43010 leads the diverted 1C20 10:15 Paddington to Swansea service past the site of Grange Court Junction on 18 April 1982. The train's normal route via the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering works. Formerly a junction for the cross country route to Ross-on-Wye, only the white painted building and the loop line remained in 1982, to indicate where the station was situated.

Still with its original 253005 set number, 43010 races through Patchway station on 17 December 1983 with the 1A33 10:30 Swansea to Paddington service. This train called at all stations between Swansea and Cardiff, before running non-stop to Paddington, one of only three up limited stop services on the route at the time. Note the vintage Hillman Avenger police car in the car park!

43010 slows down for the Cheltenham stop on 21 August 1985 whilst working the 08:33 Plymouth to York service. Largely ignored in 1985, the sight of a full HST rake in original blue and grey livery (if such thing existed) would cause great interest in 2008. Despite the multitude of liveries these trains have carried in recent years, I still think the original colour scheme was particularly inspired and suited the class well. Eventually I suppose one will be repainted into these 'heritage' colours!

43010 passes Duffryn on 15 August 1987 with the 1B16 09:30 Paddington to Fishguard Harbour 'Hibernian'. At the time this was one of only two through trains from the capital to the former Great Western Railway's Welsh Irish Sea port. As the other train ran during the night, with an arrival time at Fishguard of 02:35, this was the only photographable one! A typical late 1980s scene, with a pair of InterCity liveried power cards sandwiching a rake of blue and grey stock.

The late afternoon sun illuminates 43010, as it leads the 1C42 14:15 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service through the remains of Challow station on 11 January 1992. This bridge has since been replaced, but not before it got in a very poor state due to lack of maintenance. BR and latterly Railtrack and Network Rail didn't seem to realise that steel structures need to be regularly repainted to prevent corrosion, something that was done frequently in the steam era.

43010 approaches Bodmin Parkway station on 26 September 1993 with the 1A82 15:42 Penzance to Paddington service. It is passing a line up of Bodmin & Wenford Railway DMUs, including recently arrived Class 108 DMBS 51947.

43010 speeds past Denchworth on 14 March 1994 with the 1C42 14:15 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads InterCity service. The trackside vegetation had recently been cleared for the reinstatement of the two relief lines. Note the fresh ballast and the rusty rails on the still to be commissioned up relief line on the left. Although nowadays most DSLRs have very fast top shutter speeds, this was not always the case in the 1990s. Most SLRs (including the rollfilm Pentax 6x7 that I used extensively) stopped at 1/1000sec. This would not have been fast enough to freeze the movement of this train travelling at 125mph, so for this picture I used the 1/2000sec shutter speed of my 1970s vintage totally mechanical, built like a tank, Canon F1.

With the news that First Great Western is going to go through another re-branding exercise, which involves painting the HST fleet in a new dark green livery, it seems fitting to remind ourselves what their previous green livery looked like. 43010 leads the 1C36 13:15 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service past Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 9 October 2003. At the time this was the outgoing colour scheme. The new order is represented by the fifth coach and the rear power car (43179).

Not quite the picture I had intended, but this has a certain novelty value, as it is the first time I have photographed a pair of HST power cars side by side on the Cotswold Line! 43010 leads the 08:37 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington First Great service away from Moreton-in-Marsh on 17 October 2008, while an understandably unidentified classmate heads the 07:51 Paddington to Great Malvern train in the opposite direction. This quiet rural location is well away from any roads and meant that it was possible to hear both trains approaching from some way off, although it still wasn't clear until the very last moment which would appear first.

Running slowly under adverse signals, 43010 passes Little Haresfield on 6 April 2012 with the 1L36 08:31 Cheltenham to Paddington First Great Western service. It will shortly diverge from the main line at Standish Junction, to travel across the Cotswolds via the 'Golden Valley' route to Swindon.

Viewed from Walton Well Road, 43010 approaches Oxford on 5 May 2012 with the 1P37 08:43 Great Malvern to Paddington First Great Western service. Aristotle Lane footbridge can be seen in the background. Both this and the Walton Well Road bridge lead onto Port Meadow, Oxford's largest open space.

The possibility of getting a perfect passing shot on the national network is usually purely a matter of chance. However, at Walton Well Road, Oxford, on 13 July 2013, I realised that 221134 was stopped at a red signal in exactly the right spot for such a picture. An added bonus was that an up train would be slowing down for the Oxford station stop, so allowing the picture to be taken at exactly the right moment. So here is 43010 leading the 1P31 07:10 Hereford to Paddington First Great Western service, passing 221134 on the 1M30 07:45 Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly CrossCountry service. The problem was the failure of an axle counter on the Cotswold Line, delaying both Cotswold Line trains, and following CrossCountry services.

The rail worker has a chat with his colleagues in the site office at Wootton Bassett, as 43010 passes by with the 1A15 11:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service on a swelteringly hot 10 July 2014. This is the site of Wootton Bassett Junction station, which closed in 1965.

43010 passes Uffington on 28 October 2014 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. If the rear of the train appears to contain two power cars, that is because the 1A18 13:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington is passing by in the background. The blue sky in this picture is very deceptive, as a huge mass of black cloud was approaching from the west, and just a few minutes after this picture was taken, the sun disappeared for the rest of the day.

Running under adverse signals, 43010 leads the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service underneath the huge signal gantry next to the new road bridge at Challow on 18 February 2015. It was running at reduced speed, as it was catching up with 66540, which had strangely not been looped here, as booked. Note that although the new bridge has been open for some time, the temporary footbridge on the other side is still in place, which explains the odd structure visible underneath the span.

43010 leads the 1L55 11:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service over Stocks Lane level crossing, Steventon, on 10 March 2015. This crossing, one of two in the village, is a constant source of complaint from the locals, with the barriers often being down for considerable lengths of time, effectively cutting the village in two.

Clematis vitalba (variously known as Old Man's Beard and Traveller's Joy) seems to be the dominant lineside vegetation at Whitehill (between Combe and Finstock), with most of the lineside bushes covered with the climbing shrub. 43010 heads up the Cotswold Line on 24 September 2015 with the 1W02 10:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service.

Signs of impending electrification at Steventon on 29 September 2015. 43010 leads the 1B31 12:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service past a couple of catenary piles, one of which has been partially inserted into the ground, with the other just lying in the grass.

43010 pulls out of Moreton-in-Marsh station on 6 June 2016 with the 1P26 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. The flat grassy area on the right was formerly occupied by sidings, principally used in later years for stabling engineering trains.

Signs of progress at Shrivenham (Ashbury Crossing) on 28 March 2017. 43010 passes the newly installed electrification masts, as it heads towards London with the 1A14 11:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service.

A superb spring morning at Kennington on 3 April 2017. 43010 heads south from Oxford with the late running 1P26 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Kennington Junction is situated just behind the rear of the train.

43010 leads the 1P65 15:14 Hereford to Paddington GWR service past Lyneham on 22 May 2017. With no chance of a conventional picture due to various trackside bushes, I opted for this 'train in the landscape' picture, with the gate as a bold foreground object. After over 30 years of use on the Cotswold Line, the era of HSTs on the route will soon end, to be replaced by Hitachi built Class 800 bi-mode units.

43010 passes Charlton-on-Otmoor on 17 September 2017 with the diverted 1B51 14:58 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. The concrete track provides access to Holts Farm, replacing the former level crossing, which was situated near the rear of the train. As this just about the best photographic location between Bicester and Oxford, and given the rarity of HSTs over this route, I was surprised to be the only photographer present!

43010 approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 18 September 2018 with the 1W27 13:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. As everyone has now come to expect from this poor performing franchise operator, this train was running late, 15 minutes in this case. Recent vegetation clearance has opened up this viewpoint, which shows four of Moreton's semaphore signals.

Off for a break in Yorkshire! Due to the chronic unreliability of their Class 180 DMUs, Hull Trains desperately needed to acquire additional stock in early 2019. To the rescue came GWR, who just so happened to be casting aside their HST fleet in favour of Hitachi built IETs. Here we see a shortened set, with 43010 leading, and 43190 at the rear, passing Badgeworth on 21 February 2019 with the 5E19 09:25 Bristol St Philips Marsh to Hull Botanic Gardens ECS.

A GWR HST in very unfamiliar territory. 43010 passes Barlby on 22 February 2019 with the 5Z53 13:26 Peterborough to Hull driver training run, This is in connection with Hull Trains using shortened HSTs as a back up to their increasingly unreliable Class 180 DMUs. The tracks on the left lead into the Potter Group freight terminal.

43010 passes Standish Junction on 26 March 2019 with the 5V81 09:56 Hull Botanic Gardens to Bristol St Philips Marsh ECS, part of a maintenance contract with Hull Trains, while they use a GWR set in place of one of their ailing Class 180 DMUs. In the background, 150243 waits for the road with the 2G87 15:36 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa GWR service.

43010 passes Cam & Dursley station on 16 July 2019 with the 5E23 11:00 Bristol St Philips Marsh to Hull Station Sidings ECS. 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership is bringing up the rear of this five car set. This is part of the regular maintenance swap for the set hired to Hull Trains. GWR HSTs have only been gone from the Gloucester area for a couple of months, but already it seems nostalgic to be photographing one!

In the dying days of HST operations on the East Coast Mainline, there is added variety with the introduction of First Great Western liveried sets hired by Hull Trains from GWR to cover for a shortage of the unreliable Class 180 DMUs. On 22 July 2019, 43010 speeds past Claypole with the 1H03 11:48 Kings Cross to Hull service. This was running 25 minutes late, although there was clearly nothing wrong with either power car, judging by the speed it was travelling. With only five coaches instead of eight, there obviously isn't going to be a power problem!

First Great Western on the East Coast Mainline. 43010 passes Frinkley Lane (near Grantham) on 13 September 2019 with the 1A95 15:12 Hull to Kings Cross Hull Trains service. The five coach HST set is on hire to Hull Trains to cover for their unreliable Class 180 DMUs. GWR (or First Great Western as they were then) can sympathise with Hull Trains, as they know all about Class 180 unreliability, having used them not once, but on two completely separate occasions!

First Great Western, Yorkshire style! 43010 brings up the rear of the  5E23 07:02 Bristol St Philips Marsh to Hull ECS at Goole on 3 December 2019. 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership is the leading power car. This is one of the regular GWR/Hull Trains maintenance swap overs.

Just managing to find a small patch of sun at Oxford North Junction on 13 May 1987, the ill fated 43011 leads the 1A75 07:04 Hereford to Paddington 'Cathedrals Express' towards its next booked stop at Oxford. 43011 was of course the power car that was written off in the Ladbrooke Grove crash twelve years after this picture was taken. Note the short formation in use here, with only six coaches. The omission of a trailer first at this end of the train seems particularly odd for a Cotswold Line service, which has slightly higher than average first class usage.

A slightly ironic picture, that shows 43011, the power car that was written off in the 1999 Ladbrooke Grove crash, passing the site of Charfield station, which was the location of a serious accident in 1928. The date is 13 March 1989, and the train is the late running 09:14 Edinburgh to Paignton service. The 1928 accident saw wreckage pile up against the bridge in the background. Three trains were involved, with fire caused by the ignition of the gas used for carriage lighting causing many fatalities.

43011 heads through the rain at Little Bedwyn on 23 April 1998 with the 1C36 12:35 Paddington to Penzance Great Western Trains service. Despite the terrible lighting, I think this picture works quite well, not only because of the scenic location, but also because the menacing sky and reflections of the wet surfaces is so typical of British weather! This picture is also noteworthy for another reason. The following year 43011 became only the second HST power car to be written off in an accident, when it was involved in the Ladbrooke Grove crash on 5 October 1999, which also resulted in the loss of Turbo unit 165115. After the crash investigation 43011 was cut up by Sims Metals at Crewe Works in June 2002.

43012 leads the 1B64 11:20 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service through the remains of Challow station on 20 October 1979. This is one of the very few pictures I have of a HST power car before they were fitted with deflector plates over the twin roof mounted exhaust ports. This view also clearly shows not only the completely intact platforms, but also the concrete base of the up platform waiting room. Why I didn't take more pictures around this time, and in better weather, is a mystery!

43012 speeds through the remains of the long closed station at Challow on 3 December 1983 with the 1A23 07:35 Pembroke Dock to Paddington InterCity service. Well over a quarter of a century later, 43012 is still passing this spot on regular basis, albeit now painted in the uninspiring First Great Western blue livery. Whilst 43012 is still with us, I doubt if the same can be said for any of the assorted vehicles being dealt with at Challow Station Garage. The garage itself has now been replaced by a modern building, and both the former station's platforms, which are still largely intact in this view, have also been removed.

43012 passes Baulking on 29 September 1984 with the 1C58 15:35 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service. It's amazing just how open this location was in the mid 1980s, as even before electrification of the route ruined this viewpoint, it had become overgrown, with bushes and trees hiding Didcot Power Station, which can clearly be seen the distance here. This is also before Baulking Lane was diverted to run through the field directly behind the railway fence. This was to allow for the expansion of Baulking Quarry, which until it closed in 2002, was one of the last operational Fuller's Earth quarries in the UK.

43012 passes evidence of some recent track replacement, as it climbs out of the Severn Tunnel at Pilning on 13 March 1989 with the 1A44 11:41 Swansea to Paddington service. Apart from the incessant road traffic, this was an excellent photographic location, now totally lost, due to the route's electfrication.

43012 passes Lower Basildon on 2 September 1990 with the 1B38 16:00 Paddington to Swansea service. The majority of the village of Lower Basildon straggles along the nearby A329 road, but the church and Church Farm are situated down a no through road, from which this picture is taken.

43012 passes between the construction site and the River Teign estuary at Shaldon Bridge on 15 September 1991, as it pulls away from the Teignmouth stop with the 1C28 09:20 Paddington to Plymouth InterCity service.

43012 pulls out of Oxford station on 2 October 1991 with the 1O04 05:01 Stockport to Bournemouth InterCity service. The footbridge in the background had been added as part of the previous year's major station upgrade.

43012 passes through a magical frosty landscape, as it approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 7 December 1991 with the 1A28 07:32 Swansea to Paddington service. 27 years later, in 2018, the last few HSTs continue to pass this spot, amid a sea of Class 800 bi-mode units. Unfortunately this view was ruined in 2016 by the installation of 25kV catenary.

A dramatic low level shot of 43012 leading the 1B58 18:20 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express' past Culham on 13 May 1992. It is passing one of the surviving Second World War hangars at the former RNAS Culham.

43012 passes Bruton on 5 August 1995 with the 1C15 08:35 Paddington to Paignton service. Some high ground to the south of the town gives an excellent view of trains passing the town's church. A clear view is also assured by there being a school sports field between the church and the railway.

The sun glints off the diverted 1B13 08:00 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service as it crosses the River Avon at Bradford-on-Avon on Sunday 9 January 2000 with 43012 leading. Not quite a perfect reflection in the water due to a slight breeze, but at least it is recognisable. The train has traveled via the Berks & Hants line, and taken the freight only Heywood Road Junction to Hawkeridge Junction chord near Westbury to head up the Avon Valley.

43012 comes off the Bradford-on-Avon line at Bradford South Junction (near Trowbridge) with the diverted 1A46 12:15 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service on 9 January 2000. The line diverging to the right leads to Melksham.

The blackthorn is in full bloom at Challow on 17 April 2010 as 43012 speeds past the site of the old station with the 1A13 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Although the station is long gone, business is booming on the site, with various new buildings having recently been built on the industrial estate. This view makes an interesting comparison to the same power car passing this spot over 26 years earlier.

A different perspective on a familiar photographic viewpoint. 43012 speeds underneath Circourt Bridge, near Denchworth with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service on 27 April 2010. The picture is taken from the little used footpath that runs between the villages of Denchworth and West Challow. Unfortunately, although the path is only a short distance from the road at Circourt, there is no public right of way linking directly to it.

43012 speeds past Little Somerford cemetery on 6 March 2012 with the 1B28 11:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. The cemetery is on the opposite of the line to the village. The train is just passing over the road underbridge that connects Little Somerford to Great Somerford.

43012 passes Hinksey Yard with the 1W07 17:22 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service on 16 April 2013. Forthcoming electrification will forever ruin this vantage point, which has always been a good spot to photograph northbound trains in the evening. It used to be even better years ago, when there wasn't anything in the yard to cast a shadow across the track!

A sunny evening at Radley on 23 April 2013. 43012 heads north with the 17:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill First Great Western service. This location is probably not visited very much, as it requires rather a long walk!

43012 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 22 July 2013 with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. After the blandness of June, at least now there is some colour variation to the greens in the landscape

43012 passes Compton Beauchamp on 10 September 2013 with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The reverse curves here show that Brunel's original Great Western Railway wasn't as totally direct as some people imagine.

43012 passes Bourton in superb light, which clearly isn't go to last long, on 30 October 2013. The train is the 1L32 06:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The white buildings in the distance belong to the Swindon Honda car plant.

43012 speeds past Uffington on 19 November 2013 with the 1C10 10:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Presumably this will be one photographic location that will survive the onslaught of the electrification masts - time will tell!

Abundant blackthorn blossom at Baulking on 16 April 2014, as 43012 passes through the overgrown cutting with the 1L50 10:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington First Great Western service. For a couple of weeks the blackthorn bush makes an interesting foreground, but for the rest of the year it is just in the way!

43012 emerges from Chipping Sodbury Tunnel on 10 July 2014 with the 1B46 14:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. Note the strange patchwork of different shades of paint above the windscreen.

The lookout man keeps a lookout, as 43012 passes the disused platforms of the former station a Shrivenham on 4 September 2014, as it heads towards London with the 1L48 09:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. 

43012 passes Farleaze (between Badminton and Hullavington) on 18 November 2014 with the 1L52 10:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The recently reconstructed bridge on the Sherston to Grittleton road can be seen in the background.

Yet another First Great Western (or GWR as they have now rebranded themselves) special liveried HST power car. 43012 leads the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington service past Denchworth on 28 September 2015. The ex-works power car is sporting 'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' vinyls, bit with out the white front end of the other the otherwise similar 43126.

No.12 pictured on the 12th! 43012 leads the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service past Compton Beauchamp on 12 October 2015. This is the second HST power car to have 'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' vinyls applied over the First Great Western blue livery. However, this one is not quite so easy to spot in the distance, as the white area does not extend underneath the nose area, unlike 43126. Had it been that one, it would have been immediately obvious as soon as it appeared underneath Ashbury Crossing bridge in the background, over a mile away!

'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' liveried 43012 leads the 1G21 09:36 Paddington to Cheltenham GWR service past Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 December 2015. Just a couple of days away from the shortest day, this is one of the few locations in the area (without a long walk across the fields!) that is free of shadows.

43012 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 20 January 2016 with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. It was certainly a morning for colourful HSTs coming from Swansea, as an hour earlier I had photographed 43172 Harry Patch - The last survivor of the trenches.

A couple of months into 2016 and 43012 is still sporting its 'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' vinyls. It is pictured passing the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 18 February 2016 with the 1B35 12:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Two piles for the forthcoming electrification can be seen poking out of the grass to the right of the first coach, while a third one lies discarded on the trackside.

It may be several years late, but the Great Western Mainline electrification scheme finally reached the iconic location of Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, in early spring 2016. 'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' liveried 43012 heads west with the 1B10 07:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service on 7 March 2016. Just a few masts have been erected, already spoiling the view compared with the scene just a couple of months earlier, when 43012 was previously photographed at the same spot.

43012 passes Challow on 21 March 2016 with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. Coincidentally, one other 'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' liveried power cars had also passed by, two and half hours earlier.

'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' liveried 43012 leads the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service past Baulking on 1 April 2016. The four steel piles visible here clearly indicates that this location is going to be totally ruined from a photographic point of view.

43012 Exeter Panel Signal Box 21st Anniversary 2009 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 February 2017 with the 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. 43012, which was formerly one of the power cars in the 'Bristol 2015' livery, now carries the name that was originally bestowed on 43163.

43012 Exeter Panel Signal Box 21st Anniversary 2009 passes Uffington on 22 September 2017 with the 1A09 07:13 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. The painfully slow electrification progress is evident here, with only the cross members and one return wire being added since I was last here in early May.

I was lucky to get this one in the sun! 43013 University of Bristol leads the 1V76 13:27 Leeds to Cardiff Central (via Bristol Parkway) InterCity service past Standish Junction on 22 August 1987. A scene very typical of the period, with executive liveried power cars sandwiching a complete rake of blue and grey stock.

Long before its days as the yellow buffer fitted power car that forms part of Network Rail's New Measurement Train, 43013 University of Bristol emerges from Wickwar Tunnel on 3 September 1987 with the 1V73 07:30 Aberdeen to Plymouth InterCity service.

Perfect reflections in the Oxford Canal at Heyford on 13 March 1995, as buffer fitted 43013 heads south with the 1O04 05:17 Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth InterCity service. Needless to say, due to Network Rail's total lack of lineside vegetation control, this viewpoint no longer exists.

Buffer fitted 43013 leads the 15:50 Exeter St Davids to Sheffield InterCity service across the River Avon at Eckington on 26 June 1995. On this occasion the Pentax 6x7 did not cause problems with uneven exposure at the very necessary 1/1000sec shutter speed used here. The clear blue sky would immediately show this up, usually by a much darker area near the right edge. A very irritating fault that would seemingly come and go at will!

400kV pylons follow the railway to the south of Newport, and form the backdrop to this view of 43013 CrossCountry Voyager passing Duffryn on 9 August 1998 with the 1V72 12:03 Leeds to Swansea Virgin CrossCountry service. It looks like driving a HST is thirsty work!

The Network Rail New Measurement Train passes Oakley on 16 August 2007 with 43013 leading. The bridge over the River Great Ouse can be seen in the background. I only visited this location once, and as it is now disfigured by overhead wires, i will not be going back!

43013 brings up the rear of the 1Z20 05:56 Old Oak Common to Derby (via Swansea) Network Rail New Measurement Train, as it passes Gossington on 5 March 2010 led by 43014. This wasn't the shot I had intended to take, but it was running early and I was taken by surprise. Not having enough time to swing round and take the conventional shot, I opted for this going away version, which of course because of the angle of the light is much better lit anyway!

The New Measurement Train made one of its regular appearances on the Cotswold Line on 15 July 2010. Viewed from the lofty Grintleyhill Bridge, near Combe, 43013 leads the 1Z15 09:00 Derby to Derby (via Oxford) test train towards its reversal point at Oxford North Junction. On a day of intermittent sunshine and heavy showers, I had hoped for either a sunlit shot (unlikely) or an atmospheric picture in heavy rain. As the train came in a drizzly period between downpours, I got neither!

Still looking clean after a recent repaint (note the red buffer beam), 43013 leads the New Measurement Train past Upper Heyford on 23 March 2011. Sister power car 43014 is hiding behind the tree at the rear of the train. The NMT's usual path over this line is an afternoon northbound run and a very late evening southbound trip. Therefore this working (1Q16 13:42 Derby RTC to Old Oak Common) was an ideal opportunity to get a picture in more favourable light.

43013 leads the New Measurement Train past Shorthampton on 17 July 2014 with the 1Q15 09:05 Derby RTC to Derby RTC (via Oxford). As Realtime Trains was showing the normal path for this HST working as cancelled, and replaced by an identically timed supposedly loco hauled working, I expected either a 31 or 37. It has been pointed out to me that this alteration may because on this occasion the formation includes some Mk 2 vehicles and the OHLM test coach (formerly Test Car 3 Mentor).

43013 sweeps round the curve at Tredington on 6 June 2018 with the 1Q16 03:15 Landore to Derby RTC New Measurement Train. Swansea is not that far from the Cheltenham area that this would require twelve hours for the journey. The train has of course been wandering, visiting Tenby, Pembroke Dock, Fishguard, Milford Haven and Haverfordwest.

43013 Mark Carne CBE negotiates the reverse curves at Chalford on 3 September 2019 with the 1Q15 06:50 Derby RTC to Swansea (via a reversal at Swindon) Network Rail New Measurement Train. 43062 John Armitt is bringing up the rear.

43013 Mark Carne CBE passes Oaksey on 21 January 2020 with the 1Q15 06:50 Derby RTC to Swansea (via a reversal at Swindon) Network Rail New Measurement Train. 43014 The Railway Observer is bringing up the rear. It had actually left Derby at 08:00, but this 70 minutes delay had been more than halved by the time it got to this point.

43013 Mark Carne CBE passes Up Hatherley in a brief period of unexpected weak sunshine on 24 July 2020, as it heads north with the 1Z20 04:10 Reading to Derby RTC (via Swansea) Network Rail New Measurement Train, As usual, 43062 John Armitt is bringing up the rear.

Buffer fitted 43014 runs along the up relief line at South Moreton (Didcot East) on a bitterly cold 11 December 1991 with the 1O09 08:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole 'Pines Express'. 43014 was one of two HST power cars that were fitted with buffers for surrogate DVT use at Derby, the other being 43123. The remainder of the conversions (43013, 43065, 43067, 43068, 43080 & 43084) were undertaken at Stratford.

43014 speeds round the reverse curves at Tackley on 27 March 1993 with the 1O10 08:40 Newcastle to Bournemouth service. Just a trace of weak sunshine illuminates the scene, although only in the foreground - note the dark fields in the background.

With buttercups in the fields, and hawthorn blossom in the hedges and lineside bushes, buffer fitted 43014 passes Kings Sutton on 19 May 1998 with the 1E42 16:20 Bournemouth to Leeds Virgin CrossCountry service.

43014 passes Stenson Junction on 22 May 2001 with the 1V49 06:40 Dundee to Penzance 'Cornishman'. The following year, 43014 (along with 43013 & 43062) would leave the Virgin CrossCountry fleet, and acquire the all over yellow livery of Network Rail's New Measurement Train.

43014 passes through Kemble station on 5 June 2008 with the 1Z22 06:48 Derby to Cheltenham (via Hereford and Swindon) Network Rail New Measurement Train. Running 30 minutes early, it has just traversed the single track section from Swindon in a just about adequate gap in the timetable, instead of the easier path it would have had if running to the correct time. Note that the little used siding on the left is obviously sufficiently useful to have been re-laid in the last few years.

On a very dull 15 January 2009, 43014 speeds through Charlbury station with the 1Z15 09:00 Derby to Derby Network Rail New Measurement Train, with 43062 John Armitt bringing up the rear. The train has just reversed at Oxford as is following right behind the 11:22 Paddington to Great Malvern First Great Western service. Any delay would mean the 12:06 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington train would have to be held at Ascott-under-Wychwood while this special clears the single line. Luckily there were no problems this time as it was running exactly to time

43014 leads the New Measurement Train past Grintleyhill Bridge, Combe on 15 July 2010 with the 1Z15 09:00 Derby to Derby (via Oxford) test train. Combe station is just out of sight around the corner, behind the bushes. Although lineside vegetation has restricted the angle of view possible, this occupation bridge still provides excellent views in either direction.

43014 The Railway Observer brings up the rear of the 1Q16 16:14 Derby RTC to Old Oak Common Network Rail test train at Kings Sutton on 4 May 2016. 43062 John Armitt is leading. Note the newly applied 'Improving Your Railway' wording. Why do they have to keep telling us that?

43014 The Railway Observer approaches Joan Croft Junction at full speed on 2 October 2017 with the 1Z07 10:10 York to Derby RTC Network Rail test train. Classmate 43062 John Armitt is on the rear. Although there seems to be a just few small clouds in this scene, there were in fact many much larger ones behind me, and it was fortunate that this came in one of the ever diminishing sunny spells. Eggborough Power Station can just be seen in the distance.

43014 The Railway Observer leads the 1Q16 03:15 Landore to Derby RTC Network Rail test train past Defford on 25 October 2017. Classmate 43013 is on the rear. This was very nearly ruined by thick smoke from a bonfire drifting across the railway. Luckily (although not for road users) it had started to drift across the road instead just as this came along.

43014 The Railway Observer passes Badgeworth on 2 February 2018 with the 1Z20 05:09 Reading Triangle Sidings to Derby RTC Network Rail test train, with 43062 John Armitt bringing up the rear. If you are familiar with this location, you will know how busy the road is. I was having to keep a very careful eye on the approaching traffic, as a quick dash over the road was required, as 66751 Inspiration Delivered - Hitachi Rail Europe was approaching from the other direction!

43014 The Railway Observer passes Oaksey on 3 July 2018 with the 1Q15 06:39 Derby RTC to Landore Network Rail Measurement Train. 43062 John Armitt is on the rear. The train had just reversed at Swindon. Note the slight variation in colour between the two power cars and the coaches. 

43014 The Railway Observer passes Church Fenton in torrential rain on 27 July 2019 with the 1Q23 08:30 Derby RTC to Heaton Network Rail test train. This was booked to stop for 18 minutes here, but it was already running ten minutes early, and just carried straight on.

43014 The Railway Observer passes Burnmouth on 16 September 2019 with the 1Q26 10:38 Heaton to Newcastle (via Edinburgh and Glasgow) Network Rail test train. 43062 John Armitt is on the rear. This was a very lucky picture, as I hadn't checked what was running until I arrived at the location. I then discovered that this was just a few minutes away.

Having just reversed at Swindon, the 1Q15 06:50 Derby RTC to Swansea Network Rail New Measurement Train passes Oaksey for the second time on 21 January 2020, this time with 43014 The Railway Observer leading, and 43013 Mark Carne CBE at the rear.

A very brief and unexpected burst of sunshine on 7 June 1980 provides dramatic lighting for 43015 as it speeds eastwards at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 09:45 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington service. This wider than usual view of what is now a well known viewpoint shows that in the 1980s there were trees on both sides of the line. These had grown up around small ponds, which were themselves remnants of quarries used to provide material for the bridge embankment, when it replaced the former level crossing.

43015 passes Abbotswood on 6 July 1985 with the 14:06 York to Penzance service. This mismatch of liveries between the power cars and coaches was very common at the time, in fact it almost seemed that it was more common than complete trains in one colour!

43015 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 25 April 1986 with the 1B30 13:00 Paddington to Swansea service. Note the unusual silver louvers in one section of the roof mounted air intake grilles. I'm not sure what the bright orange fence in the field was for, but luckily from a photographic point of view, it was only there for a few months.

43015 passes the site of Honeybourne South Loop Junction and starts the long climb up Campden Bank with the 13:14 Great Malvern to Paddington 'Cotswold & Malvern Express' on 25 April 1987. At the time this and the earlier balancing working were the only HST services on the Cotswold Line. However, this was all to change just a couple of weeks later when HSTs took over from Class 47s & 50s on the morning and evening peak trains.

43015 passes Compton Beauchamp on 16 May 1988 with the 1C68 18:05 Paddington to Taunton service. Note the lack of any exhaust or heat haze above the leading power car. This is because it was not working, and the train was being pushed from the rear by the back power car. I thought something was amiss when I realised that it wasn't approaching at the usual 125mph. I have only seen HSTs running on a single power car on a few occasions, and mostly it seemed to be the rear power car that had shut down. No doubt nowadays this train would just have been cancelled!

43015 passes Shottesbrooke on 29 October 1989 with the 1A17 08:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. Note the non-standard yellow horn grille, which was applied to a small number of InterCity liveried power cars.

43015 passes Feeder Bridge Junction, Bristol on 10 April 1997 with the 1C42 14:15 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads Great Western Trains service. The feeder canal links the River Avon with Bristol Harbour, and was once a busy industrial waterway.

43015 catches the last of the afternoon sun on 2 November 2006 as it speeds past Uffington with the 1C19 15:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. This was shortly before a lofty communications mast was erected here, completely spoiling this photographic viewpoint.

The last rays of the setting sun illuminate 43015 as it heads west past South Marston on 11 December 2007 with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The appalling condition of the paintwork shows that its call to Brush for refurbishment can not come a moment too soon. In fact it left for Loughborough just a few days later. Note the unusual short formation of just six coaches.

43015 speeds past Baulking with the 1G38 13:48 Paddington to Cheltenham First Great Western service on 24 March 2009. Even in 2009, long after the rest of the fleet received their new colours, the catering vehicle in many FGW sets still retains the old livery, as can be seen near the rear of the train here. Although only a partly sunny day, for once the trains conspired to arrive in the sunny periods and it was also noticeable how much better the light was than the hazy light during the previous weeks period of settled high pressure

Rosebay Willowherb flowers on the recently cleared course of the former down goods loop at Wolvercote on 22 July 2012, as 43015 slows down prior to taking the Cotswold Line route at Wolvercote Junction, with the 1W08 17:42 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service.

43015 passes Compton Beauchamp on 3 May 2013 with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. This was clearly a very late spring, with most of the blackthorn bushes still in bloom, and very few leaves on the other trees.

A beautiful spring day at Compton Beauchamp on 24 March 2014. 43015 heads towards London with the 1A09 07:13 Taunton to Paddington First Great Western service. I was making the most of this location, as it was shortly to be desecrated by the installation of overhead catenary, although luckily as far as photography is concerned, several years behind schedule.

Springtime at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth. 43015 heads westwards with the 1B40 13:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service on 15 April 2014. A pity the set wasn't the other way round, as then the Singapore Airlines advertising 43163 would be leading.

On 29 July 2014, 43015 leads the 1P26 06:42 Hereford to Paddington First Great Western service off the double track line at Cornbury Park, Charlbury, and onto the long single track section to Wolvercote Junction. Although sections of the Cotswold Line were redoubled in 2011, this bottleneck still remains, at least for the present.

43015 approaches Steventon on 9 December 2015 with the 1A12 07:40 Paignton to Paddington GWR service. The partially ploughed field makes an interesting foreground, and the birch coppice provides an ideal background.

Superb early morning winter light at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 December 2015. 43015 heads towards London with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. This location, which I have known since the early 1970s, would soon be ruined by the installation of overhead line equipment.

Not a picture I would normally take, with a bush partly in the way, and on a dull day. However, the superb display of blackthorn blossom in the foreground makes up for the other shortcomings. 43015 passes Churchill Heath on 21 April 2016 with the 1W25 12:21 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service.

43015 takes the Swindon line at Standish Junction on 12 October 2016 with the diverted 1L71 14:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. Clearly at this time of day only trains on the Swindon line are photographable, although that is only partly the result of the cutting. Years ago, before all the bushes grew up, the sun stayed in the cutting much longer into the afternoon.

Gantries, but no wires at Challow on 20 January 2017. 43015 heads westwards with the 1B40 13:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. At least this spot will still be relatively clutter free once the wires go up.

43015 passes Undy on 7 October 2018 with the 1B28 11:33 Paddington to Carmarthen GWR service. This was running exactly on time, something I haven't come to expect from GWR. Then again, this is a Sunday, and it's not on the Cotswold Line!

Well worth the long walk across the fields from the car! 43015 passes Churchill Heath Wood on 22 October 2018 with the 1P31 12:09 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Ever since the lineside vegetation was completely blitzed along good sections of the Cotswold Line during the summer of 2018, I have been waiting for a suitable cloud free day to photograph this train here. Although all the lineside undergrowth has been removed, and the location is more open than I can ever remember it, there is still a tall hedge on the left that would cause shadow problems for a later train.

43016 races through Didcot station on 27 February 1982 with just a barrier coach in tow. HSTs power cars working on their own like this seemed to get progressively less common over the years, and although never an everyday occurrence, I did manage to photograph two such workings in 1982. 

In a welcome patch of sun, 43016 speeds past Berkley on 21 February 1987 with the late running 10:10 Paddington to Plymouth InterCity service. Unfortunately, this once excellent viewpoint has now been completely ruined by a large communications mast and associated equipment box being positioned right in the foreground.

43016 climbs out of the Severn Tunnel, and passes Pilning on 13 March 1989 with the 1E33 12:06 Cardiff Central to York service. This picture is particularly interesting as it show three different HST liveries in one train. 43016 is wearing the InterCity Executive livery, which debuted in 1983, while all the coaches are still in the original blue and grey colour scheme. To complete the picture, the rear power car is wearing the then brand new InterCity Swallow livery, which had been introduced less than two years earlier.

43016 passes Waltham St Lawrence on 8 April 1990 with the 1A10 07:10 Cardiff Central to Paddington service. The main lines were closed for Sunday engineering works, so the train is running on the up relief line. This was fortunate, in view of the shadow on the left!

43016 passes Stonehouse on 25 April 1990 with the 06:33 Newcastle to Weston-super-Mare InterCity service. Note the rusting sidings of the former Stonehouse coal depot, which had closed a few years earlier. On my last visit the sidings were still there, but now totally engulfed in vegetation, which has effectively ruined this viewpoint.

43016 Gŵyl Gerddi Cymru 1992 / Garden Festival Wales 1992 passes Shrivenham on 17 January 1994 with the 1C34 12:15 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service. Back in the 1990s nobody thought that the Great Western Mainline would ever be electrified, and we all assumed that the only thing that would spoil views like this would be increased lineside vegetation!

Springtime at Kemble. 43016 arrives at the station on 21 May 1996 with the 1B46 17:03 Paddington to Cheltenham service. The Grade II listed station building, and fine display of flowering shrubs make a perfect background. Despite the fact that there is nobody visible in this picture, the station is very well used, with passenger usage approaching 400,000 per annum.

A reminder of just how stylish the original Great Western Trains livery was. 43016 sweeps round the curve at Great Cheverell on 9 April 1999 with the 1C40 13:35 Paddington to Taunton service. The many curves on the 'Berks & Hants' route means that the HSTs cannot fully exploit their 125mph top speed, as they can on the Bristol line, but they have still been the staple power on the route since the 1980s.

43016 Peninsula Medical School passes Shrivenham on 27 October 2003 with the 1C39 13:45 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. At this time I was still using film, alongside digital, this being the former. Pentax 6x7, 200mm lens, Fujichrome Provia 400 film, 1/1000sec f8.

With the sun trying to break through and clear the early morning mist, 43016 Peninsula Medical School sweeps round the curve at Crofton with the 1A84 05:05 Penzance to Paddington First Great Western service on 21 July 2006. 43016's name was unveiled at Plymouth station on 14 August 2002 by Professor John Tooke, Dean of the Peninsula Medical School.

43016 Peninsula Medical School swings round the curve at Kintbury on 2 April 2007 with the 1C85 13:05 Paddington to Plymouth First Great Western service. The grassy bank in the foreground is a narrow strip of land between the railway and the Kennet & Avon Canal.

Two modes of transport at Little Bedwyn with (theoretically) a 121 mph difference in top speed. 43016 heads east alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal at Little Bedwyn on 25 June 2010 with the 1A73 05:46 Exeter St Davids to Paddington First Great Western service. While the HST has a top speed of 125 mph (although not on this stretch of line), users of Britain's canals have to make do with an upper limit of 4 mph!

43016 arrives at Kemble on 9 January 2011 with the 1L54 11:25 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. Normally Sunday trains on this route would be purely local Cheltenham to Swindon DMUs, but on this occasion the closure of the Severn Tunnel for signaling work had upgraded the local trains to diverted HST services.

The oilseed rape is in full flower at Bruern on 25 May 2012, as 43016 heads southwards with the 1P26 06:44 Hereford to Paddington 'Cathedrals Express'. First Great Western's blue livery can look very plain at times, but it certainly makes a bold contrast with the mass of yellow in this view.

43016 passes Baulking on 5 July 2013 with the 1B46 14:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. The white blossom on the lineside vegetation indicates that there is going to be a bumper crop of blackberries for the local bird population in a couple of month's time.

Immaculately clean 43016 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 26 February 2014 with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service, while the 1G21 09:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa train can be seen disappearing into the distance.

43016 races past the site of Challow station on 27 February 2014 with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington First Great Western service. Unfortunately this view will be ruined by the forthcoming electrification, as the catenary needed to span four tracks is sure to be extremely visually intrusive.

With Swindon in the background still completely enveloped in fog, 43016 passes a sunny Bourton on 1 July 2014 with the 1A03 06:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Only during mid summer is it possible to get sunlit shots on the north side of the line at this location.

43016 leads the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service past Grove on 14 July 2014. This photo is taken from Cow Lane bridge, which is on what was once a road (of sorts!) between the villages of Grove and East Hanney.

It's sunny here, but it clearly isn't a few miles to the west, although the cooling tower at Didcot Power Station (on the far right) seems to be in the sun. 43016 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 February 2014 with the 1B48 15:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service.

The Vale of White Horse! 43016 speeds past one of the resident horses at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 1 October 2015 with the 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. Obviously it would be a simple matter to cheat with Photoshop, but there was no need here, as the horse was ideally positioned as the train passed.

A green and blue livery combination at Kennington on 9 September 2017. 43016 heads south with the 1P26 06.17 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. The gardens of Kennington's houses back on to the line on the left, whereas there are open fields on the right.

43016 passes Upper Moor on 25 November 2017 with the 1P51 12:13 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. I wouldn't normally take such a head on shot, but I couldn't resist the superb autumn colours in this view.

Two years after GWR unveiled their dark green livery, mismatched sets are now seemingly more common than complete HSTs in one colour. Green 43016 leads an almost complete blue rake past Challow on 28 November 2017. Only the last coach is in the green colour scheme. The train is the 1L32 06:58 Swansea to Paddington service.

43016 passes Oaksey on 3 July 2018 with the late running 1G47 15:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. This was just five minutes behind the even later running diverted 1B48 15:15 Paddington to Swansea, coincidentally led by consecutively numbered 43017.

91¼ miles to go, and already running 29 minutes late! 43016 accelerates away from Moreton-in-Marsh on 25 September 2018 with the 1P18 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. The train eventually arrived in London 40 minutes behind time. Unfortunately this kind of late running has become the norm on the Cotswold Line in 2018, and GWR really need to get their act together and do something about this appalling level of service. It's no use them blaming the HSTs for being unreliable, as these delays frequently affect their new Class 800 DMUs as well.

A wave from the driver of 43016, as it passes the former oil depot at Flax Bourton with the 2U14 11:12 Taunton to Cardiff Central GWR service on 27 May 2021. Passengers on this route have the luxury of a decent travelling experience, rather than the hard seats and general poor quality ambience of GWR's IET fleet. Visible on the extreme left is the extremely busy Bristol to Nailsea Sustrans route 33 cycleway.

43016 Powderham Castle passes Lympsham on 26 March 2022 with the 2C67 08:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance GWR service. You may have to suffer with uncomfortable seats on most GWR trains nowadays, but at least from Wales to the West Country there is still some quality traction!

A vintage scene at Challow on 12 August 1980. 43017 passes the redundant platforms of the long closed station with the 08:18 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington service. The lorry body from the nearby scrap yard leaves no doubt as to the location, while apart from the removal of the station building, not a lot else has changed since the days of steam. As the loops were also removed, there was no need to demolish the platforms, so both still remain totally intact here, passenger less and growing a good crop of grass. Note also the range of railway related buildings and huts at the back of the former coal yard.

43017 leads the 1A31 07:55 Swansea to Paddington service past Bourton on 18 November 1984. Apart from the rear power car, the entire train is in the original livery, which even today still looks smart and modern. I hope that when they finally reach the end of their life, at least one set is repainted into this iconic colour scheme by which ever operator is still using them. By that time I expect the blinkered attitude of many enthusiasts towards these fine trains may well have softened, and I expect we will see the usual chasing around for pictures of the last ones by people who have hitherto ignored them! Personally I would rather see a well lit picture of a HST (especially in this livery), than yet another picture of a Class 66 hauled freight in rubbish light.

43017 HTV West leaves Moreton-in-Mash station on Monday 11 May 1987 with the first HST worked 'Cathedrals Express'. Up until the previous week this train had been loco hauled, either with a Class 47 or 50. From the timetable change the train's point of origin had also changed, it now being the 1A17 06:20 Cwmbran to Paddington. I wonder if anyone ever travelled from Cwmbran to London, via the long way round of Hereford, Worcester and Oxford?

43017's ex-works livery is slightly marred by the addition of a dead pigeon on the front end. It is arriving at Swindon on 15 July 1989 with the 09:30 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington service. The track curving away to the right in front of the train is the route to Gloucester via the 'Golden Valley'. Somebody already seems to have an argument with the newly installed one way system sign!

43017 passes the disused and overgrown Malago Vale Carriage Sidings on 21 September 1990, as it approaches Bristol with the 1E40 08:35 Paignton to Newcastle service. Unfortunately I never visited this location when the sidings were in use.

43017 arrives at Swindon on 28 October 1992 with the 1A31 09:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service, passing 37888 Petrolea which is stabled between duties. Note the way the red band has been almost completely worn away on the front of the power car.

Prior to electrification, there used to be an uninterrupted view from the north side of the line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on summer evenings. With the recently reconstructed Denchworth Road Bridge in the background, and the newly installed relief lines freshly ballasted, 43017 heads west on 28 June 1994 with the 1B56 18:03 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa service.

Just how much lineside vegetation has been allowed to grow at certain railway locations is exemplified here, in the formerly completely open cutting between Uffington (now invisible behind the bushes) and Baulking. 43017 speeds past with the 11:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service on 26 April 2007. For an indication of what this spot was like 27 years previously, have a look at 43039. Although not taken from quite the same angle (impossible now!), the two small trees on the right and the large tree in the background identify the location.

43017 passes Ruscombe with the 06:48 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington 'Bristolian' First Great Western service on 17 April 2008. Even though all FGW's power cars and the vast majority of coaches have been refurbished, there are still instances of catering vehicles in the old (relatively speaking!) livery, such as the third coach in this train. In early spring 2008 numerous trees were felled in the cutting at Ruscombe, opening up the view considerably and highlighting the new spring growth on the few remaining bushes.

Profuse blackthorn blossom at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 15 April 2014. 43017 leads the 1L51 10:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service eastwards in the warm spring sunshine. The last spring before the wires go up and ruin the location forever.

A Cotswold Line First Great Western meeting on the sunny morning of 7 August 2015. 43017 Hannahs discoverhannahs.org leads the 1P26 06:42 Hereford to Paddington past Chilson, while 180108 with the 1W12 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern disappears into the distance. This location was single track from 1971 until 2011, with up trains often having to be held at Ascott-under-Wychwood (behind the trees in the background), waiting for a late running down train to clear the long single track section from Wolvercote Junction.

Menacing skies at Denchworth on 9 October 2015, as 43017 Hannahs discoverhannahs.org speeds westwards with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Surprisingly, the dramatic lighting lasted quite a while.

43017 Hannahs discoverhannahs.org approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on the frosty morning of 5 January 2017 with the1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. 'Bristol 2015 European Green Capital' liveried 43126 brings up the rear.

43017 Hannahs discoverhannahs.org passes Lyneham on 18 April 2018 with the 1W02 17:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. This is history repeating itself, as in 2018 I am taking every opportunity to photograph HSTs on the Cotswold Line before they disappear forever, whereas three decades earlier I was doing the same thing with Class 50s!

43017 Hannahs discoverhannahs.org passes the recently cleared section of the Cotswold Line near Stonesfield on 30 April 2018 with the 1W02 17:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. Near the rear of the train the course of the Roman Akeman Street crosses the line. The large Roman Snails (Helix pomatia) are still plentiful in the area, over 1600 years after the Romans left!

Running 33 minutes late, 43017 Hannahs discoverhannahs.org passes Oaksey on 3 July 2018 with the diverted 1B48 15:15 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Five minutes behind it was 43016 with the 1G47 15:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa service.

The new year dawns, and 2019 sees just one HST diagram covering the Gloucester to Swindon 'Golden Valley' line. This involves two out and back trips from London to Paddington. With frost still on the grass on the east side of the cutting, 43017 Hannahs discoverhannahs.org passes Standish Junction on 2 January 2019 with the 1L50 10:36 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service.

43018 leads the 1A03 15:05 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington service past Keynsham on 14 May 1988. Just visible through the heat haze in the background is the world famous Somerdale Fry's (later Cadburys) chocolate factory. Controversially, this closed in 2007, with production being moved to Poland.

43018 arrives at Oxford station on 27 May 1989 with the 1A13 06:09 Hereford to Paddington InterCity service. The old water tower in the background is virtually all that remained at the time of Oxford's former steam shed (81F).

On 23 July 1993 the 1/2000 sec top shutter speed on my Canon F1 was needed to freeze 43018 as it sped through Patchway station with the 13:32 Swansea to Paddington service. It would shortly be turning left at Patchway Junction with the next stop Bristol Parkway. The signal with the feathers indicating the various routes at this junction can just be seen in the background. Although undoubtedly very smart when newly applied, the InterCity 'Swallow' livery was very prone to weathering on the front of HSTs, as seen here.

43018 is nearing journey's end on 26 March 1994, as it passes the karting track at Hayle with the 1C36 12:35 Paddington to Penzance InterCity service. The train is just starting to slow down for the stop at St Erth, its final calling point before Penzance.

With an unintentional yet perfectly balanced livery combination of Great Western power cars and central coach separated by three InterCity liveried vehicles, 43018 leads the 18:20 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express' Great Western Trains service past lines of decaying civil engineers wagons at Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) on 22 June 1998. Very soon after this picture was taken the virtually moribund Hinksey Yard was to be revitalised, becoming a large 'Virtual quarry' ballast dump.

43018 The Red Cross passes Baulking with the 1B46 14:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service on 12 October 2006. This was during one of the many periods of livery transition, with most of the train in the second version of FGW's purple livery, but with three coaches scattered throughout the length of the train in the next version of their corporate colours.

43018 passes the snow covered fields at the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, as it heads towards Wales on 7 January 2010 with the 1B35 12:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service.

43018 passes a very snowy Hinksey Yard on 9 January 2010 with the late running 1W29 11:21 Paddington to Great Malvern First Great Western service. Just one train seems to have used the yard since the snow fell three days previously, as can be seen by the clear line of rails on the right.

One of my favourite Great Western Mainline locations before the wires went up a few years later and completely obliterated the view. 43018 passes Bourton on16 September 2013 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service.

43018 passes Challow on 10 October 2013 with the 1L32 06:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. What a pity that this set wasn't the other way round, as the much more interesting white liveried Hewlett Packard power car 43148 is on the rear.

43018 passes Hay Lane (near Swindon) on 10 July 2014 with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The livery may be bland, but at least FGW keep their trains clean (on the outside at least)!

43018 comes out of the shadows and into the crisp winter light at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 3 December 2014. It is heading west with the 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service.

43018 passes signs of the forthcoming route electfrication (and loss of this viewpoint!) at Lower Basildon on 30 March 2015, as it heads towards London with the 1A16 07:41 Penzance to Paddington (via Bristol) First Great Western service.

43018 passes Brimslade in soft spring light on 8 April 2015 with the late running 1A82 11:30 Paignton to Paddington First Great Western service. The Berks & Hants line parallels the Kennet & Avon Canal for a considerable distance. It is just out of sight behind the bushes on the right.

43018 races through Appleford station on 30 June 2015 with the 1P63 17:01 Oxford to Paddington First Great Western service. Note the extreme weathering of the bricks on the bridge's parapet, and also what appears to be a slight dip in the centre of the arch.

43018 arrives at Charlbury station on 24 May 2016 with the 1P21 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington GWR service. Despite being extended a few years earlier, Charlbury's up platform is still not long enough to accommodate a full HST.

Very nearly the end of one of my favourite photographic locations. The masts are up, and the wires will soon follow at Compton Beauchamp on 5 July 2017. 43018 speeds westwards with the 1B63 17:15 Paddington to Carmarthen GWR service.

'Each A Glimpse' (with apologies to Colin Gifford). 43018 passes the flowering hawthorn bushes at Ascott-under-Wychwood on 14 May 2018, as it heads up the Cotswold Line with the 1W02 17:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. I was keen to try this more pictorial view here, especially with the abundant blossom, and nice evening light. The only problem was the very small gap, with no margin for error in firing the shutter. 1/2000sec shutter speed and some good luck secured the picture!

Running 25 minutes late, 43018 passes Oaksey at speed on 15 May 2018 with the 1G60 17:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. Recent vegetation clearance has revealed that this location would at one time have been obstructed by a telegraph pole. Note the stump lurking in the grass in the foreground.

Two modern ugly intrusions on the landscape, and one iconic design classic at Steventon on 6 June 2018. The overhead catenary and the hideous galvanised palisade fence do their best to spoil the view, as 43018 races towards the capital with the 1A12 07:48 Paignton to Paddington GWR service.

Into 2019, and most trains on the Great Western Mainline are now Class 800 bi-mode units. Holding out for the old order is 43018, seen here passing Challow on 4 January 2019 with the 1A18 12:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. Note the mix of blue and green coaches.

43018 passes Lower Moor on 30 January 2019 with the 1W27 13:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. This was running 24 minutes late, and was terminated a little short of its destination, at Worcester's other station, Shrub Hill. The impressive cloud formation in the background proves that I was obviously stood in the right spot, as the only really cloud free area of sky was luckily just where the low winter sun was!

43019 pulls away from an unexplained signal stop at Denchworth on a very rainy 21 May 1983. It is working the 1A85 15:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. Virtually everything in this picture has now changed. The line is now four tracks, and the two signals have been replaced by a large gantry. Circourt Bridge, visible in the background, has been replaced by a much more visually intrusive structure, and even 43019 is no more, having been written off in the Ufton Nervet accident in 2004.

43019 heads east from Didcot and approaches South Moreton on 1 December 1983 with the late running 12:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. A very ordinary scene at the time, but there is added significance to the picture now, as this is one of the HST power cars that has been withdrawn due to accident damage. It was involved in the fatal level crossing crash at Ufton Nervet in November 2004, and was subsequently scrapped at Sims Metals, Beeston. Note that in 1983 it still carried its (by then abandoned) set number 253009.

43019 approaches Cheltenham on 21 August 1985 with the 07:00 Plymouth to Newcastle InterCity service. This was nearly two years after the introduction of the InterCity 'Executive' livery, but the pace of repainting was slow, and only the rear power car in this set has been repainted. 43019 was written off in the tragic level crossing incident at Ufton Nervet in November 2004.

With the northern suburbs of Bath in the background, 43019 heads towards London at Bathampton on a very dull Sunday 1 September 1985. The train is the 1A17 10:45 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington. This power car was written off in the tragic level crossing incident at Ufton Nervet in November 2004.

43019 brings up the rear of the 1E30 07:00 Plymouth to Newcastle service at Barton-under-Needwood on 2 November 1985. This became the third HST power car to be written off, when it was involved in the tragic level crossing incident at Ufton Nervet in November 2004.

The ill fated 43019 leads the 1A11 10:05 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service past South Moreton (Didcot East) on 8 November 1986. This power car was written off in the tragic level crossing accident at Ufton Nervet in November 2004. Coincidentally, I had also photographed 43019 at this same location three years previously.

43019 passes Shottesbrooke on 14 June 1987 with the 1A28 10:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. It is running along the relief line due to Sunday engineering works in the area. This power car was written off in the level crossing incident at Ufton Nervet in November 2004.

43019 Dinas Abertawe / City of Swansea passes Coates on 4 October 1987 with the 1B34 14:50 Paddington to Cheltenham service. 43019 carried the Dinas Abertawe / City of Swansea name between May 1987 and June 1989. The plates were then removed, but reapplied in June 1991.

How's this for a spooky coincidence. 43019 was written off in a terrible accident at Ufton Nervet level crossing in November 2004. Fourteen years earlier I took this picture of it at the very same location. On 3 March 1990 it worked the 09:40 Paddington to Plymouth service, and is pictured here passing the location of its eventual destruction.

43019 Dinas Abertawe / City of Swansea approaches Wolvercote Junction on 18 July 1994 with the 1B58 18:20 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express'. I doubt if you would be able to take a picture here now with the Oxford ring road in the background so totally free of traffic!

Unlucky 19! 43019 Dinas Abertawe / City of Swansea was written off in the Ufton Nervet accident in 2004. Nearly a decade earlier, it is pictured here approaching Corsham on 20 April 1995 with the 1C38 13:15 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service.

I seem to have photographed ill fated 43019 Dinas Abertawe / City of Swansea several times at South Moreton (Didcot East) over the years. This occasion, on 28 October 2003, was the last, as it was involved in the Ufton Nervet level crossing crash the following year. The train is the 1A11 09:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service.

43020 slowly leads the 1A43 11:57 Cardiff Central to Paddington service from the up line onto the down line via the crossover at Bourton on 16 February 1984. It will now proceed 'wrong line' as far as Uffington. The Great Western Mainline is fully bi-directionally signaled, but this is one of the few times that I have seen it in use. The up line was closed for emergency repairs after a freight train derailment the previous day between the site of Knighton Crossing and Uffington. The fog had just started to lift, leaving all the trees and bushes covered in ice.

As HSTs were built specifically for long distance high speed work, obviously most trains that they operated ran with a 1xxx headcode, indicating express passenger. However, there were a few 2xxx local workings, usually run as fill in turns. One such was the 2B11 07:07 Bristol Temple Meads to Cheltenham Spa service in the late 1980s. It is pictured here, passing Quedgeley on 6 May 1988, with 43020 leading.

43020 leads the 1E28 06:56 Cardiff Central to Newcastle service past Ashchurch on 6 May 1989. It's transition time here, with several new industrial buildings being constructed on the right. However, it would be some years before Ashchurch station would be rebuilt, the site being between the end of the relief line, and the MoD siding in the background.

43020 descends towards the Severn Tunnel at Pilning on 22 July 1990 with the 09:20 Newcastle to Swansea service. The single first class vehicle at the front of the train marks this out as one of the few cross-country trains passing this way. The more numerous trains from Paddington had two such vehicles.

A very unusual event occurred on 30 October 1991, when the rear power car of the 1A54 09:45 Penzance to Paddington 'Cornishman' failed prior to departure from Penzance. As this was in the days when every effort was made to runs trains, rather than just canceling them, the train was sent on its way with just the leading power car. To make it more unusual, Royal Mail red liveried BG 92339 was added to the rear of the train, in place of the defunct power car! 43020 is pictured here passing Norton Fitzwarren, with the red interloper clearly visible at the back. Unsurprisingly this was running 25 minutes late, but that's not too bad, considering that the single power car had to cope with the ferocious Hemerdon and Dainton Banks.

43020 John Grooms approaches Wolvercote Junction on 13 June 1994 with the 1B48 17:10 Paddington to Hereford service. The loco had been name the previous year by the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. John Grooms was a Victorian philanthropist and social reformer.

43020 John Grooms passes Corsham on 20 April 1995 with the 1A53 13:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington InterCity service. Note the eight coach formation, with half of the vehicles having first class accommodation.

With all but one vehicle in the attractive Great Western Trains livery, 43020 John Grooms leads the 1C24 08:00 Paddington to Penzance service past Lympsham on 20 September 1998. Unfortunately this colour scheme soon got changed into First Great Western's 'fag packet' livery.

Due to chasing the last loco hauled passengers trains around the country in 2002, I have unfortunately got very few pictures of First Great Western HSTs in this short lived livery with the white area around the front end. So although technically not brilliant (35mm Fujichrome), here is a picture of 43020 John Grooms in a little weak sun at Starcross on 29 June 2002. It is working the 1C27 11:30 Paddington to Penzance 'Royal Duchy'.

43020 John Grooms speeds past Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service on 8 September 2005. Although seemingly an everyday scene, such is the pace of change with First Great Western's liveries, that to get a complete train in one colour scheme can sometimes be something of a challenge, as it seems that no sooner do they get the whole fleet repainted into one colour scheme than they launch yet another variation!

43020 passes the footpath crossing near the site of Uffington station on 14 April 2008 with the 1L36 08:31 Cheltenham to Paddington First Great Western service. The wide trackbed here which marks the site of the former freight loops is already being invaded by the inevitable bramble bushes. No doubt Railtrack would like to close this little used footpath, which incidentally crosses a much earlier form of transport a short distance further on - the disused Wilts & Berks Canal.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership approaches Radley on 31 August 2012 with the 1P26 06:44 Hereford to Paddington 'Cathedrals Express'. At least First Great Western continue to name this service, although no HST has ever carried a 'Cathedrals Express' headboard.

A large clump of teasels adds some foreground interest to this picture of 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passing Knighton on 20 April 2013 with the 1C13 12:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership races past Compton Beauchamp on 16 July 2013 with the 1C14 12:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Only in high summer is the shadow from the tree almost clear of the track.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Challow on 19 December 2013 with the 1B31 12:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. In preparation for the forthcoming electrification, the lineside vegetation has been removed here, opening up the view nicely. This leaves just a short window of opportunity to get some pictures before the dreaded masts go up.

Easily recognised from a distance by virtue of its large white backed nameplate, 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 26 February 2014 with the 1A13 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership pulls out of Oxford station on 1 April 2015 with the 1P24 08:07 Oxford to Paddington First Great Western service. The orange stripe on the left side of the loco's cab is not some dodgy Photoshop processing, but the reflection of the large red brick building that is just off to the left of the picture.

The early morning sun illuminates Didcot Power Station's three remaining cooling towers on 28 April 2015, as 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership leads the 1L05 03:52 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service past an oilseed rape field near Cholsey. At least this viewpoint should still be available after electrification, although of course by then the only sign of Didcot Power Station on the horizon will be the two small chimneys on the left, belonging to the gas fired Didcot B Station.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Uffington on 30 September 2015 with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Ten days earlier the franchise operator had changed its name from First Great Western.

The low winter sun gives a golden glow to the scene, as 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Steventon on 19 January 2016 with the 1B42 14:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. In the background is the tall chimney of the disused Didcot Power Station.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Compton Beauchamp in superb evening light on 8 June 2016 with the 1C25 18:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Other than some welcome lineside vegetation clearance, there is still very little evidence here of the Great Western Mainline's hugely delayed and over budget electrification scheme.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Wolvercote on 28 August 2017 with the late running 1W02 17:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. On the right is the abandoned trackbed of reinstated down relief line. After much vegetation clearance, the track was relaid in 2015, and then promptly taken up again! The sleepers that a year ago were supporting rails on the newly laid ballast, are now stacked up against the fence, covered in brambles! More money wasted due to Network Rail's incompetence.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership races past the site of Oaksey station on 1 September 2017 with the 1L36 08:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. This photo is taken from a recently upgraded public footpath crossing, which explains the fence in the foreground. Whereas for years rural foot crossings were often nothing more than a stile in either hedge, now a guided walkway with signage at what is known as the 'Decision Point' is required.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Chilson on 21 March 2018 with the 1P18 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. This is booked to pass the 1W14 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern Class 800 at Shipton, but on this occasion that train was running a few minutes late, and was right behind me, just a few seconds away from ruining this picture!

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership speeds past Chilson on 21 June 2018 with the 1P14 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington GWR service, during the brief period when this particular train was upgraded to HST operation.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Moredon on 25 June 2018 with the late running diverted 1L08 04:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The last time I was here there were no houses in the field, and probably very soon there will be no fields left in this view, such is the non-stop outward expansion of Swindon!

Just a few HST diagrams survive on the Cotswold Line in early 2019, but on 24 January there was a bonus, when the usual Class 800 DMU on the 1W23 11:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service was replaced by a HST. The reason for this was yet another signalling problem between London and Reading, so the train was in fact the 1W23 12:24 Oxford to Worcester Foregate Street. The following service was cancelled in it its entirety. 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership passes Bretforton in the only faint glimmer of brightness during the entire day.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership approaches Standish Junction on 11 April 2019 with the 5E19 09:25 Bristol St Philips Marsh to Hull Station Sidings ECS. Another one of GWR's few remaining named power cars, 43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few is bringing up the rear.

43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership leads the 5V81 13:46 Hull Station Sidings to Bristol St Philips Marsh ECS past Bredon on 20 August 2019, with, as usual, 43010 bringing up the rear. This is the weekly Hull Trains maintenance swap. I should have believed the Met Office when they said it would cloud up in the afternoon. It was largely sunny when I left home, but completely dull by the time I got here!

Until 2019, a GWR HST in Yorkshire would have been extremely unlikely, but the ongoing problems with the Hull Trains Class 180 DMU fleet has seen a regular maintenance swap over working of a shortened HST set between Bristol and Hull. The HSTs being used by Hull Trains on one of the Class 180 diagrams. 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership approaches Goole on 3 December 2019 with the 5E23 07:02 Bristol St Philips Marsh to Hull ECS, with 43010 bringing up the rear.

Just before the lights went out! A really threatening black sky heralds an approaching storm as 43021 leads the 13:12 Great Malvern to Paddington 'Cotswold and Malvern Express' between Aristotle Lane and Walton Well Road, on the approach to Oxford on 22 April 1986. The relief lines here were laid during the second world war and both originally extended as far as Wolvercote Junction. The down relief has now been cut back to Aristotle Lane footbridge, visible in the background.

43021 passes Bourton on 13 November 2004 with the 1A22 07:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Compared with the later plain blue colour scheme, I have got very few pictures of HSTs in this earlier livery.

43021 David Austin - Cartoonist passes Shorthampton on 23 September 2009 with the 1W29 11:22 Paddington to Great Malvern First Great Western service. Note that the track single track has been slewed over to the left of the formation, in preparation for the reinstatement of the second track.

In superb golden evening light with Westbury White Horse standing out clearly on the hillside and dark clouds in the background, 43021 David Austin - Cartoonist passes Fairwood with the 1C87 16:06 Paddington to Penzance First Great Western service on 14 October 2009.

With Baulking Grange Farm just visible through the gap in the trees, 43021 David Austin - Cartoonist approaches Baulking on 9 December 2010 with the 1C14 12:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service.

43021 David Austin - Cartoonist speeds past Baulking on 4 March 2011 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. This location (on a public footpath) is adjacent to a small wood, and so is shaded for much of the time in winter.

43021 David Austin - Cartoonist passes Uffington on 30 October 2012 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Apart from the trains, this is a very quiet rural location, more frequented by Red Kites than people!

The field of maize makes an excellent foreground foil for 43021 David Austin - Cartoonist, as it speeds past Uffington on 24 October 2013 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. The power car is named after the British artist David Austin (1935 – 2005) who was famous for his work in the Guardian and Private Eye.

My last morning's visit to the classic location of Compton Beauchamp, which was ruined shortly afterwards by the installation of overhead electfrication masts. 43021 David Austin - Cartoonist heads towards London on 17 October 2016 with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service.

43021 brings up the rear of the 1A77 16:42 Glasgow Queen Street to Aberdeen ScotRail service at Gleneagles on 14 September 2019. 43026 is the leading power car. Note the large crowds at the normally quiet station. This is the result of the Solheim Cup golf tournament, being held at the nearby Gleneagles Golf Course.

43021 brings up the rear of the 1A86 12:43 Glasgow Queen Street to Aberdeen ScotRail service at Newtonhill on 15 September 2019. Just over an hour later, I would photograph this train again from the bridge in the background, as it headed back south with the 1T85 16:29 Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street service.

With a complete rake of GWR green coaches, 43021 approaches Newtonhill on 15 September 2019 with the 1T85 16:29 Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street ScotRail service. Although it was turning into a sunny evening, there was a huge black cloud not far from the sun, and for several minutes before this was due it looked like the picture would be ruined, but by some miracle the light managed to hold out until just after the train had passed.

43021 passes Cove Bay on 16 September 2019 with the 1T10 07:35 Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street ScotRail service. The line here closely follows the North Sea coast, before heading a little way inland near Portlethen, then rejoining the coast at Newtonhill.

43022 leads the 09:15 Paddington to Swansea service past the site of Challow station on 12 August 1980. Note how both platform faces have survived completely intact, due to the removal of the loops shortly after the station was closed. With the reinstatement of the relief lines in the 1990s, these overgrown remnants of the steam age were bulldozed into oblivion. In addition to the sadly missed original HST livery, the other thing that immediately identifies the era in which this picture was taken is the bizarre sight of lines of leafless trees in high summer. This is of course the product of Dutch Elm Disease which decimated the country's elm trees during the 1970s.

43022 speeds past Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 8 May 1987 with the 1C47 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads InterCity service. Apart from the fact that there are only two tracks, instead of the present four at this location, another feature that identifies this as a scene from times past is the lax attitude to health & safety. A rail contractor (one hopes!) wanders casually back to his Ford Cortina pickup truck, parked on the ballast next to the 125mph running line. This is obviously well before the era of high visibility clothing, as he is wearing a 'low visibility' black jacket!

There was a fashion for stick on 'headboards' for DMUs and HSTs in the 1980s, especially for the latter as fixing a conventional headboard is difficult. However, the downside is that they didn't come off very easily, leading to some inappropriate usage. 43022 passes Clay Mills (Hargate) on 15 May 1987 with a 'Cornishman' headboard, complete with happy surfer. Unfortunately this isn't the 'Cornishman'. Although presumably added to 43022 to promote the named train at the start of the summer timetable a few days earlier, this is in fact the 06:37 Plymouth to Leeds service, rather than the 'Cornishman' (07:30 Penzance to Newcastle), which would have passed by approximately 2½ hours later.

With compacted snow and icicles on the front end, 43022 heads through the snowy landscape at South Moreton (near Didcot) with the late running (not surprisingly!) 09:32 Swansea to Paddington service on 9 February 1991. It takes considerable effort to take pictures in these conditions, not just the treacherous road conditions whilst getting there, but also standing about for ages in freezing conditions!

43022 sweeps round the curve at Briton Ferry on 15 April 1991 with the 1A84 17:32 Swansea to Paddington InterCity service. The line from Baglan Bay leading into the then still busy Briton Ferry yard can be seen in the foreground.

The well known location of Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, pictured during the short period when it was a three track mainline. On the left is the newly reinstated down relief line, but there is as yet no sign of the up relief line, which was installed the following year. 43022 passes by with the 1A41 09:32 Swansea to Paddington InterCity service on 19 July 1993.

High summer on the Great Western Mainline at Compton Beauchamp. 43022 speeds westwards on 25 June 1996 with the 1B56 18:03 Paddington to Cheltenham service. During mid summer the sun has travelled round so far by the late evening that it is possible to take perfectly lit pictures of trains from the north side of the line at this point.

Under a threatening sky, 43022 passes Milton on 15 April 1997 with the 1A29 08:30 Cheltenham to Paddington Great Western Trains service. Note how only 43022 retains the InterCity swallow livery, with the rest of the train in Great Western's unfortunately short lived green and white colour scheme. Although offering a good view for eastbound trains, this location has two problems. It is totally impossible to get a picture of westbound trains without moving round to the adjacent bridge, and this is taken from the A34 bridge, where although there is a wide area of concrete to stand on, there is no official footpath. Although I haven't experienced it, I feel sure a visit from the boys in blue would result if you stayed there for any length of time!

43022 kicks up the dust from the recently reballasted track at Shrivenham on 22 September 2002, as it passes through the remains of the old station with the 08:19 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service. Unfortunately First Great Western decided to abandoned this colour scheme almost as soon as it was introduced, presumably as the amount of white in the colour scheme made it difficult to keep clean.

43022 arrives at Charlbury with the 06:43 Hereford to Paddington 'Cathedrals Express' First Great Western service on 1 June 2007. The 'Cathedrals Express' has a long pedigree as a named train on the Cotswold Line, originally being introduced in 1957. Initially in steam days a headboard was carried, but when the name was re-introduced in 1985, the headboard only appeared on the first day. Of course, since the introduction of HSTs a headboard is not practical even if such things were still considered as a marketing tool. I had originally intended taking this picture at Finstock, but the location (which used to be fine in the days of the Class 50s) was completely overgrown, so a quick drive to Charlbury was needed.

With the town of Wotton Bassett visible on the horizon, 43022 passes Callow Hill on 1 September 2007 with the 1B25 10:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. The M4 motorway can be seen cutting across the picture in the distance.

43022 passes the site of Patney & Chirton station with the 1C85 14:06 Paddington to Penzance First Great Western service on 11 May 2009. Note the reconstructed bridge in the background, with its inelegant concrete parapet atop a vintage brick arch. Presumably all the Armco barriers on the road date from the time of the bridge rebuilding.

43022 arrives at Evesham on 29 October 2009 with the 1W00 08:22 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. The centre pivoting semaphore signal in the foreground will soon be swept away once the complete resignalling of the line gets underway, while the post to its right has already succumbed to the local vegetation. There seems to be a surprising amount of evening primrose plants growing on the cutting sides and even on the edge of the ballast - not your average trackside weed!

This HST is certainly well off the beaten track! 43022 slowly approaches St Andrews Road station, on 25 September 2010 with the Pathfinder Tours 'Brunelian' railtour, at this point running as the 1Z44 13:45 Swindon to Portbury Dock (via Avonmouth). The tour had earlier started from Paddington as the 1Z43 09:15 departure for Swindon, traveling the long way round via Newbury and Melksham. The lines of stabled coal hoppers on the right are for working off the nearby Avonmouth terminal, principally to Didcot Power Station.

You don't get many HSTs here! 43022 gingerly negotiates the Portbury Dock branch on 25 September 2010 with the Pathfinder Tours 'Brunelian' railtour, at this point running as the 1Z44 13:45 Swindon to Portbury Dock (via Avonmouth). This view from the M5 Avonmouth Bridge shows the line near its destination, with the houses of Pill in the background. Note the houses built in the flood plain of the River Avon, with only a minimal earth bank for protection! The railtour had earlier started from Paddington as the 1Z43 09:15 departure for Swindon, traveling the long way round via Newbury and Melksham.

Very unusual lighting conditions at Challow on 25 September 2010. HSTs pass this spot with monotonous regularity, but they are not usually booked to move onto the normally freight only relief line. Therefore, despite the late hour, I wanted a picture of 43022 leading the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 18:14 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington 'Brunelian' railtour. Just before it was due the setting sun was shining straight into the lens with no possibility of a picture, but at the booked time the sun had actually set, leaving a pink glow in the sky. Luckily the train was on time, as there was only a few minutes of these conditions before the colours vanished and it became pitch black! Incidentally, although obviously this picture has required considerable work in Photoshop, the sky colour has not been enhanced at all, and the strange halo effect around the trees is not the result of some incredibly amateurship Photoshop work, but is purely the result of the lighting.

43022 passes Aynho station (closed in 1964 and now a private residence) with the diverted 1C11 09:50 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service on 7 April 2013. A little earlier the train had crossed the flyover in the background, having worked up from London via the Chiltern Line. FGW HSTs are strangers to both the Chiltern and the Banbury to Oxford lines.

43022 passes Bourton on 28 August 2013 with the 1B35 12:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. Although the roadbridge from which this is taken doesn't see a lot of traffic, as it is quite narrow, and there are no pavements, it is not the best place to stand!

43022 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 26 February 2014 with the 1L46 09:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service. Some lineside vegetation clearance work has taken place here, no doubt in preparation for the forthcoming electfrication work.

43022 passes Challow on 1 November 2014 with the 1B40 13:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. The new fence in the foreground replaces a very overgrown one, so temporarily (until the wires go up), this view is improved.

Superb spring light at Compton Beauchamp on 20 April 2015, in what is presumably the last year of electrification clutter free views at this iconic location. 43022 heads for the capital with the 1L32 06:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service.

The rebranding of First Great Western as GWR has been extremely half hearted, certainly with regard to the HST fleet. Just a single set was repainted in dark green in September 2015. Several  months later,43022 had acquired a new coat of the old livery. The ex-works loco leads the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington service past Challow on 24 February 2016. The suitably pristine power car received the name The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 a few weeks later.

43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 passes Baulking on 1 April 2016 with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. It seems like about a metre of the steel pile on the right has been driven into the ground so far, judging by the improvised markings.

43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 April 2016 with the late running 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. I have deliberately placed the train at the bottom of the frame, to emphasise the dramatic sky.

43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 passes Bourton on 24 June 2016 with the 1A02 05:29 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. Note the poppies growing around the electrification mast base in the foreground. Requiem for this photographic location?

A golden late evening glint at Bourton on 25 July 2016. 43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 heads towards London with the 1L92 18:29 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. Ironically, a month earlier I had photographed this same power car at this same location, but at completely the other end of the day!

43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 passes Compton Beauchamp on 17 October 2016 with the 1L46 09:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington GWR service. Note the single protruding electfrication mast pile, the only real sign here of Network Rail's totally mismanaged Great Western Mainline electfrication scheme.

43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 passes Uffington on 11 April 2017 with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. This is the view from the newly opened footbridge situated a short distance to the west of the site of the old station. It replaces the footpath crossing, which can be seen in the foreground of this view. Although it's nice to see the building of a bridge, rather than just closing the crossing, it does show that the installation of the dedicated foot crossing, along with its gravel approach path was a waste of money. These were only installed a couple of years ago, after the crossing being nothing more than a sign either side of the line, presumably since the line opened!

43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 approaches Stocks Lane, Steventon, on 8 November 2017 with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Both the structures in the background are living on borrowed time. The tall chimney of Didcot's disused power station is due to be demolished, and the same fate is in store for the roadbridge if Network Rail get their way, although not without a fight from the locals.

Dramatic lighting at Uffington on 26 April 2018. Whilst the angle of the sun is still far too head on, the combination of bright early morning sunshine, and a massive dark cloud in the background certainly makes for an interesting picture. 43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 speeds eastwards with the 1L72 05:53 Plymouth to Paddington GWR service.

Viewed from the approach embankment to a demolished farm occupation bridge, 43022 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary 1956-2016 approaches Crofton on 17 January 2019 with the 1A85 10:00 Penzance to Paddington GWR service.

43023 passes Hay Lane (near Swindon) with the 1A63 12:45 Swansea to Paddington service on 15 September 1979. Apologies for the poor quality, but in addition to be taken on a Praktica, I took the picture slightly early, so some cropping has been required. At least I had the good sense to use Kodachrome 64, which allows considerable magnification, without showing any grain. Note the row of dead elm trees in the background. This was a common sight at the time, following the ravages of Dutch Elm Disease.

43023 climbs Sapperton Bank on 7 March 1982 with the 1A75 10:50 Swansea to Paddington service. South Wales trains were diverted this way on Sundays throughout the winter timetable. The location is the footpath crossing near the village of Frampton Mansell, with the valley of the River Frome on the right. Note the vintage telegraph poles, which as they ran along the south side of the line, severely compromised some otherwise excellent viewpoints. The poles have now gone, but so too have all the viewpoints!

43023 approaches Cogload Junction on 22 April 1988 with the 1A32 07:30 Plymouth to Paddington service. The distinctive building in the background is an engine house on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal. It was built in 1826 to pump water into the canal from the nearby River Tone. Just visible in the far distance, partly hidden by a tree, is the tower of Creech St Michael church.

With the main lines closed for Sunday engineering work, 43023 makes use of the down relief line at Cholsey on 18 February 1990 with the 1B34 15:00 Paddington to Swansea service. Cholsey station can be seen in the background. Only the relief line platforms on the left are normally used, the main line platforms being retained for use when the relief lines are closed.

A photographic technique that I have rarely employed, but which can be very effective in conveying speed is panning. By using a slow shutter speed and following the train in the viewfinder the result is a pin sharp train against a blurred background. This doesn't tend to work that well with slab fronted diesel locos, but HSTs with their streamlined front ends look very effective. Also, choice of location is important, with an uninterrupted foreground and a plain background preferable. 43023 County of Cornwall speeds past South Stoke with the 18:45 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service on 10 July 1990.

43023 passes White Waltham on 6 January 1991 with the 1C32 10:30 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service. The train is running on the down relief line, due to the fast lines being closed for Sunday engineering work.

The cows graze contentedly in the filed as 43023 sweeps past Rodbourne on 6 August 1992 with the 1B44 17:00 Paddington to Swansea service. This particular viewpoint, being on the north side of the line, was only really of any use on late summer evenings.

The growth of the beech hedge between the railway and canal has done little to enhance the classic viewpoint at Little Bedwyn. On 9 February 2008, 43023 runs alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal with the late running 1C74 08:18 Paddington to Exeter St Davids First Great Western service.

43023 passes Steventon on 8 May 2008 with the 1B46 14:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. Little did I realise it at the time, but a decade later this view would be lost to overhead electfrication, and the power station would by then be partly demolished.

43023 climbs out of the Severn Tunnel, and passes Pilning on 27 April 2010 with the 1L54 11:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service. Note the recent track works, which have shortened the down loop considerably.

A view that is soon set to change completely. While many would argue that the imminent demolition of Didcot Power Station's chimney and cooling towers will improve the view, unfortunately the electrification of the Great Western Mainline will have the opposite effect, and this viewpoint will disappear. 43023 leads the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service past Milton on 13 September 2012.

With Didcot Power Station providing a spectacular display in the background, 43023 passes Steventon on 19 February 2013 with the 1G38 13:48 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa First Great Western service. This was running 20 minutes late, having been held up at Causeway Crossing (near the signals in the background), after the barriers were struck by a lorry.

43023 arrives at Pewsey station on 23 August 2013 with the 1A75 05:30 Plymouth to Paddington First Great Western service. Such is the volume of passengers using this train, that an enterprising individual has started selling hot drinks and snacks from the back of a car. The open hatchback can just be seen near the building on the down platform.

43023 passes Blagrove (on the western edge of Swindon) with the 1L24 06:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service on 14 May 2014. The trees neatly hide a large industrial estate from view, while just around the corner in the background is the bridge carrying the M4 motorway over the line.

With a passing speed in excess of 200mph, a pair of First Great Western HSTs pass through the remains of Shrivenham station on 29 November 2014. 43023 leads the 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington, while 43160 brings up the rear of the 1Z10 09:05 Paddington to Cardiff Central additional. I hope it isn't true, but it does look like the driver of 43023 is asleep, with eyes closed, mouth open, and head drooping to one side!

43023 leaves Oxford station on 1 April 2015 with the 1P26 06:42 Hereford to Paddington First Great Western service. The small group in the car park are photographers, presumably discussing LNER 4-6-0 B1 4-6-0 61306 Mayflower, which had just left the station with a special train to Kingswear.

Immaculately clean 43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few passes the site of Challow station on 11 February 2016 with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service, running 25 minutes late. The naming commemorates one of Swindon's Battle of Britain heroes, Squadron Leader Harold Starr. Appropriately the nameplate was unveiled at Swindon on 15 September 2015. Note the light blue background to the nameplate, and the unusual shape - a copy of the plates fitted to the Southern Railway 'Battle of Britain' 4-6-2 steam locomotives.

The solitary tree in the field near Uffington makes for an interesting composition, as 43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few heads towards London on 25 February 2016 with the 1L34 07:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service.

43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few passes Compton Beauchamp on 26 August 2016 with the 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The very first signs of the delayed electfrication scheme can be seen - small temporary safety barriers near the rail edge.

43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 18 January 2018 with the 1G29 11:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. This was running 47 minutes late due to the down main line being closed at Didcot, meaning it had to pass through Didcot station on the relief line. This wasn't the end of the passenger's woes, as the train didn't reach Cheltenham, as it was terminated at Gloucester due to a points failure.

43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few rounds the sharp curve at Aston Magna on 5 April 2018 with the 1P31 12:09 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. This was running five minutes late, but its next booked stop at Moreton-in-Marsh was for ten minutes, so it was able to get back on time again.

Dramatic lighting at Cornbury Park (near Charlbury) on 20 June 2018. 43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few slows down on the approach to the station with the 1W32 15:50 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh GWR service. I seemed to be standing in a favoured spot, with dark clouds all around, but in more less constant sunshine. This is the first time that I have taken a picture from this particular angle, proving that even familiar locations can yield a different viewpoint. The point in the foreground is what Network Rail call Charlbury Junction, although being just where the single line changes to double, is not really a junction in the accepted sense, i.e. the meeting of two routes.

43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few approaches Charlbury station on 22 June 2018 with the 1P18 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Apart from the proliferation of lineside posts preventing a wider view, this location has changed surprisingly little in the last three decades.

With a single green coach at the front of the train spoiling an otherwise uniform blue rake, 43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few passes Hungerford Common on 21 September 2018 with the 1A79 06:47 Penzance to Paddington GWR service.

43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few passes the recently cleared Hungerford Common on 27 September 2018 with the 1C85 14:03 Paddington to Penzance GWR service. The 7A77 11:41 Merehead Quarry to Theale Mendip Rail stone train can be seen in the background.

Even without looking at the number, 43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few is easily identifiable by its unusually shaped light blue nameplate. It seen here passing Crofton on 17 January 2019 with the 1A79 06:47 Penzance to Paddington GWR service. Although the former farm occupation bridge here has been demolished, oddly the approach embankment has been left in place.

43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few brings up the rear of the 5E19 09:25 Bristol St Philips Marsh to Hull Station Sidings ECS at Standish Junction on 11 April 2019. The short set, which is being led by 43020 MTU Power Passion Partnership, is on short term hire to Hull Trains.

Something you very rarely see nowadays - a HST power car running under its own power on the main line with just a barrier vehicle for company. On 27 October 1982, 43024 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth en-route from Bristol to Old Oak Common. At this time the power cars still carried their set numbers (253012 in this case), but they soon came to be regarded as individual locos rather than multiple units, with consequent mixing of various set formations.

43024 catches a brief patch of sunshine, as it rounds the curve at Wolfhall on 2 July 1985 with the 1C37 11:40 Paddington to Penzance 'Cornish Riviera'. The old MSWJR line in the background has since become enveloped in trees.

What a difference a bit of white makes! Whilst the latest GWR livery of all over dark green looks drab and uninspired, the original privatisation livery of Great Western Trains, which used much the same shade of green, but with contrasting white areas, looked superb. 43024 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 19 June 1998 with the late running 1B48 17:10 Paddington to Hereford service.

43024 brings up the rear of the 1C62 17:15 Paddington to Taunton First Great Western service at Edithmead on 18 July 1998. This is on the western edge of the Somerset Levels, an area characterised by numerous small fields, intersected by ditches, and very prone to flooding.

43024 rounds the curve at Crofton on 21 July 2006 with the 1A78 06:43 Penzance to Paddington First Great Western service. Note the flange lubricators, which are obviously very necessary on such a tight curve on a high speed line.

Preliminary work for the redoubling of the Cotswold Line is underway at Mickleton on 6 March 2009, as 43024 passes by with the 1W02 10:22 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. At least work was going on a few minutes before, but as this is just after midday, I presume all the workers are eating lunch in their van, which can just be seen in the background! The tractor was employed in vegetation clearance, while the new concrete troughing for the signal cables can be seen stacked up on the left.

43024 pulls away from Charlbury station on 9 May 2009 with the Cotswold Line Promotion Group's 1Z30 06:30 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paignton 'Cotswold Torbay Express' excursion. Unfortunately unlike the CLPG's previous tours, the use of a HST and consequence difficulty of fitting a headboard means that this just looks like any other passenger train on the Cotswold Line. This probably explains the constant station announcements warning 'normal' passengers not to board it!

43024 passes through the long closed station at Oaksey in the drizzle on 14 November 2009 with the 1G21 10:15 Paddington to Cheltenham First Great Western service. As can be clearly seen here, both platforms survive at Oaksey, complete with their coping stones. This of course is purely because the track was singled and realigned into the centre of the formation, well away from the former platform faces.

Unfamiliar territory for a First Great Western HST. 43024 Great Western Society 1961-2011 Didcot Railway Centre passes Aynho on 7 April 2013 with the diverted 1L38 08:07 Swansea to Paddington service. The train would shortly reverse at Banbury, and then travel to London via the Chiltern Line.

43024 Great Western Society 1961-2011 Didcot Railway Centre passes through the deep cutting at Chipping Sodbury on 31 August 2013 with the 1L55 11:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. This is a location that I had been meaning to revisit for some time, and one that will obviously be completely ruined when the wires go up.

43024 Great Western Society 1961-2011 Didcot Railway Centre passes Bourton on 2 July 2014 with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. This view was formerly obstructed by a large bush.

43024 Great Western Society 1961-2011 Didcot Railway Centre speeds past Compton Beauchamp on 14 April 2015 with the 1C14 12:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. I used to think the shadows from the trees here were intrusive, but that is nothing compared with the electfrication ironmongery which now obliterates this shoot!

43024 Great Western Society 1961-2011 Didcot Railway Centre approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 20 April 2015 with the 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service.

43024 Great Western Society 1961-2011 Didcot Railway Centre passes Wolvercote on 11 January 2019 with the 1P31 12:09 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. The train has just exited the Cotswold Line at Wolvercote Junction, which is just a short distance round the corner.

Early morning in the Avion Valley at Newton St Loe on 23 October 1994. 43025 Exeter heads towards Bath with the 1A06 07:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. Luckily the scourge of an early autumn morning, fog, was confined to patches of light mist in the background.

43025 Exeter passes Fairwood on 30 January 1995 with the late running 1A32 07:35 Plymouth to Paddington service. The off centre composition of the picture is intentional, in order to show the Westbury avoiding line on the left, on its final approach to Fairwood Junction.

HSTs were not a common sight on the Welsh Marches Line, but there were a few workings in the 1990s. 43025 Exeter passes Ponthir on Sunday 23 July 1995 with the 1B90 14:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Hereford service. This would then work the 1A65 16:34 Hereford to Paddington train, via the Cotswold Line. During the winter months this train ran empty stock as the 5A65 13:28 Swansea to Hereford ECS.

43025 Exeter approaches Ascott-under-Wychwood on 25 July 1995 with the 1A14 05:56 Hereford to Paddington service. The wave from the driver is not directed at me, but more likely at the Ascott-under-Wychwood signalman. I was standing directly behind the signal box.

43025 Exeter had left its namesake city a few minutes earlier, when pictured passing Cockwood Harbour on 1 November 1997 with the 1C32 11:35 Paddington to Plymouth First Great Western service. This loco was named after the city, whereas the Class 50 which formerly carried the Exeter name, was named after the Royal Navy cruiser.

43025 accelerates away from Kingham station, on the Cotswold Line with the 15:51 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill First Great Western service on 5 April 2007. The train is crossing the Bledington to Kingham footpath crossing. When up close like this, it is noticeable how quiet the re-engined HST power cars are when accelerating hard, compared with the ear splitting whine from the original Paxman Valentas.

43025 passes Uffington under an impressive cloud formation on 20 February 2010, as it speeds westwards with the 1C18 14:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Luckily the clouds stayed away from the sun!

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 27 April 2010 with the 1L36 08:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington First Great Western service. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing (since replaced by a bridge).

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators heads westwards with the 1C14 12:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service on 2 February 2012. It is pictured near to the site of Wantage Road station at the remote but delightfully named Butterfly Lane Crossing (merely a footpath crossing).

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators has clearly recently had a wash, as it is seen here passing milepost 62 near Denchworth on 3 September 2012 with the 1L24 06:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service.

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators approaches Standish Junction on 6 October 2012 with the 1G38 14:15 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa First Great Western service. Not much chance of photographing anything coming from Bristol at this location now!

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators passes Shorthampton on 4 March 2013 with the 1W01 10:22 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. It's a few years since the extensive vegetation clearance here, and the lineside bushes are taking over again.

After the 1L52 10:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western HST came to a stand near Cholsey station with brake problems on 15 November 2013, the following services started to stack up behind it. Here we see 43025 The Institution of Railway Operators leading the 1A17 12:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington, unusually running along the up relief line, in order to overtake 43189 which is stopped at signals with the 1L54 11:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington.

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators passes Challow on 1 November 2014 with the 1G38 13:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa First Great Western service. A lot of lineside bushes had recently been cleared in order to install the new fence.

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators speeds through the remains of the long closed Shrivenham station on 2 March 2015 with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington First Great Western service. 1/2000sec shutter speed and quick reactions required for this one!

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators speeds through Ascott-under-Wychwood station at the head of the 1W02 10:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service on 23 March 2016. This view clearly shows the new up platform and associated access ramp, that was installed in 2011 as part of the redoubling of this section of the Cotswold Line. Impressive facilities, but this new platform is used by just a single train each day. Also, because it is on the opposite side of the level crossing to the village, prospective passengers have to make sure they arrive in good time, in order not to be stuck on the wrong side of the line, and having to watch the only train of the day arrive and depart without them!

For decades I have used the minor road bridge near Compton Beauchamp for a pleasant summer evening's photography. Even after several years reprieve due to Network Rail's bungled Great Western Mainline electrification scheme running years behind schedule, it does look like 2016 will be the last year that photography is possible here. So, here is 43025 The Institution of Railway Operators heading west on 18 July 2016 with the 1B69 17:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service.

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators passes the site of Fladbury station on 1 April 2017 with the 1P51 12:13 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Fladbury station closed in 1966. Prior to the Second World War there was a siding that connected nearby Springhill Farm to the railway. This was used for fruit traffic and was initially horse worked, with tractors being used later.

Early morning at Kennington on 3 April 2017, and 43025 The Institution of Railway Operators just manages to avoid the shadows, as it heads south with the 1P19 05:28 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Kennington Junction can just be seen in the background.

The Oxford to Bicester line is mainly operated by DMUs, so the HST diversions over the route on 17 September 2017 were definitely worth photographing. Two for the price of one here, as 43025 The Institution of Railway Operators brings up the rear of the 1A22 11:01 Penzance to Paddington GWR service at Charlton-on-Otmoor, while in the distance 43088 approaches with the 1C21 15:32 Paddington to Penzance.

43025 The Institution of Railway Operators passes Chilson on 15 February 2019 with the 1W00 08:21 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. A slightly misty morning, but nothing like the thick fog that persisted until midday the previous day.

In superb late evening light, 43026 approaches Dunstall Bridge (Moreton-in-Marsh) on 20 April 2009 with the 1W07 17:22 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. The newly cultivated field in the foreground contrasts markedly with the bright green spring foliage and the blue livery of the train to make an excellent picture. This was always one of my favourite locations for pictures of northbound trains in the evening on the Cotswold Line, but unlike virtually all the other formerly used locations on the route, it is still an excellent spot.

43026 speeds past Denchworth on 27 July 2012 with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Note the broken horn grill, a common occurrence, usually the result of a bird strike. It is not easy to get pictures of fast moving HSTs exactly right at this location. Very fast reactions and a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec are required!

43026 speeds past Challow on 10 October 2013 with the 1B28 11:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. In preparation for the forthcoming Great Western Mainline electrification, a lot of lineside vegetation has been removed here, and a new (and thankfully very low) fence installed.

A slight livery variation seems to exist on 43026, with the panel containing the headlights and horn grille being in a slightly lighter shade of blue. Presumably this is the result of fading paint and a partial repaint, but the effect is certainly noticeable here. On 7 August 2014, 43026 leads the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington First Great Western service past the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham. The old platform of Shrivenham station can just be seen beneath the bridge in the background, but is the lone Scots Pine tree on the right another remnant of the GWR? Although not in the usual station approach position, the Great Western made frequent use of Scots Pines where any tree planting was required.

43026 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 22 September 2014 with the 1A12 07:40 Paignton to Paddington First Great Western service. Autumn is approaching, with a slightly misty background, and the first changes of colour on the trees in the background.

The day before it was named Michael Eavis at Paddington station, 43026 passes Uffington on 22 April 2015 with covered nameplate and Glastonbury crest, as it heads westwards with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The naming was to celebrate Michael Eavis's involvement with the music industry, especially the world famous Glastonbury Festival, held every year at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset. With this picture I was trying to include the oilseed rape, blackthorn blossom, and the bush on the left.

A wide angle view of the graceful brick bridge over the Great Western Mainline at Compton Beauchamp, pictured in lovely evening light on 12 May 2015. 43026 Michael Eavis rushes underneath with the 1C25 18:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Note the extremely rustic fence in the foreground.

Not quite the mundane HST passenger service that it appears to be. This is in fact the 5Z27 14:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads ECS, with 43026 Michael Eavis leading. It is pictured passing the still mast free Steventon on Sunday 26 March 2017, with the remains of Didcot Power Station in the background. I had hoped to photograph the 6C03 13:19 Southall to Severnside Sita binliner here, but that was cancelled. While an ECS HST may not be quite as interesting as a refuse train, the motive power is certainly more photogenic than a Class 66!

Cotswold Line HST sunset? The setting sun illuminates 43026 Michael Eavis, as it approaches Dunstall Bridge, near Moreton-in-Marsh, on 7 January 2018 with the 1W39 13:42 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. Nearly three decades after I photographed the last of the Class 50s working over the Cotswold Line, I am now repeating the experience with Class 43s! I'm not quite sure how a five coach DMU can be seen as an improvement over an eight coach HST, but the Class 800s will soon be the normal motive power on this line. That's progress!

My first picture of a revenue earning ScotRail HST service, featuring a couple of power cars that I have photographed many times in my native Oxfordshire. 43026 is leading, and 43021 is bringing up the rear, as the 1A77 16:42 Glasgow Queen Street to Aberdeen service approaches Gleneagles on 14 September 2019.

A superb frosty Christmas Eve scene at Shrivenham. Although the frost has started to melt on the grass, there is still plenty left on the trees and in the field, as 43027 Glorious Devon heads westwards with the 1B24 11:50 Paddington to Swansea service. 24 December 1994.

43027 Glorious Devon passes South Moreton on 29 November 1998 with the 1A16 08:30 Swansea to Paddington Great Western Trains service. This was just a few weeks before Great Western Trains was taken over by the First Group, a move which would unfortunately spell the end for this train's stylish livery.

43027 Glorious Devon approaches Wolvercote Junction on 13 August 2003 with the 1B48 17:12 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. Even as late as the early 1990s this location was reasonably vegetation free, but that was before the era of Railtrack and Network Rail, neither of whom did any regular lineside maintenance.

The First Great Western 10:05 Pembroke Dock to Paddington 'Pembroke Coast Express' led by 43027 Glorious Devon departs from Pembrey & Burry Port on 15 July 2006. The lines in West Wales still retain many period features, including semaphore signalling as seen here. Most services over this line are operated by Arriva Trains Wales, with only a couple of daily services provided by First Great Western and utilising HSTs.

43027 Glorious Devon passes Little Haresfield on 19 January 2011 with the 1L50 10:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington First Great Western service. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing. The farm occupation bridge in the background is a much better known photographic vantage point.

43027 Glorious Devon passes Acton Turville on 18 July 2013 with the late running 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. This picture is taken from an extremely overgrown farm occupation bridge.

43027 Glorious Devon leads the 1L46 09:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service past a very photogenic tree at Uffington on 16 April 2014. The train is just approaching the site of Uffington station (closed in 1964), which was formerly a junction for the Faringdon branch.

43027 Glorious Devon brings up the rear of the 1L58 12:20 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington First Great Western service at Stocks Lane, Steventon, on 10 March 2015. The bridge in the background was the cause of a furious disagreement between the villagers and Network Rail, who wanted to demolish it in order to electrify the line.

43027 Glorious Devon passes Denchworth on 19 September 2015 with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The following day First Great Western was rebranded as Great Western Railway, as if that will make any difference!

Running 23 minutes late, '90 Glorious Years' Queen's birthday vinyl liveried 43027 passes South Marston on 15 July 2016 with the 1A29 18:08 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington GWR service. It is passing the junction for the short branch into the South Marston Euro Terminal. This was constructed in 2002, but has seen very little use, and none at all recently, as can be guessed by the rusty state of the track.

At last, I've finally managed to get a decent sunlit picture of 43027 with its '90 Glorious Years' vinyls commemorating the Queen's 90th birthday. I don't seem to have any problem photographing the other special liveried Great Western HSTs, but this one mostly seemed to have eluded me. It is seen here passing Daylesford with the 1W27 13:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service on 13 February 2017.

43027 brings up the rear if the 1P63 15:50 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service at Lyneham on 13 February 2017. As I knew that this '90 Glorious Years' liveried power car would be on the rear, after having seen it a little earlier at Daylesford, it was worth the short detour on the way home to get this picture of it in the last of the afternoon's light.

'90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 passes Stoulton on 15 August 2017 with the 1P57 14:25 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Unfortunately the dramatic sky in the background indicates that this sunny spell didn't last much longer! Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

'90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 arrives at Honeybourne station on 25 August 2017 with the 1P57 14:25 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The Royal Standard and the Union Flag are the only clues that the wording refers to her majesty the Queen. Hiding behind the bushes on the rear is 43009.

'90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 passes Grove on 30 November 2017 with the 1L46 09:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington GWR service. This is my first visit to this particular location, a spot that was previously completely ruined by high voltage overhead wires (of the non railway variety)!

Ascott-under-Wychwood station does not normally have a Saturday service, but in the lead up to Christmas, the normally non-stop 1P31 07:10 Hereford to Paddington GWR HST is booked to call. 43027 is seen here pulling away from the station on 16 December 2017. If I had known that this was going to be hauled by the '90 Glorious Years' liveried power car, I might have opted for a more conventional viewpoint to show off the livery. An extremely long lens is required here to clear foreground shadows. The flock of pigeons flying across just as the train was approaching was certainly not expected, but I suppose it makes the picture a little different. On the plus side, the sun was out, but just a couple of minutes later the sun disappeared behind a massive bank of dark clouds!

With the track glistening after recent rain, 43027 passes the distinctive retaining wall at Dorn (near Moreton-in-Marsh) on 12 March 2018 with the 1W01 10:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. As well as the '90 Glorious Years' liveried power car at the front of the train, GWR's other one-off liveried power car, 43172 Harry Patch - The last survivor of the trenches was on the rear.

43027 brings up the rear of the 1W00 08:21 Paddington to Hereford GWR service, as it leaves Moreton-in-Marsh on 16 April 2018. Leading power car 43193 is already underneath the roadbridge. The '90 Glorious Years' livery was applied to 43027 to mark HRH The Queen’s 90th Birthday in 2016. The large building in the background is a Budgens supermarket.

43027 brings up the rear of the late running 1G21 09:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service at Chalford on 8 May 2018. I wasn't initially going to bother taking this going away shot, but when I saw which power car it was, I changed my mind!

'90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 passes St Mary's Crossing on 8 May 2018 with the 1L58 12:36 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. This section of line runs through what is known as the 'Golden Valley', although at this time of year 'Green Valley' would be more appropriate. The monotone green and the high overhead lighting certainly do not improve the photograph.

Two years out of date! '90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 passes Chilson on 10 May 2018 with the 1P12 05:28 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Unveiled to mark HRH Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday in 2016, 43027 should really have had a little alteration to its vinyl lettering by now to make it read '92 Glorious Years'!

Royalty on the Cotswold Line? Well, not quite, but the '90 Glorious Years' livery of 43027 does celebrate HRH The Queen’s 90th birthday, which happened in 2016. It is pictured passing Cassington on 27 June 2018 with the 1W31 15:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service.

43027 passes South Marston on 9 July 2018 with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. This concluded an hour's photography when I had seen all of GWR's one off liveried power cars, although unfortunately only two were on the correct end for photography!

A welcome bonus at Didcot North Junction on 2 August 2018. '90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 heads a mixed rake of stock on the 1D13 06:20 Paddington to Oxford GWR service. The train has just called at Didcot Parkway station, off to the left of the picture.

'90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 runs along the recently opened new down relief line at Wolvercote on 2 August 2018 with the 1W31 15:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. A pity the sun decided to hide behind a cloud at the crucial moment!

43027 passes Hungerford Common on 24 September 2018 with the 1A75 05:05 Penzance to Paddington GWR service. Not ideal lighting, with the sun still very head on, but as this is not just another plain blue HST, but the '90 Glorious Years' liveried power car, the picture just had to be taken!

When 43027 had its '90 Glorious Years' livery applied in 2016 to mark HRH The Queen’s 90th birthday, it seemed to elude me. Two years later however, I seem to see it everywhere! Here it is passing Uffington on 25 September 2018 with the 1A13 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service.

'90 Glorious Years' liveried 43027 passes Uffington on 29 October 2018 with the 1C09 10:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Already running late, this was further delayed, as it not running at full line speed here, due to following 165122, which had inexplicably been held at a red signal, even though there was nothing in front of it.

Debranded GWR blue 43027 speeds past Crowell Moor on 29 June 2019 with the delayed 1H06 17:48 Kings Cross to Hull service. Hull Trains were having availability problems with their Class 180 DMU fleet, and so GWR lent them this short HST set as a replacement. Presumably they knew all about the situation, as before their rebranding as GWR, First Great Western had similar problems with their Class 180s!

The 5V81 14:01 Hull to Bristol St Phillips Marsh ECS approaches Crabley Creek on 3 December 2019, with 43027 leading, and 43023 Sqn Ldr Harold Starr One of the Few bringing up the rear. This is one of the regular maintenance swap overs, with GWR providing a short HST to cover for Hull Train's unreliable Class 180 DMUs.

43027 passes West Hewish on 26 March 2022 with the 2C71 10:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton GWR service. This location used to be exceedingly overgrown, with full grown trees completely blocking this view. Extensive tree clearance has really opened up the view, and the retention of the trimmed tree trunk on the right merely improves the picture composition.

In superb late afternoon autumnal light, 43028 speeds through Radley station on 8 October 2009 with the 1P61 14:34 Great Malvern to Paddington First Great Western service. At some point in the journey it has picked up a non fare paying passenger, but I don't think the pheasant stuck to the leading bogie is in any position to pay the penalty fare!

43028 kicks up the snow at Shrivenham on 7 January 2010, as it approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing with the 1B28 11:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. The ideal combination of snow and sunshine - not to be missed!

43028 catches the last of the rapidly fading afternoon light, as it approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 30 October 2012 with the 1G38 13:48 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa First Great Western service.

43028 speeds through the frost covered landscape at Finstock on 17 January 2013 with the late running 1W02 10:22 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. The train had left London on time, but encountered delays at Reading, and by the time it passed me it was running sixteen minutes behind time. All was not lost however, as after Moreton-in-Marsh it clawed back some time, and in fact managed to arrive at Hereford one minute early!

43028 passes Bourton on 30 October 2013 with the 1A07 06:48 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington First Great Western service. Usually the first class coaches are at the London end of the train, but occasionally, as here, they run in reverse formation.

43028 passes Baulking on 23 April 2015 with the 1B42 14:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. I wonder what the driver is leaning forward and staring at, as it certainly isn't the photographer standing on the bridge!

After a lengthy cloudy period, just before sunset on 25 July 2016, the sun dropped out of the dark cloud at Bourton to provide a few minutes of this amazing lighting. 43028 heads west with the 1C28 19:27 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare GWR service. Just visible (at least on the hi-res version) is the famous Uffington White Horse, on the left edge of the sunlit hill in the background.

43028 passes Steventon on 5 January 2017 with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The tall chimney of the disused coal fired Didcot Power Station can be seen in the background.

43028 passes underneath the massively over engineered catenary at Challow on 20 January 2017, as it speeds westwards with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. This crude looking infrastructure looks more like something from the 1950s Woodhead electfrication, rather than something from the 21st century!

Blue power car, green stock. 43028 passes Churchill Heath on 22 June 2018 with the 1W31 15:21 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. This location has recently been cleared of lineside vegetation, just in time for some pictures of the last few Cotswold Line HSTs.

43028 passes Great Bedwyn on 2 July 2018 with the 1C89 16:33 Paddington to Exeter St Davids GWR service. 165111 waits in the siding with the 5K29 17:28 Bedwyn to Bedwyn ECS. Bedwyn station is just our of sight, behind the two trains.

43029 crosses Frampton Mansell viaduct on 28 August 1982 with the 1A67 07:40 Cheltenham to Paddington service. This was a classic photographic location in steam days, with trains working hard up Sapperton Bank. The tree growth has long since obliterated this view. 

43029 passes the long disused and weed choked Malago Vale carriage sidings in Bristol with the on 10:25 Liverpool Lime Street to Plymouth service on 5 April 1990. The yellow speck in the distance is 31276 & 31217 with the 7M53 Bridgwater to Sellafield nuclear flasks. I don't usually seek our urban locations, but have used this spot a number of times, as it offers good views in both directions from a quiet footbridge with easy parking nearby.

A rainy day at Chippenham on 27 October 1992. 43029 arrives at the station with the 1A49 12:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. Chippenham station was opened in 1841, and still retains many period features, including typical Great Western Railway platform canopies and a Grade II listed station building, which dates from 1858.

43029 accelerates away from Wolvercote Junction on 12 July 1994 with the 1A14 05:56 Hereford to Paddington InterCity service. The bridge in the background is the A40, and presumably the Williams lorry has had an early start from Wales!

43029 passes Stoke Prior on 2 April 1999 with the 1S85 07:20 Plymouth to Aberdeen 'Devon Scot'. Two years into Virgin's takeover of the service, and only two coaches in this train sport their new colour scheme.

43029 heads through the dappled shade of the Golden Valley as it passes Chalford with the diverted 1B24 12:00 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service on 21 April 2002. This is the first version of First Great Western's blue livery, with large areas of white paint which were evidently considered too difficult to keep clean. Unfortunately I haven't got many pictures of this version of the livery, as after so many livery changes I got rather blasé about taking pictures, until they had all disappeared.

The low winter sun shows up the rust on the bridge at the site of Challow station as 43029 speeds through with the 1C12 11:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service on 6 December 2008. The large bank of earth in the foreground marks the site of the down platform. The huge signal gantry that can be seen looming above the bridge effectively prevents photography of westbound trains from the bridge, except with a very long lens.

43029 passes through Appleford station on 2 July 2009 with the 1P56 13:11 Hereford to Paddington First Great Western service. This station retained GWR pagoda huts on both platforms long after they had disappeared elsewhere, but unfortunately they have now been replaced by the standard 'bus shelters'.

43029 catches the evening sun as it passes Compton Beauchamp on 1 August 2013 with the 1C24 17:30 Paddington to Taunton First Great Western service. For decades I have visited this location on summer evenings, but the lack of any freight traffic in recent years has curtailed my visits. However, the forthcoming electrification prompted this return for a few last pictures.

43029 leads the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service past Compton Beauchamp on 7 July 2014. This will be the last summer that this picture is possible without an unsightly mass of overhead wires getting in the way.

With a mass of dark clouds rolling in from the west, threatening to put an end to the day's photography, 43029 speeds past South Marston on 18 August 2014 with the late running 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service.

43029 speeds past Denchworth on 8 September 2014 with the 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. In those days there was just this signal gantry providing an uninvited frame for the picture, now the 25KV overhead wiring provides more than that, and this view is no longer possible.

Signs of impending electfrication at Uffington on Sunday 22 January 2017. 43029 heads towards the capital with the 1A14 11:05 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. Although midwinter, it was quite pleasant standing in the sunshine, as there was not a breath of wind.

43029 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 13 March 2017 with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. It is passing between two ominous signs of impending electrification: a rusty steel pile on the left, and a newly installed mast on the right.

43029 brings up the rear of the 1W29 11:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service on 17 November 2017, as it passes underneath the recently rebuilt Dunstall Bridge, on the approach to Moreton-in-Marsh. Note the piecemeal replacement of the fence posts in the foreground.

43029 brings up the rear of the 1W00 08:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service, as it approaches Moreton-in-Mash on 21 April 2018. As can be clearly seen, the tree on the right had just been severely trimmed, and along with the complete removal of another nearby, has opened up this view from Dunstall Bridge considerably.

The Causeway level crossing at Steventon was struck by a lorry just before midday on 15 May 2018, causing severe delay to trains, which were being held at a red signal, and then slowly hand signalled over the crossing. There was no need to use a fast shutter speed, as the trains were now travelling so slowly, so I was able to stop the lens down to f16, to provide sufficient depth of field to include all of this abundant patch of cow parsley in sharp focus. 43029 approaches the incident with the 1L50 10:36 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service.

43029 passes Churchill Heath in superb evening light on 22 June 2018 with the 1W36 17:52 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. This was running ten minutes late, or in other words, Cotswold Line standard time! What a pity this set wasn't the other way round, as InterCity liveried 43185 Great Western is on the rear.

Two contrasting forms of transport at Crofton on 14 July 2018. Sasha would be limited to 4 mph, while 43029 can reach 125 mph (although not on this twisting stretch of line). The train is the 1C77 10:03 Paddington to Penzance GWR service.

43029 leaves the Cotswold Line at Wolvercote Junction on 31 October 2018 with the 1P31 12:09 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Visible directly above the power car is the bridge that carries the line over Duke's Cut, a short canal linking the Oxford Canal (hidden by the bushes on the right), and the River Thames.

The view east from Grintleyhill Bridge near Combe is compromised by wires, and lineside trees preventing anything other than a nearly head on picture. However, given clear visibility, a very long lens does allow a view of trains having just passed through the diminutive Combe station. The tiny wayside stopping place can be seen behind the train in this view taken on 28 January 2019. 43029 leads the 1W27 13:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service.

This is definitely something out of the ordinary! Three HST power cars, three coaches, and a Class 47. A rather faded and tatty looking 43029 leads classmates 43027 & 43022 past Portway on 15 September 2020 with the 5E23 10:47 Laira to Doncaster Works stock move. 47815 Lost Boys 68-88 is bringing up the rear, hitching a ride back north to save a light engine move. The three power cars are going to be refurbished as part of GWR's 'Castle' class short formed HST sets.

43029 Caldicot Castle passes Standish Junction on 3 September 2023 with the 2T35 11:41 Gloucester to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Half an hour earlier it had passed by in the opposite direction with the 2E36 10:37 Bristol Temple Meads to Gloucester train, with 43198 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 leading.