Almost exactly a year old, but still nearly a year away from acquiring the name Japan 2001, 66501 passes Coedkernew amid the lengthening shadows on the evening of 20 July 2000 with the 4S81 18:20 Pengam to Coatbridge freightliner. At this time there were still only ten Freightliner Class 66s in the country, and the sight of a 'Fred' working one of their trains instead of a 47 or 57 was still a novelty. How times have changed!

66501 Japan 2001 rounds the curve near Bishops Itchington on 17 August 2002 with the 4O54 05:45 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Commonplace now, but at the time these locos still had novelty value, after years of freightliner trains being hauled by Class 47s, and latterly Class 57s.

66501 Japan 2001 passes South Marston with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner on 22 June 2010. If you think this train looks a little lightly loaded, compare it with 66536 which followed ten minutes later with the newly introduced 4L32 Bristol Parsons Street to Tilbury service. This is actually a fairly good load for 4O51. This was the start of 45 minutes of hectic Freightliner activity, with 66623 following on later with 6M22 Westbury to Mountsorrel.

66501 Japan 2001 passes Souldern Wharf (between Banbury and Oxford) in near darkness on 11 December 2010 with the 4O14 07:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. Just visible on the right is Souldern No.2 Viaduct, on the Banbury to Marylebone line. This picture is yet another example of the excellent full aperture performance of the Canon EF-S 60mm Macro lens. Pin sharp at 1/500sec f2.8 at ISO 800.

The pioneer Class 66/5, 66501 Japan 2001 passes Denchworth on 3 September 2012 with 4L30 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe 'Wineliner'. No apologies for yet another picture at this location, as there is not long to go now before the overhead wires go up, and the shot disappears completely.

66501 Japan 2001 passes Uffington on 24 October 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. With a bit of luck this is one of the few locations in the Vale of White Horse that should still be photographically acceptable after the installation of the overhead wires.

The blackthorn is in full bloom at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 15 April 2014, as 66501 Japan 2001 passes by with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. On this occasion it was running along the main line, rather the relief line, as booked.

66501 Japan 2001 passes Uffington on 16 April 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This location offers various trackside viewpoints, especially in spring, when this prominent tree is well worth including in the picture. In summer it is obviously less interesting, and in the winter its shadow reaches the line. At this time the spot was less easy to get to, as Network Rail had decided to close the adjacent footpath crossing. This happened in September 2013, allegedly for three weeks. Seven months later it was still blocked!

Running over an hour late, and consequently with the sun now off the front end,  66501 Japan 2001 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 1 December 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner.

Photographing a green locomotive in the almost totally green late spring landscape is not going to produce a decent picture, so I deliberately stood close to this large patch of Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), near Uffington on 18 May 2020, in order to relieve the monotony. 66501 Japan 2001 heads east with the 4L32 09:47 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner.

66501 Japan 2001 passes underneath the distinctive concrete footbridge, and the adjacent road bridge at Little Bedwyn on 3 April 2023, as it heads westwards with the 6C49 17:10 Appleford to Whatley Quarry stone empties.

You don't get many opportunities to photograph double headed Freightliner 66s, especially when the leading locomotive has just been released from works. Sported a freshly painted cab, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 leads classmate 66505 (dead in tow) past Wormleighton Crossing with the 4O27 07:12 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 22 April 2009. 66502 had only been released from Glasgow Works the previous day. The crow perched in the tree is obviously not impressed!

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 speeds through Tackley station on 21 May 2009 with the 4O17 15:49 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. Just visible in the shadows in front of the car on the left is the local rail enthusiast cat. This tabby had just walked across the crossing, then sat down and watched the train go by before wandering off into the village!

In a brief sunny interlude, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Heyford on 1 May 2010 with the late running 4O14 06:39 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. The wait for this train was enlivened by a near miss slow speed collision of two narrowboats on the nearby Oxford Canal! One didn't see the other approaching due to the narrow gap of a bridge, with the result that there was much reversing of engines to avoid an impact. Not that much damage can be done at 5mph!

A golden glint from the setting sun, as 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Great Bourton on 8 December 2010 with the 4M61 12:55 Southampton Maritime to Trafford Park freightliner. A very cold day, with a little frost persisting al day.

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes underneath the M40 motorway near Overthorpe (to the south of Banbury) on 28 January 2011 with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. This photo is taken from the farm occupation bridge that carries the Jurassic Way long distance footpath across the line. A long lens is required at this time of year to avoid the long shadows.

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 13 September 2012 with the 4O54 06:15 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. No mistaking this location, with three of Didcot Power Station's cooling towers dominating the background.

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Steventon on 19 February 2013 with the 4V50 10:32 Millbrook to Wentloog freightliner. I had been meaning to visit this location for some time, before Didcot 'A' Power Station is closed and the well known local landmark disappears. A still day ensured that the steam from the cooling towers was rising vertically, but when this train passed there just happened to be a cloud of steam connecting the two columns, producing this very strange effect. It's a pity that the gap caused by the empty flats at the front of the train doesn't quite mach up with the three left hand cooling towers!

Running half an hour behind schedule, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Compton Beauchamp on 30 March 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This late running was very fortunate, as a stubborn patch of cloud had by then had time to clear out of the way!

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 moves onto the up relief line at Challow on 21 March 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This is probably my most frequently photographed freight train, principally because it runs at an ideal time for the light, and because since the announcement of the Great Western Mainline electrification scheme, I have taken every opportunity to photograph it before the wires go up and ruin all my favourite Vale of White Horse locations.

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Tockenham Wick on 19 July 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The Network Rail vandals have disfigured the bridge in the background by adding an unrequired height extension to the parapet. Do they really think this is necessary in such a quiet rural location?

With ominous indications of the forthcoming electfrication in the foreground, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Uffington on 23 September 2016 with the 4L32 10:58 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

Running 81 minutes late, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Wolvercote on 25 June 2018 with the 4M67 14:17 Southampton Maritime to Hams Hall freightliner. The track panels in the foreground are in connection with the reinstatement of the down relief line between here and Oxford North Junction, an operation which has taken an exceedingly long time, not helped by the fact that after it was initially laid, it was then taken up again, only to be laid a second time!

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Uffington on 6 October 2022 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was running 15 minutes early, as it had taken the direct line via Bristol Parkway, rather than its booked route via Bath. Coincidentally, a couple of hours later consecutively numbered 66503 The Railway Magazine Celebrating 126 years 1897-2022 (also in Freightliner's new orange livery) passed by with the 6A60 09:44 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train.

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001, 66509 Josiah's Wish & 66550 pass Wolvercote Junction on 25 October 2022 with the 4O90 06:04 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This was a bit of a surprise, as not only had I not checked what was on it, but the brief burst of sunshine was unexpected as well. It was running 52 minutes late, but that was nothing to do with it being a triple header. There were problems in the Birmingham area, delaying southbound trains. The preceding 4O43 05:47 Wakefield Europort to Southampton Western Docks intermodal was 93 minutes late!

With a field of black plastic wrapped silage bales in the background, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes South Marston on 5 September 2023 with the 6Z86 11:41 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties.

The orange livery of 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 compliments the colour of the recently harvested field at the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 8 September 2023. The train is the 6Z86 11.41 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties.

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 August 2024 with the 4L36 08:12 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Photo taken from the steps of a little used footbridge.

A busy moment at Harbury on 22 December 2008! 66503 The Railway Magazine swings round the curve with the 4M55 08:58 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner, while the back end of the 4O04 09:35 Washwood Heath to Eastleigh intermodal (hauled by 66024) can be seen disappearing into Harbury Tunnel. Note the banner repeater signal which has already retuned to danger. This gives advanced warning of the state of the signal by the tunnel mouth.

The autumn colours are starting to show at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 18 October 2011 as 66503 The Railway Magazine gets a clear road and heads east along the main line with the 4O24 11:00 Bristol West to Thamesport freightliner. Note how the green backed Railway Magazine nameplate almost completely merges in with the loco's same colour bodyside.

66503 The Railway Magazine passes Kennington on 27 November 2015 with the 4O54 06:12 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Kennington Junction is just out of sight around the corner, and if it wasn't for the trees, the Morris Cowley branch would be easily visible in the background.

66503 The Railway Magazine passes Bourton on 1 September 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Despite the original claims that the Great Western Mainline electrification would be finished by now, the only evidence here is the capped steel piles hiding in the long grass. Unfortunately however, the masts are belatedly heading ever nearer!

66503 The Railway Magazine runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 24 January 2017 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. It's difficult to tell with Network Rail's slow and erratic progress with the electfrication works, but this could be the last occasion that I use this particular vantage point.

66503 The Railway Magazine passes Grove on 5 November 2020 with the 4L36 07:57 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Although running on its normal route here, earlier it had traversed the Chepstow to Gloucester line, owing to its normal route via the Severn Tunnel being closed for bridge works at Patchway.

66503 The Railway Magazine Celebrating 126 years 1897-2022 passes Uffington on 6 October 2022 with the 6A60 09:44 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. Earlier in the morning I had photographed another of Freightliner's orange liveried locos, as the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner was worked by 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001.

66504 emerges from Fisherton Tunnel, and passes Salisbury Tunnel Junction on 13 December 2003 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z28 15:34 Salisbury to Gloucester 'Moon Raker' railtour. The extremely poor quality is due to the picture being taken at 1/250sec f2.4 ISO1600, in near darkness!

Just a few boxes, unusually in the middle of the train, on the 4M58 11:00 Southampton to Ditton freightliner, seen here passing South Moreton (Didcot East) on 24 May 2007, hauled by 66504. The bridge in the background is a farm occupation bridge that used to be one of my favourite photographic locations, until it was replaced a few years after this picture was taken by a high sided monstrosity that makes photography extremely difficult.

66504 heads east from Didcot and approaches South Moreton on 22 September 2010 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. A most unusual situation for this service - a fully loaded train, with not a single empty flat wagon!

66504 passes the site of Steventon station on 8 March 2011 with the 4O24 11:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Thamesport freightliner. The rear of the train is crossing Stocks Lane Level Crossing, while just visible in the background is the small signal cabin controlling the adjacent Causeway Level Crossing.

A light load for 66504 on 4 May 2011 as it rounds the curve at Yarnton with the 4O09 10:17 Trafford Park to Southampton freightliner. This view would obviously not have been possible in steam (or early diesel) days. Note the stump of a telegraph pole amid the brambles and wild hops, directly below the loco's bufferbeam.

66504 has classmate 66589 dead in tow as it passes through Oxford station on 16 January 2012 with the 4O54 06:15 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. I had a prior engagement in Oxford, and therefore I thought I would take the opportunity to take a few pictures from my erstwhile favourite location from the 1980s - the Osney Lane footbridge. As the light would be head on when I arrived, I wasn't going to bother taking any pictures until it moved round a little. However, a pair of 66s was worth pressing the shutter for, in spite of the awful lighting.

66504 passes Grove on 22 October 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This is one of the small number of Class 66s to receive the 'Powerhaul' colour scheme, now superceded by the Genesee & Wyoming orange livery.

66504 passes Uffington on 26 June 2020 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Note the blue sky. This was unexpected, as even the BBC's usually over optimistic forecast had predicted clouds and showers by mid morning.

66504 passes a fine display of autumn colours at Uffington on 18 November 2021 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was half an hour late leaving Wales, but such are the easy timings, that it was back on time here.

66505 passes Kings Sutton on 23 April 2009 with the 4M61 13:00 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. It was once noticeable that Freightliner 66s were kept in a better external condition than their EWS cousins, but judging by this one the novelty of keeping what were once new locomotives clean has worn off!

66505 passes Bishops Itchington on 14 November 2009 with the 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton freightliner. Plenty of browns, russets, and reds in this autumnal scene, even without any autumn leaves in view.

66505 dodges the shadows at Denchworth on 16 August 2010, as it heads east with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. Even though it is only mid August and despite what the experts are predicting with regard to a late autumn, the first signs are already visible in the trackside vegetation, notably the emerging hawthorn berries.

66505 passes Great Bourton on 3 August 2011 with the 4M99 16:57 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. A lucky break as this is usually a Class 70 working. The picture is taken from a public footpath crossing which is ideal for late summer evenings, as nothing at all can shade the line in either direction.

66505 passes through Tackley station on 3 October 2011 with the 4O09 10:18 Trafford Park to Southampton freightliner. This diminutive station marks the very eastern edge of the village. The footpath crossing here leading into the neighbouring fields.

66505 approaches Steventon on 9 December 2015 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. Unusually, there is a second loco (66558) hitching a ride on the rear of the train. Having most of the boxes on the rear of the train has not helped the photographic composition, but I have gone for a little variety, with a wider view, including the ploughed field in the foreground.

66505 runs along the up relief line at Challow on 1 December 2020 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was my second choice of location on this sunny morning. My first choice was to photograph the Rail Head Treatment Train in the Ashchurch area, but that ran nearly five hours early, in darkness, so this is plan B!

There are actually some boxes on this train, but right at the back, hidden by the bushes! 66505 passes Culham on 12 July 2021 with the lightly loaded 4O03 10:50 Lawley Street  to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

66505 passes Hinksey Yard on 18 November 2022 with the 4O90 06:04 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This is still one of the better photographic locations in the Oxford area, although not as uncluttered as it was three decades earlier.

66505 passes South Marston on 1 August 2024 with the lightly loaded 4L36 08:12 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Whenever there is an incomplete train, the empty flats always seem to be at the front of the train!

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes Raskelf on 26 November 2001 with a Redcar to Cottam Power Station coal train. Note the 'Railtrack Renewing Your Railway' sticker on the cabside. Slightly ironic, as under Railtrack's watch the network deteriorated considerably, indirectly leading to several serious accidents.

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes through Hatfield & Stainforth station on 15 March 2007 with the 4R10 Eggborough Power Station to Immingham empty coal hoppers. The back end of the train is negotiating Stainforth Junction, coming off the freight only line from Applehurst Junction.

Running over three hours late, 66506 Crew Regeneration passes Steventon with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner empties on 8 May 2008. This massive late running results in a much better picture, as normally during the summer months the sun would not be on the front of the loco at this location. It appears that Didcot Power Station in the background is shut down, or at least the coal fired plant, as there is not a trace of smoke visible from the main chimney.

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes Uffington on 15 July 2019 with the 6A15 03:54 Whatley Quarry to Appleford Mendip Rail stone hoppers. The edge of a large mass of cloud can be seen in the background. During the short time I was at this location, it had appeared from nowhere in the east, and moved right across to the west, eliminating any chance of the forecast sunny morning!

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes through Kings Sutton station on 8 June 2021 with the 4O14 04:59 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Although every other building of the original Great Western Railway station has disappeared, at least the waiting shelter on the down platform survives.

66506 Crewe Regeneration approaches Tackley on 12 June 2021 with the 4O27 06:51 Crewe Basford Hall to Eastleigh Works, conveying a short rake of freightliner flats. Normally this location would hide most of a long train, but this view shows virtually all of this very short working. When running as a normal intermodal working, the destination would of course be Southampton.

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes Grove on 25 November 2021 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Although booked to run along the up relief line and stop briefly at Wantage Road, this was on the main, and would also miss out its stop at Milton, therefore getting to Didcot 21 minutes ahead of time.

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes Little Bedwyn on 3 April 2023 with the 6C76 14:37 Acton to Whatley Quarry stone empties. This was running a few minutes early, which was lucky, as the shadows were rapidly advancing across the track.

Running very slowly along the down relief line, 66506 Crewe Regeneration approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 9 October 2023 with the 6C50 1245 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. It was running early here, but that would only result in a longer than booked stop at Challow, so it was easy to get another picture of it at Baulking.

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes Baulking on 9 October 2023 with the 6C50 1245 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. After seeing this train at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, there was easily enough time to get another picture of it here.

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes underneath the road bridge at Hungerford Common on 12 February 2024 with the 6A50 10:26 Whatley Quarry to Hanwell Bridge Loop stone train. The heavily vandalised wagons are unfortunately the norm these days.

Carefully framed beneath the overhanging branches of a roadside tree, 66507 is pictured near Uffington with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 12 February 2008. The line between Didcot and Swindon runs through rather uninteresting countryside, so I am always on the lookout for different vantage points to photograph familiar trains, and am particularly pleased with this view, as the branches for once are in the ideal photographic position.

66507 rounds the curve at Hatton North Junction with the 6M01 14:08 Hinksey to Stud Farm ballast empties on 19 February 2008. This was a day of extreme weather contrasts, with some areas being completely fog bound all day, and other areas starting misty, then clearing, only to have the fog reappear. This was the case only a few miles south of here, but luckily at Hatton the sun stayed out right to the end of the day.

66507 passes the field access level crossing at Maud's Bridge on 24 November 2011 with the 6M49 07:38 Immingham to Rugeley Power Station imported coal. To the left of the train is the flat expanse of Nun Moors, an area of reclaimed land divided by numerous drainage dykes.

66507 passes Baulking on 16 March 2016 with the 4M18 09:47 Fairwater Yard to Washwood Heath recovered concrete sleepers. Some attempt has been made to cut back the lineside bushes at this location, in preparation for the forthcoming electrification. But over three decades of total neglect have made it unlikely that the early 1980s view will ever be recreated.

The 0Y97 10:50 Hinksey to Stoke Gifford light engine move on 22 January 2017 produced a trio of Freightliner 66/5s, and being in position at the lineside it seemed churlish not to photograph them. 66507, 66506 Crewe Regeneration & 66557 pass the recently installed electfrication masts at Uffington.

66507 passes through Oxford station on 2 February 2019 with the 4O29 08:50 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Although there had been a heavy snowfall the previous day, a good deal of it had already disappeared, which was surprising, as the temperature was still low enough to make the ice covered steps up to the footbridge from which this picture was taken extremely slippery.

66507 approaches Uffington on 4 May 2020 with the 4L32 10:00 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. It is not immediately obvious from this low viewpoint, but the train is actually travelling 'wrong' line. This line is fully signalled for bi-directional running, but this is still an unusual occurrence. The train only travelled between Bourton and Uffington via the down line, before crossing back onto the up line. This location is certainly a good one to take my daily coronavirus lockdown walk, as it is a long way from any road, let alone any habitation.

66507 passes Thrupp on 8 September 2020, running as the 16:30 Banbury to Bicester South Junction light engine. I certainly wouldn't normally bother taking a picture of a light engine, but I was at the location anyway, and the lighting was perfect, so it just about warranted the ten minute wait!

Running 34 minutes late, 66507 passes Shrivenham on 15 June 2021 with the 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. This photo is taken from the site of the former Ashbury Road level crossing.

66507 passes Hinksey on 9 July 2022 with the 4O18 04:46 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Clearly this is not a good location for photography if the sun is out, or if the train is on the loop line on the right!

66508 approaches Heck Ings in superb autumnal light on 28 November 2006 with another rake of coal empties from Drax Power Station. The signals in the background are at Hensall Junction, where the Drax and Goole lines diverge.

66508 passes the worksite for the reinstatement of the down relief line at Wolvercote, as it heads north on 12 July 2016 with the 6M28 18:25 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working. On the right is Port Meadow, now separated from the line by a totally over the top palisade fence.

66508, 66544 & 66587 stand on the down relief line at Denchworth on 23 August 2016, stopped at signals midway along the Challow to Wantage Road four track section of the Great Western Mainline, with the massively delayed 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. After a 20 minutes late start, the train ran into problems in the Swindon area, and rescue came in the form of Heavy Haul locos 66508 & 66544, therefore not only is this triple header very unusual, but the leading two locomotives would not normally be seen on a freightliner. They entered the loop at Challow 197 minutes late, and by the time they had let a couple of HSTs pass here, left a staggering 210 minutes late!

66508 passes Hinksey Yard on 6 May 2021 with the 4O29 10:29 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner. I wouldn't normally photograph an everyday freightliner working in such poor light, but it's not every day that you see one this short!

66509 passes Uffington in a snowstorm on 9 February 2007 with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties. Although Uffington no longer has its loops, it does still retain this pair of crossovers, which are occasionally used to facilitate wrong line running.

66509 passes Maud's Bridge on 24 November 2011 with the 4R35 09:00 Drax Power Station to Immingham coal empties. Notice how the Freightliner sticker above the number on the cabside at this end of the loco has faded almost to white. The early morning low cloud was just starting to break up, only to roll back in again shortly afterwards.

An easy load of just seven vintage Seacow wagons for 66509, pictured passing signs of impending (and severely delayed) electrification at South Moreton on 10 September 2015. It is working the 6V27 13:30 Eastleigh to Hinksey departmental service. This working was taken over by Freightliner Heavy Haul in late 2013, another working that DBS couldn't keep hold of.

66509 approaches Steventon on 25 January 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This is probably my most frequently photographed freight train of recent years, although with this line's electfrication, that will no doubt change!

66509 brings up the rear of the 6Y43 15:41 Hinksey to Honeybourne ballast train at Daylesford on 6 March 2019. Classmate 66587 is leading. The train was heading for a major track relaying operation on the Long Marston branch.

66509 passes Uffington on 29 March 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner, while the 1G21 09:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa IET does its best to get in the way. Although I have numerous pictures of freightliners at this location, I would still have been annoyed if the EMU had completely blocked out the train on such a perfect sunny morning!

66509 Josiah's Wish passes Uffington on 26 May 2023 with the 6Z86 11:06 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties. Presumably in a few years bushes will obscure first the steel piling, and then the view of the track!

66510 approaches the site of Knighton Crossing (between Didcot and Swindon) with a short rake of ballast empties on 1 May 2007. The level crossing was closed in the 1970s and replaced by a road underbridge just to the east, which made use of the convenient section of embankment seen here.

66510 passes some late autumn colours at Uffington on 23 November 2010 with the 4V60 10:57 Calvert to Bristol Barrow Road Avon Binliner. The end is nigh for this working, which I have been photographing virtually from the start, 25 years ago. The good old days obviously saw much more interesting traction, starting with Class 47s, and including 37s, 56s, 58s & 60s.

66510 approaches Tackley on 29 June 2015 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working. This loco is now 15 years old, and is starting to show it. There are several areas of bare metal, where the paint has fallen off, but surprisingly unlike a lot of its classmates, it is not yet going rusty. Also, the black exhaust wasn't just for my benefit at this particular spot, but it was putting out smoke all the time it was in view. I suppose now that its got all these 'faults', it can be classed as heritage traction!

General Motors clag! 66510 piles on the power, as it passes South Marston on 27 October 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. I suppose as the loco is now seventeen years old it is entitled to smoke a bit!

66510 passes Uffington on 13 November 2019 with the 4L38 09:56 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Although it will be better in a couple of weeks, there is the beginnings of some autumn colour in the oak trees next to the line.

Three locomotives, but not a single box on the train! 66510, 66550 & 70007 pass underneath the footbridge near Yarnton on 3 January 2020 with the completely empty 4O49 09:21 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Note the tree stump in the foreground, indicating that this particular viewpoint has only just appeared.

66510 passes Ashwell on 5 July 2020 with the 6Y77 11:45 Leagrave Junction to Toton North Yard spoil. Sunday engineering work gives more opportunities to see Freightliner's locos working engineering trains, rather then their normal intermodals.

Running 26 minutes early, 66510 passes Kings Sutton on 6 October 2021 with the 3J04 09:17 Aylesbury to Banbury Depot (via Marylebone and Stratford-upon-Avon) Rail Head Treatment Train. 66519 is bringing up the rear. Early October seems a little early to start the RHTT season, as hardly any trees have started shedding their leaves.

Running 111 minutes late, 66510 takes the up relief line at Wolvercote on 23 November 2022 with the 4O15 06:44 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. It's good to see that Network Rail have finally cut down the buddleia bushes that were flourishing between the main and relief lines.

66510 passes South Marston on 28 July 2023 with the 6Z86 11:10 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties. Note the severe rust patches on the loco's roof. The loco is now 23 years old, and clearly in need of a repaint.

66510 passes South Marston on 9 May 2024 with the 6A16 07:44 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train. With extensive rust patches on the roof, this loco is definitely in need of a repaint, so presumably will soon appear in the new orange livery.

66510 passes underneath Pewsey station's footbridge on 20 June 2024 with the 6A18 09:18 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train. This footbridge has been rebuilt since the last time I was here, a decade earlier.

Green loco, green containers, and almost a completely green summer landscape! 66511 runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 20 July 2006 with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner.

66511 passes Fairfield Crossing Cottage, Little Bedwyn, on 6 September 2021 with the 6C76 14:39 Acton to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The driver was just starting to reapply power, as the red signal he was slowly approaching had just changed to amber.

66511 approaches Kings Sutton on 6 December 2022 with the 4O15 06:44 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The walk across the fields to this spot was merely damp, a few weeks later the walk would have been impossible, as the fields were flooded!

66512 approaches Heck Lane, Hensall with the 6R10 09:44 Immingham to Drax Power Station coal train on 13 March 2008, just as the sun was fading out into high cloud. The level crossing next to Hensall station can just be seen behind the train. The station is little used, as the passenger service on this section of line is so sparse, and no doubt the line would have been closed where it not for the vast tonnage of coal being moved in trains such as this to Drax.

In superb evening light on 16 June 2010, 66512 heads down the East Coast Mainline at Fenwick with another load of coal for one of the Aire Valley Power Stations. Despite the sunshine, notice that virtually the entire sky to the north is filled with cloud, which despite looking like it was increasing, actually melted away later on.

66512 passes Denchworth on 15 April 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This viewpoint looked totally different 40 years earlier, completely free of clutter, and with a much more photogenic bridge in the background.

After the rain! Although it had just about stopped raining in this view of Bredon on 2 May 2019, it is clearly still tipping it down to the south, in the Cheltenham direction. 66512 heads northwards with the 4E40 14:10 Port Talbot Grange to York Holgate Sidings, comprising a rake of Genesee & Wyoming branded MWA bogie box wagons.

With the takeover of the Mendip stone traffic by Freightliner in late 2019, contrasting colour combinations like this became commonplace. 66512 & 59201 pass Manningford Bruce on 25 June 2020 with the 7C77 12:41 Acton to Merehead Quarry stone empties. Both locos belong to Freightliner, but 59201 still carries former operator DB Cargo's red livery, albeit minus any branding.

Running 58 minutes late, 66512 emerges from Crick Tunnel on 31 July 2020 with the 4M58 09:25 Southampton Maritime to Garston freightliner. This was on time until Acton, where it encountered a massive delay, and was 117 minutes late passing Wembley. With plenty of leeway in the schedule, it was able to recover lots of time, and was only 9 minutes late arriving at Garston.

66512 passes Grove on 26 February 2023 with the 6Y85 07:30 Warminster to Eastleigh, conveying spent ballast from an engineering possession. This was running 95 minutes late, and was one of three engineering trains that were booked on the Swindon to Didcot line on this morning. Unfortunately the even later running 6C05 08:00 Warminster to Eastleigh passed here under a very large cloud. I didn't even bother to wait for the next one. The 6X26 08:00 Bedwyn to Hinksey didn't leave Bedwyn until 11:15, and apparently passed Grove 208 minutes late!

66512 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 10 August 2023 with the late running 4L36 08:10 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. A reasonably well loaded train, except for the first ten pocket wagons at the front!

66513 passes Manningford Bruce on 30 November 2013 with the 6B21 10:45 Theale Lafarge to Pengam stone empties. It seems that virtually every wagon has been attacked by graffiti vandals. There was plenty of warning of this train's approach, as it could be heard hooting for various footpath crossings, a good five minutes before it finally came into view.

An isolated tree, standing alone in the field, makes a perfect frame for 66513, as it heads south down the East Coat Mainline at Balne Lowgate on 12 March 2014 with Freightliner coal hoppers. Balne Highgate is a short distance to the north.

66513 passes Whitley Bridge Junction on 13 March 2014 with the 4R36 11:45 Drax Power Station to Immingham coal empties. Just out of sight to the left is one of the other of the Aire Valley's giant coal fired power stations - Eggborough.

66571 failed prior to departure with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner on 7 March 2016, and 66513 was called upon to assist. Although this resulted in the bonus of a picture of a double headed train, it did mean that because it was well over an hour late, the sun was no longer on the front. 66513 & 66571 pass Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, with the sun having only just reappeared from behind one of the clouds that was now rapidly building up from the west.

66513 passes slowly through Moreton-in-Marsh station on 10 November 2016 with the 3S33 05:56 Swindon to Gloucester Horton Road Rail Head Treatment Train. 66523 is on the rear. The train would stop a few yards further on, and then use the crossover in the foreground to gain the down line, before heading back to Worcester. The Freightliner locos had been hired in by Colas, after both 56078, and its replacement 56104 failed three days earlier.

66513 passes Kidlington (Sandy Lane) on 21 January 2017 with the 4O14 07:37 Hams Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This was just as the sun started to disappear into fog, which was suddenly rolling in from the east, as can be seen in the background. It had been completely sunny up until this point, but within a few minutes the whole area was shrouded in thick fog.

66513 runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 February 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Progress on the electfrication work here is painfully slow, and although it gives photographers a temporary reprieve, it does make you wonder why this kind of work takes so much longer than it did in the 1960s!

66513 passes Oaksey on 3 July 2018 with the diverted 4Z71 16:30 Wentloog to Tilbury freightliner. Very backlit, but you don't often get freightliners (or indeed much other freight) over this route, so worth a picture!

High summer at Uffington, and the grass is just starting to turn from lush green to parched yellow. 66513 heads eastwards with the 4L38 10:10 Wentloog to Felixstowe freightliner on 24 July 2019. British Summer Time ensures that although this is midday, the sun is still on the front.

Running 27 minutes late, 66513 approaches Didcot North Junction on 12 February 2020 with the 4O14 05:36 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. As is often the case, there is an annoying raft of empty flats directly behind the loco.

66513 passes Culham on 12 July 2021 with the 4M61 12:56 Southampton Maritime to Trafford Park freightliner. The stinging nettles in the foreground are gradually enveloping the solitary steel pile, which is a remnant of the abandoned project to electrify the line between Didcot and Oxford.

66513 slowly passes North Oxford Golf Course on 10 August 2022 with the 6C62 16:09 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. Six wagons haven't been unloaded, and are heading back to the quarry!

66514 passes Cholsey on 15 November 2013 with the 6V27 12:52 Eastleigh to Hinksey, a working which Freightliner Heavy Haul had recently acquired from DBS. With DBS loosing so much traffic to the likes of Freightliner and Colas, it does at least make the freight workings in the Thames Valley a little more interesting, even if it does only mean a different coloured 'Shed'!

66514 passes underneath the road bridge at Shrivenham with the 6A15 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train on 14 July 2021. What a pity a small cloud just took the edge off the sun on the locomotive.

66514 brings up the rear of the UK Railtours 1Z24 13:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Westerleigh 'Only Freight Track and Horses' railtour at Standish Junction on 11 September 2021. 66105 is leading. I haven't Photoshopped anybody from the bridge in the background, as surprisingly it seems that there really wasn't anybody at this very well known location.

66514 approaches Hungerford on 22 November 2021 with the late running 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. Just a few seconds later this view was blocked by the 1C75 09:37 Paddington to Paignton GWR IET heading in the opposite direction.

66514 passes Baulking on 23 August 2023 with the 6Z86 11:10 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties. The gate in the foreground and the fluffy white clouds improve what would otherwise be a very mundane picture.

Very early in the morning at Oxford North Junction, and the shadows are still some way across the track. 66515 heads south on 20 May 2017 with the 4O18 05:03 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. The fact that it was running early hasn't helped with the lighting!

Running 68 minutes late, and just a few minutes before the sun finally disappeared into a large mass of cloud, 66515 passes Wolvercote on 21 June 2017 with the 4M99 17:00 Southampton Maritime to Trafford Park freightliner. On the right is the abandoned project to reinstate the down relief line, with most of the newly laid track having been lifted.

Framed by the hideous 25kV catenary at the site of Ashbury Crossing, 66515 speeds past Shrivenham on 15 May 2019 with the 4O70 09:56 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. These ugly structures make the ones on the East Coast Mainline look inconspicuous!

66515 passes through St Denys station on 11 August 2022 with the 4O90 06:04 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Terrible lighting, with the sun only just glancing along the side of the train, but purely a record shot of my first visit to this location.

66516 storms through the tree lined cutting near Steeple Aston on 27 November 2010 with the 4M65 08:55 Southampton Maritime to Birch Coppice intermodal service. An extremely dull morning, with light snow showers, but the ideal conditions to take pictures at this spot, which even after a recent massive tree pruning exercise, is still impervious to all but the high summer sun.

66516 runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 16 October 2012 with the 4V50 10:54 Southampton to Wentloog freightliner. Although still quite bright, the sun decided to disappear behind a thin cloud as this approached!

66516 approaches Foxhall Junction on 5 April 2013 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. The trees now completely hide the Didcot to Milton road from view, as well as the corner of the Didcot Power Station site.

66516 slowly passes South Marston on 30 June 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The track workers are getting ready to start digging trial holes for the forthcoming electrification masts. Presumably the blue markings on the ballast to the right of the loco indicates the position of a mast. Several further groups of men are already at work in the background. The lorry in the background was stationary for some time, as traffic on the slip road from the A419 onto the A420 had come to a complete stop, as the result of an accident.

The birds have stripped most of the sloes off the blackthorn bush near Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 23 December 2015, as 66516 passes by in the background with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to London Gateway freightliner. After a morning's conventional photography from the nearby bridge, I decided on a more arty view of this particular train.

Running 39 minutes late, 66516 passes Steventon on 6 June 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The tall radio mast no longer spoils this location, as the overhead catenary now completely ruins the whole scene!

66516 passes milepost 65¾ near Little Bedwyn on 26 April 2021, as it heads westwards with the 6C76 14:39 Acton to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. As is often the case, this was running 40 minutes early. Little Bedwyn church can be seen in he background.

66517 at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the diverted 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 2 November 2006. This was the beginning of an interesting twenty minutes, in which the assembled photographers had three freights from the east after a long period of nothing but HSTs.

66517 passes Cholsey on 6 December 2006 with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Note the amount of rail sections left lying in the four foot and next to the down main line. Surely in today's health and safety conscious age, and with trains traveling on this line at 125 mph this is something of an oversight.

66517 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 24 May 2007 with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Didcot Power Station in the background had less than four years of generating left when this picture was taken, and with the station's closure, the cooling towers are now history.

66517 passes Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 12 June 2010. The trees have now virtually obscured the former view of Oxford from this spot, although the tower of St. Barnabas church in Jericho can just be seen in the distance above the rear of the train.

After a brief stop at the signal gantry adjacent to Denchworth road bridge, 66517 moves off again with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner on 10 April 2015. This was running late when it joined the relief line at Challow, put rejoined the main line at Wantage Road ahead of time.

66517 passes Farleaze (between Badminton and Hullavington) on 28 January 2016 with the 4O70 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This location is down a no through road with no houses beyond the bridge, therefore probably the highest proportion of visitors are railway photographers!

Although the clouds are rapidly building up in the background, the sun is still fully out as 66517 passes Kennington on 9 September 2017 with the 4O14 06:46 Hams Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This was running an hour behind schedule, having started out from Hams Hall 79 minutes late.

66517 passes Wolvercote on 23 November 2022 with the 4O90 06:04 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The bridge in the background is the A34, which at this point forms the western section of the Oxford bypass.

66517 passes underneath the road bridge at Hungerford Common on 1 December 2023 with the 6A50 10:26 Whatley Quarry to Hanwell Bridge Loop stone train. Unfortunately the vandalised wagons are now a common sight in the area.

66518 was just a couple of weeks old, when photographed passing a rather damp Marshfield on 11 November 2000 with the 4V04 21:13 Coatbridge to Pengam freightliner. What makes this picture particularly interesting is the inclusion of the aluminum ingots at the front of the train. These had originated at Alcan's Fort William works.

66518 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 18 October 2007. Although a reliable runner, nowadays you know exactly what traction you're going to get on this train, unlike the pre Freightliner era. Mid October and still very little sign of any autumn colour in the trees behind the train.

The weather forecasters got it wrong again on 6 November 2007. A sunny day was predicted, and indeed it did start sunny, but it soon clouded up and by the time I got to the lineside near the site of Wantage Road station it was mainly cloudy with occasional sunny breaks. I was surprised to see 66518 on the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties, as this particular train should have passed while I was still en-route to the location. However, I was lucky that it was running late as it passed in a few seconds worth of sun, which nicely spotlights the train against the dark clouds in the background. Note that the rear of the train is in shadow, and as the train was passing me the light in the foreground dropped as well. Definitely a very lucky shot!

66518 passes Compton Beauchamp on 16 July 2013 with the 6V87 11:57 Neasden to Stoke Gifford stone empties. With a large area of high pressure dominating the weather, cloudless skies and high temperatures are the order of the day. Whilst the general public (mostly) loves it, for photography it is not so good, with harsh overhead lighting for most of the day.

66518 passes Grove on 8 September 2014 with a rather short 4M18 08:50 Fairwater Yard to Washwood Heath concrete sleepers. This picture neatly illustrates how freight trains can often run early. Instead of waiting for nearly 50 minutes on the up relief line, it is speeding along the up main. However, a stop of over an hour further north at Fenny Compton brought it back to right time.

66518 approaches Steventon on 5 January 2017 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner, passing the not very welcome addition to the Great Western Mainline. Electfrication may have some benefits, but God is the infrastructure ugly!

66518 passes Uffington on 26 April 2018 with the 4L31 09:57 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This had been retimed to allow for additional paths for the diverted stone trains from Westbury, but even so was running over half an hour late.

Not exactly a taxing load! 66518 passes Wolvercote on 25 June 2018 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working, on this occasion comprising just a single empty spoil wagon. The foreground is dominated by the worksite for the reinstatement of the down relief line.

I went to Tackley on 27 June 2018 primarily to photograph the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working, so I was not overly impressed to see this approaching! 66518 picks up speed, after inexplicably coming to a stand just a little further south, as it works what is clearly the 0M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot.

66518 & 66563 pass through Kemble station on 3 July 2018 with the diverted 4O57 13:29 Wentloog to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The curved former Cirencester branch bay platform can be seen behind the lead locomotive, with the Great Western Railway station master's house in the background.

The half empty 4O70 09:56 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner passes Uffington on 19 September 2019, hauled by 66518. The Met Office got the forecast right on this day, with not a cloud from dawn to dusk.

Running over an hour late, 66518 passes New Barnetby on 2 December 2019 with the 4C71 06:15 Hunslet to Immingham coal empties. As this should have passed only a few minutes after sunrise, and long before I arrived at the location, this was a welcome bonus.

With the Melton Ross Lime Works providing the unmistakable background, 66518 passes Croxton on 2 December 2019 with the 6C75 10:55 Immingham to Scunthorpe imported coal. This was running 44 minutes late, in the path of the cancelled 6T24 11:38 Immingham to Scunthorpe iron ore.

Not a new Freightliner livery, but the result of 66518 having recently been used on the Immingham to Santon iron ore workings! Plenty of red ore dust all over the roof, but someone has cleaned around the Freightliner logo on the side. The filthy loco is pictured passing Wolvercote Junction on 29 January 2020 with the 4O90 06:08 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

66518 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 12 April 2021 with the 6C48 11:50 Banbury Reservoir to Bristol Freightliner Terminal stone empties. Only a couple of wagons seemed to have escaped the attentions of the vandal's spray cans.

66518 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 14 April 2021 with the 6C48 11:50 Banbury Reservoir to Bristol Freightliner Terminal stone empties. A few years earlier I had photographed this loco when it was on a train from Bristol, in the days when the freightliner terminal was just that, and not a stone terminal!

Running exactly to time, 66518 passes Uffington on 18 January 2023 with the 6Z86 11:10 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties. The stone for this service originates from Machen Quarry.

66518 passes South Marston on 19 January 2023 with the 6Z86 11:10 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties. The lack of masts on the south side of the line, and the new footbridge, make this one of the better photographic locations on the Great Western Mainline.

66518 runs slowly along the up relief line at Denchworth on 23 January 2023 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Unfortunately not only did the sun go behind some high cloud, but also all the boxes were on the back of the train!

66519 passes Cossington on 13 November 2013 with the 6M01 11:19 Tinsley to Bardon Hill stone empties. A long lens is required at this time of year in order to clear the numerous shadows in the immediate foreground. The reason for the large number of photographers on the bridge in the background, is because D1015 has just passed by in the opposite direction with the 6D02 11:21 Wellingborough to Mountsorrel stone empties.

66519 passes Woodborough on 23 August 2014 with the diverted 6V33 11:56 Neasden Charrington to Pengam stone empties. Unfortunately the more interesting 6B33 11:27 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties, and 6V62 11:20 Tilbury Riverside to Llanwern steel empties were both cancelled.

66519 approaches Didcot North Junction on 16 February 2018 with the extremely short 4O15 07:21 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. I am used to photographing partly loaded freightliners, or even a full length train of flats with just a few boxes, but this short formation (thankfully fully loaded) is much more unusual.

66519 passes Wolvercote on 2 August 2018, running as the 0M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot, in place of the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working. My second uncharacteristic light engine picture of the day, following on from a much more interesting picture of D1935 early in the morning. Note the weld in the recently relaid track directly under the loco's leading wheel.

66519 passes Kemble on 8 July 2022 with the diverted 4L36 07:49 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Unfortunately the loaded part of the train is at the rear. The first container can just be glimpsed through the arch of the bridge. In the background, 800301 is heading away from the station with the 1G07 08:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service.

66519 slowly passes Old Basing on 16 June 2023 with the 6O12 04:24 Merehead Quarry to Woking Down Yard stone. Extremely head on lighting, but worth a picture, as there aren't that many freights along this stretch of line.

66520 is pictured near Waltham St Lawrence on 27 July 2007 with the 6M91 11:00 Theale to Earles empty cement tanks. The photo is taken from Chalkpit Bridge on the Waltham St Lawrence to Knowl Hill bridleway. There are several photo locations in the area, including the footpath bridge seen in the middle distance and a further one towards Shottesbrooke, but tall trees on the south side of the line means they all tend to be very shady on the main lines.

66520 passes a watery landscape at Crowle on 28 November 2012 with the 4R12 08:20 Doncaster Decoy to Immingham coal empties. One of the swans on the Stainforth & Keadby Canal in the background has obviously found something tasty to feed on underneath the water. In additions to the canal and the foreground drainage channel, there are floods in the fields in the background.

66520 approaches Tackley on 15 February 2019 with the late running 4O49 10:42 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. A long walk from the nearest road, but worth it, as it is one of the most photogenic locations on the line between Banbury and Oxford.

66520 approaches Woodborough on 25 June 2020 with the 6V18 11:20 Allington to Whatley Quarry stone empties. If the repainting of Freightliner's locos into the Genesee & Wyoming orange livery is done on the basis of exterior condition, 66520 could be next in line for a colour change!

Late November, but there is still plenty of autumn colour at Hungerford Common. 66520 heads east on 25 November 2022 with the 6M20 10:38 Whatley Quarry to Churchyard Sidings stone train. Unfortunately the vandalised wagons spoil the picture, but most Westbury area stone trains now seem to be afflicted.

You couldn't get a more appropriate loco for its train than this! The unique Shanks liveried 66522 East London Express hauls the similarly branded 4V60 10:57 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner past Baulking on 4 March 2011. A pity the loco wasn't round the other way with the lime green end leading, but this is early 2011 and the sun is out for once, so I should stop complaining!

Shanks liveried 66522 East London Express approaches Steventon on 8 March 2011 with the 4V60 10:57 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner, passing the well used freight loops. Didcot Power Station is of course the familiar background landmark.

My first picture of the unique Shanks liveried 66522 East London Express with the lime green end leading. On 22 May 2012 it is seen rounding the curve at Crofton with the 6A21 08:28 Cardiff Pengam to Theale stone train. It would certainly look a lot better if it had received a wash recently!

A pity it wasn't the other way round, but its always nice to see 66522 East London Express, as it makes a change from the normal Freightliner livery. On 28 November 2012, the unique liveried loco approaches Hatfield & Stainforth station with another load of imported coal from Immingham. This luckily corresponded with one of the few sunny spells.

66522 passes Uffington on 26 April 2021 with the early running 6B11 12:21 Hayes & Harlington to East Usk Yard stone empties. The combination of the oilseed rape flowers and the overhanging branches of the oak tree make an excellent frame for the picture.

This is something I haven't seen before! Although there are both up and down relief lines between Challow and Wantage Road, 66522 is seen here passing Grove on 13 January 2023 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner, running in the up direction on the down main line! It had just been overtaken by the 1A15 10:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR IET. The liner was running 47 minutes late, due to being routed via Bath, as its normal route was closed due to flooding near Chipping Sodbury. Although of course this section of line has bi-directional signalling, the normal move would be to have this train use the up relief line.

66522 passes Uffington on 18 January 2024 with the late running 4L36 08:12 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This concluded a morning of Freightliner green action, including both another Class 66, and a Class 70.

66523 & 66560 pass Gossington with the 4Z70 08:53 Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford coal empties on 8 April 2010, substituting for an unavailable Class 70. Are they ever going to live up to their promised reliability? Luckily the late running of this train had meant that the sun had come around and was now on the front.

66523 slowly passes Up Hatherley on 14 January 2011 with the 4V06 Rugeley to Stoke Gifford coal empties. The train was following a unit out of Cheltenham station, which is a short distance around the corner, beyond the bridge in the background.

66523 stands on the up main line at Moreton-in-Marsh on 10 November 2016, having just arrived with the 3S33 05:56 Swindon to Gloucester Horton Road Rail Head Treatment Train, led by 66513. It would shortly be heading back to Worcester. Four semaphore signals can be seen in this view, and behind the furthest one, the new farm occupation bridge that has just been installed, replacing the original which was showing worrying sagging in the centre of the arch.

66523 stands in Moreton-in-Marsh station on 10 November 2016, waiting to head back to Worcester with the 3S33 05:56 Swindon to Gloucester Horton Road Rail Head Treatment Train. Almost impossible lighting, with the weak sun directly behind the train, but worth a picture for the unusual sight of a Class 66 at Moreton-in-Marsh. 66513 is the rear loco.

66523 leaves Moreton-in-Marsh on 10 November 2016 with the 3S33 05:56 Swindon to Gloucester Horton Road Rail Head Treatment Train, having arrived a little earlier led by 66513. The Freightliner locos had been hired in by Colas, as due to the failure of both 56078 & 56104 three days earlier, they had run out of locos! This pictures makes an interesting comparison to the same scene a week earlier, when Colas could rely on their vintage Type 5 traction!

66523 passes South Marston on 10 September 2020 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. I was very lucky with the sun here, as there were large areas of cloud both to the north and the south.

Unfortunately all the boxes were on the very back of the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner on 6 October 2021. 66523 is seen here running along the up relief line at Challow with the very lightly loaded train.

66523 rounds the curve past the Kennet & Avon Canal's Crofton Pumping Station, as it heads west along the Berks & Hants line on 30 April 2024 with the 6C52 09.40 West Drayton Frays sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties,

66524 passes through the verdant North Oxfordshire countryside at Clattercote on 18 June 2002 with the 4S59 15:12 Southampton to Coatbridge freightliner. The Class 66s were still novelty at the time, having just taken over from Class 57s.

66524 runs at a fair speed along the up relief line at Ruscombe on 1 May 2013, as it works the 07:01 Stoke Gifford to Thorney Mill stone train, utilising a rake of exceedingly grubby ex Bardon hoppers. Unfortunately this ideal photographic spot will shortly be lost as the Great Western Mainline is electrified.

66524 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 14 September 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. On this occasion it is correctly running along the up relief line, rather than the main, where it often holds up the following 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR HST.

66524 passes Uffington on 18 January 2024 with the 6A16 07:36 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road loaded stone train. This train can also run to Appleford with identical timings, in which case the headcode is 6A33.

Green Freightliner Class 66s are the order of the day on Berks & Hants stone trains originating from Merehead and Whatley in 2024, with Class 59s now in a supporting role. 66524 & 66557 pass Manningford Bruce on 16 August 2024 with the 7A40 08:40 Merehead Quarry to Hanwell Bridge Loop stone train.

Diverted via the Berks & Hants line due to the closure of Basingstoke station for major track alterations, 66525 passes Manningford Bruce with the 4O35 09:40 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner on 12 April 2007. Although completely sunny when I set out from home, a lot of cloud had built up by the time I reached the lineside. In fact the train is in a lucky patch of weak sun, both the background and the immediate foreground are in shadow.

66525 passes Hall Royd Junction on 16 November 2015 with the 6M09 05:45 Immingham to Fiddlers Ferry imported coal. This was slightly unexpected, as there was no mention whatsoever on Realtime Trains of this particular working, not even showing it as cancelled!

66525 passes Didcot North Junction on 30 March 2019 with the 4O27 05:21 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. It looks like the ash tree in the foreground will severely obstruct this a viewpoint in a few years time!

66525 passes Baulking on 23 August 2023 with the 6C50 12:45 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. This location is approximately half way between the former Challow and Uffington stations (both closed on 7 December 1964).

66525 runs slowly along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 24 November 2023 with the 6C50 12:45 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. It was only booked to wait at Challow for a few minutes, but on this occasion would spend an additional half an hour there, waiting for a path.

A poignant moment at Great Heck on 2 March 2002. In tribute the Steve Dunn, the driver who tragically lost his life in the previous year's rail accident, 66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) & 66530 came to a stand on the main line at the site of the accident whilst working the Pathfinder Tours 1Z66 15:50 York to Crewe 'Steve Dunn Memorial' railtour. To see a passenger train come to a stop in the middle of nowhere and then move off after a two minute stand is certainly different. As it was very nearly dark, it also made photography marginally less difficult.

Catching the last rays of the setting sun on 8 June 2007, 66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) passes Cample with the 6E72 New Cumnock to Cottam Power Station coal train. Note that the sun has already disappeared from the mountains in the background. The loco is named after the driver of the coal train who died in the Heck rail crash in 2001.

An appropriate location to photograph this particular locomotive. 66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) passes the site the accident at Great Heck in which the Freightliner driver Steve Dunn tragically lost his life. 28 January 2008.

Just after sunrise on 3 July 2014, 66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) & 66568 sweep round the curve to the north of Tackley station with the 4M95 03:23 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. 66568 was of course dead in tow, but it still makes an interesting picture, especially as this is one of the few locations in the Oxford area that would be fully lit, with the sun on the front at this ridiculously early time of the morning.

66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) approaches Tackley on 15 February 2019 with the 4O09 10:12 Trafford Park to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The loco is named after the Freightliner driver who sadly lost his life in the 2001 Great Heck rail disaster.

Two trains passing at Challow, both running over an hour late. 66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) heads east with the 6A60 08:32 (09:49 actual) Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. It is passing D1935 (47805) Roger Hosking MA 1925 - 2013, which is on the rear of the Saphos Trains 1Z60 06:40 Kidderminster to Bristol Temple Meads' Great Western Envoy', which is stopped on the down relief line while Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 46100 Royal Scot takes on water.

No sooner had I added the picture of 37276 to this website, with a caption explaining how there had been no freight on the southern end of the Cotswold Line for many years, when this happens! 66527 Don Raider and 66507 worked the 6Z49 10:51 Neasden to Long Marston on 1 March 2007 conveying a rake of PGA hopper wagons formerly used on the Wool to Neasden sand trains for storage at Long Marston. Normally such trains would be routed the long way round via Swindon and Worcester. The use of top'n'tail locos was necessary because the run-round loop at Honeybourne is out of use due to the state of the track. Remarkably I was the only person to witness this most unusual working passing through the Brunel designed station at Charlbury in a very lucky patch of sun.

66527 Don Raider approaches Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 2 April 2007. The location was chosen because its one of the few spots between Didcot and Swindon where the sun would be on the nose after the clocks had changed at the end of March, even then it is only just glancing across the front. Incidentally, the crossing was replaced by a footbridge many years ago, yet the name remains!

Superb winter lighting at Natton on 3 February 2012, as 66527 Don Raider passes by with the 4V06 08:53 Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford coal empties. Although the temperature was barely above freezing, the fact that there was virtually no wind meant that it wasn't too bad standing around in the sunshine. It wasn't to last, as the following day saw heavy snow falls.

The transient railway. Once this was all fields, and now it is all fields again! Beechbrook Farm depot was constructed next to the A20 road to the north of Ashford, during the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1). For a few years it was extremely busy, but such has been its total obliteration, that there is no sign now that a railway was ever here. In this 19 July 2002 view there are at least 11 locos in view. 66528, 66550, 66548, 66549 & 66607 are parked in the foreground, with several other Class 66s (both Freightliner and EWS) in the background. Just visible in front of the trees in the background is Class 14 D9504. 

66528 passes Kings Sutton on 12 September 2003 with the 6M16 13.48 Southampton Western Docks to Crewe Ford cars and vans. This train had just gone over to Class 66 haulage, and unfortunately I missed all the interesting (XP64 and Police liveried) Class 47s that worked the train earlier in the year!

66528 passes Gateforth on 14 March 2008 with the 6Y50 08:31 Butterwell to Drax coal hoppers. A conveniently cleared vegetation free patch has been carefully maintained amid the roadside gorse bushes here, just in the right position for photography. So, with a natural windbreak from the remaining bushes (as long as the wind isn't from the north!) and an Armco barrier to sit on, it makes for a very pleasant spot to wait for the next train.

Spectacular lighting at Islip on 25 April 2021, as 66528 Madge Elliot MBE - Borders Railway Opening 2015 brings up the rear of the 07:20 Bicester Gavray Junction to Hinksey ballast empties. Engineer's trains returning from overnight possessions usually run early, and I was prepared for this, and had arrived at Islip nearly two hour hours before it was booked to pass at 09:18. However, as I was walking across the field towards the footbridge, I could hear it approaching, 107 minutes early. Not only was there no sun as the lead locomotive (66541) passed by, but I wasn't in a position for a decent photo of that end of the train. Luckily by the time the rear loco was passing me, the sun had come out from behind the dark clouds. Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat! The buildings and lighting towers behind the train are part of the former Islip oil depot.

66528 Madge Elliot MBE - Borders Railway Opening 2015 passes Uffington on 18 May 2021 with the late running 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. I had to decide whether to include lots of foreground, or lots of sky for this picture. Normally the yellow oilseed rape field would have been the obvious choice, but the menacing sky was so impressive that I opted to include more of the dark clouds. It was an anxious wait for the train to appear, as this spectacular lighting wasn't going to last very long!

66528 Madge Elliot MBE - Borders Railway Opening 2015 runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 29 July 2021 with the 6A15 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train.

66528 Madge Elliot MBE - Borders Railway Opening 2015 has 59203 dead in tow, as it passes Uffington on 2 December 2021 with the diverted 7C77 12:41 Acton to Merehead Quarry stone empties. This had been re-routed via Swindon due to signalling problems between Newbury and Bedwyn.

66528 Madge Elliot MBE - Borders Railway Opening 2015 passes Manningford Bruce on 24 March 2022 with the 7C77 12:41 Acton to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. Halfway down the train is 59204 is hitching a ride back to the Westbury area. Due to excessive charges by DB Cargo for shunting at Acton, the two combined trains now work back from London in this fashion, rather than shunting both locomotives to the front of the train.

66529 heads along the Great Western Mainline near the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham on 1 November 2007. The loco is well matched livery wise to the Avon County Council wagons, the working being the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner empties.

66529 passes Didcot North Junction on 16 February 2018 with the 6O26 10:19 Hinksey to Eastleigh departmental working. Note the new bridge height extensions in the background. I shouldn't really complain, bearing in mind some of the hideous structures that Network Rail have installed to protect electrified lines, but the few inches added to this bridge seems hardly worth the trouble!

An easy Freightliner job! 66529 passes Grove on 28 October 2019 with the 4L38 09:56 Wentloog to Felixstowe North 'Fresh Air Express'. The odd few boxes were right at the back of the train, well out sight behind the bushes.

Running 34 minutes late, 66529 passes Baulking in the rain on 22 February 2020 with the 07:26 Hinksey to Margam departmental working, comprising a complete track relating train, including crane, ballast, and rail sections. 66953 can just be seen on the rear of the train.

66529 runs along the up relief line at Easenhall on 2 November 2020 with the 4L46 12:16 Lawley Street to London Gateway freightliner. The bridge in the background carries a little used footpath to Stretton-under-Fosse.

66529 passes Uffington on 20 April 2021 with the late running 4Z47 10:30 Didcot to Barry Docks Dow Chemicals freightliner. I wouldn't normally be bother with such a backlit freightliner, but as this suddenly appeared on a short term plan while I was already at the location, and as it is not a train that I had photographed before, I accepted the less than ideal lighting.

With the masts of Rugby Radio Station in the background, 66530 passes Barby Nortoft on 21 April 2010 with the 4L92 14:03 Ditton to Felixstowe freightliner. Often the preserve of a pair of Class 86s, but a single 66 is definitely a much better fit between the posts here!

66530 passes Bagworth on 28 March 2012 with the 6M14 10:14 Harlow Mill to Bardon Hill stone empties. Not much colour apart from the green of the loco in this view, with a pile of grey ballast, concrete footbridge, and masses of dead vegetation completing the picture.

66531 crosses over the East Coast Mainline at Tilts on 24 November 2008 with the 6M07 11:05 Roxby to Pendleton GMC Binliner empties. This is on the freight only line to the north of Doncaster, from Stainforth to Adwick. Unfortunately the sunshine earlier in the day had now given way to high level cloud.

66531 approaches Tackley with the 4O14 06:39 Birch Coppice to Southampton 'Fresh Air Express' on 15 May 2010. This freightliner service normally has a much more healthy load than the two containers visible here. 66531 looks to be in desperate need of some cosmetic attention to its front end. Less than nine years old and there are already large rust patches developing around the cab windows - not a good sign!

66531 passes through Hensall station on 13 March 2014 with the 6E94 23:53 (the previous day) Hunterston High Level to Drax Power Station coal train. The impressive Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway station building presides over a station that has a very sparse train service, but which is noteworthy in that the level crossing has one of the few surviving sets of electrical operated wheel gates, which operate by an electric motor attached to the gate opening and closing the crossing by powering a small attached wheel, operating on the roadway.

66531 passes Whitley Bridge Junction on 13 March 2014 with yet another train of coal empties from Drax Power Station. Just a few years later this once common sight of coal trains in the area would become part of history.

66531 passes Challow on 28 May 2020 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The train has just moved over onto the up relief line, to allow the 1A14 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR IET to overtake.

As a GWR employee checks the litter bins, and general tidiness of Appleford station, 66531 passes through the deserted station on 5 August 2022 with the 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train.

66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas has just passed the site of Shrivenham station and is just approaching the site of Ashbury Crossing with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The date is 18 October 2007 and the lengthening autumn shadows have required the use of a very long lens. This has compressed the perspective, so that the distinctive manor house at Bourton (top left) now appears very close, rather than a mile distant.

66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas approaches the site of Uffington station on 29 September 2011 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol West to Tilbury freightliner, running just four minutes behind the 4O51 Wentloog to Southampton, hauled by classmate 66535.

66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas passes under Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 19 March 2012 with the 4L30 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe 'Wineliner'. Running 45 minutes late, it has no need of its booked stop at Wantage Road, and so is charging along the up main in fine style. On the left in the distance the first clouds of the morning can be seen bubbling up. Within a short time they would build up considerably, making it lucky that this train wasn't running any later!

66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas rounds the curve at Steeple Aston on the slightly misty morning of 21 May 2013, as it heads north with the 4M25 04:55 Southampton Maritime to Crewe Basford Hall freightliner. Note the area of damage around the windscreens.

Superb late evening light at Tackley on 18 June 2015. 66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas heads north with the 4M97 17:30 Southampton Maritime to Hams Hall freightliner. The Dog Roses on the right add to the feeling of high summer.

66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas passes Thingley on 19 June 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Strangely, although this location is only around 50 miles from home, this is only my second visit, and my first ever picture looking in this direction!

With clouds steadily building up from the west, 66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas passes the incomplete electrification infrastructure at Uffington on 22 September 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner.

66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas snakes round the reverse curves near Tackley on 20 March 2021 with the 4O29 08:50 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The weather may be dull, but the multi-coloured containers certainly add a touch of brightness!

66532 P&O Nedlloyd Atlas passes Uffington on 17 January 2022 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The temperature was just above freezing, but that didn't stop the icy conditions causing a minor accident on the road approaching this location. As one of the vehicles was blocking the road, I had a longer walk than normal to get to this spot!

66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express approaches the site of Challow station with the diverted 4O54 05:33 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 6 December 2008. The use of a long lens is required here to avoid the bushes and large signal gantry in the foreground. Note how this has compressed the perspective, with Circourt Bridge at Denchworth clearly visible in the distance.

66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express ambles along the up relief line at Denchworth on 16 August 2010 with the 4O24 Bristol Parson Street to Grain 'Wineliner'. I would not normally take pictures of every Class 66 that came along whilst at one location, as I have mentioned on the Introduction page, but in this case I have made an exception, especially as there is not a 'Red Shed' amongst them!. On this occasion three freightliners passed within less than 40 minutes, the other tow being 66563 & 66505. Incidentally the more commonly used Denchworth vantage point (Circourt Bridge) can be seen in the background. This alternative location requires careful framing and a long lens in order to shoot underneath a massive signal gantry.

66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express passes Hinksey Yard on 12 April 2013 with the 4O54 06:12 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The car on the left is driving along the private access road for rail workers in the yard.

66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express passes Chippenham on 10 September 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. I had gone to his location as it would be clear of shadows on this early autumn morning. Unfortunately, that other feature of autumn, fog, had only just started to clear!

66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express passes Compton Beauchamp on 14 April 2015 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. Unfortunately this was running over an hour late, having left the Parsons Street freightliner terminal at 12:16, rather than 11:00. There was little opportunity to make up time until a booked layover at West Drayton.

66534 OOCL Express passes the increasingly overgrown location of Baulking on 4 March 2011 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Tilbury 'Wineliner', luckily with all the containers marshaled at the head of the train. The site of Uffington station in the background is now very nearly obscured from view.

66534 OOCL Express & 66542 pass Radley on 23 April 2013 with the 4O17 15:48 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Note the hot air balloon in the background. I wouldn't normally have bothered with this picture, but I couldn't resist it as it is a double header.

Two minutes makes all the difference! Running a trivial two minutes early means that 66534 OOCL Express passes Steventon in perfect lighting, with dark clouds in the background, rather than the totally useless conditions that existed just a minute later. The date is 19 August 2013 and the train is the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner.

66534 OOCL Express runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 2 September 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Note how the red backed nameplate stands out so much better than the green type, so favoured by Freightliner. It seems this loco is a regular on this train, as I saw it on the same working two weeks previously.

66534 OOCL Express heads south through a tunnel of trees at Yarnton on 21 February 2014 with the 4015 07:43 Hams Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This picture wouldn't really work in summer, but the sun shining through the bare branches makes for an interesting composition.

66534 OOCL Express passes Hay Lane (near Swindon) on 10 July 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Because it runs at a time before the clouds usually start to build up, this is probably my most photographed train on the Great Western Mainline, as I attempt to cram in as much photography as possible before the wires go up.

66534 OOCL Express approaches Cholsey on 2 January 2015 with the 4O48 11:47 Hams Hall to Southampton freightliner. Just visible to the right of the loco is one of the unused steel piles for the forthcoming Great Western Mainline electrification. The tops of the installed ones can be seen in the foreground on the left, and just in front of the recently erected masts, another couple of every photographer's bête noire lie in the grass waiting for installation.

Approaching an adverse signal, 66534 OOCL Express runs slowly through the cutting at South Moreton on 10 September 2015 with the 4M62 14:19 Southampton Maritime to Garston freightliner. The old bridge at this location had a parapet that was so low that it made an excellent seat, its modern replacement needs a ladder just to see over the top!

66534 OOCL Express passes through Oxford station on 2 February 2019 with the 4O05 07:03 Birch Coppice to Southampton Maritime freightliner, passing 166208, which is waiting to follow it with the 1P35 10:00 Oxford to Paddington GWR service.

66535 heads through the Vale of White Horse near Uffington with the diverted 4O27 01:35 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 1 December 2007. This train had been held in the loop at Challow to allow 3 HSTs and the Hertfordshire Railtours 'Worcester Christmas Fayre' railtour to overtake it.

On 15 April 2008 services were severely disrupted on the Birmingham to Oxford route by a broken rail at Knightcote (between Banbury and Leamington). All up trains were hand signaled through the red signal seen in the background, and had to travel over the temporarily clamped rail at 5 mph. While 66535 speeds past the blackthorn blossom at Bishops Itchington with the unaffected 4M50 07:25 Southampton to Crewe freightliner, a Chiltern Railways Turbo unit waits to precede south. At one point there were three trains in view on the up line, with one preceding at walking pace along the embankment just around the corner, one stopped at the signal seen here, and yet another at the preceding signal on the other side of the bridge!

66535 passes Wolvercote on 15 August 2008 with the lightly loaded 4O27 07:12 Ditton to Southampton freightliner. The lack of a load on the front section of the train reveals the little used up good relief line, which runs from Wolvercote Junction to Oxford. Not too many years ago it was regularly used by MGR coat trains to Didcot Power Station and empty car trains to Morris Cowley. Neither of these services now operate on this route, and as can be seen here what little freight traffic that remains tends to use the main line.

66535 passes Rousham on 2 April 2009 with the 4M61 13:00 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. Just four minutes later, classmate 66579 appeared from the opposite direction with the 4O27 06:58 Ditton to Southampton Maritime working.

66535 passes Uffington on 29 September 2011 with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. This photo is taken from a public footpath crossing near the site of Uffington station. Despite the fact that it is little used, it has recently been upgraded, for the first time acquiring a proper walkway across the tracks.

66535 passes Uffington on 22 October 2011 with the 4V50 10:54 Southampton to Wentloog freightliner. In order to include this overhanging branch in the picture, I had to fight my way through the undergrowth that surrounds the remains of the long closed Wilts & Berks Canal. Even after clearing away much of the nuisance branches and brambles, I still had to put up with a large branch pushing into my back as I took this. It is ironic that with such a large open field in the foreground, I had to squeeze into such an uncomfortable position just for the sake of a better picture!

66535 passes a very cold and frosty Yarnton on 14 January 2012 with the 4O27 05:26 Garston to Southampton freightliner. The train will shortly be entering the up relief line at Wolvercote Junction, to allow a following passenger service to overtake.

66535 passes Uffington on 23 July 2012 with the 4L30 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe 'Wineliner'. Coincidentally, I saw this same locomotive at this very spot les than a year before, although on that occasion is was working the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner.

66536 approaches Banbury on 24 April 2002 with the 4O29 14:14 Trafford Park to Southampton Maritime freightliner. At this time this train was often still worked by Class 57s, as Freightliner's 66s were still being delivered. 66536 had arrived in the country just six months earlier.

66536 passes South Marston on 22 June 2010 with the newly introduced 4L32 10:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Tilbury freightliner. The line curving away to the right serves the Swindon Keypoint industrial estate, and sees regular trains from the Honda car plant.

66536 passes Great Bourton on 8 December 2010 with 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton freightliner. Admittedly I was walking along the footpath towards the railway and hadn't quite got to my intended location yet, but I had noticed this gate on a previous occasion, so quickly got into position, altered the camera settings to give enough depth of field (as this is taken on a short telephoto lens), and an instant variation of viewpoint!

Just after sunrise on 1 April 2015, 66536 passes through Oxford station with the 6X25 04:45 Bescot to Hinksey engineer's train. This would normally run as 6V25, but the inclusion of the point carriers necessitates a X headcode. In the background, the 1D09 06:20 Paddington to Oxford HST waits at platform two.

66536 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 20 April 2015 with the 09:57 Willesden Euro Terminal to Fairwater Yard, conveying various track plant used over the weekend for engineering work. Classmate 66507 is on the rear of the train. Whist I was out in the morning, this was not showing as having left, so I went home. However, after lunch I noticed that it had left two hours late. As this would now make a better picture, with the sun on the front, I went back out again! It had lost even more time by the time it reached Shrivenham.

66536 brings up the rear of the 6X04 14:00 Fairwater Yard to Honeybourne North Junction PW train, as it approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 2 May 2018. This was one occasion where a zoom lens might have been useful, but even so I easily managed to change prime lenses from a 100mm to a 60mm while the train was passing under the bridge, after photographing 66543 leading the train. If I had got up earlier the previous day, I could have got a picture of this train heading south at this location, presumably in weak early morning sunshine. However, as it was booked to pass 05:27 (before sunrise!) I didn't bother. In the event it passed nearly an hour late. Never mind, you can't win them all!

Running 20 minutes late, 66536 passes Steventon on 15 May 2018 with the 4V31 07:53 London Gateway to Bristol freightliner. This was the last westbound train to pass for a while, as shortly after this a HGV struck Steventon Causeway level crossing barriers, resulting in severe delays while trains were hand signalled across.

A dramatic view of 66536, as it crosses Causeway level crossing, in the village of Steventon, on 20 February 2020 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. As can be seen from the position of the windscreen wiper, it was raining!

66536 passes Oddington on 23 May 2023 with the diverted 6A60 07:12 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. This had travelled via the suburbs of London and the Chiltern Line, rather its usual route via Oxford. The closure of the Didcot to Oxford line for repairs to Nuneham Viaduct has seen a lot more freights routed via this Bicester to Oxford route.

66536 passes Gossington on 15 September 2023 with the 6F03 09:53 Moreton-on-Lugg to Crewe Basford Hall HOBC (High Output Ballast Cleaner) set. Moreton-on-Lugg to Crewe via the Severn Tunnel is definitely the long way round, but the more direct route was closed for engineering works.

66536 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 28 November 2023 with the 6C58 10:11 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties. After a sunny start to the day, unfortunately the clouds were now building up rapidly.

66536 passes Hungerford Common on 12 February 2024 with the 6C52 09.40 West Drayton Frays sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties, although clearly they didn't have enough time to unload the entire train, as the first four wagons are still loaded with stone.

What's all this then, a full load on the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner, surely not! 66537 has indeed got a very respectable load on the usually lightly loaded 4O51, as it passes a very overgrown Baulking on 25 June 2010. Now that the lineside bushes are in full leaf, it is no longer possible to see the road bridge near the site of Uffington station, which was always an obvious landmark in the background of this view.

66537 passes Denchworth on 27 July 2012 with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. In the background is the popular photographic location of Circourt Bridge (although sans photographers today). The bridge I am standing on is less used, as this view requires careful positioning and a long lens in order shoot through a signal gantry that covers all four tracks.

A picture that I had been meaning to take for some time. 66537 approaches Heyford on 20 April 2016 with the 4O15 07:43 Hams Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This is the view from the Oxford Canal towpath, looking across the swiftly flowing River Cherwell and the riverside meadows.

66537 runs along the up relief line at Grove on 26 April 2022 with the 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. There is plenty of warning of approaching trains here, with visibility of well over two miles.

66537 runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 25 November 2022 with the 6C58 12:11 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties. Whilst still in the loop, a train with a similar headcode (the 6C48 12:49 Appleford to Whatley Quarry stone empties) would slowly come up behind it, hauled by 59201.

Running 74 minutes early, 66537 passes Baulking on 23 March 2023 with the 6A60 08:34 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. The early running was caused by it ignoring its booked one hour stop at Westbury.

66537 passes Baulking on 9 October 2023 with the 6Z86 11:06 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties. I'm surprised that this location isn't more widely known, especially as it doesn't require any effort to get to.

66537 passes Uffington on 14 September 2024 with the 6V28 13:41 West Drayton Frays Sidings to Whatley Quarry stone empties. This was half an hour late leaving West Drayton, so I was quite surprised that it passed me running 55 minutes early. I had only just arrived, with less than a minute to spare!

66538 passes through Heyford station on 29 March 2002 with the 4O14 04:32 Garston to Southampton freightliner. The picturesque Great Western Railway footbridge has now been replaced with a more modern design.

66538 passes Bishops Itchington on 17 August 2002 with the 4O14 04:30 Garston to Southampton freightliner. This loco was less than a year old when this picture was taken, and the class were rapidly taking over freightliner workings. 4O14 had changed from Class 47/57 haulage a few months earlier.

What I thought was going to be a ruined picture, turns out to be perfect passing shot. On 2 May 2007, while waiting to photograph 66538 approaching Kidlington with the 4O27 06:50 Ditton to Southampton freightliner, I heard the ominous whine of a voyager behind me as the freightliner came into view. Thinking the unidentified Class 221 on the 11:46 Bournemouth to Glasgow Virgin service would completely block out the 66 I just kept the shutter pressed and let the camera fire several frames per second in the hope of getting the picture. The bridge visible in this view is a farm occupation bridge near Thrupp, while just visible in the distance is the isolated church at Hampton Gay.

66538 passes Heyford on 14 September 2007 with the 4M50 07:25 Southampton to Hams Hall freightliner. Its hard to believe that this location once had open views across the fields towards the village of Rousham!

66538 heads down the Cherwell Valley near Rousham with the 4O14 01:35 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 16 February 2008. The frost was just starting the melt from the field of long grass in the foreground, but it was still bitterly cold! This field separates the railway from the Oxford Canal, which comes closer and then parallels the line from the trees on the right all the way to Heyford station, approximately a mile further north.

66538 passes Heyford on 18 April 2009 with the 4O02 11:14 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. This short section of embankment is between the wooded cutting near Rousham, and the canal side Heyford station. 

Golden evening light at Tackley on 2 September 2010, as 66538 heads north with the 4M68 14:55 Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal. On the extreme right is the chimney of the long disused (but once rail connected) Shipton-on-Cherwell cement works.

A thick frost coats the grass and bushes on 14 January 2012, as 66538 passes Yarnton with the 4O14 06:33 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. The train is slowing down in order to access the relief line at Wolvercote Junction. Unfortunately these ideal photographic conditions didn't last long, as the sun soon removed the white covering from the vegetation.

A very early morning picture taken at Tackley on 25 June 2012. 66538 heads northwards with the 4M95 03:48 Southampton Maritime to Trafford Park freightliner. Photo taken from a bridge on a bridleway between Tackley and Northbrook.

66538 approaches Oxford on 21 January 2013 with the 4M55 10:00 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner. Luckily the 1P41 12:01 Oxford to Paddington First Great Western Turbo unit has just managed to get out of the way in time!

66538 passes Uffington on 14 October 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This photo is taken from a public footpath crossing, which was closed by Network Rail in September 2013 for (according to a notice fixed to the fence) 21 days. In fact it remained closed for nearly two years. I thought that being very little used, it would be stopped up permanently, but instead of that, it has been reopened with the addition of a brand new boarded crossing. Previously you just walked across the ballast.

66538 passes through Kings Sutton station on 25 May 2021 with the 4O14 04:59 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Unfortunately this completely blocked out the view of the 6G60 05:00 High Wycombe to Bescot departmental working, that was approaching from the opposite direction, with top'n'tail GBRf Class 66s. This was running over three hours late, and with a complete load of rails, which presumably explains the Realtime Trains explanation: 'This service was cancelled due to a problem with engineering equipment outside engineering works.'

Lots of clouds in the background, and even more behind me, despite what the forecast said! 66538 luckily manages to avoid the clouds as it heads west at South Marston on 19 January 2023 with the 6C58 12:10 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties.

66538 approaches Baulking on 14 February 2023 with the 6C58 12:10 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties. The concrete reinforced embankment may not be very photogenic, but it does mean there is a section of line free of overgrown bushes!

Passenger overtakes freight at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 24 October 2023. 66538 runs slowly along the down relief line with the 6C58 10:11 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties, while 800319 speeds past with the 1B10 10:18 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service.

66538 passes Hungerford Common on 1 December 2023 with the 6A18 09:18 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train. Much of the traction variety on the Berks & Hants line has now given way to Freightliner Class 66s.

66539 needs all of its 3,200 hp to haul the ten coach Pathfinder Tours 1Z86 14:15 Folkestone Harbour to Crewe 'Hop'n'Stop' railtour up the ferocious 1 in 30 gradient from Folkestone Harbour to Folkestone East on 11 May 2002. Although it appears to be running wrong line, the rust on the other line indicates that only one line was in use. The third rail was also out of use.

66539 passes South Moreton on 8 May 2008 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Millbrook freightliner. The pollarded horse chestnut trees that are such a feature of this location are just coming into flower. These were presumably planted by the Great Western Railway.

66539 passes Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 30 December 2008. I hadn't realised it at the time, but from this angle the tower of St Barnabas Church, Jericho can just be seen peeking through the trees in the distance above the third container. Although it was a sunny afternoon, the day had started with thick cloud, which had not even started to clear when I left home (less than twenty miles away).

Under a very dark sky, 66539 passes the site of Uffington Junction station on 4 June 2011 with the 4V50 05:08 Southampton to Wentloog freightliner. I could not believe how the completely clear sunny morning changed to 100% cloud within just a few miles, as I was approaching from the Farngdon direction. It did mean however that my original choice of location a little further up the line was abandoned in favour of this spot, which can only be photographed from the north side of the line and therefore needs a dull day. Always look on the bright side (or not in this case!).

The diminutive Thorne South station is now totally dominated by a huge footbridge, complete with long shallow angled disabled friendly approach ramps. 66539 passes underneath this new structure on 18 April 2014 with the 4R16 11:30 Ratcliffe Power Station to Immingham coal empties.

66539 passes Chaddington Lane (near Wootton Bassett) on 8 September 2016 with the 4L32 10:58 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. I think Freightliner need to pay some attention to the state of this loco, as the tin worm seems to have got to work on the front end!

66539 emerges from Crick Tunnel on 31 July 2020 with the 4M88 09:32 Felixstowe North to Ditton freightliner. This may appear to be a completely rural location, but there is the ever present roar of traffic from the nearby M1 motorway.

With a toot from the driver, 66539 passes Uffington on 2 March 2023 with the diverted 6C29 06:21 Willesden to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The train's usual route via the Berks & Hants line was closed for major engineering works.

66540 Ruby approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 20 July 2006 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The load is typical of the period, i.e. less than half a train and all of it on the back! The use of a long lens has compressed the perspective, with the bridge on the site of Challow station clearly visible behind the signal gantry in the background.

A lucky patch of sunshine illuminates 66540 Ruby, as it passes Heyford on 19 May 2007 with the 4O14 04:32 Garston to Southampton freightliner. The name Ruby was chosen the previous year to mark the 40th anniversary of Freightliner.

66540 Ruby passes Great Bourton on 28 March 2012 with the 4O55 12:15 Leeds to Southampton freightliner, having nearly been blocked out by 67018 pushing 1R48 northwards. What could very nearly have been a total cock up, has instead turned out to be a reasonable passing shot. Coincidentally, 20 minutes later consecutively numbered 66541 passed by with another freightliner.

66540 Ruby passes Hinksey on 4 December 2012 with the 4O54 06:15 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Somebody has obviously used the wrong sized numeral for the last digit of the loco's number on the front end, using instead the larger size, as used on the cabside.

66540 Ruby passes Challow on 18 February 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Despite running virtually to time, this was somewhat bizarrely routed along the up main line, therefore delaying the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington HST, which was right behind it, and which should have overtaken it at Wantage Road!

66540 Ruby passes Bourton on 28 January 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The tree line in the background marks the course of two other forms of transport: the A420 Oxford to Swindon road, and the long disused Wilts & Berks Canal.

66540 Ruby passes Challow on 11 February 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This train is booked to use the relief line, but due to several late running HSTs creating a sufficiently large gap, it was left to run on the main, going into the loop at Steventon instead.

On time? Well, the lorry certainly is according to its company name. So in fact is 66540 Ruby, as it passes underneath Hennef Way, Banbury, on 11 March 2016 with the 4M68 13:53 Southampton Maritime to Garston freightliner. It is running slowly up to a red signal, for its booked 17 minute stop on the down relief line.

66540 Ruby runs along the Great Western Mainline at Baulking on 5 January 2022, en-route to Appleford as the 0A15 08:28 Westbury to Appleford light engine. This would return four hours later with the 6C48 12:49 Appleford to Whatley Quarry stone empties.

Running 23 minutes early, 66540 Ruby passes Uffington on 25 April 2023 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North 'Fresh Air Express'. There were a few boxes on the back of the train, but they are hidden by the lineside bushes.

66541 passes Llandevenny on 17 July 2002, after having just crossed the Bishton Flyover with the 4Z51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. Normally it would make a change to photograph an unusually short freightliner working such as this, but a standard length train would have looked much better on the reverse curves!

66541 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 8 March 2011 with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The train has just bypassed Didcot station, by traversing the curve between Didcot North and Didcot East Junctions.

66541 passes the blackthorn blossom at Callow Hill on 12 April 2011 with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. Although reasonably bright, typically the light was nothing like as good as when 43146 passed by with the 1L51 10:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service.

66541 passes Great Bourton on 28 March 2012 with the 4O17 15:44 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. Perfect spring lighting, and a nice colourful train, and with nothing in the foreground to cause any problems with shadows.

66541 approaches Radley on 17 December 2012 with the 4O54 06:15 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Very head on lighting, but with trees on either side of the line, midday is the only time of day that this location is clear of shadows during the winter months.

66541 runs along the up relief line at Cholsey on 2 January 2015 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. The masts on the left had sprung up over the Christmas holiday, heralding the end of yet another well used photographic location.

With the houses and factories of Melton Mowbray forming the background, 66541 passes Brentingby on 31 March 2016 with the 4L93 10:08 Lawley Street to Felixstowe North freightliner. The clouds in the background are a hint of what was to come - the Met Office having been a bit optimistic yet again!

66541 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 9 August 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. In the background is the new road bridge near the site of Shrivenham station. Compared with some of the hideous eyesores that Network Rail have imposed on this line, this bridge is actually quite well designed and in keeping with the landscape.

After overnight rain, the morning of 26 August 2016 was clear and bright. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the local area to photograph, but the good weather was too good to waste, so yet another trip was made to Compton Beauchamp. Due to the massively delayed Great Western Mainline electrification, photographers have gained two whole extra years of photography at this well known spot. Here is yet another picture of the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner, on this occasion hauled by 66541. I may have photographed 4L31 on countless occasions, but that will probably come to an abrupt stop once the wires go up!

When I first started photography in the late 1970s, there used to be a clear view of westbound trains from the site of Knighton Crossing. Now unfortunately there is only this view from a little further down the road to Uffington. 66541 passes by the stubble field on 9 August 2022 with the 6Z86 11:07 West Drayton Frays Sidings to Machen Quarry stone empties.

In a surprising bit of brightness, on what was otherwise a mostly dull and sometimes rainy day, 66541 runs along the down relief line at Challow on 16 August with the 6Z86 11:07 West Drayton Frays Sidings to Machen Quarry stone empties.

66542 & 66590 pass Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) in ideal photographic conditions with the 4O02 11:14 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner on 9 January 2010. Although some photographers complain about empty container flats in freightliner consists, I think the snow covered flats behind the locos here actually improve the composition of the picture.

After being closed for an unbelievable nine months, the reconstructed Fulscot Bridge near South Moreton (Didcot East) was opened on 29 August 2014. Although the middle of the bridge has the usual impossibly high parapet, the sides are fairly low. Although electrification will soon ruin the location for photographers, at present the spot is actually slightly better than before, as there is now a pavement to stand on, out of the way of the traffic. The brand new bridge is pictured in this slightly arty view, taken on 3 September 2014. 66542 approaches with the 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton freightliner.

Watched over by a herring gull from on top of one of the station car park's lampposts, 66542 passes through Oxford station on 30 January 2015 with the 4O15 07:43 Hams Hall to Southampton freightliner. The huge bank of cloud that would put an end to the sunny morning can already be seen in the distance.

66542 passes Compton Beauchamp on 30 March 2015 with the 4O59 07:04 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. I didn't expect to still be taking pictures at this location in the spring of 2015, but the Great Western electrification is so far behind schedule, that all of us photographers have got a short reprieve!

66542 passes Kimbridge on 8 September 2016 with the 4M97 17:32 Southampton Maritime to Hams Hall freightliner. The train is approaching the site of Kimbridge Junction, where the former Southern Railway line to Stockbridge and Andover branched off to the right. The line was closed in 1964 as a result of the Beeching report.

The red DB Cargo spoil wagons in the foreground providing a striking contrast to this scene at Hinksey Yard taken on 2 November 2016. 66542 passes by with the 4O90 06:12 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

66542 passes Wolvercote Junction on 31 October 2018 with the 4O49 09:22 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. A picture that could have been taken at any time in the last few years, apart from the fact that the loco now sports revised black headlight clusters.

66542 passes Rushton on 23 April 2021 with the 6V55 12:55 Radlett Redland Roadstone to East Usk Yard stone empties. Unfortunately, like virtually every other stone train that I have photographed recently, a good proportion of the former coal hopper wagons have been heavily vandalised.

66542 runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 7 September 2021 with the 6A15 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train. Mendip Rail's stone trains used to generally feature uniform rakes of wagons, which is certainly not the case here.

The closure of the Didcot to Oxford line in April 2023, due to subsidence problems with Nuneham Viaduct, resulted in a number of interesting diversions. The 6C58 12:10 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties normally travels in an almost direct route via Swindon. However, the line blockage caused it to travel via Birmingham. On 4 April 2023, 66542 is pictured passing Tredington with the 6Z58 12:30 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard. Unfortunately the sun had disappeared into a bank of high cloud just before the train appeared.

66543 gives a helping hand to failed classmate 66564 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner on 27 April 2010. Running over five hours late the pair are pictured climbing out of the Severn Tunnel towards Pilning. It shows just how vulnerable Freightliner's operation at Wentloog is, when the location is so far away from any rescue loco in the event of a failure.

You can almost feel the biting cold looking at this picture! 66543 passes the almost completely full yard at Hinksey on 29 November 2010, as it heads south with the very lightly loaded 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner.

A symphony in green! The fresh spring foliage nicely compliments 66543 as it slowly passes Walton Well Road, Oxford, on 5 May 2012 with the 4O27 05:26 Garston to Southampton freightliner. Aristotle Lane footbridge in the background marks the site of Oxford North Junction, where the line to Bicester diverges to the right.

66543 diverges onto the up relief line at Challow on 27 February 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Always worth a picture, although not as interesting as the traction that could be seen on a freightliner at this spot two decades previously!

Time for a repaint? Rusty patches disfigure the front end of 66543, as it passes Bourton on 9 April 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. With the Great Western Mainline electrification scheme over a year behind schedule, there is an unexpected reprieve for photographers in the Vale of White Horse.

In the very last of the morning's sunshine, with literally seconds to go before the dark clouds visible in the background blotted out the sun, 66543, 66598 & 66508 pass Kennington on 9 September 2017 with the 0O26 10:50 Hinksey to Eastleigh light engine move. This would normally be the 6O26 departmental working, but on this occasion there was no traffic on offer.

Freight traffic on the southern end of the Cotswold Line is virtually non-existent, and although this is an infrastructure train, rather than a revenue earning working, it is still out of the ordinary. 66543 passes Stonesfield on 30 April 2018 with the 6X04 14:00 Fairwater Yard to Honeybourne North Junction, conveying materials for the much needed relaying of the Long Marston branch. Fourteen IFA wagons loaded with sleepers are followed by a selection of track machines. 66526 is bringing up the rear. Note the various coloured stanchions on the sleeper wagons. I deliberately chose this location, as recent tree clearance has opened up a lengthy vista, sufficient for an unobstructed view of this long train. Hiding in the trees in the background is the lofty bridge carrying the Stonesfield to North Leigh road.

66543 approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 2 May 2018 with the 6X04 14:00 Fairwater Yard to Honeybourne North Junction, conveying seventeen IFA wagons loaded with sleepers and several track machines, with 66536 bringing up the rear. This was the second of two trains running during this week in connection with track relaying on the Long Marston branch. As this was just 45 minutes before sunset, there were very few locations on the Cotswold Line that would be free of shadows, and indeed I had to change to a longer lens as shadows from trees one field away from the line were already beginning to intrude. This is also an ideal location to photograph a lengthy train such as this, and therefore I was surprised that no other photographers turned up.

66543 passes Uffington on 22 April 2021 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This is definitely my most photographed freight train, as it passes through my local area at just the right time for the best light. This is the third occasion that I have photographed it in one week!

66543 approaches Culham on 12 July 2021 with the 6C48 11:54 Banbury Reservoir to Bristol Freightliner Terminal stone empties. I had assumed that this would have passed as I was still walking along the muddy track towards the bridge. However, it was running 8 minutes late, and so despite the very head on lighting, I took the picture.

66544 crosses the River Esk at Metal Bridge with the 6Z39 11:16 New Cumnock to Drax Freightliner coal hoppers on 17 May 2002. As both the A74 road and the railway cross the river here, it doesn't take much imagination to work out what the local pub (and therefore the locality) is named after! Although sunny, it was an extremley blustery day, and with virtually nothing to lessen the full force of the wind coming in off the Irish Sea, an exposed footbridge was not the best place to spend any length of time!

66544 passes Cossington on 22 March 2012 with the 4G61 08:30 Ratcliife Power Station to Daw Mill Colliery coal empties. Just about acceptable lighting on this, with the sun getting very head on, although still worth waiting for after my main reason for visiting the location, 950001 on 2Z08.

66544 passes Sherburn-in-Elmet on 22 July 2014 with the 6E94 23:53 Hunterston High Level to Drax Power Station coal hoppers. On the right is the base of the former goods yard crane, whilst on the left the colourful lineside vegetation includes Buddleia (Buddleja davidii) and Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis).

66544 pulls way from Wantage Road (just visible in the background) on 6 December 2014 with the 6X59 12:30 Westbury to Reading West Junction engineers train. Note the point carriers near the rear of the train. Photo taken from a little used (except by railway photographers!) public footpath crossing.

A very unusual working on the southern section of the Cotswold Line on 17 June 2015. In a surprising, and very brief patch of sunshine, 66544 passes through Kingham station with the late running 6L31 Long Marston to Ipswich, conveying 18 green liveried four wheel TTA fuel oil tanks. The loco had travelled up from Southampton light engine, but initially there was some confusion as to what the return load would be, as Realtime Trains insisted the return working was starting from Honeybourne Sidings, which did seem rather unlikely. Due to the late departure from Long Marston, there were further doubts whether it would run via the Cotswold Line as booked, or if it might run into pathing problems south of Charlbury and go via the Cheltenham and Swindon line instead. Luckily for me it stuck to the original plan, although it was by now over an hour late. Note the GWR style running in board on the right.

66544 passes Baulking on 20 March 2022 with the 08:20 Lydney to Hinksey spoil, returning from an overnight engineering possession. Less than ten minutes earlier, 70801 had passed by with a very similar train.

66544 passes Steventon on 9 December 2022 with the 6Z86 11:10 West Drayton Frays Sidings to Machen Quarry stone empties. This location is a long walk from the nearest road, which probably explains why not many pictures are taken here.

66544 passes Little Bedwyn on 7 September 2023 with the 6V64 14:48 Wembley Reception Sidings to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The little splash of red almost hidden by the bushes in the background is 59201, which is hitching a ride in the centre of the train.

66544 approaches Little Bedwyn on 8 September 2023 with the 6V64 14:48 Wembley Reception Sidings to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The same loco, on the same train, that I photographed only a short distance from this spot, the day before.

66545 passes Maud's Bridge with a rake of empty HHA wagons bound for Immingham on 14 March 2007. The location is between Thorne and Crowle, where the line parallels the Stainforth & Keadby Canal for a number of miles.

66545 passes Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties on 7 November 2008. I went to this location to get a picture of the 3S33 Didcot to Kings Norton Rail Head Treatment train, only to see it pass through as I was getting out of the car! As the sun was shining, and as there was a fair amount of autumn colour showing in the background, I decided to wait for this train, rather than going straight back home! Although I have now got numerous pictures of this service since it acquired Class 66 haulage, I always think the virtually perfectly matched colour of the containers works well with the green Freightliner locomotive.

Running 47 minutes early, and having just slowed down the progress of the final 1A10 08:15 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington GWR HST, by being signalled out of the relief line in front of it, 66545 passes Steventon on 12 May 2019 with the 6Y46 10:19 (09:21 in reality) Hinksey to Abbotswood Junction ballast train.

66545 passes Culham on 12 July 2021 with the 4E18 09:42 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard concrete sleepers. The former hangars of RNAS Culham (now in industrial use) can be seen in the background. Culham station is just out of sight behind the bushes.

66546 heads south past Bolton Percy in the rain on 14 February 2004 with a coal train bound for one of the Aire Valley power stations. The widening gap between the tracks marks the site of the former Bolton Percy station's island platform.

66546 approaches Goole on 7 May 2007 with the 6Y52 12:24 Hull Docks to Barrow Hill coal hoppers. The Hull to Goole line was surprisingly busy with freight traffic on a Saturday at this time, with two trains earlier in the day going to Ferrybridge Power Station (6Y49) and Drax Power Station (6Y51).

66546 passes Bourton on 3 November 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. A stepladder on top of a roadside grit bin was the low tech solution to looking over the hedge here, in order to get a wider view!

After a twenty minute wait at a red signal in the distance, 66546 gets under way again at Grove on 25 February 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The train should have been recessed at Swindon Stratton Green, rather than Challow.

66546 takes the relief line at Wolvercote on 6 March 2020 with the 4O90 06:08 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. I hadn't noticed at the time that an errant cloud was doing its best to mess things up in the background.

66546 sweeps round the curve near Tackley on 5 May 2021 with the 4O15 06:44 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The Cherwell Valley landscape is now showing the bright greens of late spring, which is in marked contrast to when I was here almost exactly a month earlier.

Viewed through a 200mm lens, which emphasises the change in gradient just to the rear of the train, 66547 approaches Linwith Lane at Carlton with another load of coal for Drax Power Station on 15 March 2007. This double track line serves only Drax, and sees an intensive freight service supplying the UK's largest coal fired power station.

66547 speeds past Tackley on 6 June 2016 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working, on this occasion made up of four different types of wagons. The footpath on the right leads to a network of other local paths, that either double back to the south end of the village, or connect up with the Oxfordshire Way and the Oxfordshire Canal Walk.

66547 passes Hinksey Yard on 7 February 2018 with the 4O49 09:22 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This was running 23 minutes late, which was not too bad considering that earlier in its journey it was running an hour behind time.

66548 passes a frosty Uffington on 7 December 2010 with the 4V60 10:57 Calvert to Bristol Barrow Road Avon Binliner. 66548 is less than nine years old and already has huge rust patches all over the front end. This just highlights the very poor standard of finish of these GM products. Oxfordshire had largely escaped the snow of the previous few weeks, but overnight fog (only partly cleared) had left icy deposits all over the lineside vegetation.

66548 passes Souldern Wharf on 21 April 2015 with the 6V16 11:24 Stud Farm to Hinksey ballast. This view clearly shows the difference in levels between the Oxford line, and the Chiltern line, approximately a mile south of where the lines diverge, at Aynho Junction. Souldern No.2 Viaduct, just visible in the background above the blackthorn blossom, is on the Chiltern route.

66548 passes Yarnton on 20 December 2016 with the 4O49 09:22 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Definitely not ideal lighting, with the sun very head on, but worth recording for the sculptural effect of the tree's bare branches, if nothing else!

A rapidly vanishing sight on UK railways: a coal train, or in this case the returning empties. 66548 passes Melton Ross on 6 November 2017 with the 4L28 09:51 Hunslet to Immingham empty hoppers. With coal fired power stations being closed, or converted to biomass, these trains could well become completely extinct.

66548 pass Uffington on 20 April 2021 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This now seems to be my default photographic location on the Swindon to Didcot line, as there is a gap in the masts on the south side of the line, there is no palisade fencing, and it is the nearest location to home!

An intermodal meeting at Didcot North Junction on 12 August 2022, but with a considerable difference in speed. As 66548 heads south at line speed with the late running 4O90 06:04 Leeds to Southampton Maritime, the 4M71 08:21 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice heads north at little more than walking speed, as 66028 accelerates the train out of the nearby loop.

66548 passes Compton Beauchamp on 9 June 2023 with the 6C49 17:10 Appleford to Whatley Quarry stone empties. This had left 45 minutes early, and was still running 20 minutes early when it passed me. This is one of the few decent locations for westbound trains in the evening between Didcot and Swindon.

66548 passes underneath the footbridge at Didcot North Junction on 30 August 2023 with the 6Z19 06:57 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone. This had travelled via the Berks & Hants line, and was running 21 minutes late.

On the final day of a two week closure of the Severn Tunnel for engineering works, 66548 passes the site of Oaksey Halt (closed in 1964) on 18 July 2024 with the diverted 4L36 07:51 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner.

66549 approaches the site of Waddesdon Manor station on the Aylesbury to Calvert line with the 6M80 13:12 Dagenham to Calvert binliner on 1 August 2007, bringing yet more of the South East's rubbish to dump in a big hole in the ground! This section of line is freight only, its only traffic being these waste trains. Calvert receives three trains daily via this route, the other two coming from Cricklewood and Northolt. 

It was not a good start for Freightliner when they took over the Moreton-on-Lugg stone trains from DB Cargo on 1 April 2019. Whilst 66549 was working the 6O85 03:26 East Usk Yard to Hothfield Siding loaded stone hoppers, it set off lineside safety equipment near Wootton Bassett, and had to have a couple of wagons removed. This was obviously a bonus for me, as the booked time passing Challow was well before sunrise, but here it is running 210 minutes late, and therefore in perfect light.

Yet another picture of the 4L36 08:10 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner passing Uffington! Running 14 minutes late, 66549 makes a fine picture in the autumn light, as it passes the colourful oak trees, although a few more boxes near the front of the train would have been nice!

66549 & 59202 Pride of Ferrybridge pass Froxfield on 30 April 2024 with the 7A40 08:40 Merehead Quarry to Hanwell Bridge Loop stone train. The train would spilt at Hanwell into the 7L42 12:43 to Harlow Mill, and the 6O44 12:58 to Purley.

66550 passes Baulking on 12 October 2006 with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Binliner empties. The signs on the wagons read: 'Waste Recycling Group. Working with Freightliner Heavy Haul. Bath & North East Somerset'.

Running 16 minutes early, 66550 passes Barby Nortoft on 2 June 2020 with the 4M58 09:25 Southampton Maritime to Garston freightliner. The Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal dominates the background of this view.

Just two wagons loaded with concrete sleepers is not much of a load for 66550, pictured here passing South Marston on 7 December 2022 with the 4E18 09:47 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard, which although often a short train, is usually a bit longer than this! This had left 37 minutes early, and had managed to add another 100 minutes to the early running by this point.

66551 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 9 October 2003 with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. The bridge in the background would offer a similar photographic vantage point, were it not for that huge signal gantry in close proximity!

66551 passes Shrivenham on 27 October 2003 with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties. This containerised rubbish train ran for 26 years from 1985 to 2011, and in the earlier years often featured a varied range of motive power.

66551 passes Shorthampton in the pouring rain on 10 February 2013 with the 6Y12 10:00 Abbotswood to Hinksey ballast, returning from an earlier engineering possession. Whilst a Freightliner Class 66 is certainly unusual on the Cotswold Line, the real of highlight of the day was to have been 60010 coming from the opposite direction within ten minutes of this train, with the 6W97 08:45 Toton to Bescot long welded rails. Unfortunately this only got as far as Hinksey Yard!

66551 passes Park Drain (between Doncaster and Gainsborough) on 13 March 2013 with diverted coal empties for Immingham. The severe landslip that occurred at Hatfield Colliery a month earlier caused numerous freight trains to be diverted via Gainsborough.

66551 passes Grove on 30 November 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. I never used this location before the wires went up, as the high voltage cables that now end at the poles on the extreme left, crossed the line here. Ironically therefore the 25Kv electfrication has marginally improved this view!

The new order on the 7A09 07:12 Merehead Quarry to Acton Mendip Rail 'jumbo' stone train. 2022 now sees a Class 66 piloting the normal Class on this working. 66551 & 59203 pass Hungerford Common in superb light on 25 November 2022.

66551 passes Uffington on 9 October 2023 with the 4L36 08:10 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. I was lucky with this picture, as not only had the sun just come out, but just 30 seconds later the view would have been blocked by the early running 5V65 08:06 Wembley to Bristol Barton Hill Chiltern Railways ECS.

66551 approaches Hungerford Common on 20 November 2024 with the 6V40 09:12 Purfleet to Merehead Quarry stone empties. The short train just fits perfectly in the available gap. By early afternoon it was much more cloudy than forecast, but as long as the sun stayed out (as here) the clouds certainly improve the picture.

66552 Maltby Raider passes Standish Junction with the 4V46 11:15 Rugeley to Stoke Gifford coal empties on the fine autumnal afternoon of 6 October 2012. The line at the higher level is the 'Golden Valley' route to Swindon and London.

66552 Maltby Raider passes Uffington on 5 May 2017 with the 4E18 09:47 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard reclaimed concrete sleepers. Photo taken from a new footbridge, which replaces a former footpath crossing, which was situated in the immediate foreground. The remains of this had been removed since I was here a few weeks earlier.

66552 Maltby Raider approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 12 April 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The local wildlife seems to have already got used to the line's electfrication, as a pair of Blue Tits were making their nest in a hole in one of the catenary supports!

66553 passes Brocklesby on 10 May 2003 with the 4G37 07:20 Ferrybridge Power Station to Immingham coal empties.  The grassy area on the left is now a properly surfaced Network Rail car park, complete with Armco barriers.

66553 arrives at Hinksey Yard on 24 October 2018 with the 6V27 13:31 loaded ballast hoppers from Eastleigh. The reflection in the windscreen is from the footbridge handrails (and somebody's bike!). 20 minutes later I would take an almost identical picture of this train, but with one addition!

Having arrived at Hinksey Yard 20 minutes earlier on 24 October 2018 with the 6V27 13:31 departmental working from Eastleigh, 66553 has now added rival company's DB Cargo 66121 to the consist for a spot of shunting.

66553 passes South Marston on 6 May 2020 with the 4L32 10:00 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. A lot of freight trains have been cancelled during the coronavirus crisis, but most freightliners still run, often, as in the case, running early.

66553 approaches Banbury on 2 June 2020 with the 4O17 15:49 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. You can see why this is such a popular spot with railway photographers. In addition to easy parking right on the bridge, very little shades the track, even in the late evening.

66553 passes Cathiron on 2 September 2022 with the totally empty 4L90 13:41 Crewe Basford Hall to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was running 32 minute early. Just visible on the bridge in the background, a horse rider from the nearby stables has stopped to watch the train go by.

66554 passes Maud's Bridge on 13 March 2008 with what is presumably the  4R14 08:00 Ferrybridge Power Station to Immingham coal empties. The slight curve here is where the line starts to run parallel with the Stainforth & Keadby Canal.

Over the years I have got pictures of various classes of locomotives bringing coal down to Didcot Power Station from the north. However, Freightliner Class 66s are a bit of a novelty, so I was keen to get a picture of the recently introduced 6Z98 12:57 Daw Mill Colliery to Didcot Power Station working whilst I was at Upper Heyford on 23 March 2011. So here it is, headed by 66554 and heading down the Cherwell Valley in the warm spring sunshine.

66554 passes South Moreton on 28 April 2015 with the 6O26 10:19 Hinksey to Eastleigh, on this occasion conveying new track panels and wagons of spent ballast. Directly behind the train is the new electrification works depot, on the site of the old Moreton Sidings.

66554 slowly draws to a halt in the down loop at Hatton on 11 May 2015 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working. The 1H88 19:14 Birmingham Snow Hill to Marylebone Chiltern Railways Class 168 unit can be seen in the background.

The evening shadows are lengthening as 66554 passes Kings Sutton on 4 May 2016 with the 6M28 18:25 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working. The driver is acknowledging the photographers on the bridge, it being one of those locations where there is guaranteed to be photographers present if the sun is shining.

66554 has unfortunately received the attention of some graffiti vandals. It is seen here passing through Oxford station in perfect snowy conditions on 12 December 2017 with the 4O15 07:21 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

66554 approaches Didcot North Junction on 29 July 2021 with the 6Y47 05:15 Mountain Ash to Hinksey spoil empties. 66537 is bringing up the rear. This was running 47 minutes early, which was excellent, as at the booked time the sun would only just have been glancing across the front. After depositing the wagons at Hinksey, both locos went light engine to Stoke Gifford.

66554 passes South Marston on 16 September 2022 with the 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. The double yellow signal on the left indicates that the 1B09 09:48 Paddington to Swansea GWR IET was not too far away from getting in the way!

66554 passes Baulking on 23 March 2023 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. I wouldn't normally bother to take a picture of such a lightly and randomly loaded train, but the superb lighting makes it worthwhile.

Blackthorn only flowers for a couple of weeks in mid April, so I like to make use of this in my pictures, hence this different viewpoint at Baulking on 20 April 2023. 66554 heads east along the Great Western Mainline with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner.

The rabbits in the field in the foreground take no notice of 66555 as it approaches Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham with the 6Z60 10:51 Neasden to Newton Abbot Hackney Yard sand empties on 1 November 2007. This loco appears to be something of a regular on this train, which runs as required and is the return working of the train that originates at Burngullow. Unfortunately there was no sun when it passed me, even though it was a generally bright day.

Just managing to stay ahead of the advancing cloud, 66555 passes Clay Mills on 25 June 2014 with the 4E72 12:33 Rugeley Power Station to Barnetby coal empties. Prominent in the background is the Victorian Clay Mills Pumping Station.

66555 passes Yarnton on 20 July 2020 with the 4O95 12:18 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Recent tree clearance around this footbridge unfortunately hasn't extended to the very tall trees on the left, which still cast their shadows across the line.

66555 passes Mount Pleasant (Southampton) on 11 August 2022 with the 4O35 09:31 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Hidden from view behind the industrial estate buildings is the tidal River Itchen.

66555 passes Cathiron on 2 September 2022 with the 6Z92 14:41 Northampton Castle Yard to Tunstead stone empties. Roughly half way along the train the line crosses the Oxford Canal. The West Coast Mainline only crosses the canal twice, whereas further south the Birmingham to Oxford line crosses it numerous times.

66555 approaches Didcot North Junction on 10 October 2022 with the 4O18 07:24 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The masts of the abandoned Didcot to Oxford electfrication scheme can be seen in the background.

The shadows are lengthening as 66556 passes the site of Bletchingdon station on 23 November 2012 with the 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton freightliner. The overnight rain has caused the River Cherwell to burst its banks and flood the field in the background.

A slightly different viewpoint at Denchworth on 8 September 2014. Rather than using a long lens to shoot through the signal gantry, I used a wideangle lens to include the whole structure in the picture. 66556 runs along the up relief line with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner.

Early morning freightliner at Culham on 18 July 2015. 66556 heads north with the 4M62 04:31 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner, running half an hour early. The golden early morning light highlights both the field of weeds in the foreground and the redundant Didcot Power Station in the background, now with only one set of its original six cooling towers still remaining.

The first signs of autumn at Bourton on 23 September 2015, as 66556 runs through the cutting with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. I didn't think I would get another autumn's photography at this location, but Network Rail's mismanaged electrification scheme is so massively behind schedule, that I have been given a reprieve!

66556 passes Compton Beauchamp on 25 September 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. As is often the case, this was holding up the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington HST, which was following directly behind it, at reduced speed.

66556 passes Kings Sutton on 11 June 2018 with the 6M28 18:16 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working. A reasonable load, especially for this train, which is quite often just single wagon! It hardly ever warrants the use of 3,300 hp loco.

66556 passes Wolvercote on 2 August 2018 with the 4M99 17:00 Southampton Maritime to Trafford Park freightliner. The track on the right is the recently reinstated former down relief line, although nowadays it principally serves as the main line, with freights such as this one often being held at the signal gantry seen in the background.

66556 passes the back of Honeybourne station on 6 April 2021 with the 4V66 06:50 York Yard South to Long Marston, conveying 10 redundant Freightliner Heavy Haul HAA hoppers for storage. The track to the left of the locomotive will forever remain rusty, as it is merely a short disused section that has been left in place, and has been disconnected at either end.

66556 passes Uffington on 22 April 2021 with the 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. This had actually left 38 minutes late at 09:10, but was only 10 minutes late here. It actually arrived at its destination 18 minutes early!

The 4O90 06:04 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner is always a good bet for haulage by more than just a single loco. Such was the case on 9 January 2023, when 66556, 66596 & 66533 worked the train. The triple header is pictured passing Hinksey Yard, with 70803 on the 6M50 08:01 Westbury to Bescot engineers train in the foreground. The tall fence was erected as a noise barrier, when the sidings on the left formerly served a large ballast stockpile.

Dark clouds hang over the fells, as 66557 finds a brief patch of weak sun, as it approaches Rise Hill Tunnel on 6 September 2004 with the 4Z44 06:50 Drax Power Station to Killoch coal empties. Just out of sight around the corner is Dent station, the highest station on the national network.

66557 passes through East Midlands Parkway station on the up relief line with the 6V94 07:35 Earles Sidings to Theale cement tanks on 11 March 2010. This was supposed to be a completely sunny day. However, in reality after a promising bright start, this was one of the few sunny periods that actually corresponded with a train passing!

66557 approaches Tackley in fading light on 20 July 2016 with the 4M97 17:32 Southampton Maritime to Hams Hall freightliner. Apart from the well known Kings Sutton location, this is one of the few decent locations for northbound evening photography between Oxford and Banbury.

66557 approaches Cholsey on 20 January 2017 with the 4L32 10:58 Bristol to London Gateway freightliner. The bridge parapet to the right of the loco is where Hithercroft Road passes underneath the line, with the track on the right being the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway's approach to Cholsey station.

66557 brings up the rear of the 0Y97 10:50 Hinksey to Stoke Gifford light engine convoy at Uffington on 22 January 2017. 66506 Crewe Regeneration is the middle locomotive, with 66507 leading the ensemble. Note the position of a forthcoming electfrication mast in the foreground.

Self portrait at Cholsey! 66557 approaches the station on 16 February 2018 with the 4O49 09:22 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Not only am I visible in the large mirror placed at the end of the platform for the benefit of passenger train drivers, but so is 387158, which is just about to set off with the 2N34 11:57 Paddington to Didcot Parkway GWR service. This was one of those nervous occasions when a train coming from behind could easily have completely ruined the picture. At least in this case I could keep an eye on it without taking my eye off the viewfinder!

66558 passes the site of Uffington loops with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Millbrook freightliner on 27 August 2008. Somehow I doubt that the freightliner driver really needs the L plate! I rather like this location, as the loco is framed nicely by the signal gantry, which as can be seen from its width, once spanned four tracks. Note also the redundant up loop signal on the right.

66558 passes Tollerton on 12 March 2009 with the 6B53 09:43 Redcar to West Burton Power Station coal train. This location is adjacent to a footpath crossing to the north of the village, and despite the fact that is a fair walk from the nearest road, I was surprised that nobody else turned up, considering Tornado was due on a railtour from the other direction.

With frost still on the tracks in the foreground, 66558 swings round the curve at Hatton on 1 February 2012 with the 4O54 06:15 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Note the large area of missing paint on the front end, showing that even locos as new as this can start going rusty!

66558 runs along the up relief line at Denchworth on 8 January 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western HST is rapidly catching it up, and will soon be overtaking. That's what that shadow underneath the bridge in the background is. I'm not sure why somebody has used the wrong sized numerals for the loco's front end number, obviously only realising too late that the larger figures wouldn't fit in the available space!

There is evidence of some crude patch painting on the front end of 66558, as it leads 66516 past Steeple Aston on 17 March 2014 with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. At least some attempt has been made to stop the rust spreading any further!

66558 passes Heyford on 27 February 2022 with the 08:45 Banbury Reservoir Junction to Hinksey spoil train. For no obvious reason, this was booked to stop at Heyford station for 18 minutes. As I suspected, this didn't happen, and therefore it was running 37 minutes early when it passed me.

66559 passes Baulking with the 6B11 12:30 Thorney Mill to Pengam empty stone hoppers on 24 March 2009. To anyone visiting this rural spot today with its handful of farms and cottages, it is hard to imagine that several hundred years ago it was a much more important settlement with a thriving market. Perhaps the last straw was when the Great Western Railway removed part of the village's large green to make way for their pioneering line to Bristol in the 1840s!

66559 approaches Wychnor Junction on 3 June 2015 with the 6M46 12:54 Aldwarke to Crewe Basford Hall scarp empties. I wasn't initially going to take this, as it was approaching during a cloudy spell. However, at the last minute the front end was illuminated by a little brightness.

66559, 66596 & 66561 pass Hinksey Yard on 7 February 2018 with the infrequent 4E18 09:47 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard concrete sleepers. Definitely not he best location for a picture of a triple headed train, but worth recording for the novelty value!

The classic location of Kings Sutton, which always attracts railway photographers on a sunny summer evening. 66559 heads north on 11 June 2018 with the 4M67 14:17 Southampton Maritime to Hams Hall freightliner.

66559 passes Yarnton on 20 July 2020 with the 4M99 17:00 Southampton Maritime to Crewe Basford Hall freightliner. Recent lineside bush and tree clearance has opened up this location nicely, and the view is now clearer than at any time that I can remember.

66559 passes a fine display of Rosebay Willowherb, as it approaches Crick Tunnel on 31 July 2020 with the 4L57 12:57 Birch Coppice to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was running 23 minutes early. The headshunt for the Daventry International Freight Terminal is just behind the trees.

It looks like the driver of 66559 has got full power applied, as it passes Grove on 26 April 2022 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Like most trains that use the up relief line between Challow and Wantage Road, it had just been held at a signal near the bridge in the distance.

Certainly not the picture I was hoping for, although I suppose it is definitely different. When 56106 had problems near Barrow Hill on 27 December 2003, whilst working the Pathfinder Tours 1Z73 07:20 Crewe to Carlisle 'Settle & Carlisle Circular 1' railtour, 66560 was sent to assist, taking the train on to Calder Bridge Junction, Wakefield. Here 56078 took over, working the train for the rest of the day. So here is the Fred / Grid combination pictured passing Kilnhurst in awful light, running an hour late.

66560 approaches Oddington on the Calvert to Oxford line with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 1 August 2007. Although this section of track has recently been upgraded, just the other side of the crossing the track reverts to 95lb per yard bullhead track. Apart from the infrequent Oxford to Bicester passenger service, the binliner is the only train to use this route.

With virtually all the track now in shadow, 66560 is illuminated by the very last of the weak winter sun as it passes Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) with the 4O27 07:12 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 30 December 2008. As I took my first railway picture of 2008 from this location, I thought it was only appropriate that I should also take the final one of the year from the same spot!

66560 passes Shrivenham in very poor light on 4 February 2009 with the early running 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliners empties. I was tempted not to bother taking this picture, but due this train's 'as required' unpredictability I decided to take it, and opted for a slightly different viewpoint to include as much of the remaining snow as possible. By now all hope of the promised sunny intervals had disappeared as high cloud had drifted in from the south west.

With the background still shrouded in dense fog, 66560 passes Bourton in the early morning sunshine on 1 July 2014 with the 6O56 03:30 Pengam Reception Sidings to Angerstein Wharf stone hoppers. I was lucky with my choice of location here, as in addition to the line towards Swindon obviously been completely foggy, the line behind me also disappeared into the gloom!

66560 emerges from Chipping Sodbury Tunnel on 10 July 2014 with the 6V33 11:56 Neasden Charrington to Stoke Gifford stone empties. The first of the tunnel's six ornamental brick airshafts can be seen on the tree covered spoil mound in the background.

66560 approaches Steventon on 15 May 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Behind the trees in the background is the former rail connected Steventon Army Depot. It is now a totally non rail connected private storage facility.

66560 passes Uffington on 10 July 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Possibly my most photographed train, at my most photographed location! It seems that the pocket wagons weren't needed on this train, as they are just carrying standard height boxes.

I wasn't initially going to take this picture, due to its strong backlighting, however it's not every day that you see a triple headed freightliner. 66560, 66588 & 66951 pass Challow on 1 December 2020 with the 4L32 09:47 Wentloog to Felixstowe North.

In 2003 Freightliner Heavy Haul introduced a batch of MJA bogie ballast wagons for the movement of spoil and aggregates. The wagons, which are coupled in pairs with a bar coupling, were built by Wagony Swidnica in Poland. 66561 ambles along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 9 October 2003 with a load of spoil from Baglan Bay, heading for the tip at Appleford.

66561 passes Compton Beauchamp on 30 June 2011 with the 6Z39 13:24 Avonmouth to Didcot stone train. Coincidentally, consecutively numbered 66562 had passed this way a couple of hours previously with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The Swindon to Didcot line can be a hive of Freightliner activity during the middle part of the day!

66561 passes Kennington on 3 April 2017 with the 4O14 07:43 Hams Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Just three minutes later, 70008 followed it with the early running 4O18 07:24 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime.

66561 passes Uffington on 8 June 2020 with the 4L32 09:47 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. There is some slightly uneven loading of boxes on this train, but at least there isn't a huge raft of empty flats at the front.

66561 runs along the up relief line at Grove on 20 September 2021 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The sun may have been shining, but with the 6M50 07:59 Westbury to Bescot engineer's train having already gone, running over an hour early as the 0M50 Westbury to Hinksey light engine, and the 6A15 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train cancelled, there wasn't a lot to photograph!

66562 emerges from the bushes at Kibworth Harcourt on 25 June 2008 with the 6F12 08:49 Forders Sidings to Stud Farm ballast empties. It would maybe have been alright at this time of year, but this is definitely not the location to go to if the sun is out in the winter, or at least not until Network Rail deal with the encroaching vegetation!

66562 approaches the site of Launton station (closed 30 December 1967) with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties on 15 August 2008. The use of a long lens to avoid the various items of lineside clutter around the level crossing has accentuated the unevenness of the track. This and the corresponding early morning loaded train are the only trains to use this section of line, although there is a very slim possibility that passenger services may one day return in the form of an Oxford to Cambridge service. The local press frequently has articles speculating on the line's reopening, however the proposers of these grand ideas really have very little grasp about the practicalities of such an ambitious project.

66562 just manages to catch some weak sunshine as it passes Compton Beauchamp on 30 June 2011 with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. This was one of those days when the sun generally seemed to coincide with the gaps between the trains and the drive home!

66562 passes South Moreton on 8 September 2012 with the 4O29 08:14 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner. Just visible in the background, under the bridge is the tail end of the 6B33 12:12 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties, hauled by 60079.

66562 passes through the flat meadows bordering the River Witham, as it approaches Balderton Crossing, Claypole, on 22 July 2019 with the 4E24 11:00 London Gateway to Leeds freightliner, running just a few minutes late.

A double bonus in more ways than one at Wolvercote on 6 March 2020. Not only was the 4O49 09:21 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner double headed by 66562 & 66542, but also it passed by in a lucky sunny spell amidst a lot of clouds. In fact the sun was on the edge of a very large cloud as it approached.

66563 passes Hatfield Colliery and approaches Hatfield & Stainforth station on 15 March 2007 with another load of imported coal from Immingham to the Aire Valley Power Stations. Ironically passing a coal mine, this imported coal is being hauled by an imported locomotive. A sign of progress?

66563 passes Denchworth on 16 August 2010 with the 4L32 10:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Tilbury freightliner, one of a pair of new services taking imported wine to Bristol (these of course being the returning empty boxes). Are they all alcoholics in Bristol? Careful inspection of this picture shows a wood pigeon having a very lucky escape (look just below the rear cab door). It just managed to pass in front of the loco by a few feet.

It requires a long walk to get to this location! 66563 runs down the Cherwell Valley near Tackley on 19 November 2010 with the 4O27 05:26 Garston to Southampton freightliner. Although the lineside bushes are a little intrusive, the broad sweep of the curve, and the rustic gate in the foreground make a good picture.

66563 passes between the fields of oilseed rape near Uffington on 12 May 2012, as it leads west with the 4V51 Southampton to Wentloog freightliner. Viewed from over two miles away, on the top of White Horse Hill, this panorama stretches from Oxleaze Farm in the foreground, to the National Trust's impressive fourteenth century Great Coxwell Tithe Barn which just be seen in the background, on the extreme left of the picture.

66563 passes through Radley station on 17 December 2012 with the Mondays only 4O49 10:30 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. On every other weekday the 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton runs in this path.

66563 & 66416 approach Culham on 14 March 2013 with the 4O49 09:23 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner. A different location, with a more side on aspect, would have been better for this, to show off the fact that one loco is green, the other blue.

With a HST already appearing underneath Circourt Bridge in the distance, ready to overtake it, 66563 runs along the up relief line at Denchworth on 8 July 2013 with the 4L32 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Coincidentally, I saw this particular loco on a very similar train, at this location in 2010. On that occasion it was routed along the main line.

66563 passes Whitley Bridge Junction on 13 March 2014 with the 14:12 Drax Power Station to Hatfield Main Colliery coal empties, while in the background 66729 Derby County waits for its booked time with the 4D21 14:35 Eggborough Power Station to Doncaster Decoy GBRf coal empties.

66563 passes South Marston in the pouring rain on 26 April 2017 with the 4L30 16:25 Bristol to London Gateway freightliner. Unfortunately I never did manage to get a photograph of a train coming off the now disused South Marston Euro Terminal branch.

66563 passes Little Heck on 14 September 2020 with the 4L78 14:51 Tees Dock to Felixstowe North freightliner. This had been running 23 minutes early, but after being held at York, was only seven minutes early here.

66563 runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 24 March 2022 with the well loaded 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Photo taken from the approach to a very little used footbridge.

66564 runs light engine past Treeton Junction on 5 June 2004. The bushes now hide most of the surviving railway infrastructure here, although the remains of the former Orgreave Colliery spoil heap still dominates the background.

On 16 August 2010 I made a brief visit to one of my favourite spots for lineside photography in the Didcot area during the 1980s and 1990s - the farm occupation bridge between the two road bridges at South Moreton. 66564 is pictured passing by with the 4M68 14:55 Southampton to Birch Coppice freightliner. This bridge always used to be very photographer friendly with a very low parapet that doubled as a seat! Network Rail replaced this and the bridge near the village (just visible in the background) over Christmas and New Year 2009/10 for gauge enhancement purposes. I had been told that tat the replacement was definitely photographer unfriendly, and so it proves to be with a ladder required even to see over it. I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, but why do these new bridges have to be so ugly? They stand out like a huge silver blots on the landscape.

66564 approaches Culham on 1 May 2013 with the 4M68 14:50 Southampton to Birch Coppice freightliner. Note the Second World War pillbox visible directly above the rear of the locomotive. This is one of many on the north bank of the River Thames.

Just managing to beat the advancing clouds, 66564 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 23 October 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was a good morning for timekeeping on this route, not only was this bang on time, but so was 66846 on 6M50, which passed in even better light.

66564 approaches Tackley on 9 June 2017 with the 4M99 17:00 Southampton Maritime to Trafford Park freightliner. This is not the Freightliner hauled train I had intended to photograph here. My target was the 6M28 18:25 Hinksey to Bescot engineer's working, but that left 70 minutes late, well after the sun had disappeared, and I had gone home!

66564 & 66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto pass through Appleford station on 12 August 2019 with the 4M55 08:07 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. The last remnant of Didcot Power Station's original coal fired plant - the 655 feet tall chimney, can be seen on the right.

66564 approaches Wormleighton Crossing (near Fenny Compton) on 30 March 2021 with the 4O27 10:35 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. There were actually some boxes on this train, but unfortunately at the rear, out of sight around the corner!

66564 passes Uffington on 6 October 2022 with the lightly loaded 4L32 10:00 Wentloog to London Gateway freightliner. This train often now seems to run with only a few boxes, and usually with none directly behind the loco!

I try not to replicate pictures I have already taken, but on 17 November 2009 I came pretty close with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties. 66565 is pictured approaching the site of Wantage Road station amid some fine late autumn colours. Apart from the different cloud patterns, and the fact that the containers are missing from the first wagon, this picture is not much different to 66518 pictured at the same spot and on the same train two years previously.

Just a handful of oak leaves have managed to survive the winter on the trackside tree at Upper Heyford, as 66565 passes by with the slightly late running 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton freightliner on 23 March 2011. This photo is taken from a farm occupation crossing and yet surprisingly (considering how local it is to me) this is the first time I have taken a picture here.

66565 passes Hinksey Yard on 15 February 2013 with the 4O49 09:23 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner. A mundane subject, but I'm not sure how many more pictures I will get at this well used location before it is ruined forever by the forthcoming overhead wires.

66565 passes Baulking on 12 January 2022 with the 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. As this picture is taken from the opposite side the road, it could possibly have been ruined by a passing lorry (most likely a horsebox in this area), but thankfully the Baulking to Kingston Lisle does not see a lot of traffic.

66565 passes Purton Common on 15 June 2023 with the diverted 4V47 02:41 Tilbury to Wentloog freightliner. This was diverted via the 'Golden Valley' line due to its normal route via the Severn Tunnel being closed for engineering works.

With the snow from the previous week still covering the ground, and the prospect of a sunny day, I ventured out on Saturday 9 January 2010 to Hinksey (near Oxford). Wisely leaving the car at the top of South Hinksey village, rather than being unable to climb the slight hill back out of the village if I used my usual parking spot, I was still quite surprised to be the only railway photographer that had ventured to this location. I arrived on the footbridge just as 66566 appeared with the 4O29 08:14 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner.

66566 speeds past Hinksey on 28 October 2011 with the 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton freightliner. Apart from the benefit of some autumn colours, this location at the north end of Hinksey Yard has deteriorated considerably in recent years. It used to be completely open, allowing pictures to be taken from a much wider angle without encroaching shadows even in winter. The trees are also hiding a view of Oxford, albeit the rather less salubrious area away from the famous colleges.

66566 passes Yarnton on 20 January 2014 with the 4054 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. The bridge in the background carries the A44 Oxford to Woodstock road over the line. This sees a lot of traffic, whilst the footbridge I am standing on sees virtually no traffic whatsoever!

It almost looks like rain in the background, as 66566 passes Yarnton on 23 May 2015 with the 4O29 08:59 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner. There is certainly plenty of fresh green foliage in this view, with the ash tree on the left making a conventional viewpoint impossible. Approximately half way along the train is Yarnton Lane level crossing, with the house next to Sandy Lane crossing just visible in the far distance.

66566 approaches Cholsey on 20 January 2017 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. With the Great Western Mainline having been disfigured by the overhead catenary, platform end shots such as this are now one of the few viable photographic options.

With just five boxes on the rear of the train, 66566 passes Kennington on 3 April 2017 with the Mondays only 4O15 03:32 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The convenient gap in the lineside trees on the right allows pictures to be taken very early in the morning here. Surprisingly however, this is the first time that I have visited this spot in the morning, probably because until recent years there were various other locations that could be used for early morning pictures, but mostly sadly now lost to encroaching vegetation.

66566 passes Uffington on 25 September 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The overhead wires have ruined many photographic locations in the Vale of White Horse, but this is one of the few places where a decent picture can still be taken.

Out of the darkness, and into the light. 66566 passes Hungerford Common on 15 January 2020 with the 6C58 11:45 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. As the train came round the corner the whole scene was still in darkness, but the sun reappeared just in time.

66566 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 5 June 2023 with the 6C59 16:07 Theale East Usk stone empties. The world famous Uffington White Horse can just be seen on the hillside in the background.

66566 passes Knighton on 21 November 2023 with the 4L36 08:10 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The brightness of the autumn foliage partially compensates for drab lighting, although had there been any sun, this location would have been hopeless.

Having just passed Kennington Junction, and then passed underneath the Oxford ring road, 66567 approaches the southern end of Hinksey Yard on 2 May 2007 with the 4S59 15:00 Southampton to Coatbridge freightliner.

66567 passes Yarnton on 24 May 2007 with the 4O17 15:49 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. Photo taken from a recently erected footbridge on a seldom used footpath between Yarnton church and the A44 Woodstock to Oxford road. Coincidentally, I photographed this loco passing underneath this footbridge just a few months later.

66567 heads through the rain at Yarnton (near Oxford) with the 4E44 09:29 Southampton to Leeds freightliner on 7 January 2008. The bridge in the background was constructed a few years ago on the footpath between Yarnton village and the A44. Although not a brilliant vantage point, it is possible to take pictures of northbound trains on summer evenings from the far right corner.

66567 passes Yarnton on 2 February 2008 with the 4O14 01:15 Ditton to Southampton freightliner. Ironically I had seen this same loco only a few weeks before heading the opposite direction with 4E44. In that instance I photographed it from the bridge seen in the background.

66567 joins the original Great Western Mainline at Wootton Bassett Junction on 8 April 2011 whilst working the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The rear of the train is still on the 1903 built Badminton line, which was built primarily to connect with South Wales via the Severn Tunnel. Unfortunately Wootton Bassett station is long gone, replaced by the usual collection of graffiti covered and vandalised portakabins.

Catching a brief spell of the rapidly diminishing sunshine on 4 July 2011, 66567 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The trees on the right mark the site of a former pond (there also used to be one on the opposite side of the line). These were obviously originally quarries used for supplying the materials for the bridge approach road embankments. The bridge replaced a former level crossing on this site in the early twentieth century and the ponds do not feature on Ordnance Survey maps until after this date.

Didcot North Junction is a location where the majority of freight trains are travelling faster than the passenger services. Most passengers trains (apart from some Voyagers) call at Didcot Parkway, whilst a lot of freights take the avoiding line. Such is the case here, as 66567 speeds southwards on 20 October 2011 with the 4O14 07:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner.

66567 runs along the up relief line at Denchworth on 4 September 2013 with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The loco, in common with a lot of Freightliner Class 66s, could do with a repaint. Note the huge rust patches on the front end.

66567 runs along the Great Western Mainline near Grove on 5 September 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. A very long lens is required at this location, in order to avoid the shadows from the trees on the left. Note the two huge rust patches on the front of the loco. Surely someone ought to touch up such damage to prevent the rust getting worse.

66567 races through Kemble station on 27 September 2016 with the diverted 4O57 13:29 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. Unfortunately this corresponded with just about the dullest part of the afternoon! I hadn't actually intended to take this picture, but as I arrived a little early for the diverted 6B33 13:00 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties, it was a welcome bonus, especially as my intended target for the afternoon, the Derby RTC to Landore (via Swindon) test train, was so late by the time that it got to Gloucester, that it missed out this section entirely and went straight to South Wales to regain time.

Running 28 minutes early, and unfortunately with no boxes at the front of the train, 66567 passes Uffington on 28 January 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This replaces the former 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North train.

Yet another picture of the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner! 66567 passes Uffington on 22 July 2020, photographed from the steps of the footbridge, that is some compensation for the loss of many other nearby photographic locations.

66567 passes Wolvercote on 6 December 2022 with the 4O90 06:04 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This was running 49 minutes late, the delay resulting from over an hour's unscheduled wait at Landor Street Junction, in Birmingham.

66568 rolls slowly around the corner at Bishops Itchington with the 4O14 04:35 Garston to Southampton freightliner on 15 April 2008. There was a broken rail a mile south of this spot, near Knightcote, and a queue of trains was building up due to having to be hand signaled through the affected section at 5 mph. 66568 had been stationary for some while at the signal in the distance (just visible to the left of the blackthorn bushes), and was only traveling at about 20 mph as it passed me, preparing to stop at the next red signal. Years ago single line working would have been introduced around the affected stretch, but nowadays the repairs are carried out between trains.

66568 rounds the curve at Somerton on 10 April 2012 with the 4O14 07:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. Although there is a fairly restricted view of approaching trains from this direction, there is always plenty of warning of their approach, as despite the adjacent level crossing only serving one house, and being at the end of an extremely rough half mile track, Network Rail have still felt the need to fit the crossing with an audible warbler.

66568 & 66567 pass Bourton on 13 March 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Due to the random installation of the electfrication masts, there is still a view of sorts here, but note that there are three unused piles in front of the first mast, and another three before the next one. Either there is going to be some complicated additions here, or Network Rail put the piles in the wrong place. Given their incompetence elsewhere, that seems fairly likely!

Viewed from the new footbridge at Uffington, 66568 works the 4L31 09:27 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner on 11 April 2017. Due to work being undertaken at Bath station, this had been retimed and diverted via Bristol Parkway. I was really lucky to get this in the sun, as it was still cloudy in the foreground when the train first came into view behind the trees on the left.

66568 passes Shrivenham on 4 July 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Although it is still possible to take a picture here, the addition of the overhead catenary and palisade fencing means the view is nothing like as good as when the old roadbridge was still in place.

66569 passes Yarnton on 2 June 2004 with the 4S59 15:00 Southampton to Coatbridge freightliner. At the time this was a newly created vantage point, as a footbridge had just been erected at this very seldom used public footpath crossing.

In glorious evening light, 66569 passes Kings Sutton with the 4S59 15:00 Southampton to Coatbridge freightliner on 24 July 2006. Despite the good lighting, this was a not a very successful evening for photography, as a signalling problem further down the line at Radley not only resulted in most trains running later, but resulted in the cancellation of the Class 37 hauled 6M28 Didcot to Bescot engineers train, which is what I had gone there for!

66569 passes Rousham (between Banbury and Oxford) with the 4O27 04:32 Garston to Southampton freightliner on 16 February 2008. This picture does give the impression that I have just felled two ash trees that were in the way, however, I was glad to see that somebody had already done this. Presumably another photographer, but this is not a very well known location, and it does require a walk of at least a mile from the nearest road, which does tend to put most people off!

66569 traverses the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 12 May 2009 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Millbrook freightliner. The trees behind the locomotive mark the site of a small pond, which was presumably created when excavating material for the bridge approach roads. In the 1970s ponds were still visible on both sides of the line here. The trees in the background are much more recent, having been planted in the 1980s.

66569 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth in a lucky patch of sunshine on 10 February 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. An interesting seasonal comparison can be made with the same loco at this location in May 2009.

66569 passes Denchworth on 31 October 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Luckily the 1C08 09:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western HST has just got out of the way in time! Not much signs of autumn here yet, with the only colour being provided by the mass of hawthorn berries on the bushes behind the locomotive.

66569 approaches Culham on 9 July 2015 with the 4M98 17:30 Southampton to Hams Hall freightliner. This was my third visit to this location in less than a month, but as the spot has recently been cleared of vegetation, and will soon be ruined by the forthcoming electrification, I am making full use of it!

With the buildings of Petwick Farm visible above the train, 66569 passes Challow on 24 February 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Although this was routed along the relief line, it was still traveling at a reasonable speed, and I thought the view might be blocked by the 1C08 09:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR HST, but luckily that passed by with a few seconds to spare, and can be seen approaching the road bridge in the background. 

66569 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 29 July 20921 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This had left South Wales 81 minutes late, and was still an hour behind time at Swindon. It was there that something unusual happened. It crossed over onto the down line, and proceeded to Uffington 'wrong line' (although of course the lines are bi-directionally signaled). At Uffington the road was set for it to cross back onto the up line, but then set back so that the 1A16 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington wouldn't be delayed. However, both the 1G11 10:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa, and the 1C10 10:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads trains were now sat at red signals, as the freightliner was blocking their route west!

66569 passes through Kemble station on 30 December 2021 with the diverted 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This had left Wentloog 83 minutes late, and was further delayed at Lydney due to flooding near Newnham. This resulted in it being a massive 150 minutes late here!

Running 20 minutes late, 66569 passes Fiddington on 16 August 2023 with the 6V54 13:41 Elstow Redland Siding to Stoke Gifford stone empties. Bredon Hill dominates the background, and on the left, is the road bridge at Claydon.

66570 passes through Dean station (between Salisbury and Romsey) with the diverted 4O14 01:15 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 21 March 2009. Its usual route would have been the direct line between Basingstoke and Eastleigh, but here has traveled via Andover and the Laverstock line at Salisbury.

66570 swings round the curve near Tackley on 15 May 2010 with the 4O27 06:40 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Luckily a much more heavily loaded train than the preceding 4O14 service. The bridge just visible half way along the train is where the line crosses over the River Cherwell.

66570 speeds through the centre road of Oxford station on 16 January 2012 with the 4O49 10:13 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. The tower of St Barnabas church in Jericho can be seen on the extreme right. This Victorian building features in Thomas Hardy's 'Jude the Obscure', and is just as much a distinctive Oxford landmark as the more famous 'Dreaming Spires'.

A fine late summer morning at Radley on 31 August 2012. 66570 is running exactly to time with the 4O14 07:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. This is one of the few locations between Oxford and Didcot that offers an unobstructed view of trains from the east side of the line.

66570 passes Compton Beauchamp on 24 March 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. No sign of the electrification masts here yet, but the dreaded catenary is coming soon to spoil this classic viewpoint!

66570 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing (near Shrivenham) on 7 August 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The bridge in the background was replaced shortly after this picture was taken, as part of the Great Western Mainline electrification scheme.

With a uniform rake of Maersk boxes on the KTA pocket container wagons at the head of the train, 66570 passes Compton Beauchamp on 11 September 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. With the Great Western electrification scheme well over a year behind schedule, there are still virtually no signs of it at this location.

66570 & 66560 speed north through Oxford on 12 December 2017 with the 4M55 09:02 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. I wouldn't normally take such a backlit picture, but the sun sparkling off the snow certainly makes it look different. Note the extensive work taking place on the left of the picture.

Viewed from the footbridge near Stonehouse Farm, 66570 heads north at Yarnton on 9 August 2024 with the 4M55 08:32 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. The field behind the train shows evidence of medieval ridge and furrow cultivation.

66571 passes Blagrove (near Swindon) on 14 May 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This is a location that I had been meaning to visit for some time. The recently created vantage point is an apparently pointless footbridge, that links a virtually unused footpath from Wroughton with West Swindon. The fact that this bridge has full disabled access ramps, when Network Rail will not provide such facilities when they rebuild the extremely well used footbridge over Hinksey Yard, Oxford, is a little ironic!

66571 runs along the up relief line at Wolvercote on 19 January 2015 with the 4O48 11:26 Hams Hall to Southampton freightliner. This relief line starts near Wolvercote Junction, which is just out of sight around the corner.

66571 passes Stocks Lane level crossing, Steventon, on 19 January 2016 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. Note the vapour trail of the plane heading off in a north westerly direction, in the distance, directly above the locomotive.

66571 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 20 January 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Unfortunately this was running an hour late, which means the sun has just gone off the front of the loco. Note the ominous presence of a pair of capped electrification mast piles in the foreground.

66571 passes Baulking on 4 May 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Just visible in the background is the recently reconstructed bridge that marks the site of the long closed Uffington Junction station.

66571 passes Hungerford Common on 15 January 2020 with the 6V18 11:25 Allington to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. I wouldn't normally take a picture of an ordinary working like this in such poor light, but the lack of sunshine did mean that a picture could be taken from the opposite side of the line from normal, for a change of viewpoint.

66571 passes underneath the B4000 road bridge at Shrivenham on 14 July 2021 with the late running 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This location was much more photogenic when both the original bridge and fence were near the end of their life.

A perfect early autumn day at South Moreton (Didcot East) on 13 September 2012. 66572 heads east with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. This was running just 20 minutes behind the slightly less colourful 4O54.

66572 runs along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 2 September 2013 with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. These relief lines were originally installed for coal trains to Didcot Power Station, now they mainly see intermodal traffic.

66572 ambles slowly along the up relief line near Grove on 31 March 2014, as it prepares to stop at Wantage Road to allow a following HST to pass. It is working the 4O57 08:13 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The loco could certainly do with a repaint. Note the two huge rust patches on the front end!

66572 passes the soon to be made redundant 95 lever frame Banbury North Signal Box on 22 August 2015 with the 4O14 07:37 Hams Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Note the mix of GWR lower quadrant and LMS upper quadrant signals.

A rare revenue earning freight train traversed the southern section of the Cotswold Line on 16 December 2015. After arriving light engine from Southampton earlier in the day, 66572 worked a train of freightliner flats and two bogie oil tanks from Long Marston to Ipswich. It is pictured passing underneath the new footbridge (not yet in use) at Kingham station, running 17 minutes early and in terrible light, with drizzle just starting to add to the general dreariness. Despite obviously starting from Long Marston, this was running as the 6L31 12:06 Honeybourne Sidings to Ipswich.

A glimpse trough the lineside bushes at Baulking on 1 April 2016. The colourful containers mark this out as the 4L32 10:58 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. 66572 passes the location that would soon be photographically ruined by the installation of overhead catenary.

The closure of the Severn Tunnel for major engineering works in September 2016 brought the welcome prospect of numerous freight trains on the 'Golden Valley' route between Gloucester and Swindon. 66572 passes Oaksey on 15 September 2016 with the diverted 4O57 13:29 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner.

We often complain when the Met Office gets the forecast wrong, and their predicted sunny day is mostly cloud. However, sometimes they get it wrong the other way. 15 November 2018 was supposed to be a completely cloudy day, and even the usually over optimistic BBC forecast agreed. Instead the morning was mostly sunny, and when I arrived at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, the only cloud visible was what can be seen in the distance here. It was totally blue sky in the other direction! 66572 passes by with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner.

66572 runs along the up relief line at Challow on 8 March 2022 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was just as the sun started to fade out into the cloud that had rapidly moved in from the west.

Passing much evidence of the abandoned project to electrify the Didcot to Oxford line, 66572 approaches Didcot North Junction on 17 March 2022 with the 4O14 05:36 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

66573 runs along the down relief line at Cholsey on 6 December 2006 with the 4M58 11:00 Southampton to Ditton freightliner. Not a very healthy load, and with the boxes oddly spread out along the length of the train.

66573 accelerates away from Wantage Road on 26 March 2007 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. It had traveled along the up relief line from Challow, and had waited at the end of the four track section (just beyond the bridge in the background) for the passage of a couple of HSTs. Unfortunately the main traffic on this service is fresh air, and this very light load is not at all unusual.

66574 passes Yarnton on 2 June 2004 with the 4M99 16:19 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. Unfortunately a decade of uncontrolled lineside growth has now made this view virtually impossible. A pity, as it is a quiet traffic free spot in which to enjoy an evening's photography. An even greater pity is that there was no footbridge here in the good old days, when there was considerably more variety of traction, and even less bushes!

66574 passes Grassthorpe (between Retford and Newark)  with the 4L85 08:57 Leeds to Felixstowe freightliner on 25 January 2008. Luckily this perfect lighting lasted for quite a long time. The dark clouds covered most of the sky, but for once the big blue patch was just where the sun was - why doesn't that happen more often?

66575 passes Awbridge (near Romsey) with the diverted 4O54 05:33 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 21 March 2009. The Salisbury to Romsey line is regularly used as a diversionary route at weekends bringing a welcome variety of traction to the route.

66575 must be really struggling with this massive load! It is pictured passing Bourton on 31 August 2010 with the 4O24 11:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Grain 'Wineliner'. I just missed the other 'Wineliner' as I was making sure the car was parked clear of the field entrance, in case a farmer wanted access. Of course, when you take the trouble to do this rather than just leaving the car anywhere, you never see a farmer - and this was no exception!

Running a staggering 210 minutes late, former Freightliner liveried 66575 runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 6V78 03:10 Dollands Moor to Margam Colas steel empties on 4 July 2011. This delay of over three hours only got worse, because once the train arrived at Swindon the driver was obviously out of hours, as it didn't leave there until 19:55! This train is normally virtually impossible to photograph, as the sun would be right behind it at the booked time. Here it is merely backlit. Note that the loco still carries the green livery of its former operator (minus any branding), but with the addition of Colas logos below the cab side windows.

66576 Hamburg Sud Advantage rounds the curve just to the north of Kings Sutton station on 28 April 2008 with the what is presumably the late running 4M95 03:48 Southampton Maritime to Trafford Park freightliner. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

66576 Hamburg Sud Advantage passes Yarnton with the 4O14 05:28 Garston to Southampton freightliner on 1 September 2008. This is a very awkward location for photographing southbound trains due to the shadows from the trees on the right. However, at this time of year the White Poplar trees behind the loco make a good background with the silver undersides of the leaves standing out against the sky.

66576 Hamburg Sud Advantage passes Uffington with the diverted 4O54 05:33 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 27 September 2008. This diversion was due to the Reading to Basingstoke line being closed for engineering works. Note the strange lighting effect, as the sun just starts to break through the early morning fog. The background is still murky but a shaft of sunlight neatly picks out the train. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

66577 passes through the lush Oxfordshire countryside near Souldern on 15 August 2008 with the 4O14 05:28 Garston to Southampton freightliner. Not a location you will see very often, as it requires a lengthy walk from the nearest public road.

66577 passes Thrupp on 7 May 2009 with the 4M61 13:00 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. Kidlington station was formerly situated just beyond the bridge in the background, and the Woodstock branch line ran parallel with the mainline. along what is no a road vehicle track.

66577 pulls away from a signal check at Didcot on 10 December 2009 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The popularity of Didcot Parkway station with commuters can be gauged by the virtually full car park. A nice little earner for Network Rail at £5.90 per car per day!

66577 passes Wolvercote with the 4O14 06:39 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner on 10 April 2010. It was just starting to slow down here under amber signals, as it was obviously catching up 66178, which had passed just a few minutes before. Two freights within five minutes is unfortunately not an indication of the level of traffic you can expect in the Oxford area on a Saturday!

66579 leans into the curve at Rousham on 2 April 2009 with the 4O27 06:58 Ditton to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This is not a spot often visited by photographers, principally because it is a long walk from the nearest road!

66579 glows in the early morning autumnal sunshine as it rounds the curve at Bishops Itchington with the 4O14 07:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner on 14 November 2009. The good lighting was quite a surprise, as the forecasters had predicted torrential rain accompanied by gale force winds. Admittedly all this came later!

66580 passes South Marston on 11 December 2007 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The area in the foreground marks the entrance to the former sidings, little used and long since lifted. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

66584 approaches Knighton with the late running 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 1 May 2007. The verdant green new foliage on the embankment contrasts starkly with the barren looking 'Set-aside' field in the foreground.

On 24 March 2009 I popped out for an hour or so to one of my favourite local spots at Baulking (now a shadow of its former self - literally!). During my brief visit the first freight to appear was the late running 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner with 66584 in charge. After an initial dearth of pictures when Freightliner took over, I have now got a vast number of photos of this working, so would normally ignore this train, but as the lighting was perfect I added it to my growing collection of Freightliner sheds on this working!

So much for General Electric reliability! 66585 The Drax Flyer gives a helping hand to failed 70002 with the 4Z70 08:53 Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford coal empties on 2 March 2010, seen here passing Charfield. The three month old 70002 had disgraced itself at Cheltenham, caused severe delays to following passenger services. If your impression of a loco class's performance is gleaned from first impressions, this is not a good start. Not having bothered to obtain a picture of a Class 70 until now, I decided to wait around for this train as the light was good, only for this to happen! I had assumed that the class's extreme ugliness would be compensated for by ultra reliability, but apparently not. 

Just before the lights went out! 66585 The Drax Flyer runs ahead of the approaching clouds at Fenwick on 17 September 2012 with the 4R16 11:00 Eggborough Power Station to Immingham coal empties. Drax Flyer on the Eggborough Flyer?

66585 The Drax Flyer is appropriate traction for the 14:12 Drax Power Station to Hatfield Main Colliery coal empties, seen here passing Balne Lowgate on 12 March 2014. The last time I saw this loco was approximately a mile south of this location, on a similar working.

The track on the Long Marston branch had been partly replaced in early 2018, but there was work still to do at the end of the year, and so a train of track panels and ballast was booked over the Cotswold Line on 11 December 2018. The unforecast sunny day was welcome in some ways, but in mid winter it severely restricts the number of photographic locations. 66585 is seen here approaching Grintleyhill Bridge, near Combe, with the 6Y40 10:24 Hinksey to Honeybourne North Junction, with 66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies bringing up the rear. The diminutive Combe station can just be seen in the background. There is a slightly more side view available here, but not if you want to quickly reposition yourself for the much better lit going away shot!

66585 passes South Marston on 9 May 2024 with the 4L36 08:12 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. On this occasion it was a fully loaded train. This is not always the case, and often the only boxes are at the back of the train.

Almost a Freightliner Class 66 passing shot at Shrivenham on 15 November 2007. 66586 heads west with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner, while just visible in the background are the wagons of a Jersey Marine to Hackney train of stone empties headed by 66603. What a pity that the binliner wasn't running just a few seconds earlier in order to get both in the picture!

66587 approaches Walton Well Road, Oxford, on 23 May 2009 with the well loaded 4O14 Ditton to Southampton freightliner. This train had traveled down the up relief line from Wolvercote Junction and had just rejoined the main line at Oxford North Junction, just past Aristotle Lane footbridge in the background.

66587 approaches Banbury in the last of the weak evening light on 17 August 2009 with the 4O29 14:38 Trafford Park to Millbrook freightliner. A few more boxes near the front of the train would have made a better picture!

66587 passes Kings Sutton on 24 November 2010 with the 4O27 05:40 Garston to Southampton freightliner. Despite appearances this is not a trespass shot, but taken from a footpath crossing that leads from Kings Sutton village to Twyford MIll.

66587 passes Denchworth on 16 October 2012 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. A lot of photographers wouldn't have bothered to take this picture, as only the front of the train is in the sun. However, I rather like the spot lit effect, against the dark background. Needless to say, the other way round with only the back of the train in sun is a definite no no.

The 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner is a good photographic subject during the month of June, when the countryside is virtually all the same shade of green. This 'Wineliner' train usually includes a majority of bright orange containers, contrasting nicely with the green foliage. On 30 June 2014, virtually the whole train is composed of orange boxes, pictured here passing Baulking behind 66587.

This is the second day in a row that I have photographed 66587 on a freightliner originating from Bristol. On 30 June 2014 I saw it at Baulking with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury, and here it is on 1 July 2014 at Bourton with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North.

66587 just manages to keep ahead of the advancing cloud, as it approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 April 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This view is about to change forever when the hugely delayed electrification scheme eventually takes shape. However, in the last quarter of a century the view has already altered beyond all recognition, with the reinstating of four tracks and the growth of the wood in the background, to say nothing of the change in the traction!

Clearly struggling with its massive load, 66587 slowly passes Daylesford on 6 March 2019 with the 6Y43 15:41 Hinksey to Honeybourne ballast. Out of sight at the rear of the train of 25 JJA ballast hoppers is 66509. Initially I went to Shipton to photograph this, as it was raining, and as well as being my nearest location on the Cotswold Line, I could sit in the car until it passed Ascot-under-Wychwood, and therefore avoid getting soaked! However, when I got there, the sun started to come out, and as there is no decent sunny side shot there, I came to Daylesford, where there is. Then of course the sun went in again! It did get brighter, and the sun was almost on the point of coming out again when the train came into view.

66587 As One We Can runs slowly along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 April 2021 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The 1C08 09:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR IET almost scuppered my first picture of 66587 in its striking pink 'One' livery. It can be seen disappearing into the distance, underneath Circourt Bridge.

The ideal combination of sun and snow at Challow on 29 November 2021. 66587 As One We Can takes the up relief with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. As the sun had only just come out, the temperature was still below freezing, so all the lineside bushes are still covered in snow.

66587 As One We Can passes Uffington on 26 June 2023 with the 4L36 07:41 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Not the result I was hoping for, as not only are there no boxes at the front of the train, but also the sun disappeared, only to reappear on the drive back home!

66587 As One We Can & 66518 pass Berkley on 18 September 2023 with the 6C76 14:21 Wembley Reception Sidings to Merehead Quarry stone empties. The Westbury White Horse on the hillside in the background stands out well in the evening light.

66587 As One We Can passes Grove on 5 November 2023 with a lengthy rake of JNA wagons full of spent ballast returning from an engineering possession. This is the 6Y44 08:24 Wootton Bassett Junction to Westbury, which was unfortunately running 106 minutes late. This meant that the sun was no longer on the front, although at least it was still a few minutes ahead of the rapidly advancing bank of clouds.

66588 crosses the River Cherwell near Tackley with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 17 December 2008. I had been waiting for a sunny winter afternoon to visit this remote location which in summer is slightly compromised by a few lineside bushes, but after the leaves have gone allows a number of different viewpoints with nothing obstructing the low winter sunlight.

66588 passes through Oxford station on 21 January 2013 with the 4O54 06:15 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Although not too bad for anything passing through the centre road, this viewpoint has been severely compromised by the construction of Oxford station's enlarged car park. Not so much for the fence and cars (after all, there was a scrapyard there before!), but more by the tall lampposts which really get in the way for a wider view.

The early morning fog was very slow to clear on 11 October 2016, so here is a misty picture of 66588 passing Uffington with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The minimalist metal gate in the foreground looks as if it is pointing towards the locomotive. And no, I did not position it that way!

66588 passes Frisby-on-the-Wreake on 30 September 2017 with the diverted 4M87 09:46 Felixstowe North to Crew Basford Hall freightliner. Unfortunately this superb combination of full sun and dark clouds in the background didn't last very long. I was very lucky to get this picture in the sun, as the light collapsed very shortly afterwards.

66588 just manages to dodge the advancing clouds, as it approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 5 September 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. I have taken at least one picture at this location every year since I started serious photography in 1978!

There is a least a partial gap in the overhead catenary at Baulking, with masts only on the north side of the line, although a telephoto lens is required to get past one in the foreground. 66588 heads west on 22 February 2020 with the 6Y41 09:19 Hinksey to Margam ballast.

Running 137 minutes late, 66588 passes Wolvercote on 6 December 2022 with the 4O14 05:36 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. It may have been very late, but Realtime Trains said it was: 'Cancelled due to a request by the train operator'!

Running 23 minutes late, 66588 passes Kemble on 4 July 2024 with the 4L33 10:29 Wentloog to London Gateway freightliner, which was diverted this way due to the closure of the Severn Tunnel for engineering works. A long lens is now required for this viewpoint, as vegetation is now encroaching on the tracks in the immediate foreground. Because of the use of a long lens, the houses and church tower in the village of Coates can be seen in the background, on the left.

66589 rounds the curve on the approach to Didcot North Junction with the 4O14 07:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner on 8 March 2011. For once the empty flats near the front of the train are a bonus, as it shows the rest of the train snaking round the curve. Unfortunately the very long lens has accentuated the hazy background caused by a period of settled high pressure.

66589 brushes past the bushes as it negotiates the up relief line at Wolvercote on 4 May 2011 with the 4O49 09:23 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner. There is some serious vegetation control needed here, as despite the slow speed the train was visibly causing massive disturbance in the luxuriant trackside growth, with some branches being hit by the train.

A pair of 'Freds' on the 4E22 05:55 Felixstowe to Leeds freightliner on 15 October 2011. 66589 & 66539 slow down prior to being looped at Cromwell Moor to allow two trains (First Hull Trains 180 and East Coast HST) to pass.

66589 slowly passes Washwood Heath on 15 September 2012 with a well loaded 4L90 08:57 Lawley Street to Felixstowe freightliner. 08588 can be seen on the left, having a weekend's rest from shunting concrete sleepers.

66589 runs along the up relief line at Denchworth on 22 November 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. A crisp, clear but very cold morning, which proved to be ideal conditions to get a picture of this train passing the last of the autumn foliage at this location. The forthcoming electrification means I won't be able to get the shot next year!

66589 passes underneath the B4000 roadbridge at Shrivenham on 9 April 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was running twenty minutes late, and although the weather was still OK at the booked time, the bright sunny morning was as usual starting to be replaced by broken cloud. Worryingly, a large black cloud, the edge of which can be seen on the left, was threatening to ruin the picture. Luckily the sun just managed to hold out! This girder bridge is due to be replaced as part of the Great Western Mainline electrification scheme.

66589 passes through the remains of Shrivenham station on 2 March 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The 1/2000sec shutter speed used here was not so much to freeze the train's movement, but to counteract the gale force wind! Although sunny, the strengthening wind was beginning to make standing on the bridge very unpleasant, and I was glad to get back in the car!

66589 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 5 January 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. No progress has been made with the electfrication at this location for many months, with the gantry on the right not yet being matched by one on the left.

A surprising burst of sunshine highlights not only 66589, as it approaches Steventon on 1 March 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner, but also the rusty electfrication mast base lying in the grass. 

Who said that Class 66s don't clag! 66589 is clearly not in the best of health, as it darkens the sky at South Marston on 20 June 2017 with the late running 4L31 09:27 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

66589 runs along the up relief line at Challow on 28 November 2017 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Most of my favourite photographic location on the Great Western Mainline have been completely ruined by the electfrication masts, but this one still offers a number of different vantage points, albeit with the masts still disfiguring the view.

Superb early morning light at Yarnton on 7 August 2021. 66589 heads north with the 4M62 04:25 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. It's a pity that when they cleared all the lineside vegetation here a few years ago, they left one scrappy little tree on the left. The sun is so low at 06:50, that a short telephoto lens is required to avoid the foreground shadow.

66589 passes Heyford on 27 February 2022 with the 09:20 Fenny Compton to Hinksey ballast empties, returning from an overnight engineering possession. In addition to the narrowboats, note the other two leisure uses of the Oxford Canal - fishing and walking the dog along the towpath.

66589 passes Yarnton on 23 January 2023 with the 4O03 10:59 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The buildings in the background are part of Stonehouse Farm, which is situated next to the A44 Oxford to Woodstock road.

Running slightly early, 66590 passes Great Bourton in some welcome late evening sunshine with the 4O29 15:18 Trafford Park to Southampton on 3 August 2011. Hidden by the trees in the background is the village of Cropredy, famous not only for the Civil War battle of 1644, but laterally for Fairport Convention's annual music festival.

66590 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 19 November 2013 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. Note the leaves just to the left of the loco. These are being blown off the silver birch tree on the right, to be deposited across the down relief line on the left of the picture. Pure chance means I haven't had to Photoshop any small yellow specks from the front of the loco!

Still running on the up main line, but just about to be moved across to the up relief, 66590 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on Friday 19 December 2014 with the 4O51 09:58 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner.

66590 passes Compton Beauchamp on 12 October 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Yet again autumn comes around, but there is still no sign of the much delayed Great Western Mainline electrification at this location. A welcome a very surprising reprieve!

The sun is just starting to break through the early morning fog at Upper Heyford on 8 April 2017, as 66590 crosses the Oxford Canal with the 4O18 05:03 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Unfortunately the lineside bushes have grown up a lot since I was last here, but at least the still morning has insured a near perfect reflection in the water.

66590 passes through Shipton station on 23 April 2018 with the 0F96 10:45 Long Marston to Hinksey route learner. Only a light engine, but locos of any sort are rare on the southern section of the Cotswold Line, so worth recording. It had earlier worked the 0F95 08:01 Stoke Gifford to Long Marston, and would later work the 0F97 13:41 Hinksey to Stoke Gifford.

66590 passes Uffington on 8 March 2021 with the 6B11 12:21 Hayes & Harlington to East Usk Yard stone empties. There are usually several freights in the early afternoon at this location, but on this occasion all the others had been cancelled.

66590 passes Uffington on 6 February 2023 with the 6A60 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. Apart from one wagon near the rear of the train, this rake seems to have escaped the attentions of the graffiti vandals, making it an unusual sight nowadays.

Viewed from the end of Midgham station's down platform, 66590 heads east along the Berks & Hants line on 16 September 2024 with the 6A18 09:18 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train. Midgham station is actually in the village of Woolhampton.

In some weak spring sunshine on 26 March 2009, 66591 passes the site of Bletchingdon station with the 4O05 12:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton intermodal. Just visible on the horizon are a couple of water towers that mark the site of the former RAF Upper Heyford airbase, latterly home to the USAF and for a long time home to the swing wing F-111 bombers. Its closure in 1994 was a direct consequence of the ending of the Cold War.

66591 passes Hinksey on 9 January 2010 with the 4O54 05:27 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. The line of wagons in the foreground appear to be the only stock that has moved in the yard since the snow fell three days previously. Despite the bitterly cold conditions, a lot of the snow had already fallen off the trees at this location.

66591 passes the site of Shrivenham station on 27 June 2011 with the Mondays only 4L30 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe 'Fresh Air Express', or bearing in mind the nature of the inbound loading train, should that be 'Wine Empties'? Just three boxes on an a string of flats wouldn't normally make much of a picture, but at least it does show more of the old platform face, which survives here amid the encroaching vegetation.

66591 passes Hinksey Yard on 3 May 2013 with the 4O54 06:15 Leeds to Southampton Maritime Freightliner. One of the supports of the Oxford Ice Rink can just be seen in the background, but every other once visible landmark in the background is now obscured by trees.

A perfect summer evening at Tackley on 11 July 2013. The sun is beginning to edge nearer to the horizon, as 66591 heads north with the very lightly loaded 4M98 18:00 Southampton Maritime to Garston freightliner.

With the doomed A417 Challow roadbridge in the background, 66591 heads eastwards along the Great Western Mainline on 2 January 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Challow station (serving the villages of West and East Challow, as well as Childrey and Stanford-in-the-Vale) closed in 1964.

66591 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 22 September 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. As I have been visiting this location for over 40 years, I felt I had to pay it one last visit before the wires go up. Whilst a side view will presumably still be possible, this more conventional viewpoint will obviously be severely affected by the wires. The piles have already been driven in here, or at least most of them have. It looks like geological difficulties have prevented the one next to the gantry, and the one just in front from being hammered in fully, leaving the incongruous sight of tubular metal posts sticking up several feet in the air!

66591 passes Compton Beauchamp on 16 May 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Note the recent vegetation clearance on the bank behind the locomotive, preparatory work for the forthcoming route electrification.

Running 50 minutes late, 66591 passes Baulking on 27 May 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The bridge in the background marks the site of Uffington station, which was formerly the junction for the Faringdon Branch. Electrification is progressing very slowly here, nothing having happened in the last eight months.

66591 moves onto the up relief line at Challow on 16 August 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. This will probably be my last visit to this location, as clearly once the wires go up the shot will be ruined. There will still be photographic possibilities from the nearby field, but this view from the road bridge will be lost forever.

66591 passes Compton Beauchamp on 17 July 2017 with the lightly loaded 4L30 16:25 Bristol to London Gateway freightliner. It's a pity that Network Rail didn't follow the example of HS1 (the Channel Tunnel Rail Link), where the electfrication masts, whilst still intrusive, are slim, and of a uniform design. Instead we have this mess, with ugly posts seemingly all of different heights.

66591 passes Purton on 17 September 2018 with the 6X04 12:56 Fairwater Yard to Yate track renewal train. Although I had selected this location for its perfect sun angle, with no intrusive late afternoon shadows, I had forgotten just how long the train was. Nearly half of it is hidden by the bushes in the background, complete with 66552, which is bringing up the rear.

66591 slowly approaches Didcot North Junction on 30 March 2019 with the 4O05 07:03 Birch Coppice to Eastleigh East Yard freightliner. The lack of boxes on the back of the train allows an uninterrupted view of 66542 on the rear. This will be used later to draw the train back into East Yard, after the train arrives at Eastleigh station, via the line from Romsey. The train's normal destination would be Southampton Maritime.

With a long and loud blast on the horn for the benefit of a couple of track workers, 66591 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 29 April 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner.

66951 passes North Oxford Golf Course in lovely golden late afternoon light on 7 March 2022. It is just a few hundred yards into its journey with the 6C62 16:19 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. Obviously there hadn't been quite enough time to unload the entire train, as a couple of wagons in the middle of the rake are still full of stone.

66591 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 1 August 2022 with the 6Z86 11:10 West Drayton Frays Sidings to Machen Quarry stone empties. As the scattered clouds add more to the picture than the parched grass in the foreground, I decided to go for this unusual composition. I got a second photo of this train, a little later at Baulking.

66591 passes Baulking on 1 August 2022 with the 6Z86 11:10 West Drayton Frays Sidings to Machen Quarry stone empties. This was my second picture of this train, after having seen it 22 minutes earlier at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth. With just a minor deviation from my route home, and virtually guaranteed sunshine, it was hard to refuse!

66591 approaches Bramley on 12 August 2022 with the 4O49 09:23 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Not the best time of day to be taking a picture, but the lineside trees are so tall here, that anything other than midday in summer results in unacceptable shadows.

A brief burst of sunshine on what was becoming an increasingly cloudy afternoon. 66591 approaches Didcot North Junction on 20 March 2024 with the 6V18 13:38 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Quarry stone empties. 165123 can be seen disappearing into the distance with the 2L36 13:34 Didcot Parkway to Oxford GWR service.

66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies passes Tackley on 11 July 2013 with the completely empty 4M99 16:57 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. Often there is just a few boxes on an otherwise empty train, but this time there wasn't any load at all.

66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 26 February 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Although the original Freightliner green is probably my favourite Class 66 livery, I still much prefer the original recipient of the Johnson Stevens Agencies name!

A different viewpoint at Uffington on 10 March 2015. 66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies heads eastwards along the Great Western Mainline with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. By standing in the field and shooting across the top of the hedge, I was able to include the overhanging branches of the tree in the picture. The road is just the other side of the hedge, and there was the possibility that a passing car may spoil the picture. However, just as I was about to press the shutter, a cyclist passed by. Luckily he didn't stop to inquire as to what I was doing standing on a stepladder in the field!

66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies approaches Steventon on 9 December 2015 with the late running 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The trees hide the former Steventon Army storage depot (now a commercial storage facility). This was formerly rail served, as was the nearby depot at Milton.

66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies passes through Sonning cutting on 16 August 2016 with the 4O13 12:05 Daventry International to Southampton Maritime freightliner. For well over a hundred years this location has been used by railway photographers (I have seen broad gauge pictures taken here!), but that will soon come to and end with the electrification of the route.

66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies brings up the rear of the 6Y40 10:24 Hinksey to Honeybourne North Junction engineer's train at Grintleyhill Bridge, Combe, on 11 December 2018. The train, which was being led by 66585, was destined for track renewal work on the Long Marston branch. Theoretically it should have been possible to get another picture of this, as it was booked to stop at Charlbury for over half an hour. I made no attempt to try to chase it, as I could see no good reason why it would wait at Charlbury at all. Sure enough, it went straight through, converting an on time appearance here into being 27 minutes early at Ascott-under-Wychwood.

66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies passes Baulking on 5 January 2022 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. The new concrete embankment strengthening is hardly photogenic, but at least its installation caused the removal of numerous lineside bushes!

66592 Johnson Stevens Agencies passes Baulking on 20 April 2023 with the 6A60 07:12 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. This was running nearly an hour late. Normally this train would turn left at Didcot, and very soon be at its destination. However, because of the Nuneham Viaduct closure, it will now have to travel via Greenford and the Chiltern Line, and approach Banbury Road stone terminal from the opposite direction.

Torrential rain (126.2mm was recorded at Brize Norton in 24 hours!) on 20 July 2007 resulted in numerous lines being closed due to flooding, and one week later the line through Oxford was still closed, resulting in various freight services being diverted via alternative routes. On 27 July, 66593 is pictured ambling down the relief line at Waltham St Lawrence (between Reading and Maidenhead) with the 4M55 08:58 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner. This is not the usual location at Waltham St Lawrence, but from the footbridge in the fields towards Shottesbrooke. The bridge in the background is Chalkpit Bridge, on the bridleway between Waltham St Lawrence and Knowl Hill.

66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway passes Washwood Heath on 22 November 2008 with the 4O54 05:33 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. This is early on a Saturday morning, which explains the lack of traffic on the M6 in the background.

66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway passes Hinksey on 12 June 2010 with the diverted 4V46 11:09 Crewe Basford Hall to Wentloog freightliner. This would shortly be taking the west curve at Didcot to travel to Wales via the Severn Tunnel. Its usual route is of course the much more direct one via Hereford. Although the locos look the same, the consist on this train looks very different from that of 4O54, which passed by just four minutes earlier.

It is 05:24 on 25 June 2012, and the early morning mist is swirling across the valley from the nearby River Cherwell, as 66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway heads northwards past Tackley with the 4E01 02:15 Southampton to Leeds freightliner. Not really ideal photographic conditions, but it does invoke the atmosphere of a very early midsummer morning.

Clearly showing off its distinctive 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway nameplate, 66593 passes Lock Wood near Culham in the last of the winter afternoon's light on 10 December 2012 with the 4O49 10:30 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner.

66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway approaches Challow on 19 November 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The two posts just inside the fence in the middle distance are all that remains of a former farm occupation crossing. Numerous such crossings existed in the steam era, but rightly have now largely been removed from the 125 mph line.

Running half an hour late, 66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway approaches the site of Uffington station on 23 September 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Note the unusual style of nameplate.

66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway passes Uffington in superb winter light on 22 January 2017 with the 6Y56 10:14 Westbury to Bradford Junction ballast. This is really is travelling the long way round, as Westbury and Bradford Junction are only a few miles apart, but this has travelled via Newbury, Reading and Didcot! This three hour jaunt was required in order to enter the engineering possession from the north.

66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway passes Didcot North Junction on 12 February 2020 with the lightly loaded 4O90 06:08 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The quick growing ash tree on the right will soon start to block out this view!

A fine collection diesel and petrol powered vehicles at the disused Purton station on 6 November 2020. 66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway emerges from the fog with the diverted 4L36 07:57 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. It is passing a couple of former army vehicles on the station's old platform. A Daimler Ferret scout car is partly hidden by a Land Rover 101 Forward Control vehicle. To complete the scene, there are a couple of modern commercial vehicles, the one on the right being a DAF CF truck cab.

66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway passes Grove on 20 January 2022 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was running 26 minutes late, and therefore had no need of the booked relief line. What a pity that there are no boxes directly behind the loco, and the sun still hasn't completely broken through the high cloud.

Running over an hour late, 66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway & 66551 approach Crofton on 26 January 2024 with the lengthy 7A40 08:40 Merehead Quarry to Hanwell Bridge Loop stone train, most of which is hidden from view around the corner.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Waltham St Lawrence on 27 July 2007 with the diverted 4O14 04:35 Garston to Southampton freightliner. This was routed this way due to its normal route via Oxford being closed due to severe flooding.

A well loaded 4O05 12:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton Intermodal passes Tackley on 19 March 2009 with 66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto in charge. The loco is just crossing over the River Cherwell, one of numerous crossings of the river between Banbury and Oxford. Although an excellent viewpoint, a long train such as this is a fairly tight squeeze between the trees in the distance and the hedge which is just out of shot to the right.

Lush spring greenery at Baulking on 30 April 2009. 66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes through the rather damp and overgrown cutting with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Millbrook freightliner. At least you could still get a head on viewpoint, something that wouldn't be possible after the wires went up, some years later!

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto slowly negotiates the up relief line at Wolvercote on 2 September 2011, as it brushes past the overhanging vegetation with the 4O49 09:23 Crewe to Southampton freightliner. Just behind this impenetrable thicket of bushes is a much earlier form of transport - the Oxford Canal, which was opened throughout in 1790.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes the RH Transport bus depot and storage yard at Yarnton on 7 January 2012 with the 4O14 06:33 Birch Coppice to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The little used Yarnton Lane level crossing an be seen in the background.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Bourton on 1 March 2012 with the lightly loaded 4V50 10:54 Southampton to Wentloog freightliner. Obviously the pollution from years of rail traffic can't be too bad in this area, as the lineside bushes have a rich covering of lichen, which can only thrive in an unpolluted environment. Note the surviving remnant of the steam age on the farm occupation bridge in the background. The white painted area was used to make sighting of the semaphore signals easier.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Hay Lane (near Swindon) on 18 July 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. One of the hottest day of the year (28°c), and definitely one where it was better to be driving in an air conditioned car, rather than standing in the sun at the lineside!

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Bourton on 4 March 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. Almost exactly two years before, I had photographed this same loco from the bridge in the background, travelling in the opposite direction.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Wootton Bassett on 10 July 2014 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. Just visible in the background is Wootton Bassett Junction, where the line from South Wales comes in from the right.

Definitely a double bonus at Shrivenham on 4 September 2014! 66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto & 66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express pass the recently cleared old platforms with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to Tilbury freightliner. Although a pair of 66s on a freightliner is not that unusual, a named pair is noteworthy. The other part of the double bonus is the few minutes of full sun, on an otherwise fairly cloudy day. Judging by the dark clouds in the background, the good light was quite localised. The lookout man was protecting a group of track workers who were working near the farm occupation bridge in the background.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto runs along the up relief line near Grove on 8 September 2014 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. It had just spent a short while stopped at the signal gantry near Denchworth Bridge, which can just be seen in the background.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto ambles along the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 1 October 2015 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. No apologies for yet another picture at this location, but I have been visiting this spot since 1973, and with the forthcoming electrification the incentive to visit will be lost.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto & 66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express passes Kings Sutton on 4 May 2016 with the 4M67 14:16 Southampton Maritime to Garston freightliner. Kings Sutton church is clearly having some serious work done to the tower and base of the spire.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Shrivenham on 11 August 2016 with the 4O70 09:56 Wentloog to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Note the two electrification mast bases just to the right of the loco. Surprisingly the electrification work hasn't seen the removal of either of the old station platforms, so the piles have been driven straight through the old platform surface!

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto & 66538 approach Culham on 28 March 2018 with the 4E18 09:47 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard reclaimed concrete sleepers. Although at present spared the unsightly mess of electfrication, the new slightly over the top (literally!) signal in the background hardy improves the scene.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Grove on 14 May 2018 with the 4E18 09:47 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard concrete sleepers. A different kind of wires used to disfigure this location. Before the 25kV wires were installed, a high voltage power line crossed the railway here.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto approaches Didcot North Junction on 12 August 2022 with the 4O15 06:44 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This was running an hour late, after a 78 minute late departure, and a deviation from the booked route between Landor Street Junction and Leamington Spa.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes the former crossing keeper's cottage at Oddington on 23 May 2023, as it heads towards Bicester with the diverted 6C58 12:09 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties. The reason that this is heading in completely the wrong direction, away from its destination in Wales, is that its normal route via Oxford and Didcot is closed for repairs to Nuneham Viaduct over the River Thames.

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes Minety on 9 June 2023 with the diverted 6Z86 11:06 West Drayton Frays Sidings to East Usk Yard stone empties. This was the first of three diverted freights booked past this spot in 16 minutes. In reality it was within an hour, but still pretty impressive for the Swindon to Gloucester line!

66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto passes South Marston on 1 August 2024 with the diverted 6A18 09:18 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train. Despite being diverted off its booked route via the Berks & Hants line, this managed to arrive in the Oxford area 49 minutes early!

66595 passes Challow on 10 October 2013 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. It is weaving from the up main to the up relief, which is just as well, as the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service was just 1 minute 45 seconds behind it!

Running nearly an hour late, 66595 passes Baulking on 16 March 2016 with the 4L32 11:00 Bristol to London Gateway freightliner. Unfortunately the forecast sunny intervals had ceased as soon as I had arrived at the location, but at least the dull conditions allowed this view from the north side of the line. It gives a clear view down the cutting towards the site of Uffington station, by the new bridge in the background. There is clear evidence of recent tree clearance, as well as numerous steel piles for the forthcoming Great Western Mainline electrification.

Work stained 66595 passes Compton Beauchamp on 17 March 2016 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The cutting side behind the locomotive had recently received the attention of Network Rail's chainsaws, after many years of neglect. The difference is especially noticeable when compared with 66502 working the same train a year earlier. This is in preparation for the massively delayed and over budget Great Western Mainline electrification scheme.

On 3 December 2008 nearly new 66596 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner. On this occasion the footbridge was packed with photographers, most of whom were admittedly waiting for the steam hauled special, but it does seem a little ironic that I hardly ever met anyone else at this location when photographing the much more interesting variety of traction in the 1980s!

66596 passes Uffington on 19 September 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This has become one of my most visited locations on the electrified Great Western Mainline, due to the lack of masts on the south side of the line.

Trains already brush past the overhanging bushes on the up relief line at Wolvercote, and if Network Rail continue cultivating their buddleia garden between the relief and the main lines, trains will soon be attacked from both sides! 66596 passes this prime example of poor maintenance on 28 August 2021 with the 4O18 05:19 Lawley Street to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

66596 passes Marsh Benham on 27 May 2022, in the centre of the 6C64 14:46 Wembley Reception Sidings to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail empty stone train, which was being hauled by 59204. This method of working is to save paying excessive access charges to DB Cargo at Acton

66596 passes Hungerford Common on 14 June 2022 with the 6C64 14:46 Wembley Reception Sidings to Merehead Quarry stone empties. Nearly four years after the massive tree clearance operation opened up this view, the lineside bushes are starting to recover again.

Heyford station is a very awkward location for photography with a new footbridge that dominates the site and requires the use of a moderate wideangle lens to include the entire structure when standing on the nearby road bridge. On 29 October 2008, 66597 rushes with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. I would normally crop out the shadow of the bridge (and myself!) in the foreground, but have left it in to emphasise the very small gap in which you can take pictures at this location. The Oxford Canal can just be seen on the right of the picture.

66597 heads south through Croome on 25 March 2011 with the 4V47 11:15 Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford coal empties. No phone masts or palisade fencing here, but the blue drain covers are the latest Network Rail trackside eyesore!

66597 Viridor passes through Tackley station on 14 June 2017 with the 4O14 05:36 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. The loco received the name Viridor in October 2011, to commemorate the partnership with Viridor Ltd's recycling operation.

66597 Viridor approaches Steventon on 2 August 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. A couple of months of drought have changed the appearance of the landscape considerably since I took a picture of this train just a short distance away, in mid May.

Despite being booked to pass non-stop through Oxford, 66597 Viridor takes the relief line at Wolvercote on 3 January 2020 with the 4O90 06:08 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Directly behind the locomotive is a canal keeper's cottage, that was built shortly after the adjacent Oxford Canal opened in 1789.

66597 Viridor passes Uffington on 26 February 2021 with the 4L32 10:00 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. A rather nondescript picture is improved by the inclusion of the farm vehicle tracks in the muddy field.

Three trains at Woodborough on 15 February 2023. 66597 Viridor heads east with the 6A19 10:38 Whatley Quarry to West Drayton Frays Sidings loaded stone, passing another loaded stone train in the up loop - the 7A17 10:24 Merehead Quarry to Colnbrook, worked by 59005 Kenneth J Painter. On the left, 59202 Pride of Ferrybridge waits in the down loop with the 6C31 10:08 Theale to Whatley Quarry stone empties.

66597 Viridor passes Uffington on 26 May 2023 with the 6C48 12:49 Appleford to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. Very high overhead lighting, but at least there was no possibility of the picture being ruined by a cloud!

66598 passes South Moreton on a very gloomy 8 February 2012 with the 4Z30 05:30 Taunton Fairwater Yard to Washwood Heath scrap sleepers. It is slightly ironic that I should photograph this, as the other train that I photographed at this location was a load of brand new sleepers heading in the opposite direction! Note the remains of the previous weekend's snow just visible on the hills in the distance.

66598 heads east along the Great Western Mainline at Denchworth on 19 March 2012. I wouldn't normally bother taking a picture of a light engine, but this does give an uninterrupted view of Circourt Bridge. This well known photographic vantage point once had a flat steel parapet, which had become very corroded by the time it was replaced some years ago. Note the retention of the original brick abutments. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

Running an hour late, 66598 passes through the remains of Shrivenham station on 14 April 2014 with the 6L35 05:33 Cardiff Tidal to Dagenham scrap empties. While the CCTV camera monitors the car park, a rook monitors the scene from the top of the tallest tree! Unlike the nearby closed stations at Wantage Road and Challow, Shrivenham retains both platforms, complete with coping stones, although with the removal of the loops, now some distance from the running lines.

66598 is clearly struggling, as it slowly toils up the gradient towards Sapperton Tunnel at Chalford on 4 July 2022 with the diverted 4L36 07:49 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This was already running 77 minutes late, and the slow ascent of the bank only added to the delay, as well as delaying the following passenger services. Note the terrible state of the track, with the down line completely covered in uncontrolled vegetation. The bushes on both sides of the line were brushing the sides of the trains. Network Rail should be ashamed for letting it get into this condition.

Running 47 minutes late, 66598 passes Minety on 9 June 2023 with the diverted 6C58 12:09 Oxford Banbury Road to East Usk Yard stone empties. This train already had to go the long way round via the Chiltern Line, now the closure of the Severn Tunnel was forcing it to travel via Gloucester.

66598 runs alongside the quiet country road at Crofton on 30 April 2024 with the late running 6A50 10:26 Whatley Quarry to Hanwell Bridge Loop stone train. The sun had unfortunately found some thin high cloud.

A wave from the driver of 66598, as it passes Manningford Bruce on 16 August 2024 with the 6A18 09:18 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road stone train. This was slowly picking up speed, after spending 20 minutes in Woodborough loop.

66599 passes Park Drain (between Doncaster and Gainsborough) on 13 March 2013 with the 07:43 Sudforth Lane to Immingham coal empties. This was a surprising site for a station, in the sparsely populated flat landscape well away from any large centres of population. Even more surprising was the nearby hotel, which must surely have been a very optimistic speculative build. The station closed to passengers in 1955 and goods in 1964.

Not having being signalled onto the relief line, 66599 was passing Challow at some considerable speed, when photographed on 17 May 2018. It is working the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner.

Unusually running slightly early, 66599 passes Uffington on 29 October 2018 with the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner. The early running was only temporary. It was over an hour late by Acton, and two hours late by Colchester! Note the moon clearly visible near the top of the picture.

One of each sub-class. 66599 & 66618 Railways Illustrated Annual Photographic Awards - Alan Barnes pass Frinkley Lane (Near Grantham) on 13 September 2019, running as the 0L00 13:24 Leeds Balm Road to Whitemoor Yard.

66599 passes Uffington on 13 November 2019 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Note the open engine room door. Despite the sunny morning, I hadn't gone here for yet another picture of this freightliner, but for the planned first ever run of an electric loco on the Great Western Mainline. 90035 had been brought down from Crewe a few days earlier by 67012, and was booked to work three return overhead line test trips to Didcot, all of which turned out to be cancelled!

66599 runs along the relief line, as it approaches Banbury on 2 June 2020 with the 4O95 12:18 Leeds to Southampton Maritime freightliner. This was running five minutes late, but it cut short its booked stop at Banbury, and so was 15 minutes early as it arrived at Oxford. Missing out its booked stop at Oxford North Junction, it then passed through Oxford station over an hour early, but this early running was then checked at Reading.