 with the 4O21 11:10 Burton upon Trent to Southampton intermodal. Although an excellent location, the line of trees on the left does tend to cause problems with shadows in the late afternoon. However, on this occasion the sun was gradually fading out into high cloud, resulting in no shadows to worry about!

66114 emerges from Newnham Tunnel on 20 August 2012 with the  6V05 09:10 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The short tunnel takes the line under a bluff of high ground behind the village of Newnham-on-Severn.

66114 passes through Sonning cutting on 16 August 2016 with the 6M20 08:30 Whatley Quarry to Churchyard Sidings stone train. Surprisingly, I have only visited this iconic location a handful of times, in this case leaving it right until the very end, just before electrification ruins the view for ever!

66115 approaches Radley on 25 June 2003 with the 4L44 16:37 Morris Cowley to Purfleet car carriers. This was conveying BMW Minis for export. These cars, which share nothing in common with the classic 1960s Mini, other than the name, were then only into their second year of production.

66115 approaches Fiddington (just north of Cheltenham) on 28 March 2009 with the 6M60 23:41 Tavistock Junction to Bescot china clay train. I would not normally bother to take a picture of a Class 66 hauled train in such poor light, but as otherwise it would have been a 70 mile round trip for just one picture, for once I made an exception!

With the closure of the Oxford to Bicester line for major engineering works in connection with the new link to the Marylebone line, the Didcot to Bicester MoD train has had to take a massive detour via London, stretching the normal 50 minute trip to not far short of five hours! A Network Rail worker carefully watches the recently installed point (clipped for the passage of this train) at Gavray Junction, Bicester, on 19 June 2014, as 66115 gingerly negotiates the new trackwork with the 6A49 07:32 Didcot to Bicester MoD stores. In the background 70802 waits with a ballast train.

With some of the load getting deposited all over the trackside bushes, 66115 approaches Wychnor Junction on 3 June 2015 with the 6G45 16:53 Toton to Bescot engineers train. Note the solitary vintage PGA stone hopper on the rear of the train.

66115 passes signs of recent tree clearance at Thrupp on 6 February 2020, as it heads south with the 4V96 12:16 Banbury Reservoir to Bristol East stone empties. The completely isolated church at Hampton Gay can be seen in the background.

Another load of stone for the controversial HS2 project. 66115 passes Hungerford Common on 12 April 2021 with the 6M15 07:07 Tytherington to Calvert. Hard to believe that there was a thick covering of snow when I left home (30 miles away) a couple of hours earlier!

66115 passes Blanchworth on 16 August 2023 with the diverted 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. After a completely sunny start to the day, the inevitable clouds are building up in the background.

66116 rounds the curve at Bishops Itchington on 15 April 2008 with the 4O04 09:35 Washwood Heath to Eastleigh intermodal. The blackthorn blossom in the background will be followed in a few weeks by the hawthorn bushes in the foreground.

66116 passes through Appleford station on 2 July 2009 with the 6A48 14:14 Bicester to Didcot MoD stores train. This is one of a couple of military traffic feeder services that converge on Didcot prior to working north later in the day as the 6M65 Didcot to Carlisle trunk service.

66116 passes Wolvercote on 4 May 2011 with the 4O23 11:13 Hams Hall to Southampton intermodal. Note the inclusion of two 9' 6" high containers in the consist, their use on standard wagons made possible by the recent gauge enhancement work on the route to the south coast port.

66116 passes Ley Court (between Oakle Street and Grange Court) with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties on 2 November 2018. The distinctive spire of Churcham church can be seen in the distance on the left.

Even an EWS liveried 'Shed' looks good in this light! 66117 passes Kings Sutton on 24 November 2010 with the 4O16 09:16 Ditton to Southampton Western Docks intermodal service. This is a good location for winter photography, as nothing whatever can shade the line in the afternoon.

66117 passes Chelmscote on 27 March 2012 with the 6H50 12:59 Willesden to Tunstead empty cement tanks. Whoever patch painted the front of the loco obviously couldn't find the correct shade of yellow paint!

66117 passes Haddenham on 20 January 2017 with the 6V01 11:07 Oxford Banbury Road to Acton stone empties. It is passing the site of Haddenham station, which was closed in 1964. A new station, Haddenham & Thames Parkway, was opened in 1987 near the bridge in the background.

66117 passes the duplicate 93½ mileposts at Wormleighton Crossing (near Fenny Compton) on 30 March 2021, as it heads south with the lightly loaded 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal.

66117 approaches Didcot North Junction on 20 July 2021 with the 4E94 05:07 Southampton Western Docks to Masborough intermodal. As you can see, anything routed via Didcot station is less affected by shadows than a train sent via the avoiding line on the left.

66118 passes Coedkernew on 20 July 2000 with the 6B53 17:37 Llanwern to Port Talbot Grange Sidings MGR empties. Before the wires went up this used to be an excellent spot for late evening photography in the summer, with nothing to shade the line. A rural location, with a hint of industry on the horizon.

66118 weaves off the line from Applehurst Junction, as it approaches Hatfield & Stainforth on 15 March 2007 with another load of coal empties bound for Immingham. Note the cooling towers of the long closed Thorpe Marsh Power Station on the right. These pose a demolition problem, due to their close proximity to the nearby River Don.

66118 passes Manningford Bruce on 12 April 2007 with the diverted 6M44 12:30 Eastleigh to Wembley Enterprise service, re-routed via Westbury and Reading due to the closure of Basingstoke station for major engineering works. The train is passing the site of Manningford station (closed in 1966).

66118 is pictured on the rear of the 6W88 Hinksey to Charlbury ballast train on 24 July 2009. This is the view from the Cornbury Park bridge, looking towards Charlbury station. 66083 is out of sight at the front of the train, near the station. The use of a long lens has exaggerated the nearness of Chadlington church in the background.

66118 slowly approaches Foxhall Junction along the up relief line with the diverted 6Z20 10:54 Whatley to Hothfield Mendip Rail stone train on 5 April 2013. This train's normal route would be via the Berks & Hants line, but due to engineering complications resulting from the previous weekend's rebuilding of Reading station, all stone trains were diverted to run via Swindon.

Three TEA bogie tank wagons were tripped from Long Marston to Didcot on 5 July 2013, with 66118 doing the Honours. I was at Baulking, having photographed 57601, so had to settle for this exceedingly backlit shot of 6Z36. This location has become very overgrown in recent years. To prove the point, this 1980 picture shows what it used to be like, admittedly from a slighter wider (now impossible) angle. As there are virtually no points of reference, you will have to take my word for it that it is the same location!

An unwelcome replacement for the customary Class 59, but at least it is a DBS liveried 'Shed', adding a dash of colour to the monotone green landscape. 66118 passes Bourton on 17 June 2014 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties.

66119 heads south past Greenholme on 19 June 2006 with another load of Scottish coal for English power stations. At this time these HAA wagons were rapidly being phased out in favour of the more modern bogie HTA type, as seen behind 66013 at the same location a few minutes earlier.

66119 passes Potters Grange Junction, as it gets underway from Goole on 26 June 2014 with the 6J94 12:50 Goole Docks to Masborough steel empties. The new industrial estate buildings have slightly comprised the view of Goole's church and dockside cranes.

66119 approaches Culham on 18 July 2015 with the 6M44 05:18 Southampton Eastern Docks to Halewood empty Jaguar car carriers, while in the background, 166218 has obligingly just got out of the way, as it accelerates away from Culham station with the 2P25 07:07 Oxford to Paddington First Great Western service.

Running nearly an hour late, 66119 emerges from Box Tunnel on 31 December 2021 with the diverted 6B41 11:15 Westerleigh to Robeston empty oil tanks. 66035 Resourceful is still deep inside the tunnel on the rear of the train. The reason for top'n'tailing was the several reversals needed in the train's convoluted diversionary route. The unusual sight of a tank train emerging from Brunel's famous tunnel was the reason for taking this picture in such miserable light.

66119 passes Up Hatherley on 29 June 2022 with the 6V92 10:34 Corby to Margam steel empties. Although this had left 21 minutes early, by the time it got here it was running 42 minutes late. It would however arrive at Margam more or less on time.

66119 passes Bredon on 8 July 2022 with the 6V92 10:34 Corby to Margam steel empties. This location was cleared of vegetation a few years earlier, but already it is getting overgrown, with the brambles in the foreground being a particular problem.

66119 passes Claydon on 9 August 2022 with the 6V05 09:20 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Homedowns Farm is visible on the left, and the concrete bridge of the A46 road at Ashchurch just visible in the far distance.

66119 approaches the farm occupation crossing at Eckington on 8 June 2023 with the 6M41 11:45 Margam to Round Oak steel. A mundane backlit subject, hence the inclusion of all the signage to add some foreground interest.

66120 passes Oxford North Junction, and heads back to Didcot with ballast empties on 13 June 2010, after taking part in a Sunday engineering possession. 66034 can just be seen on the rear of the train. The locomotive is just crossing the well used footpath crossing, which is the main means of access to the Trap Grounds allotments.

66120 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham on 2 February 2013 with the 6V13 08:12 Dollands Moor to Margam steel empties. Note the amount of cloud in the background, on what the Met Office had promised would be a virtually completely sunny day!

66120 passes Hinksey on 20 January 2016 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. A neat division on this occasion: the front half of the train empty, the second half full of boxes!

Some much needed tree clearance work taking place at Appleford on 12 August 2019. 66120 passes the worksite with the 4O40 09:43 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks covered car carriers, containing BMW Minis for export. Just seconds before, the man in the tree had severed another large branch from the willow tree.

66120 passes Bredon on 27 June 2024 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. As is nearly always the case, this train had left Round Oak very early, but was held at Worcester until the booked time.

66121 finds a gap in the procession of early morning HSTs to lumber slowly up the Great Western Mainline at Compton Beauchamp with the 6D09 06:43 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station coal train on 14 April 2008. It will no doubt be put onto the relief line at Challow to allow following First Great Western services to pass. The extra wide trackbed here is a clue to the fact there was also an up relief line at this point in steam days, extending from Shrivenham to Knighton Crossing.

The virtually uninterrupted blue sky in the picture is a little deceptive, as in every other direction there were plenty of ominously dark clouds! 66121 passes Uffington on 7 January 2012 with the 6W23 10:20 Hinksey Yard to Radyr ballast.

With the spires of Oxford just visible in the distance, 66121 passes Wolvercote on 15 December 2012 with the 6M48 09:28 Southampton Eastern Docks to Halewood empty car carriers. On the right is Wolvercote Common, part of Port Meadow. This large area of common land has never been ploughed, and in addition to grazing cattle, is used by the people of Oxford for recreation.

3,300 horse power versus one pigeon power! I don't know what speed Wood Pigeons can fly at, but the bird in front of the first wagon is probably travelling faster than the train, as the 4O40 09:43 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks BMW Mini car carriers is still accelerating away from it reversal in Hinksey Yard, as it passes Kennington behind 66121 on 3 April 2017.

66121 passes Hungerford Common on 27 September 2018 with the 3J41 14:53 Didcot Fuelling Point to Didcot Fuelling Point (via Westbury) Rail Head Treatment Train. 66019 is bringing up the rear. As this is only the second day of the train's operation, the entire ensemble is still clean. However, the red of the locos, and the blue of the tanks will soon start to morph into a uniform muddy brown colour!

66121 passes the site of Bletchingdon station on 1 February 2024 with the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This was running 28 minutes early, but would shortly be held at Oxford North Junction until its booked time.

With some snow still lying on top of some of the containers, 66122 approaches Oxford on 21 January 2013 with the 4M66 09:32 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. The trees in the background now prevent pictures from being taken on the west side of the line at this location.

66122 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 November 2013 with the 6O32 09:59 Margam to Dollands Moor covered steel carriers. Backlit and only a Shed, but still worth recording in view of the forthcoming electfrication of this route.

Graffiti covered 66122 passes the site of Bletchingdon station on 26 August 2016 with the 6X01 10:17 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh East Yard, conveying both empty and loaded rail carriers. The previous night's rain had cleared away the earlier high pressure haze, resulting in high contrast lighting. Perhaps not ideal for this now almost totally overgrown location.

An interesting working at Bourton on 17 June 2014. 66124 conveys six refurbished and repainted HKA hoppers, running as the 6Z47 13:31 Wembley Euro Freight Operating Centre to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf. The wagons were formerly part of the National Power fleet, in which guise they wore an equally distinctive light blue livery.

66124 approaches Kingham on 28 May 2016 with the 6W08 05:40 Westbury to Standish Junction engineer's train. This was the fifth of six trains to traverse the Cotswold Line in connection with the major Bank Holiday track possession near Standish Junction.

66124 passes an unusually empty Hinksey Yard on 30 March 2017 with the 6M48 10:34 Southampton Eastern Docks to Halewood empty car carriers. Just visible in the background, behind the road bridge are 37038 & 37716, waiting in the loop with the 5Z74 11:28 Eastleigh Arlington to Burton upon Trent Wetmore Sidings ECS.

66124 approaches Ashchurch on 30 November 2018 with the late running 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The blue sky gives a false impression, as off to the left an enormous bank of cloud was only a few minutes away from blotting out the sun.

Running 63 minutes early, 66124 passes Standish Junction on 6 August 2022 with the diverted 6V05 09:20 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The train's usual route would see it take the Chepstow line at Gloucester, so its appearance here was worth a photo. The line between Gloucester and Newport would be closed for nearly two months for major engineering work.

I called in at Culham station on 11 October 2022, to see if any vegetation clearance, or other change had opened up any new viewpoints - it hadn't! 66124 passes through the station with the 4O43 04:25 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. At least the missing boxes at the front of the train allows more of a view of the rest of the train on the curve.

66124 passes through Tackley station on 30 November 2022 with the 6E11 12:00 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. This picture is taken from a temporary footbridge constructed from scaffolding, as can be seen on the right.

66124 passes Yarnton on 23 November 2023 with the 4O21 09:20 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This was supposed to be a completely cloudy day, but for once the weather forecast being totally wrong was most welcome!

Autumn tints at Horbury on 16 November 1999. 66125 passes though the cutting with the 6E06 09:40 Bredbury to Roxby GMC Binliner, taking another load of Manchester's rubbish to bury in a hole in the ground in Lincolnshire.

66125 waits in the loop near Potters Grange Junction, Goole, on 18 March 2006 with the 6H93 17:08 Goole Glassworks to Peterborough sand empties. Unfortunately the lighting was nothing like this when it left, but I couldn't resist taking this picture during a very brief burst of sunshine, that nicely illuminates Goole's famous 'Salt and Peeper Pot' water towers.

66125 passes Uffington on 12 February 2008 with the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. Although most locations in this area are very open, I decided to make use of the lineside trees here to form a natural frame.

66125 passes Wolvercote on 4 May 2011 with the 6V37 08:50 Daw Mill to Didcot Power Station coal train. Coal traffic through the Oxford area will soon be a thing of the past with the imminent closure of Didcot A Power Station. Didcot B is gas fired and will continue in use for the foreseeable future.

The blue skies of 22 October 2011 tempted me to hike across the fields to a spot near Uffington which I have used for a number of years, but which now seems in danger of disappearing. If that bush doesn't soon ruin things, then I expect the forthcoming overhead wires will! 66125 passes by with the early running 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties.

66125 passes the site of Bletchingdon station on 3 September 2012 with the 4O30 13:19 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. For once all the boxes are on the front of the train, with the empty flats at the rear - much more photogenic.

66125 passes through the remains of Shrivenham station on 2 March 2015 with the 6V85 02:00 Milford West Sidings to Appleford flyash tanks (from Drax Power Station). Unfortunately, unlike the previous week, the front half of the train was just empty flats, which rather spoils the picture, although it does give a clear view of the old platform! As the 6M50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot had been cancelled, this was running in its path. It therefore had to wait for 20 minutes at Wantage Road, rather than the booked Highworth Junction.

66125 passes Wolvercote Junction on 27 March 2019 with the early running 4O21 09:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. With no boxes at the front of the train, and a filthy EWS liveried loco at the front, I almost didn't bother to take this. Only the perfect spring lighting made me press the shutter.

Running 21 minutes late, 66125 passes Uffington on 23 September 2021 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Even with my poor sense of smell, it was quite evident what this was carrying!

Freshly painted 66125 approaches Culham on 24 May 2022 with the lightly loaded 4O43 03:59 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. A long lens is required at this location, as there is an awkwardly positioned signal in the immediate foreground.

66125 passes Yarnton on 7 June 2022 with the 4M71 09:49 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. For once I was glad that the sun wasn't out, as at 12:54 this would be coming directly out of the light.

Running 24 minutes late, 66125 passes Steventon on 5 August 2022 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. The bridge in the background was the subject of a lengthy battle between the villagers of Steventon and Network Rail. The Latter claimed it would have to be completely rebuilt to allow electrification to take place. We can see who won that argument!

It may have been the longest day of the year, but sunshine was in short supply on 21 June 2014. 66126 passes Compton Beauchamp in the gloom with the 6V13 08:12 Dollands Moor to Margam steel empties.

66126 passes South Marston in fading light on 15 July 2016 with the 6O17 16:32 Barry Docks to Dollands Moor. This train runs from Associated British Port's recently opened intermodal container terminal, and often conveys empty polybulk wagons, which are used for conveying silica sand. However, on this occasion the train is a more or less uniform rake of containers (two per wagon).

66126 passes Bourton on 13 March 2017 with the 6W03 08:50 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to Hinksey ballast. This was running very late. In fact it had not been activated on the system at the booked departure time, and actually left Newport at 10:07.

66126 passes Moredon on 25 June 2018 with the diverted 6B49 04:48 Llanwern Exchange Sidings to Swindon loaded steel. The buildings in the background mark the site of the former rail connected oil storage facility at Bremell Sidings.

66127 passes Ystrad Mynach South Signal Box on 7 June 2003, as it heads down the Rhymney Valley with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z33 14:28 Cardiff Central to Finsbury Park 'Thames-Taff' railtour. 66158 is bringing up the rear of the train, which at this point was returning from Cwmbargoed.

66127 heads west along the Great Western Mainline at Baulking on 24 March 2009 with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. Not as interesting as the formerly guaranteed Class 60 traction, but a colourful picture in the sunshine nonetheless.

The start of a brief period of frenetic (by 21st century standards!) freight activity at Pilning on 27 April 2010. 66127 pulls out of the down loop with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. Hidden by the bushes in the background, 66003 waits just behind it with the 6B50 16:25 Swindon to Alexandra Docks Junction steel empties. While coming the other way is 66543 towing failed classmate 66564 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner.

66127 passes Thrupp on 9 January 2019 with the 4O21 09:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This was running 12 minutes early, having missed out its booked stop in Aynho loop. It would soon be back on time, after a longer than normal booked stop at Oxford North Junction!

66127 moves onto the up relief line at Wolvercote on 11 January 2019, as it prepares for its brief booked stop at Oxford North Junction with the 4O21 09:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The A34 Oxford bypass can be seen in the background.

66127 passes Wolvercote on 27 March 2023 with the 4M71 09:51 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. The train was pulling away from its booked 14 minute stop at the signal in the background.

66127 passes the spring blossom at Minety on 12 April 2023 with the diverted 6E11 11:07 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. Normally this line sees very little loco hauled traffic, but on this occasion just 12 minutes later 47749 City of Truro passed by with the 5Q66 10:09 Willesden to Long Marston EMU stock move.

66127 passes Rousham on 24 July 2024 with the 6V86 00:44 Milford West Sidings to Appleford Sidings containerised flyash. This was during 15 minutes of perfect early morning sunshine. It was blue sky all around, and as the earlier fog had now cleared, I thought the good weather was going to continue, but within a few minutes cloud had rolled in, and apart from a few short bright intervals, it was cloudy for the rest of the day.

66128 approaches Healey Mills on 25 September 2000 with the 6M07 10:45 Roxby to Pendleton GMC binliner empties. Although having grown to accept them over the last two decades, at this time the Class 66 invasion was mostly viewed as killing off almost all interest in the modern traction scene.

66128 approaches Potters Grange Junction, Goole, on 17 April 2003 with the 6D51 08:01 Doncaster Belmont Yard to Hull Hedon Road Enterprise. The Guardian Industries float glass plant can be seen under construction in the background.

In a brief patch of sunlight before the ominous dark clouds in the background arrived heralding more rain, 66128 stands in the unloading facility at the Guardian Glass Works at Goole on 26 June 2008, as it prepares to start unloading the 6H92 04:00 Peterborough to Goole sand train. This massive float glass works is a significant employer in the area and produces in excess of 700 tons of glass daily, although sadly only the raw materials arrives by rail, with the finished products leaving by road onto the conveniently situated M62 motorway.

A red 66 is an extremely poor substitute for a red HST! I had gone to this spot above Manton Tunnel on 23 April 2021 in order to photograph the 5M17 10:20 St Pancras International to St Pancras International (via Leicester) East Midlands Railway driver training run, but due to it running 18 minutes late on the outward run, I was much later than expected travelling to this location. It would have been OK, but here it was now running one minute early, which was just enough for me to miss it, as I saw it pass by as I was walking up the path! The substitute picture shows 66128 working the 4L38 10:59 East Midlands Gateway to Felixstowe Central intermodal. The extreme western edge of the 3,100 acre Rutland Water reservoir can be seen on the right.

Just before sunset on 29 July 1999, 66129 has a clear path along the down main line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, with the 6C72 20:03 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth MGR empties. In the 1990s the vegetation on the north side of the line consisted of just a few small bushes and lots of Ragwort. Later a line of trees would cause shadow problems here, even before the 25kV catenary completely blocked out the view.

66129 heads west near Kingston Lisle (between Didcot and Swindon) on 6 January 2009 with the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. Unlike a lot of photographers I am not content to repeatedly go back to the same locations over and over again, and although obviously this is unavoidable at times, I am constantly striving to find new viewpoints, which in the case of my local Great Western Mainline is something of a challenge. This view although pleasant and probably not featured on the web until now is hardly sufficiently different to justify the long walk from the nearest road!

66129 takes the Swindon line at Standish Junction on 25 October 2010 with the 6A36 Ashchurch to MoD stores train. A single wagon (and that might be empty!), but I suppose its a blessing that its next to the loco and not at the far end of the train!

How many Class 66s does it take to move twenty one wagons! The answer seems to be three if this photo is to believed! 66129, 66100 & 66091 pass Denchworth in a very lucky brief patch of sunshine on 17 October 2011 with the 6X50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot departmental working. Obviously 66100 & 66091 are dead in tow, as even a 66 could manage this meagre load unaided. The reason for the 6X50 headcode rather than the more normal 6M50 is not immediately apparent in this view, but the switch and crossing panel wagons which renders the train an exceptional load would be added later at Hinksey Yard. Note how Circourt Bridge in the background is not in the sun, proving it was a good job I decided not to go to there.

66129 runs through the shallow cutting on the approach to Compton Beauchamp with the 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties on 1 May 2007. Note the crude BR double arrow logo written in the dirt on the cabside!

66129 heads north through Oxford on 13 July 2013 with the diverted 6M60 04:00 Exeter Riverside to Bescot china clay tanks, passing 220011 held at a red signal with the 1O82 06:16 Leeds to Southampton Central CrossCountry service. The huge white buildings in the background are the as yet unfinished Castle Mill student accommodation blocks. Quite how such a hideous monstrosity ever got planning permission, especially in a place like Oxford, is a question that every local resident is asking. As the iconic views from the nearby Port Meadow have been compromised, there is real talk of a review, and even forcing the developers to reduce the height. The buildings have no architectural merit whatsoever, and are more reminiscent of 1950s communist state tenements.

Running a staggering 140 minutes late (not bad considering it left 2 minutes early!), 66129 passes Compton Beauchamp on 13 May 2017 with the 6W07 14:00 Leckwith North Junction to Bescot DBS engineers train.

66129 passes Defford on 15 June 2021 with the 6M41 11:45 Margam to Round Oak covered steel carriers. The obsolete EWS livery adds a little bit of colour contrast to what is otherwise a scene dominated by the colour green.

66129 passes Yarnton on 30 June 2023 with the 4M71 09:51 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. This almost spoiled the picture of the Midland Pullman 5Z43 10:00 Crewe to Eastleigh Arlington ECS heading in the opposite direction.

66129 passes Tumpy Green (near Cam & Dursley) on 2 August 2024 with the diverted 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The train's normal route via Chepstow was closed for major engineering works.

Unfortunately corresponding with a period when the sun drifted into some high cloud, 66130 approaches Culham on 9 July 2015 with the 4V39 17:36 Southampton Eastern Docks to Morris Cowley empty car carriers.

After spending 40 minutes stopped at signals in the background (less than booked), 66130 slowly weaves across from the relief to the main line at Oxford North Junction on 25 March 2017 with the 4V54 09:33 Wakefield Europort to Didcot intermodal.

Dark clouds over Oxford, but the sun breaks through at Yarnton on 17 February 2022, as 66130 heads north with the 6M34 10:34 Southampton Eastern Docks to Halewood empty Jaguar car carriers. I wouldn't normally take such a backlit picture of a 'Shed', but the contrast with the dark sky makes an interesting picture.

My only picture of an EWS Class 66 on the 4C13 11:11 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties. 66132 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 5 October 1999. Prior to this EWS had used a variety of interesting traction, but then in May 2000 they lost the contract, which was taken over by Freightliner Heavy Haul, who worked it until the service came to an end in 2011.

66132 passes the flooded River Cherwell at Bletchingdon on 23 November 2012 with the 4O23 11:13 Hams Hall to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. The small industrial estate on the left marks the site of the former Bletchingdon station.

66133 emerges from the fog at Oxford North Junction on 12 July 2014 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z25 06:25 Banbury to Llandrindod Wells 'Heart of Wales Rambler' railtour. Hardly a classic railtour, with bland motive power, and not a hint of 'railtour standard time'. In other words it ran to time all the way!

66133 crosses Arten Gill Viaduct on 14 April 2018 with the 6E95 10:44 Newbiggin to Milford West Sidings gypsum empties. I certainly wouldn't normally bother to photograph this 'Shed' hauled working, especially in such grim light. However, as I had just photographed 50049 & 50007 on the 'Cumbrian Hovers' railtour from the other side of the valley, I decided it was worth the slightly difficult crossing of the stream, and extremely slippery and steep climb to get to this spot. In the event I managed it with just minutes to spare, as it was running 26 minutes early!

66133 passes Melton Ross in superb light on 2 December 2019 with the 4R49 08:15 Milford West Sidings to Immingham biomass empties. The footpath in the foreground links the villages of New Barnetby and Barnetby le Wold.

66133 passes New Barnetby on 2 December 2019 with the 6H65 12:15 Immingham to Drax Power Station biomass hoppers. Note the floods in the background, a reminder of the previous month's devastating heavy rainfall.

66133 approaches Hensall on 18 March 2020 with the 4R53 13:55 Drax Power Station to Immingham biomass empties. Just visible in the background is the rear of the 6E09 08:10 Tuebrook Sidings to Drax Power Station biomass, which was being hauled by 60096 Impetus. That was the reason I was here in such atrocious weather, as obviously there is no way that I would go out in the rain just to photograph a 'Shed'!

On a day that turned out to be much sunnier than expected, 66133 passes South Marston on 29 October 2022 with the 4Z58 11:37 Oxford Banbury Road to Westbury stone empties. This used to be an excellent photographic location before the wires went up!

The impressive Gothic Whitacre Water Works, and the long time abandoned Shark plough brake van immediately identifies this location as Whitacre Junction. 66134 heads east on 23 September 2000 with the 6A02 08:45 Washwood Heath to Wembley Rover cars.

With the town of Scunthorpe visible on the hill in the background, 66134 crosses the combined rail and road Keadby Bridge, over the River Trent, and approaches Althorpe station on 23 May 2001 with the 6D66 15:20 Immingham to Doncaster Enterprise wagonload freight service.

66134 finds a sunny parch amongst the clouds, as it heads south past Up Hatherley on 15 May 2020 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The real reason for visiting this location was to see 56103 coming from the other direction.

66135 passes South Moreton on 26 July 2001 with the 4M04 15:37 Southampton Eastern Docks to Washwood Heath empty car carriers. The blue covered WIA articulated car carriers had only recently been introduced at this time.

Not quite the result I was hoping for, but I suppose it can be regarded as a perfectly timed passing shot. As I was approaching South Moreton on 27 April 2011, I could see 66135 stopped at signals with the 6Z16 Hothfield to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Quickly stopping the car, and sprinting to the bridge with the now essential stepladder, I could see the train starting to move as soon as I looked over the parapet. What I couldn't see was the 1V89 12:19 Newcastle to Reading CrossCountry service bearing down from behind! 66135 didn't get very far, as it was stopped yet again at the next set of signals!

Running a staggering 140 minutes early, 66135 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham on 2 February 2013 with the 4D10 12:20 (in theory!) Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. This freight flow ceased a few weeks later with the closure of Didcot Power Station.

66135 passes Compton Beauchamp on 6 July 2013 with the diverted 6M60 04:00 Exeter Riverside to Bescot china clay tanks. This train's normal route would be via Newport and the Welsh Marches line. However, as that line was closed for engineering work north of Hereford, it was routed via Swindon and Oxford. It was only after I had taken this picture, and happened to look round to watch the train going away, that I noticed a large bank of cloud to the east. As it was forecast to be a completely sunny day, I wasn't expecting this. Therefore, it was lucky that it was running early, as although the lighting is very head on, shortly afterwards there wasn't any lighting at all!

66135 passes Denchworth on 8 January 2014 with the late running 6M26 08:55 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. Note the lineside tree clearance visible behind the train, the first stage of work in connection with the forthcoming electrification.

66135 approaches Sandy Lane level crossing, near Kidlington, on 21 June 2014 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z70 04:50 Eastleigh to Carlisle 'Scenic Settler' railtour. Although only a 66, the prospect of some fine early morning light made the effort to get up early worthwhile. The longest day guaranteed the best available choice of locations with regard to light, but even so at 06:17 there are very few locations in the Oxford area that are clear of shadows. 70002 would later be added to the train at Crewe.

Passing through the cutting at Bessacarr which has recently been largely cleared of trees, 66135 heads westwards on 14 March 2015 with the diverted 4D56 11:32 Biggleswade to Heck Plasmor block empties. This train would usually travel via the East Coast Mainline.

Disappointing motive power for the 7C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Mendip Rail stone empties on 20 January 2011. I would have much preferred the more usual Class 59, but I was already in position in the field near the site of Uffington station, so this picture of 66136 heading back to the Mendips was added to the collection. An aptly named 'Scatter Bird' gas operated bird scarer was protecting the young oilseed rape crop in the field on the right and a PW worker was sounding a loud horn to warn track workers near the bridge of the approach of each train. It wasn't the quietest of spots this particular afternoon!

66136 passes Up Hatherley on 11 March 2011 with the 6B17 Didcot to Long Marston stock move, conveying four bogie tanks for storage. As this location gets backlit around midday, for once I was glad that the sun gone into a patch of thin high cloud. This however had gone by the time 6E41 rolled into view!

66136 passes Culham on 11 June 2015 with the 4M66 16:40 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal. The village of Appleford can just be seen amid the trees in the background, with the distinctive spire of the parish church of St Peter and St Paul on the extreme left.

Having just run round its train, 66136 pulls out of Didcot Yard, and approaches Didcot North Junction on 29 July 2019 with the 6V85 16:07 (the previous day) Milford West Sidings to Appleford Sidings flyash (from Drax Power Station). This is my first picture of this locomotive with its one off 'First London-Yiwu Train' embellishments.

66136 passes Sandy on 2 October 2019 with the 4N98 1129 Bow to Heck Plasmor block empties. If it wasn't for this loco's unique livery embellishments, I certainly wouldn't have bothered to take such a backlit picture of a red 'Shed'.

66136 passes Bredon on 14 August 2024 with the 6V92 10:32 Corby to Margam steel empties. This is another location that was cleared of vegetation a few years ago, and is now rapidly reverting to its former overgrown state.

66137 crosses the Forth Bridge with the 7G70 14:40 Hunterston to Longannet Power Station coal train on 18 April 2003. Considering this is one of the world's engineering masterpieces, very little effort has gone into making a viewing area for the bridge from the north side of the Forth. This picture is taken from a road in a housing estate through a gap in the trees.

A gnarled old oak tree, complete with abandoned rookery makes a perfect frame for 66137 as it passes Uffington on 24 April 2010 with the 6B33 12:12 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties. I had carefully positioned myself to include a slightly wider view than this in order to get a full length train in the picture, but as I half suspected the train was actually running as a short formation (as it often does on a Saturday) and therefore I changed position slightly at the last minute to include more of the tree. This twenty tank train is within the capabilities of a single Class 66, whereas the full length version isn't, hence the use of pairs of 'sheds' instead of the required Class 60.

66137 has 66194 dead in tow, as it shunts a lengthy rake of point carriers in Hinksey Yard on 3 April 2013, prior to working the train north as the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot. The wagons had been used during the previous weekend's major track remodeling at Reading. In the background 66116 waits to leave the yard with the 4L40 16:42 Morris Cowley to Purfleet BMW Mini car carriers.

A colourful train in more ways than one! With virtually every wagon having been vandalised, 66137 passes Tredington on 6 June 2018 with the 6V50 13:00 Burton upon Trent to Cardiff Tidal steel empties. Quite a dangerous lineside here, as the white flowers on the left are the highly poisonous Hemlock (Conium maculatum), rather than the more common Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris).

Very strange goings on at Grove on 12 July 2018. After waiting at a red signal in the distance for some time with the diverted 6M20 09:23 Whatley Quarry to St Pancras (Churchyard Sidings) stone train, 66137 started to move along the up relief line at Grove on 12 July 2018, just as 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange was approaching with the 1A79 06:47 Penzance to Paddington GWR service. Thinking that the 59 was just moving along to the end of the loop at Wantage Road, I was surprised to see the HST slowing down, and then being held at a red signal while the freight was let out in front of it! As the freight was already stopped in the loop, and this manoeuvre caused the HST to come to a stand, this seems to be a very bizarre operating practice.

66137 passes Moredon on 20 August 2019 with the 6V70 00:25 Liverpool Euro Metal to Swindon Cocklebury scrap empties. The lineside vegetation is growing quite fast here, and it looks like this could be the last summer of uninterrupted views at this location.

Friday 19 November 2010 was another superb day with very nearly unbroken sunshine. Keen to catch the last of the autumn colours, I trekked across the fields to where the railway crosses the River Cherwell near Tackley. With hawthorn berries and a rustic gate completing the rural scene, 66138 rolls by with the 4O16 09:16 Ditton to Southampton Western Docks intermodal service.

66138 doesn't appear to be in the best of health, as it passes Bourton on 12 August 2016 with the 6Z47 13:10 Acton to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf stone empties. The black smoke being emitted was even worse as it came underneath the bridge in the background.

66139 gives a helping hand to 66128, which had obviously failed whilst working an Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station coal train on 9 April 2002. With the power station in the background, the GM pair head back to Avonmouth with the empties, passing signs of recent trackside clearance at Steventon.

The severity of the gradients on the Adwick to Stainforth freight only line to the north of Doncaster can be fully appreciated in this dramatic view of 66139 approaching the remote hamlet of Tilts on 24 November 2008 with the 6D95 12:23 Doncaster Belmont to Goole steel train. The train will shortly be crossing the East Coast Mainline.

66139 rounds the curve at Crofton on a cloudy 9 March 2022 with the 6Z25 09:14 Westbury to Acton Mendip Rail stone. This left 35 minutes late, but arrived 26 minutes early. Obviously some very slack timings!

66139 passes Ashchurch on 2 June 2022 with the 6M60 03:45 Exeter Riverside North Yard to Bescot Down Side Yard china clay tanks. This had left over four hours early, but as there was a crew change at Bristol Parkway, it was only 20 minutes early here.

Running 38 minutes late, 66139 passes Purton Common on 14 July 2022 with the 6V15 20:18 Boston Sleaford Sidings to Swindon Stores covered steel carriers. This had started out the previous evening behind the newly reliveried 'Steel on Steel' 60062. Unfortunately the loco was swapped at Toton. As I had already got up early, and it was a guaranteed sunny morning, I went out anyway!

Praying for a Shed! 66139 passes through Heyford station on 26 November 2022 with the 3Z98 09:06 Didcot Fuelling Point to Toton North Yard Rail Head Treatment Train. 66011 is bringing up the rear. This was running 15 minutes early, which was fortunate, as the booked time was perilously close to when BR 7MT 4-6-2 70000 Britannia was due from the opposite direction.

This is what happens when you don't maintain your locomotives properly. Because DB Schenker are reluctant to invest in their Class 60 fleet, in particular the heavy overhauls that the 20 year machines require, early 2010 sees only a handful of the heavy freight locos in service. The result is that heavy oil trains from South Wales have to be entrusted to pairs of the inferior Class 66s. 66140 & 66126 pass Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 30 January 2010 with the 6B33 12:12 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. At least I suppose that it now means that having got this picture of the double headed working in good light, there will be no need to venture out to the lineside to see this particular train again until commonsense prevails and the correct traction is reinstated.

Running exactly on time, 66140 passes Bredon on 1 July 2021 with the 6M41 11:45 Margam to Round Oak steel. Vegetation is starting to encroach again here, after several years of good photographic opportunities, following some extensive lineside clearance.

66141 approaches Baulking on 12 October 2006 with the 6C23 10:29 Hayes to East Usk empty hoppers, a working which up until this point had often been worked by a Class 60. It seems that EWS have only seen fit to rebrand a few of the old four wheel hoppers.

66141 leads the 3L13 09:14 Westbury to Par (via Salisbury) Rail Head Treatment Train past Little Langford in golden early morning light on 30 November 2013. Absolutely filthy 66193 is bringing up the rear. I can understand why 66141's driver's door has been cleaned, but what was the point of cleaning the obsolete English Welsh & Scottish Railway logo?

66142 runs parallel with the A9 near Dalwhinnie on 5 September 2000, as it heads south with the 6D46 13:30 Inverness to Mossend Enterprise service. Unfortunately the Class 37s had just been replaced on this train, but as the sun was out it was worth a shot.

66142 rejoins the mainline at Seaton Snook Junction on 15 September 2001, after traversing the short branch to Seaton-on-Tees (Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station), with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z27 20:22 Newport to York 'Blyth & Tyne Meanderer' railtour. 56089 can just be seen on the rear of the train.

66142 approaches Radley on 17 December 2012 with the 4O23 11:14 Hams Hall to Southampton Western Docks Intermodal. The sun is too head on for my liking here, but in the winter there is only a short while before the shadows from the trees on the left create an even bigger problem!

66142 Maritime Intermodal Three passes Wolvercote on 28 June 2019 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Not being 'Shed obsessed' like some photographers, I hadn't bothered to seek out any of the newly painted Maritime blue liveried locos, so by the time I got to see this first one, it is in far from pristine condition!

66142 Maritime Intermodal Three passes Ebley on 2 June 2023 with the diverted 6E11 11:07 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. This was running 70 minutes late, but with such easy timings, it managed to arrive at its destination ten minutes early.

Two empty stone trains in one picture! 66143 passes Banbury Road Stone Terminal, Water Eaton with the 6Z67 10:50 Calvert to Bow Olympic spoil empties on 14 January 2014. In the foreground is the 7C54 13:06 Oxford Banbury Road to Westbury Mendip Rail stone empties, with its loco (59005) in the photographically impossible position, directly underneath the bridge.

Work stained 66143 leads the 6Z70 09:33 Didcot to St Philips Marsh Rail Head Treatment Train past Shrivenham on 29 November 2014, with equally filthy 66168 bring up the rear. At least the bushes don't get in the way of a train of this length!

Framed by a recently installed electfrication mast, and the tree that Network Rail missed when its neighbours were cut down, 66143 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 1 December 2016, running as the 0W60 08:41 Westbury to Didcot light engine.

66144 has a good load behind it as it passes Compton Beauchamp on 29 May 2003 with the 6M17 16:38 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to Wembley Enterprise service. Photography of eastbound trains in the evening on the Great Western Mainline is difficult due to the angle of the sun. This location is better than most, as at least the sun is not directly behind the train. The problem was further helped here by the sun fading out into high cloud.

66144 passes an old permanent way hut at Church Brampton on 22 September 2010, as it works the 6A62 14:53 Daventry to Dollands Moor bottled water empties. These wagons will travel via the Channel Tunnel to the Evian and Volvic bottling plants in France.

Superb evening light at Coedkernew on 20 July 2000. 66145 heads westwards with what is presumably the late running 6G52 16:30 Avonmouth to Aberthaw Power Station MGR, while in the background, the 4S81 18:20 Pengam to Coatbridge freightliner can be seen disappearing into the distance, hauled by 66501.

A brief burst of sunshine at Tonna on 16 March 2002, as 66145 returns from Cwmgwrach with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z37 05:40 Sheffield to Onllywyn 'Valley Voyager' railtour. This is the site of Aberdylais Halt, which closed in 1964.

66145 passes Cefn Coed Colliery on 16 March 2002 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z38 15:45 Onllywyn to Sheffield 'Valley Voyager' railtour. Cefn Coed Colliery was opened in 1926, and eventually the shaft reached a depth of 2,500 feet, making it the deepest anthracite mine in the world at the time. The mine closed in 1968, but Blaenant Colliery opened up right next door, but that had also closed by 1990. Today the site is a museum, although unfortunately without any access the underground workings.

A most unwelcome sight at Uffington on 12 February 2008. Instead of the usual Class 60, 66145 turned up on the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. Whether this poor choice of traction for this heavy train (admittedly now within the capabilities of a 66, as it is empty) had anything to do with what happened next I am unable to say.

Red loco and contrasting green stock! 66147 runs alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal near Crofton on 17 February 2001 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z36 07:25 Finsbury Park to Meldon Quarry 'Dartmoor Warbler' railtour.

66147 sweeps round the curve at Wormleighton Crossing (near Banbury) with the 4O21 11:10 Burton upon Trent to Southampton intermodal on 22 April 2009. This picture almost didn't happen, as a Class 168 unit has only just disappeared round the corner (note the red signal).

Some of the most impressive freight trains operating in the south of England in 2012 are the covered car carrier trains conveying new Minis from the BMW plant at Cowley. The sheer length of these trains with their distinctive wagons, makes up for the mundane traction employed. On 13 September 2012, 66147 was entrusted with the 4O40 08:21 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks, seen here passing South Moreton (Didcot East), slowly gathering speed after its lengthy layover at Didcot.

66147 passes Charlton-on-Otmoor on 21 March 2017 with the 6A48 10:25 Bicester to Didcot MoD stores. I was very lucky to get this in the sun, as after a completely sunny start to the day, the clouds were now building up big time, whipped along by a very strong wind.

66147 passes South Marston on 27 October 2017 with the 6Z35 06:00 Moreton-on-Lugg to Hothfield stone train. This had actually left at 03:47, and if it had kept up with such mega early running it would have passed here well before sunrise. Luckily, and predictably, it was held at Bristol, and passed here exactly on time.

66148 brings up the rear of the Pathfinder Tours 1Z81 09:56 Sheffield to Leeds 'Loopy Doughnut' railtour at Pontefract East Junction on 22 June 2013. In the distance, 60019 has just regained the correct running line, as it works the train towards Pontefract Monkhill.

66148 Maritime Intermodal Seven passes Uffington on 8 March 2024 with the 6B33 13:53 Theale to Robeston empty oil tanks. The Class 60s have gone, and DB's re-geared Class 66/6s are yet to appear, so early 2024 sees ordinary Class 66/0s on these workings.

66149 passes Whitehill (between Combe and Finstock) in the pouring rain on 29 July 2009 with the 6W60 Hinksey to Charlbury ballast train. Two ballast workings were booked to work to Charlbury within 45 minutes of each other, so despite the terrible weather I wasn't going to miss the chance to see two engineering trains within less than a hour on what is normally a passenger only section of railway. Just out of sight in the field on the right is North Leigh Roman Villa, and interestingly while I was waiting for these trains a pair of the rare Roman Snails (Helix pomatia) were crawling up the bridge parapet, obviously encouraged by the wet weather. As the Romans brought them to this country, they certainly haven't strayed very far in over 1600 years!

Its not very often you get to photograph two trains this close together on the main line. In the pouring rain on 29 July 2009, with Brunel's grade II listed station building prominent in the foreground, 66149 with the 6W60 ballast train from Hinksey stands awaiting further instructions, with 66185 on the 6W61 from Hinksey right behind it. They would shortly move off to drop ballast on the section of realigned track between Charlbury and Shorthampton.

66149 pulls slowly away from Charlbury with the 6W60 ballast train from Hinksey on 29 July 2009. It was just about to drop ballast on the line between here and Shorthampton. In connection with redoubling certain sections of the Cotswold Line the single track is having to be repositioned in several places, undoing the work carried out in 1971. Unfortunately by the time this train decided to move off not only had the rain started coming down again, but it was starting to get dark, which probably explains why I was the only photographer on the scene!

In failing light on 29 July 2009, 66149 moves cautiously forward over the realigned and totally unballasted track at Shorthampton, prior to dropping ballast. It is working the 6W60 ballast train from Hinksey, which has already dropped some ballast nearer to Charlbury, just around the corner. A similar train worked by 66185 & 66068 would follow along later. This section of the Cotswold Line is being redoubled, but as the remaining single track was centered in 1971, that work is having to be undone, as here. Preparatory work at this location involved extensive lineside vegetation clearance, which accounts for the abundant growth of Rosebay Willowherb and Stinging Nettles on the side of the cutting.

Superb early morning light at New Barnetby on 18 September 2012. 66149 rounds the curve with the 4R11 06:15 Cottam Power Station to Immingham coal empties. The bridge in the background is the well known Melton Ross photographic location.

Flanked by track workers doing their inspection of the line, 66149 ambles along the up relief line at Denchworth on 16 October 2012 with the 6D11 08:27 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station imported coal. There would be just five more months of such trains, before the closure of Didcot's coal fired generator, would bring them to an end.

66149 ambles slowly along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth at little more than walking pace on 16 October 2012 with the 4D12 13:22 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. Obviously the driver is hoping that the red signal up ahead will clear before he gets to it, therefore avoiding the need for a standing start at Challow.

66149 passes Yarnton on 20 January 2014 with the 3F01 12:02 Fenny Compton to Marchwood special priority MoD stores. I had chosen this location as the angle of the sun wouldn't matter, as it was totally cloudy. Naturally, as soon as I had walked across the field to the bridge, and it was too late to go anywhere else, the sun started to appear!

66149 passes Baulking on 30 June 2014 with the 6B35 10:47 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. A little backlit, but how many more pictures will I be able to take at this location before the wires go up and ruin the view forever?

66149 heads north at Tackley on 13 December 2023 with the 4M71 09:48 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal The bodyside may have been repainted, but the yellow front end could do with some attention!

66150 passes Marshfield on 4 March 2006 with loaded coal hoppers bound for Aberthaw Power Station. This being a Saturday, there wasn't the usual constant procession of freights at this location, which by this date was beginning to diminish anyway.

66150 passes Uffington on 30 October 2012 with the 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot engineer's train, on this occasion running 30 minutes late. Even though its only a 'Red Shed', and therefore just about the least interesting type of traction on the railway, the varied consist of this train makes it worth going out for, especially on a sunny autumn morning.

A colourful sight at Shrivenham on 4 September 2014. 66150 works a train of refurbished and repainted HKA hoppers, running as the 6Z47 10:04 Wembley Euro Freight Operating Centre to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf. I hope there were no photographers on the bridge in the background, as it doesn't look like the sunny patch extends that far!

66150 approaches Little Haresfield on 4 May 2015 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 05:25 Basingstoke to Dowlow (Briggs Sidings) 'Buxton & Cheshire Explorer' railtour. 66165 is out of sight on the rear of the train. The train is accelerating slowly away from Standish Junction, which is near the bridge in the background that 66150's heat haze exhaust is doing its best to obscure. The train has just traversed the 'Golden Valley' line from Swindon. As can be seen by the dark background, a large cloud was rapidly approaching, and I was lucky to get this one in the sun. A long lens was necessary to clear numerous shadows in the foreground.

66150 slowly picks up speed at Wolvercote on 6 March 2020, as it gets under way again after waiting at the signal in the background for a few minutes with the 4M71 09:49 Southampton to Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal.

Running 45 minutes early, 66150 approaches Radley on 16 November 2021 with the 6C58 11:45 Oxford Banbury Road to Didcot stone empties. I wasn't going to bother to wait for this, as it was booked to sit in the loop at Kennington for over an hour. It clearly didn't!

66150 passes Bredon's Norton on 12 April 2023 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Unfortunately the earlier sunshine had disappeared, as a large bank of dark clouds had arrived from the west.

66151 passes Bourton on 23 April 2014 with the late running 6M26 07:37 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. Mostly empty anyway, although obviously the contents of the first three wagons are going back from whence they came!

Running 15 minutes early, 66151 passes Shrivenham on 1 November 2021 with the 3J43 02:53 Didcot Fuelling Point to Didcot Fuelling Point (via Ealing and Trowbridge) Rail Head Treatment Train. 66155 is bringing up the rear. I'm not quite sure why I ventured out for a pair of absolutely filthy DB Sheds, but it was a perfect sunny morning!

66151 brings up the rear of the 3J43 02:53 Didcot Fuelling Point to Didcot Fuelling Point (via Ealing and Trowbridge) Rail Head Treatment Train at Challow on 29 November 2021. Thankfully the lead loco (66152) was considerably cleaner!

With half of the train made up of BYA wagons minus their hoods, 66151 passes Claydon on 4 April 2023 with the 6V92 10:34 Corby to Margam steel empties. Note the light aircraft parked in the field in the background.

66152 has just crossed Knucklas Viaduct on 28 May 2000 with the diverted 6M82 Margam to Hardendale lime empties. Even though freight over the Central Wales line is unusual, I still wouldn't have gone out just for this. It was of course the much more interesting Class 37s that were the reason for my visit.

66152 passes Hopton Heath station on 28 May 2000 with the diverted 6M82 Margam to Hardendale lime empties. This train was routed over the Central Wales line due to the main line being closed for engineering works at Bridgend. Note how the train is just the right length for a photo at this location.

66152 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 8 September 2005 with the 6A32 Ashchurch to Didcot MoD stores (or lack of them!). This train was booked to leave Ashchurch at 13:27, but clearly didn't, as it passed me at 13:32!

66152 passes Baulking with the 6B35 10:15 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties on 27 October 2008, with the customary rake of wagons including a single ex RMC liveried example. As this picture is taken at around midday, it can be seen that this is about the latest date in the year that this location can successfully be used for photography, as even with the sun at its highest, the shadows extend up to the edge of nearest rail. Although the rampant growth of lineside vegetation at this location has been virtually unchecked in the last couple of decades, a Network Rail team had just finished strimming the bushes on the path down to the track when I arrived!

66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator's bright red livery is accentuated by the rising sun as it passes Great Heck on 11 March 2011 with the 6D54 02:44 Redcar to Scunthorpe coal. There was a bank of cloud across the early morning sun until just a matter of minutes before the train arrived. In fact it was one of those days when I thought the weather forecasters had got it completely wrong again, only to find that as usual it was only their timing that was out!

Running over ninety minutes early, 66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator passes the site of Chipping Sodbury station (closed 1961) with the 6V13 08:12 Dollands Moor to Margam steel empties on 31 August 2013. As well as the site of Chipping Sodbury station behind the loco, the houses of Old Sodbury can be seen in the background, with one of the airshafts for Sodbury Tunnel in the distance. I will leave you to make your own comments!

66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 February 2015 with the 6V85 02:00 Milford West Sidings to Appleford containerised flyash tanks, originally from Drax Power Station. Unfortunately the earlier sunshine had disappeared, but on the plus side I was back in the car before the heavy rain started!

66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator passes through Ashchurch station on 22 April 2015 with the 6Z57 06:52 Llanwern Exchange Sidings to Long Marston, conveying a lengthy rake of steel carrier wagons going back into storage. The road traffic on the A46 in the background is at its usual rush hour standstill!

66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator runs along the lengthy straight section of the Cotswold Line at Badsey on 22 April 2015 with the 6Z57 06:52 Llanwern Exchange Sidings to Long Marston steel carrier wagons for storage. Although this was running to time, there would have been few pathing problems on this particular day, as several First Great Western trains were cancelled, due, believe it or not, to a bird getting caught in a set of points, and causing a track circuit failure! This was the third day of such disruption.

66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator passes Bredon on 24 January 2019 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. I wouldn't normally contemplate photographing a Class 66 in such poor light, but this was due just a few minutes after the vastly more interesting 5Z50 08:30 St Philips Marsh to Long Marston ECS had passed by in the other direction, hauled by 50007. Also, it shows the result of some recent tree clearance.

Viewed from the railway photographer's footbridge (hardly anyone else seems to use it) at Uffington, 66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator heads east along the Great Western Mainline on 23 June 2021, running as the 0Z68 09:53 Didcot Fuelling Point to Didcot Parkway (via Swindon) crew trainer. I wouldn't normally bother to photograph a DB Schenker light engine, but I was crossing the bridge anyway!

66152 Derek Holmes Railway Operator passes Challow on 29 November 2021 with the 3J43 02:53 Didcot Fuelling Point to Didcot Fuelling Point (via Ealing and Trowbridge) Rail Head Treatment Train, with 66151 bringing up the rear. I was glad the locos were this way round, as although 66152 is reasonably clean for a RHTT loco, the rear loco is absolutely filthy. The perfect combination of sun and snow was fairly localised, with the area to the west not only without any snow, but as can be seen from the dark clouds in the background, without much sun either!

66153 passes Kibworth Harcourt on 25 June 2008 with the 6Z60 10:29 Bardon Hill to Bow Olympic stone train. Ironically this picture was taken just a few weeks before the magnificent opening ceremony of the preceding Olympic Games in Beijing, China. This certainly gave Britain something to compete against four years later!

66153 runs along the down relief line at Denchworth on 16 September 2010 with the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. It will have to wait at Challow for a couple of HSTs to pass, before continuing on its journey.

66154 just manages to avoid the worst of the shadows, as it passes Denchworth on 31 October 2014 with the 6B35 10:47 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. Judging by the state of the roof, it looks like 66154 is an early candidate for a repaint!

The landslip at Harbury in early 2015 effectively blocked the line between Banbury and Leamington Spa. This resulted in the Banbury to Mountsorrel empty self discharge train being re-routed via Oxford and London. 66154 is seen here passing Thrupp (near Kidlington) on a very gloomy 10 February 2015 with the diverted 6M31 10:42 Banbury to Mountsorrel, running half an hour late.

66154 passes Yarnton on 16 April 2022 with the diverted 6M45 06:37 Dollands Moor to Daventry Evian bottled water. There must be quite a few bottles of Evian in a train of this length! The train was diverted via Oxford due to engineering works on the West Coast Mainline.

Running 14 minutes early, 66154 passes Wolvercote on 17 April 2022 with the diverted 6M45 11:07 Dollands Moor to Daventry Evian bottled water. It's a pity that the train wasn't the usual massive load, as this location (with a slightly more head on viewpoint) gives a long clear view of northbound trains. The train was diverted via Oxford due to engineering works on the West Coast Mainline.

Framed by the footbridge in the fields near South Marston, 66154 heads towards Swindon on 1 August 2024 with the 6C03 10:40 Acton to Severnside Sita Binliner. This was a VSTP working, running in the path of the normal 6C03 09:55 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita train.

With the 1N06 11:30 Kings Cross to Newcastle National Express East Coast HST disappearing into the distance, 66155 approaches Botany Bay level crossing (near Retford) with the 4L45 10:15 Wakefield Europort to Felixstowe intermodal service on 10 March 2009.

66155 passes the now sadly demolished Banbury North Signal Box on 22 August 2015 with the 4O43 06:31 Birch Coppice to Eastleigh intermodal. This train was photographed by numerous people up and down the line, because it followed shortly after the infinitely more interesting 37401 Mary Queen of Scots & 37405 with the 1Z37 'Bournemouth Flyer' railtour.

With Rogiet church in the background, the last rays of the setting sun illuminate 66156 as it passes Severn Tunnel Junction with the 6M68 08:33 Burngullow to Warrington china clay slurry on Saturday 22 February 2003. This train would then work forward the following day as the 6S55 17:00 Warrington to Irvine, a very rare Sunday revenue earning freight train. The overgrown area on both sides of the line here is the site of the once extensive Severn Tunnel Junction Yard.

The setting sun glints off 66156 and its train as it passes a field of oilseed rape near Uffington on 23 November 2010 with the 6D15 12:43 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station coal train. I wouldn't normally bother taking a backlit picture of a 'Red shed', but the lighting looked so good on this one that I couldn't resist.

A scene soon to pass into history. Both the train and the cloud of steam rising in the background have only a few months left, when pictured here on 15 January 2013. 66156 approaches Wantage Road with the 4D10 12:20 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The huge plume of steam is of course emanating from Didcot A coal fired Power Station, which is due to close in 2013, leaving the gas fired Didcot B to carry on generating.

With the Oxford to Water Eaton line closed for upgrading in connection with Chiltern Railway's new Oxford to London service, stone trains for the Banbury Road terminal have to access the terminal from the north, via the new chord at Bicester, On 20 October 2015, 66156 heads north near Islip with the returning empties - the 6V01 11:28 Oxford Banbury Road to Acton.

66156 passes the blackthorn blossom at Claydon (Gloucestershire) on 25 March 2017, as it heads south with the 6V05 09:20 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Good to see a Saturday steel working in this time of reduced traffic, but I prefer the traction from a couple of decades earlier!

The blackthorn is in bloom at Culham on 23 March 2022, as 66156 sweeps round the curve near Lock Wood with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal, running exactly on time.

66157 passes Patney with the 6V18 12:38 Hither Green to Whatley empty Hanson 'Jumbo' stone train on 11 May 2009. After several hours photographing Class 59s I suppose it was inevitable that a 66 would come along and spoil it!

66158 brings up the rear of the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z33 14:28 Cardiff Central to Finsbury Park 'Thames-Taff' railtour at Ystrad Mynach on 7 June 2003. 66127 is hidden among the trees, at the front of the train.

66158 passes Yarnton on 27 July 2006 with the 6M65 18:21 Didcot to Carlisle Enterprise service. This was basically a successor to the old Speedlink wagonload workings, in this case being mainly composed of MoD traffic.

66158 passes Closeburn in nice early morning light with the 6E85 05:21 Hunterston to Drax Power Station coal train on 9 June 2007. The mist had just cleared, although the hills in the background are still partly obscured.

66158 passes Uffington with the featherweight 6M17 18:08 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to Wembley Enterprise service on 1 June 2009. Obviously the recession is at work here, as this was formerly a very well loaded train. Although this loco is less than ten years old there is a huge amount of rust visible below the bodyside grilles. The poor standards of construction for this class are well known, but this kind of quality control is reminiscent of 1970s British Leyland!

On 2 May 2005, 66159 took over from 37427 in Workington station (just out of sight in the distance) and then worked the Pathfinder Tours 1Z78 04:56 Cardiff Central to Whitehaven 'Cumbrian Warrior' tour to the docks junction. The docks branch is seen diverging to the right here. To think I drove all the way to Cumbria to photograph a 'Shed'!

66159 passes Siddick on 2 May 2005 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z78 04:56 Cardiff Central to Whitehaven 'Cumbrian Warrior' tour. The rock armour in the foreground not only adds a touch of the unusual to the picture, but it was also something to stand on!

If you owned one of the houses near the railway at Eckington, you could get an extremely close up view of passing trains! 66159 brushes past the garden sheds on 15 August 2009, as it works the 6V40 04:25 Scunthorpe to Margam steel slabs.

In the week after Easter 2015, various freight trains were diverted via the Didcot to Swindon line, due to ongoing signal works in the Reading area. One such was the 4O40 08:21 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks car carriers, conveying Minis for export. On 10 April 2015 it is pictured passing Denchworth with 66160 in charge. Luckily it was running over an hour late, which has resulted in the backlighting not being as severe as anticipated.

The Drax biomass trains have certainly brightened up the modern freight scene, with their shiny purpose built wagons. 66160 passes Melton Ross on 6 November 2017 with the 6H65 12:15 Immingham to Drax Power Station, which on this occasion only got as far as Knottingley.

66160 passes Uffington on 31 March 2021 with the 6Z32 11:34 Cricklewood Aggregates to Tytherington stone empties. Note the inclusion of a single red liveried Touax wagon amid the Mendip Rail rake. I had left home in full sun, but as I started the long walk to this location, the sun just started to fade out into high cloud, and when this came it had all but disappeared!

66161 passes Bourton on 16 September 2013 with the 6M50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot departmental working. At the rear of the train are a pair of Colas twin jib cranes, DRC78235 & DR78266. It wasn't long before the bright sunshine gave way to a mainly cloudy day, which later turned to heavy downpours and intermittent sunny spells.

A misty day at Barrow upon Trent on 17 March 2015. 66161 heads westwards with the 6X01 10:17 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh long welded rails. The same type of wagons, but one set has yellow stanchions, the other red.

66161 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 18 February 2016 with the 6V47 10:26 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties. Usually a lengthy train, and on this occasion made up of three different wagon types.

Running 37 minutes late, Maritime blue liveried 66162 Maritime Intermodal Five passes Yarnton on 29 October 2019 with the 4E94 05:07 Southampton Western Docks to Masborough intermodal. Recent lineside tree clearance has opened up this view considerably, and had the very weak early morning sunshine got a little stronger, it would have been evident that now nothing casts a shadow across the line, even in the autumn. Of course, as Network Rail only do this kind of work every couple of decades, it will soon become overgrown again!

Costco could also be an appropriate name for the class of loco pictured here. 66163 passes the discount store at Washwood Heath on 22 November 2008 with a short rake of engineers vehicles in a welcome patch of sunshine. The Class 66's no frills and economy design has nevertheless served the needs of the remaining rail freight traffic over the last decade despite various problems including poor build quality.

The horses in the field show no at all interest in 66164 as it approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 6Z98 Hayes to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties on 23 November 2007. The train is running slowly along the down relief line, as it will be stopping at Challow a mile further on, where the relief lines end. It is being rapidly overhauled by 43127 on the late running 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service, which can just be seen approaching under the bridge in the background.

In the soft evening light on 23 April 2010, 66164 heads through the North Oxfordshire countryside near Great Bourton with the 6M58 15:08 Southampton Eastern Docks to Warrington Arpley car carriers. Warrington church is just visible on the horizon on the left, while Williamscot House can be seen directly above the train.

66164 passes Ashchurch in superb early morning light on 16 July 2016 with the 6M90 05:00 Avonmouth Hansons Siding to Clitheroe Castle Cement empty cement tanks. Unfortunately the new silver tanks are now looking slightly less than pristine, as a few of them have received the attention of graffiti vandals. The train had actually left Avonmouth 89 minutes early, but passed Ashchurch virtually on time. This was very fortunate, as it corresponded with approximately 20 minutes of totally unforecast sunshine.

66165 approaches Hexthorpe with the 6E08 07:18 Wolverhampton to Doncaster steel train on 28 July 2008. The four tracks start just around the corner in the background, a little after Hexthorpe Junction. The 66 is on the tracks that head south at St James Junction, avoiding Doncaster station, while the other two tracks are the lines into Doncaster, used by all passenger services.

66165 passes Didcot North Junction on 8 September 2012 with the 6O26 10:19 Hinksey Yard to Eastleigh Yard working, on this occasion comprised entirely of a lengthy rake of ballast empties. This was the second departmental working at this spot on this particular morning, 66043 having passed by a little earlier.

The sheep in the field takes no notice, as 66165 passes Claydon on 17 February 2015 with the 6V05 10:16 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The church and industrial estate at Ashchurch can be seen in the background.

66165 passes the blackthorn blossom at Souldern Wharf on 21 April 2015 with the 6O42 11:31 Halewood to Southampton Eastern Docks car train, loaded with Range Rovers from the Jaguar plant for export. Just visible on the extreme right is Souldern No.2 Viaduct, on the Chiltern Line.

The 6X65 20:28 Didcot to Mossend freight is always worth photographing, due to its lengthy and mixed consist. Unfortunately its late departure time limits photography to mid summer. The longest day therefore seems like the ideal time to photograph it, but on 21 June 2017 the sun had long gone even before it left Didcot. 66165 heads the mixed load past Wolvercote in the gloom. In addition to the cars and vans, there are several wagons of steel wire at the rear. In the background the 4O29 15:18 Trafford Park to Southampton freightliner waits in the loop, headed by 70015.

66165 passes Heytesbury on 16 July 2018 with the 7V12 15:38 Woking to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. Just my luck to be in the area when this was worked by a Class 66 rather than the more frequently used Class 59!

66165 passes Bredon on 10 July 2019 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Unfortunately the sun disappeared at the critical moment, but at least the bright red DB colour scheme compensates somewhat!

DB Shed to the rescue! When 60007 The Spirit of Tom Kendell failed at Sapperton on 8 March 2022, whilst working the 6V15 20:18 Boston Sleaford Sidings to Swindon Stores covered steel carriers, 66165 was sent from Didcot as the 1Z99 rescue loco. It is seen here speeding past Challow. The train finally arrived at Swindon 270 minutes late!

66166 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing (near Shrivenham) on 8 August 2006. It is working the 4D12 13:09 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The use of a long lens has exaggerated the somewhat un-Brunelian reverse curves in the line at this point.

66167 approaches Wellingborough on 19 July 2002 with the 6O41 08.52 Corby to Dollands Moor empty cartics. Rosebay Willowherb and Buddleia have replaced the numerous sidings that were here when I visited in 1985.

The start of a busy five minutes at Challow on 19 September 2012. 66167 passes the site of the former station with the 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot engineer's train, running virtually on time. However, this was not the end of the morning's freight activity, as five minutes later it was followed by a very similar train hauled by 66186, which had also come from Westbury.

66167 passes Badsey on 10 August 2017 with the 6Z30 08:39 Bescot to Long Marston, conveying 34 redundant TTA oil tanks. This is the third such train, which as previously, had brought the tanks up from Fawley the day before. The tanks will have any remaining oil removed, so that they can be safely scrapped.

66167 passes through the cutting at Bredon on 8 July 2022 with the 6V07 14:27 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The bridge in the background is unfortunately out of bounds for photographers, as it is on a private road.

66168 passes Compton Beauchamp on 18 August 2009 with the lightly loaded 6A32 Ashchurch to Didcot MoD stores train. Another instance of the Met Office getting it totally wrong. This was supposed to be a hot and sunny day - it was neither!

66168 passes through the tree line cutting at Bottesford on 6 September 2012 with the 6E82 12:16 Rectory Lane to Lindsey oil empties. Bottesford crossing keeper's cottage can just be seen in the far distance, above the rear of the train.

66168 passes Standish Junction on 31 August 2013 with the 05:05 Ratcliffe Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. There would be no trains taking the diverging route in the foreground, and as the 'Golden Valley' line to Swindon was closed for track redoubling south of Kemble.

66168 passes Castle Donington in hazy light on 7 April 2015 with the 6X01 10:17 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh continuously welded rails. Judging by the bright red rust colour of the lines on the right, nothing has been that way for a long time!

The low late afternoon winter sun turns the dead grass in the foreground golden yellow as 66169 approaches Baulking with the 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties on 10 December 2008. Surprisingly I had not used this particular location for westbound trains previously, and although not a particularly inspiring location it useful in December as there is nothing to shade the line.

66169 passes Hinksey on 28 October 2011 with the 6A48 14:16 Bicester to Didcot MoD stores. As usual with this train, running considerably earlier than the booked time. In fact, nearly half an hour earlier at this point than the booked time to leave Bicester. Probably just as well with the rapidly lengthening shadows.

66169 approaches Oxford North Junction on 3 January 2013 with the 6A49 12:10 Didcot to Bicester MoD stores. This train, which is quite often just a single van, had been signal checked, to allow a southbound CrossCountry service to pass, prior to it weaving across onto the Bicester Line. Once at Bicester, it would be locked in to allow 56303 to pass with the late running 6Z91 10:55 Calvert to Didcot Power Station flyash empties.

A surprise at Denchworth on 22 September 2014. Unexpectedly routed via Swindon, rather than the Berks & Hants line, 66169 leads the diverted 6M20 10:37 Whatley to St Pancras (Churchyard Sidings) stone hoppers, along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge. Needless to say, this deviation made it over an hour late by the time it got to Reading. Note the half driven in electrification piles behind the bushes, and near the signal gantry.

Unfortunately not the more appropriate ex National Power Class 59/2 on this ioccasion. 66169 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 8 January 2015 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Mendip Rail stone empties. If you think this loco looks tatty, you should see what was following directly behind it!

66169 passes a field of oilseed rape near Radley on 5 May 2016, as it gets into its stride with the lengthy 4O39 9:43 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks covered car carriers, with BMW Minis for export. The smoke obviously gives away the fact that the loco is still working hard to get the heavy load moving, but at the time I didn't notice the little circular puff of smoke. It almost looks like those dust marks you used to get on older digital SLRs before the advent of automatic sensor cleaning!

66169 passes Compton Beauchamp on 27 May 2016 with the 6Z47 13:10 Acton to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf stone empties. Note the sycamore bush on the left. This is a feature of this bridge, with at various times, numerous small sycamore bushes growing along the roadside, as well as on the side of the railway cutting.

Running over an hour late, 66169 passes underneath the Hungerford Common road bridge on 24 September 2018 with the 6M20 10:37 Whatley to St Pancras (Churchyard Sidings) stone hoppers. Note the Second World War pillbox to the right of the bridge. This was part of a 'stop line' of defences alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal.

What a pity the blue one wasn't on the front, rather than the tatty red one! 66169, 66005 Maritime Intermodal One, 66089 & 66117 pass Up Hatherley on 13 May 2019, running as the 0W05 08:12 Bescot to Margam loco convoy.

66169 passes Up Hatherley on 18 September 2019 with the 6V92 10:28 Corby to Margam steel empties. Judging by the state of the roof, this loco should soon be in line for a repaint into DB Cargo's bright red livery.

66169 passes Challow on 8 February 2020 with the 6B33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. The train was booked to leave Theale at 14:17, put actually left 112 minutes early at 12:25. The previous day's loaded train had left Robeston 103 minutes late, and arrived at Theale 221 minutes behind time. The loco went back to Wales light engine, and this loco was dispatched light engine to pick up the empties the next day. Obviously a Class 60 is required for a loaded train, but a 'Shed' was sufficient for the empties!

66169 & 66084 pass Baulking on 23 March 2022 with the 4Z86 05:04 Little Kimble to Tytherington stone empties. Unfortunately this regular doubled headed working is backlit for most of its journey. This is yet another short term flow in connection with the construction of HS2.

66169 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 7 April 2022 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. The obsolete EWS livery is over two decades old, and the paintwork on the roof certainly looks its age!

Work stained 66170 passes South Moreton on 7 May 2013 with the 6X44 14:38 Dagenham Dock to Didcot Ford vans and cars. This location is reasonably clear until later in the year, when the foreground vegetation starts to get in the way, even when using a stepladder.

66170 passes Balne Lowgate on 12 March 2014 with the 6D49 13:55 Ferrybridge Power Station to Lindsey Oil Refinery empty oil tanks. Even without reference to the working timetable, this train is easy to identify, as it only loads to ten bogie tanks. The picture is neatly framed by the tree, but it would have been even better if it had been the more usual Class 60, but obviously this short load doesn't actually warrant a Class 60!

66170 passes Defford on 28 September 2016 with the 6V92 10:22 Corby to Margam steel empties. This is the site of Defford station, which closed in 1965. The ash trees on the left are on the site of the old goods yard.

66170 passes Fiddington on 19 October 2018 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Despite the slight haze in the background, on the full size version of this picture, the Domestic Appliance Distributors wording can quite clearly be read on the building in the background, even though it is nearly two miles away.

66170 emerges from Box Tunnel on 31 December 2021 with the diverted 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Despite this being the UK's warmest New Years Eve on record, with the temperature reaching 15c, there was no chance of any sunshine!

66170 passes Baulking on 23 August 2023 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. It's good to have another freight train to photograph, but this is no substitute for the Avon Binliner than ran from 1985 to 2011, which provided a much more interesting selection of traction.

66170 & 66068 pass Tumpy Green on 10 January 2024 with the 6B13 05:00 Robeston to Westerleigh oil tanks. Both locos still carry obsolete EWS branding. With DB removing all their Class 60s from traffic, the heaviest trains, such as this, have to resort to wasteful double heading.

66171 ambles slowly along the down relief line at Denchworth on 16 September 2010, towing Kirow KRC1200UK Heavy Duty Diesel Hydraulic Crane DRK 81613 to Bristol Parkway. I certainly would not normally take a picture of a 'Red Shed' in such dire lighting conditions, but the slightly unusual consist just fits neatly under the gantry at this location.

Well over a decade after the demise of EWS, 66171 still displays its former owner's identify, as it approaches Great Bedwyn on 16 July 2021 with the 6M15 07:07 Tytherington Quarry to Calvert HS2 stone train.

66172 brings up the rear of a loaded ballast train at Wolvercote Junction on 13 August 2003. The train, which was being led by 66234, had come to a stand with most of the wagons on the Cotswold Line, but as can be seen here, the rear few wagons and loco completely fouling the junction. It stayed like this for 15 minutes. holding up following trains, until the Cotswold Line 'all stations' DMU had cleared Ascott-under-Wychwood.

A sight soon to disappear from the Great Western Mainline. 66172 Paul Melleney passes Bourton on 1 March 2012 with the 4D12 12:52 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The coal fired Didcot 'A' power station is due to close in 2015, which will see the end of these trains. Initially fuel for Didcot principally originated from the Midlands coalfields, but since the 1990s it has been mainly supplied with imported coal from Avonmouth.

66172 Paul Melleney passes Uffington on 26 February 2021 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Some idea of how wet the field is can by gauged by the depth of the massive ruts that the farm machinery has caused.

66172 Paul Melleney passes Thrupp on 10 December 2021 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This was running half an hour early, which has unfortunately not helped with the lighting angle.

Running 97 minutes early, 66172 Paul Melleney passes Eckington on 19 March 2022 with the 6V07 13:25 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The tower of Eckington church can just be seen sticking above the top of the second wagon.

66172 Paul Melleney approaches Ashchurch on 19 January 2023 with the 6V05 08:14 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Only just over an hour after sunrise, but already the frost has almost completely disappeared from the tracks.

66172 Paul Melleney passes Claydon on 20 January 2023 with the 6V92 10:34 Corby to Margam steel empties. Ashchurch station can just be seen underneath the bridge on the left, and on the right a new housing development takes shape, with the tower of the parish church emerging from the trees in the background.

66174 passes the site of South Marston sidings on 11 December 2007 with the 4D10 11:50 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties. The flat area that is (relatively) free of vegetation ensures that there is little to shade the line near the shortest day of the year.

66174 passes Uffington on 4 June 2011 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z64 05:52 Salisbury to Buxton 'Peak District Explorer' railtour. I certainly wouldn't have bothered to get up this early even to travel the short distance to Uffington if I had known the weather would be this bad, at least not for a Class 66! Full sun when I left home turned into full cloud when I arrived at the lineside.

66174 rounds the curve at Crofton 22 May 2012 with the 6M20 10:37 Whatley to St Pancras (Churchyard Sidings) stone hoppers. Note the variety of wagons, including two different types of former RMC hoppers.

With the disused coal fired Didcot 'A' Power Station in the background, 66174 passes South Moreton on 19 August 2013 with the 4O40 08:21 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks, conveying another load of Minis for export. Such is the length of the train that the rear of it is still passing under the farm occupation bridge, over quarter of a mile away.

66174 passes Shrivenham on 15 March 2014 with the 6V13 08:12 Dollands Moor to Margam steel empties. Just out of sight to the left, next to the site of Ashbury Crossing, numerous equipment cabinets were awaiting installation, part of the Great Western electrification programme.

Running 80 minutes late, 66174 passes the site of Challow station on 10 April 2015 with the diverted 6M66 09:01 Southampton Western Docks to Garston imported Ford vans and cars. A slightly ironic compliment to 66160 seen traveling in the opposite direction a couple of hours earlier!

With one of the electrification mast piles prominent in the foreground, 66174 moves slowly forward along the down relief line at Challow on 21 March 2016 with the 6B35 10:46 Hayes & Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties.

Running an hour late, 66174 passes Tredington on 6 June 2018 with the 6V92 10:22 Corby to Margam steel empties. Another dreary DB Shed, and not really worth a picture. I wouldn't have bothered, but for the nice lighting and picturesque location.

66175 shuns the relief line and has a clear run at Denchworth on 27 July 2012, as it heads west with the 6B35 10:47 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. After a prolonged period of high pressure, the crisp light of previous days has given way to more hazy conditions. Note that the driver's door is open, as unbelievably these locos were not built with air conditioning!

66175 passes Hay Lane (near Swindon) on 18 July 2013 with the 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot departmental working. Careful inspection of the original high-res file reveals two small black animals. The Margam sheep emblem adorns the front of 66175, while in the bushes directly above the loco's cab, a rook ignores the passing train!

66175 has 67006 Royal Sovereign dead in tow, as it passes Wolvercote on 19 July 2013 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working. Unfortunately this corresponded with a cloudy patch. I would normally not bother taking a picture is such circumstances (as happened with the Class 70 hauled freightliners that passed in similar light), but the inclusion of 67006 almost makes the picture worthwhile!

66175 sits in Challow loop on 30 July 2014 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Mendip Rail stone empties. The stinging nettles are flourishing on the recently cleared trackside, showing how quickly nature regains the upper hand!

66175 approaches Appleford on 30 June 2015 with the 6O42 11:31 Halewood to Southampton Eastern Docks covered car carriers, conveying Range Rovers from the Jaguar plant. This train had been running early until Oxford, but it was now 12 minutes late. This was unfortunate as this location is not a very pleasant place to stand, due to the close proximity of the road traffic.

66175 passes Up Hatherley on 17 July 2018 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. The loco's bright red livery partially compensates for the fact that the sun had temporarily disappeared behind some high cloud!

66175 passes Uffington in an amazingly well timed minute's worth of sunshine, during an otherwise mainly cloudy afternoon on 26 July 2018. It is working the 6C58 11:55 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. This was definitely a right time working in more ways than one. Running exactly to time, and just right for the very brief sunny spell!

66175 Rail Riders Express approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 25 January 2021 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. I had chosen this spot, as I assumed the field in the foreground would be covered in snow, as were most of the fields near where I live. However, as I drove south, the snow got less and less, and there is nothing here except some tiny little patches in the immediate foreground!

The severe landslip that occurred at Hatfield Colliery on 12 February 2013 resulted in numerous freight diversions in the Humberside area, as the main Scunthorpe to Doncaster line was completely blocked by the incident. The little used line from Barnetby to Gainsborough came into its own, with a vast increase in freight traffic. Exactly one month after the slip, on 12 March 2013, 66176 passes through Brigg station with the 12:50 Humber International Terminal to Eggborough Power Station coal. The route is single track northwards from the signal box in the background.

Another load of imported coal for Didcot Power Station. 66177 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 8 September 2005 with the 6D15 12:46 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station. As the signals at this location are normally amber, it is obvious from the red light over the down main that a train has just passed in the Swindon direction.

66177 passes Cholsey on 28 April 2015 with the 6O15 17:27 Mossend Down Yard to Eastleigh, the nearest thing that exists in 2015 to the old fashioned wagonload freight train. 66177's white cab roofs are a pathetic attempt to cure the problem of overheating cabs in hot weather. The loco's basic specification meant that unbelievably for a modern loco, air conditioning was not specified during construction, leading to very poor working conditions for drivers during the summer.

66177 passes Walden Stubbs on 6 June 2015 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z74 15:45 Doncaster to Bristol Temple Meads 'Don and Went' railtour. 60079 is hidden behind the bushes on the rear of the train. The scattered clouds make an excellent background, but they very nearly ruined the picture, as the sun only just reappeared from behind one of them as the train appeared from behind the bush! Note the white painted cab roofs, which are a feeble attempt to prevent the cabs getting too hot in summer.

Easily identifiable by virtue of its white cab roof, 66177 emerges from Hindlow Tunnel on 9 June 2018 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z44 14:35 Dowlow Briggs Sidings to Buxton 'Peak District Explorer' railtour. The quarry on the right is no longer rail connected.

66177 passes Micheldever on 8 August 2022 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Although only one box is visible, there is a reasonably healthy load on this train, although mostly hidden from view, and partly still in Micheldever Tunnel.

66177 passes Mount Pleasant (Southampton) on 11 August 2022 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. There is so much soot on the roof, that the unique white cab roof at this end of the loco is hardly noticeable.

66178 runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 October 2000 with the 4B24 15:35 Didcot to Pengam MoD stores. Despite this short lived working only ever being a modest load, it had unfortunately just changed from Class 37 to Class 66 haulage.

With its customary lightly loaded train, 66178 passes Wolvercote on 10 April 2010 with the 4O53 04:33 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Docks intermodal train. Although the up freight relief line here is clearly well used, at this time on a Saturday morning it would be very unlikely to be needed, which is just as well, as obviously there is no chance of a picture at this location!

66180 passes Allandale (between Falkirk and Cumbernauld) on 18 September 2002 with the 4D20 16:15 Grangemouth (TDG Nexis) to Mossend intermodal. Not a very good picture, but unsurprisingly, my only picture of this train.

66181 passes the extremely battered fixed distant signal at Blackbird Leys, as it returns from Morris Cowley with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z43 06:56 Preston to Appleford 'White Horse Rambler' railtour on 22 January 2000. The main tour loco was 33103, with the 66 used for top'n'tailing over the Morris Cowley and Appleford branches, while 09101 was used for a similar purpose on the Highworth Branch at Swindon.

A busy moment at Hinksey on 23 July 2018. 66181 heads north with the 6E03 16:27 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties, passing the late running 1P37 15:55 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR HST. On the right the 4L40 16:42 Morris Cowley to Purfleet BMW Mini car carrier train waits to leave the yard.

The typically grubby DB 'Shed' that works the 6C58 11:45 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties passes Hungerford Common on 15 May 2019, hauled by 66181.This view has been made possible by serious tree clearance, as indicated by the stumps on the right.

66182 very cautiously negotiates Didcot North Junction, and enters Didcot Yard on 8 October 2010 with the 6A48 14:14 Bicester to Didcot MoD stores. A well loaded train, much better than some intermodals and freightliners!

66182 runs slowly along the up relief line at Denchworth on 3 September 2012 with the 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot engineer's train. The much more well known location of Circourt Bridge can be seen in the background.

66182 runs along the down relief line at Denchworth on 10 March 2015 with the late running 6Z47 08:49 Wembley Euro Freight Operating Centre to Cardiff Docks Ryan's Wharf HKA hoppers, on this occasion containing both repainted and former National Power liveried examples.

With the track still glistening after the recent heavy rain and hail deluge, 66182 passes South Marston on 26 April 2017 with the 6B35 13:10 Hayes & Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties. I certainly wouldn't normally take a picture of a DBS Shed in such dire conditions, but as I was already at the location waiting to photograph LMS 4-6-0 46100 Royal Scot, and as this is one of the few remaining mast free sections of the Great Western Mainline, I made an exception!

66183 passes South Moreton on 28 April 2015 with the 4O40 08:21 Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern Docks covered car carriers, with BMW Minis for export. In the background the 1W02 10:22 Paddington to Hereford and 1P39 11:01 Oxford to Paddington First Great Western HSTs pass each other. Note the large electrification works depot on the site of the former Moreton Sidings.

An almost perfect reflection of 66183 at Upper Heyford on 8 April 2017, as it crosses the Oxford Canal with the 4O43 06:31 Birch Coppice to Eastleigh intermodal. The bridge in the background is adjacent to Heyford Common Lock.

66184 passes Claydon on 23 February 2016 with the 6V92 10:22 Corby to Margam steel empties. I was very lucky with the light at this location, with virtually unbroken sunshine all the time I was there. There was however a lot of cloud all around (note Bredon Hill in the background).

66185 passes Whitehill (between Combe and Finstock) with the 6W61 Hinksey to Charlbury ballast train on 29 July 2009, running exactly 45 minutes behind 66149 as booked, on the very similarly loaded 6W60. Luckily by this time the torrential rain had eased off slightly. 66068 is out of sight on the far end of the train. The ballast was required for the realigned section of track to the west of Charlbury, altered in connection with redoubling the line.

Just one box is visible on the 4O53 04:33 Wakefield Europort to Eastleigh intermodal, as it passes Rousham on 13 April 2013 with 66185 in charge. The lack of containers does mean that Rousham church is just visible in the distance, above the fourth wagon.

The driver of 66185 takes a bite from his apple, as his train comes back into the low evening sunlight at Shrewley on 3 July 2013. The working is the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineers train. 66185 had only just acquired its new DBS livery, hence the sparkling condition.

66185 slowly approaches Didcot North Junction on 20 April 2018 with the 6E03 18:42 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. This was a total surprise, as it was running nearly an hour early. It was certainly a DB red day, with this following on from 66082 & 66101.

66185 DP World London Gateway passes Fiddington on 26 February 2019 with the 6M41 11:52 Margam to Round Oak covered steel carriers. Note the distorted reflection in the windscreen of the bridge on which I was standing.

66186 passes through Moreton-in-Marsh station with the 6W88 Hinksey to Chipping Campden ballast on 15 August 2009. Unfortunately I had to take this picture from the 'wrong' or shady side as there is no other option nowadays, especially as I wanted to picture it about to pass the semaphore signal still at danger (it was just about to enter the engineering possession). In the 1980s I would have been able to take this from the proper angle, but that was before Budgens was built (on the extreme right of this view). The supermarket and several fast growing trees have completely obliterated the view. Alternatively the view from the bridge in the background was also clear years ago, but not so now. Note the flock of pigeons wheeling across the sky in the background.

66186 takes the relief line at Challow on 19 September 2012 with the 6M26 07:36 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. This was following a mere five minutes behind the regular 6M50 07:36 Westbury to Bescot service, on this occasion hauled by 66167. Note the physical impossibility of both these trains running to time, as they are booked in the same path!

A freight flow living on borrowed time. Didcot's coal fired power station closed in March 2013, so this traffic had just a few months to live when this picture was taken on 30 October 2012. 66186 passes Uffington with the 6D11 08:27 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station imported coal.

66186 passes Culham on 11 June 2015 with the 6X65 20:28 Didcot to Mossend freight, possibly the nearest thing on the national network today to the old fashioned Speedlink mixed freight. If only all Speedlink trains were this long, then perhaps they might still be running today! In addition to the large number of cars in the consist, there are also several wagons of steel rods, with a motley selection of miscellaneous wagon types bringing up the rear. Unfortunately this was running 11 minutes late, and that was enough to ensure that the light had virtually gone, with just a hint of very weak sun illuminating the train, and Appleford church in the background.

66186 passes through Oxford station on 12 December 2017 with the 4O43 06:43 Birch Coppice to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. As this was only just over an hour after sunrise, and not far off the shortest day, the shadows (especially of the Osney Lane footbridge) were still a little intrusive.

Avoiding the down relief line, which was installed specifically for this traffic, 66187 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 20 July 2006 with the early running 4D12 13:13 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth coal empties.

With the cloud rolling in from the west, I was lucky to get this one in the sun. 66187 passes through Knottingley station on 11 March 2011 with the 6H60 10:55 Hatfield Mine to Drax Power Station coal. The train has just traversed the sharp chord between Ferrybridge and Knottingley West Junctions.

66187 passes Compton Beauchamp on 22 August 2011 with the 4L36 06:53 Avonmouth to Ripple Lane coal empties. At one time loaded coal trains travelling from Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station were commonplace, but to see empties travelling in this direction is a bit of a novelty.

66187 passes Denchworth on 5 September 2013 with the 6M50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot departmental working. A nice varied load, consisting of a single Network Rail JNA open wagon, five Network Rail HQAJ hoppers, and a rake of fourteen Freightliner MJA box wagons.

66187 passes Compton Beauchamp on 27 May 2016 with the 6C48 13:30 Appleford to Whatley Mendip Rail stone empties. Unfortunately this train is more often than not a Class 66 rather than the Class 59 of years past, but as it was sunny (just!) the picture was taken, as this location will by next to impossible once the wires go up.

66188 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 4 July 2011 with the 6W43 Wootton Bassett Junction to Hinksey departmental working, conveying Colas track plant from the previous day's engineering possession. After a bright start, the clouds were now coming up from the south, with this one only catching a trace of brightness.

Viewed from the Walton Well Road bridge, 66188 approaches Oxford on 13 July 2013 with the 4O53 04:33 Wakefield Europort to Eastleigh intermodal. The view is a bit restricted for anything on the line on the right!

Fine autumn lighting at Cossington on 12 November 2013, as 66188 heads south with the 6B30 12:55 Mountsorrel to Northampton Castle Yard stone hoppers. Note the amount of rail sections just left lying next to the down main line.

High summer at Tackley. 66188 catches the very last weak rays of the setting sun, as it passes a hedgerow full of Dog Roses on 18 June 2015, with the 6X65 20:28 Didcot to Mossend freight. Only around the Summer Solstice is it possible to photograph this train at this location, and even then, with it being just after 9pm, a setting of ISO 3200 was required in order to allow for a reasonable aperture. This train is one of the longest in the country, conveying assorted general wagons, as well as the main traffic of new cars and vans.

66188 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 1 October 2015 with the 6V47 10:27 Tilbury to Trostre steel empties. This is third occasion in 2015 that I have photographed this train here. First in January, and then in April.

66189 approaches Gleneagles on 4 September 2000 with the well loaded 6A02 07:38 Mossend to Aberdeen Guild Street Enterprise. Unfortunately I never got around to visiting this classic location before the arrival of this less than classic traction!

66189 passes through Kings Sutton station with the 4O21 11:40 Hams Hall to Southampton intermodal on 28 May 2010. At least we can tell from this picture that the driver is a Sun reader! On the subject of the sun, notice how close this picture came to not being in full sun, with the field in the background already under a rapidly advancing cloud.

Newly named 66190 Martin House Children's Hospice passes Yarnton on 30 June 2023 with the 6E11 11:47 Appleford Sidings to Milford West Sidings containerised flyash empties. After over two decades, there aren't many Class 66/0s that have escaped my camera, but this was one of them - until today!

66190 Martin House Children's Hospice passes the disused, but preserved, Appleby (Lincs) Signal Box on 12 March 2024 with the 4R50 10:31 Drax Power Station to Immingham biomass empties. This was running 35 minutes late, which was OK, as it meant the rain had stopped!

66192 approaches Potters Grange Junction, Goole, on the damp and misty morning of 25 September 2000 with the 6D51 08:44 Doncaster to Hull Enterprise. This was before the area became an overgrown wilderness, surrounded by modern industrial developments.

66192 passes Moulsford on 4 September 2013 with the 6X44 14:38 Dagenham Dock to Didcot Ford cars and vans. In marked contrast to the gleaming vehicles in the train, 66192 is looking very tatty, with large areas of missing paint on the roof. An early candidate for a coat of DBS dayglo red?

Just before sunrise on 28 October 2014, 66192 passes Badgeworth with the 6M98 06:22 Cardiff Tidal to Saltley scrap empties. I rather like the muted colours and pink tint to the sky that lasts for a few minutes just before the sun rises.

66192 passes Abbotswood on 22 September 2020 with the early running 6V92 10:34 Corby to Margam steel empties. This was just moments before the completely sunny morning turned into the completely cloudy afternoon!

66193 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 2 September 2013 with the late running 6X50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot departmental working. I make no apologies for yet another picture at this well known location, as the viewpoint will soon disappear, with the forthcoming Great Western Mainline electrification. Also, 2013 marks forty years since I first visited this spot. In those days it was all Westerns, 31s and shabby two tone green 47s. Unfortunately that was before I had a decent camera!

66194 pulls slowly away from a signal check at Didcot North Junction with a Hinksey to Didcot ballast train on 12 November 2007. The loco returned to Oxford light engine shortly afterwards in readiness to work that evening's 4L40 Cowley to Purfleet BMW Mini car carriers.

66194 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing near Shrivenham with the 6B35 10:15 Hayes and Harlington to Moreton-on-Lugg stone empties on 4 February 2009. As usual the otherwise uniform consist includes a solitary ex RMC hopper. Normally I wouldn't bother photographing 'sheds' in such poor light, but given the amount of national news coverage about the chaos caused by the snow, I thought I ought to have some record of it! And besides, it was sunny when I left home!

66194 & 66085 pass Uffington on 22 April 2010 with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. A perfect sunny day and a lengthy (and colourful!) train, which is now unfortunately spoilt by DB Schenker's choice of traction!

On 6 March 2012 I decided to investigate a hitherto unexplored farm occupation bridge near Brinkworth. Needless to say, after a lengthy walk across the fields the location turned out to be largely grown up. However, as the 6B33 13:35 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties was suffering from some 'Shed' haulage, I decided it wasn't worth while moving. So here is 66194 heading west through the bushes.

66194 passes Ashchurch on 7 September 2012 with the 6V07 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. Booked to leave Round Oak at 17:03, it is as usual running early, passing Ashchurch at 16:32. In view of the encroaching shadows, that is obviously an advantage!

A modern day branch line pick up freight? With vintage 95lb per yard bullhead track, and a single wagon load reminiscent of latter day rural branch lines, 66194 passes Islip on 13 May 2013 with the 6A49 12:10 Didcot to Bicester MoD stores. This recently opened up viewpoint is looking from the centre of the village towards Mill Lane level crossing (just visible in the background).

66194 passes the trackside hawthorn blossom on the site of Bletchingdon station on 16 May 2014, as it heads south with the 6X01 10:17 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh long welded rails. Incidentally, the man standing on the pallet of building materials in the former station yard on the left is checking stock, not do a bit of loco spotting!

Running 25 minutes early, 66194 passes Kemble Wick in atrocious light on 9 March 2015 with the 6V85 02:15 Milford West Sidings to Appleford flyash tanks (from Drax Power Station). The entrance to the 409 yards long Kemble Tunnel can just be seen in the background.

66194 passes Hinksey Yard on 30 March 2017 with the 4O21 09:15 Trafford Park to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. Not something I would bother going out for, but I was here, and the sun was out, so why not!

66194 passes Northend, on the extremely overgrown Kineton Branch, with the 1Z61 12:11 Banbury to Wolverhampton Steel Terminal 'Festive Midland-Ian' railtour on 16 December 2023. Although the highlight of the tour was the Class 60 on the other end of the train, you would have thought DB would have at least washed this filthy loco before allocating it to the train.

Moments before the sun disappeared into an approaching bank of cloud, 66196 passes Watford (the small Northamptonshire village, not the Hertfordshire town!) with the 6A42 15:15 Bescot to Wembley Enterprise on 21 September 2006. This was a disappointment, as I was expecting a Class 92!

66197 & 66167 pass Gossington on 8 April 2010 with the 6B13 05:05 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks, during the short period when DBS chose to use the wrong type of motive power, as they had let their Class 60 fleet get into such poor condition. Even with the two locos, it seems the sanders are on in order to get enough grip, on what is obviously a completely dry day!

66197 approaches Balderton Crossing, Claypole, on 11 march 2017 with the 4D56 11:32 Biggleswade to Heck Plasmor block empties, passing the 1Z47 12:58 Lincoln to Finsbury Park football special, led by 47815. Although I am not too bothered about going away shots, I would have liked the opportunity to photograph 37884 on the rear of the special, but this rather got in the way!

66197 passes Uffington on 9 October 2023 with the 6C03 09:33 Northolt Sidings to Severnside Sita Binliner. Normally the only people I see using the bridge in the background are railway photographers, but on this day I met two dog walkers - an all time record!

66198 passes Piddington on 17 September 2017 with the 6C03 12:43 Acton to Severnside Sita Binliner. This was being diverted via the Chiltern Line due to engineering works in the Reading area. Unfortunately this passed in just about the worst light of the whole day.

66198 runs wrong line at little more than walking pace past Ley Court (between Oakle Street and Grange Court) on 12 August 2020, on its way to rescue 60074, which had failed a few miles to the west whilst working the 6B13 05:00 Robeston to Westerleigh oil tanks. 66198 had been commandeered from the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties at Gloucester.

Running over two hours late, 66198 hauls failed 60074 past Ley Court (between Grange Court and Oakle Street) on 12 August 2020 with the 6B13 05:00 Robeston to Westerleigh oil tanks. 60074 was on its way to be named Luke at Westerleigh, but the ceremony would be slightly delayed! Unfortunately not only has the 66 on the front ruined the picture, but the late running has resulted in a very backlit picture. Sitting around for two hours in the 33c heat wasn't much fun either!

66199 passes Ashchurch on 17 November 2017 with the 6V35 07:05 Bescot to Avonmouth Hansons Sidings cement tanks. This train normally runs in the late afternoon, so despite this only being a DBS Class 66, it was worth recording. I was therefore very surprised to be the only photographer at this well known location. It was especially surprising, as a lot of photographers only seem to photograph freight, and this was a variation on the usual working, and it was a perfect sunny morning!

What a pity they weren't the other way round! Scruffy EWS liveried 66199 leads immaculate DB Cargo red 66041 past Heytesbury on 16 July 2018 with the 6V41 15:54 Eastleigh to Westbury departmental working. At least the sun just managed to stay out.

66199 passes Hungerford Common on 17 January 2019 with the 6Z20 09:37 Whatley Quarry to Acton Mendip Rail stone train. I go to the Berks & Hants line to photograph Class 59s, not the ubiquitous 66s. However, I couldn't resist this, in such perfect light!