43030 runs alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal at Froxfield on 20 June 1984 with the 1A65 06:00 Plymouth to Paddington service. The Yellow Water Lilies add interest to the picture, although they have slightly got in the way of a perfect reflection of the train. At this time the canal had not yet been reopened for navigation, so there was no danger of a passing boat getting in the way of the picture at the critical moment!

43030 rounds the curve at Miskin on 15 April 1995 with the 1A81 16:32 Swansea to Paddington service. The train is just crossing over the River Ely, while in the background, the surprisingly traffic free M4 motorway can be seen amid the trees.

43030 passes Chipping Campden on 24 June 1996 with the 1A14 05:56 Hereford to Paddington service. Chipping Campden station, which closed in 1966, was situated by the level crossing in the background. The goods yard extended towards my viewpoint, with the siding into the local gas works diverging to the left approximately where the large bush is.

On 23 April 1997 there was a minor derailment at Appleford, when a couple of ZKV spoil wagons left the rails near the level crossing by the junction for Appleford tip. This inevitably caused massive disruption throughout the day, with down trains travelling wrong line to get past the obstruction. With the pilot leaning out of the cab checking that all is well, 43030 approaches the site at less than walking speed with the delayed 1B48 17:10 Paddington to Hereford Great Western Trains service. The wagons were removed a little later by 37219.

Not quite the picture I was intending to take, but an interesting comparison of 125 mph train designs. I know which one I prefer! On 10 September 2009, 43030 Christian Lewis Trust leaves Oxford with the late running 1P56 13:11 Hereford to Paddington First Great Western service, while 220022 arrives with the 13:45 Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly CrossCountry service. Strangely the HST had arrived off the Cotswold Line exactly to time but then sat in the station for ten minutes! Ironically the Voyager was bang on time, resulting in this unplanned passing shot

A storm is brewing at Uffington on 28 August 2010, as 43030 Christian Lewis Trust heads west with the 1C13 12:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. It wouldn't be long before it was time to put the camera away and start the long walk back to the car!

43030 Christian Lewis Trust passes Steventon on 22 September 2010 with the 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. This photo is taken from Stocks Lane level crossing. Steventon's other level crossing, Causeway, can be seen in the background.

Dramatic lighting at Uffington on 23 November 2010, as 43030 Christian Lewis Trust speeds west with the 1B42 14:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. The dark clouds had gradually been building up over the Didcot area, but just a little way further west where I was stood only the odd cloud was interrupting the sunshine.

43030 Christian Lewis Trust speeds past Denchworth on 24 March 2011 with the 1G38 13:48 Paddington to Cheltenham First Great Western service. The Christian Lewis Trust after which 43030 is named is a children's cancer trust set up in memory of Swansea cancer victim, Christian Lewis. The power car was named at Swansea station in July 2000.

The lineside hawthorn bushes are in full bloom, as 43030 Christian Lewis Trust approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 28 April 2011 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service.

Plenty of lush spring greenery at Baulking on 22 May 2012, as 43030 Christian Lewis Trust passes underneath the signal gantry with the 1C19 15:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service.

Perfect spring lighting at Compton Beauchamp on 30 April 2013. 43030 Christian Lewis Trust heads towards London with the 1L24 06:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The footbridge at the site of Ashbury Crossing can be seen in the background.

43030 Christian Lewis Trust looks like it could do with some touching up of its paintwork, as it approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 26 February 2014 with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington service, which First Great Western brand as the 'Red Dragon'.

Throughout early 2014, the roof of 43030 Christian Lewis Trust was getting progressively scruffier. It is seen here passing Bourton on 17 June 2014 with the 1C18 14:30 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare First Great Western service.

43030 Christian Lewis Trust passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 16 April 2015 with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The tubular steel pile on the left with its painted on markings shows just how far these have to be driven into the ground, which as Network Rail have discovered, has not always been as easy as was anticipated!

Oilseed Rape completely dominates the foreground of this view at Uffington on 22 April 2015, as 43030 Christian Lewis Trust heads westwards with the 1C18 14:30 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare First Great Western service. Although it looks dense here, the picture was in fact taken from one of the 'tramlines' in the crop, used by the spraying equipment, so no damage was done to the crop. Besides, walking through this lot whilst in flower would soon leave you covered in yellow pollen!

43030 Christian Lewis Trust passes Chilson on 7 November 2016 with the 1W02 10:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. The Met Office had predicted a completely sunny day, but even before midday there was a lot of clouds building up over the Cotswolds, which as long as one doesn't get in the way of the sun at the crucial moment, does add to the picture.

43030 Christian Lewis Trust, and its mismatched set of green coaches, passes Charlton-on-Otmoor on 17 September 2017 with the diverted 1C23 16:32 Paddington to Penzance GWR service. Unlike most of the other diverted HSTs during the day, this one was running 14 minutes late.

43030 Christian Lewis Trust is still accelerating away from Stroud station, as it passes Cashes Green on 5 October 2017 with the late running 1G38 13:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. For some reason I had never previously taken a picture at this location, which considering it is one of the least overgrown viewpoints in the Stroud area is surprising. I expect I will make up for this oversight in the next few years!

43030 Christian Lewis Trust approaches Didcot North Junction on 20 April 2018 with the 1P36 15:22 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. Appleford church can be seen in the background. Although parts of the building date back to the 12th century, what can be seen from this distance is the Victorian tower and spire, designed by William Gilbert Scott.

43030 Christian Lewis Trust heads south from Moreton-in-Mash on 21 April 2018 with the 1P26 06:17 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. The train is passing underneath the recently rebuilt Dunstall  Bridge. The trees by the lineside have recently been felled, but the one in the middle of the field adds to the picture's composition, rather than just getting in the way, like the others did!

43030 Christian Lewis Trust passes Great Bedwyn in crisp evening light on 2 July 2018 with the 1J93 18:07 Paddington to Frome GWR service. This was still accelerating away from Bedwyn station, being one of the few HSTs to call there.

Travelling at more like 25mph than 125mph, 43030 Christian Lewis Trust slowly passes Uffington on 26 July 2018 with the 1C43 11:27 Paddington to Penzance GWR service. Apparently the line was being inspected, although for what is not clear. This naturally delayed the train, and as it was running half an hour late by Thingley Junction, it was sent via Westbury, rather than Bristol.

In crisp early morning light, 43030 Christian Lewis Trust races through Ascott-under-Wychwood station on 6 September 2018 with the 1P18 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. This seems to be my most photographed HST power car on the Cotswold Line during 2018. Will this be my last picture of it before it migrates to Scotland? After years of photographing it in Oxfordshire, picturing it amid the Highlands or East Coast of Scotland will be a little different!

It may not be quite as impressive as a 'Castle' or a 'King', but this is the 1980s version of the 'Cornish Riviera Express'. Fishermen on the Kennet & Avon Canal take no notice as 43031 speeds westwards at Crofton with the 1C28 10:50 Paddington to Penzance 'Cornish Riviera' on 23 September 1986. The 1958 timetable lists this train as taking 6 hours 25 minutes to complete the 305 mile journey with 5 intermediate stops, whilst this 1986 equivalent did it in just under 5 hours, with twice as many stops!

The roses on the end of Hanborough's disused down platform are in full bloom, as 43031 passes by at high speed with the 1B58 18:20 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express' on 6 July 1992. In those days Hanborough station was not the important stopping place that it is now, and only about half of the Cotswold Line trains called there.

In the 1990s there was an unobstructed evening view from the footbridge on the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, to Compton Beauchamp. On 8 May 1996, the 1B56 18:03 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa service passes Chapelwick Farm, with 43031 leading.

On 15 August 2009, 43031 pulls out of the down platform at Moreton-in-Marsh and runs 'wrong line' to the crossover, where it moves onto the up line. A few minutes earlier it had arrived with the 11:21 First Great Western service from Paddington, which would normally carry on to Great Malvern. However, the line from here to Evesham was closed for engineering works in connection with reinstating the double track, and a connection was being provided by buses. After the HST had moved onto the up line, it then proceeded back to the station (with 43193 leading), ready to form the 13:48 departure for Paddington.

43031 heads south from platform 2 at Banbury on 2 January 2011, running 'wrong line' out of the station with the 1B20 08:15 Paddington to Carmarthen First Great Western service. The driver had just changed ends after arriving from the south via the Chiltern Line. These lengthy diversions were the result of an engineering blockade at Reading, which saw the line closed for most of the Christmas and New Year period.

43031 approaches Challow on 19 December 2013 with the 1C14 12:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The newly installed fence in the foreground replaces the former hedge, which means this viewpoint is now considerably more open.

Fantastic lighting at Cholsey on 8 July 2014. 43031 leads the 3G02 05:37 Paddington to Swindon First Great Western ECS through a few minutes worth of stunning photographic conditions, with the golden fields bathed in early morning sunshine, while the background is still underneath a bank of really dark clouds. Lying in the long grass to the right of the power car is one of the tubular steel piles that will support the soon to be installed overhead electrification masts.

43031 speeds past Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 6 March 2015 with the 1C18 14:30 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare First Great Western service. The white plastic in the centre of the picture marks the site of one of the masts for the forthcoming electrification. The piling has not gone at all to plan, with some piles been driven through signalling cables, and in other cases difficult ground conditions preventing them being driven in fully. Presumably it will all be sorted out, but already the project is a year behind schedule, and of course massively over budget!

Two very different kinds of horsepower at Steventon on 29 September 2015! 43031 heads westwards with the 1B46 14:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service, while the Massey Ferguson tractor on the right is in fact parked, with engine off, despite the open door giving the appearance that the farmer has left the cab momentarily!

Two days before Christmas, and some superb winter light tempted me to go to Circourt Bridge, Denchworth. 43031 heads towards London with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service on 23 December 2015.

43031 speeds past Denchworth on 4 September 2016 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Plymouth GWR service. This was running 20 minutes late, as all trains were encountering some kind of delay at Didcot. Since my last visit here less than two weeks earlier, another mast has sprung up in the foreground. It won't be long before this view disappears completely.

43031 approaches Finstock on 6 March 2017 with the 1W23 11:20 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. Surprisingly I virtually never used this location in the days of loco hauled trains, despite it being an easily accessible roadbridge, and obviously being much less overgrown in the 1980s. I suppose there was a far wider choice of much better locations in those days!

Very unusual motive power for the Bicester area! 43031 passes Gavray Junction on 17 September 2017 with the diverted 1L38 08:08 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The tracks on the right are currently disused, but will eventually be brought back into use as part of the Oxford to Cambridge 'East West Rail' project.

43031 passes Uffington on 13 November 2017 with the 1L32 06:58 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. Although nothing out of the ordinary was due, I had gone to this location as the Met Office had promised a completely sunny morning, and I wanted a few pictures of HSTs with the autumn tints of the lineside wood in the background. I succeeded in the latter, but this is the only HST that passed in full sun! There were some small clouds around the sun just after I arrived, then this huge mass of dark cloud moved in from the west. I presume the Met Office headquarters building doesn't have any windows, as their website was still showing full sun, even several hours later! On the plus side, the dark sky certainly does add impact to the picture.

43032 leads the 12:00 Liverpool Lime Street to Plymouth InterCity service past Badgeworth on 29 July 1986. This was a rare bright spell during a mostly cloudy day. Note how the sunshine does not extend to the Cotswold Hills in the background.

With the appropriately named Brunel House (a former orphanage), dominating the background, 43032 leads the 1E30 06:30 Plymouth to York service past Horfield on 13 March 1989. As can be seen by the wide trackbed, this was once a four track mainline, the track having been rationalised just a few years before this picture was taken.

43032 The Royal Regiment of Wales leads the 1A57 12:45 Paignton to Paddington service past Teignmouth on 25 May 1996. It was generally a dull day, but just as this train appeared it brightened up slightly, before the clouds in the background turned the lights out again! The sea wall here is an ideal location to photograph eastbound trains, however you are a little too close to westbound trains, and it isn't advisable to try to get more to the side, as its a long drop into the sea!

43032 passes Clink (near Frome) on 9 April 1999 with the 1C58 16:35 Paddington to Penzance First Great Western service. Not a brilliant location, but unfortunately I haven't got that many perfectly lit pictures of HSTs in the sadly missed Great Western Trains 'Merlin' livery.

43032 The Royal Regiment of Wales passes Thingley Junction on 20 June 2001 with the 1C21 10:15 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Track removal is taking place in the sidings on the left, which a few years earlier had been the unlikely home for various stored items of rolling stock.

43032 The Royal Regiment of Wales passes Chilson, on the Cotswold Line with the 06:09 Abergavenny to Paddington First Great Western 'Cathedrals Express' service on 10 August 2007. Note the use of a hired in set of Midland Mainline coaches, used to augment the FGW fleet while their coaches are being refurbished. Unfortunately one element of this refurbishment is an increase in the seating density, somewhat detracting from the HST's quality image.

Naturally after all three railtours had passed Goring on 12 April 2008, the lighting was at its best, with the cutting free of shadow, and dark clouds in the background. However, unlike a lot of photographers, who only seem to take pictures of freight and special workings and ignore the commonplace, I am not averse to taking pictures of HSTs, especially when they are in clean condition, such as this example. 43032 leads the 06:29 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service past Goring in perfect light.

43032 passes the site of Yarnton Junction with the 10:42 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service on 7 December 2008. The former Fairford Branch Line joined the Oxford to Worcester route just behind the tree on the right. About the only real clue to the existence of a station on this site now is the presence of the Scots Pine trees visible behind the train, a characteristic feature of Great Western station sites.

43032 heads west near Uffington on 10 February 2009 with the 1B28 11:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. Despite the overnight rain there was still a surprising amount of snow lying about, particularly in the fields away from the gritted roads. Although it entailed a long trudge through the snow, I decided to visit this spot near Uffington, as it is one of the very few  locations in the area I had not previously visited, despite it being in view from other visited spots.

43032 passes a slightly weed choked Hinksey Yard on 24 September 2009 with the 1P51 14:31 Oxford to Paddington First Great Western service, a train which subsequently went over to Turbo operation, hardly surprising in view of an HST's slight over capacity for such an of peak service.

43032 leans into the reverse curves at Wootton Rivers on 20 October 2010 whilst working the 1A76 05:05 Penzance to Paddington First Great Western service. Next stop Reading on this train's five hour journey from the West Country to the Capital.

I'm not quite sure the expression 'Rest in Peace' is totally appropriate here! 43032 disturbs the tranquility of Little Somerford cemetery on 6 March 2012, as it heads eastwards with the 1L52 10:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The rest of the village of Little Somerford is on the opposite side of the railway line.

The two plumes of water vapour from Didcot Power Station's cooling towers merge to form a single cloud, as 43032 passes Steventon on 19 February 2013 with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service.

43032 runs along the up main line at Ruscombe on 1 May 2013 with the 1L28 07:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington First Great Western service. Mote the non-standard white panels on the roof of the power car.

43032 passes Challow on 2 January 2014 with the 1A09 07:02 Taunton to Paddington First Great Western service. The green light on the signal gantry in the background signifies that another HST is approaching from behind, threatening to block out the view!

43032 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 10 February 2014 with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington 'Red Dragon'. It wouldn't be long before all that dark cloud in the background came this way, and put and end to the morning's photography!

With the background still largely obscured by the early morning mist, 43032 passes Bourton on 9 April 2015 with the 1L32 06:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. Photo taken from a farm occupation bridge, which is fine (if a little rough) to drive to most of the year, but not after heavy rain in the winter!

43032 passes Wapley on 16 February 2016 with the 1B31 12:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. This was my only visit to this location. Now of course it has been ruined by the installation on 25kV overhead catenary.

A fine February afternoon at Uffington, with a clear blue sky, and no wind, making for pleasant photographic conditions. 43032 speeds westwards with the 1B46 14:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. It's the 24 February 2016, and still no sign of the Great Western Mainline electrification scheme, which should have been completed by now. Network Rail incompetence at its finest!

43032 passes Oaksey on 15 September 2016 with the diverted 1L65 12:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The closure of the Severn Tunnel for engineering works resulted in trains from Wales travelling via Gloucester, doubling the number of HSTs traversing the Gloucester to Swindon Line. Major embankment strengthening works are taking place here, with work compounds on either side of the bridge. The spire of Kemble church can just be seen in the distance.

43032 passes Gavray Junction on 17 September 2017 with the diverted 1L46 09:24 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. As the milepost in the foreground indicates, there is just half a mile to go before the train joins the Chiltern Line. The urban sprawl of Bicester dominates the background. Bicester has recently been given the status of a so called 'Garden Town'. This is a totally meaningless marketing ploy, presumably designed to shift attention away from all the housing and industrial development that is swamping it. It's just a name, there is no difference to any other town that is being encircled by development, usually against the resident's wishes.

Not even any animal tracks disturb the pristine snow, as 43033 passes Hinksey Yard on 8 February 1986 with the 1F35 13:35 Oxford to Paddington service. This location is unrecognisable now, with trees having grown up on both sides of the line. The view of Oxford ice rink is no more, and no doubt there would now be much longer shadows than the ones in the foreground.

43033 passes Frampton Mansell on 20 June 1987 with the 1A23 08:34 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington service. The Grade II listed Frampton Place can be seen amid the trees, and the tower of Oakridge Lynch church is just visible in the top right hand corner of the picture.

43033 gets the right away at Norton Junction on 22 May 1994 with the 1A70 16:35 Hereford to Paddington service. Already running half an hour late, it was held at the signals in the background, in order for the 1B36 15:43 Paddington to Hereford train to come off the single track Cotswold Line. These trains should have crossed at Evesham.

On a damp, misty 10 September 2005, 43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 accelerates away from Cheltenham station and passes Up Hatherley with the 09:30 Cheltenham to Paddington First Great Western service. This picture is taken from the footbridge linking Hollis Road with Reddings Park.

43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 speeds past Baulking on 12 October 2006 with the 1G38 13:48 Paddington to Cheltenham First Great Western service. The leaves of the aptly named White Poplar trees in the background really stand out at this time of year.

43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 passes Langley Burrell on 8 September 2007 with the 1C05 08:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The 1C06 08:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington train can just be seen disappearing into the distance.

43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 passes Aston Magna on 17 October 2008 with the 1W19 08:51 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. Terribly harsh backlighting, but I wanted a picture that shows the reverse curves at this location.

43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 passes Challow on 8 April 2014 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service, whilst in the background 43063 brings up the rear of the balancing working, the 1C07 09:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service.

43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 passes South Moreton on 28 April 2015 with the 1A12 07:40 Paignton to Paddington First Great Western service. Approaching in the background is 66554 with the 6O26 10:19 Hinksey to Eastleigh departmental working.

43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 passes Oaksey on 15 September 2016 with the diverted 1L71 14:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. It is passing a section of cutting that has recently been reinforced with some rather non local looking soil.

43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999 speeds past Uffington on 29 March 2017 with the 1Z48 10:40 Newport to Paddington First Great Western service. This was running 22 minutes late, but as indicated by the Z headcode, this is a last minute special, presumably as a replacement for the cancelled 1L46 09:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington. I decided on this wide view, to show the extent of the work site, which even extends into the field by Moor Mill Farm. Stopping the train exactly in the right place in a wide angle view is always difficult, and I chose a 1/4000sec shutter speed here to freeze the action. Even so, I am quite impressed that I managed to get the framing more or less exactly right!

43034 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham on 21 April 1988 with the 11:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington. The train is typical of the period, with a complete rake of original blue and grey stock, sandwiched between two new liveried power cars. Often at the time this would be the original 'executive' style colour scheme, but here we see two of the recently introduced 'InterCity Swallow' examples, which would soon come to dominate the national network.

Transition time at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, as new concrete sleepers are laid out in readiness for the new down relief line. 43034 heads west on 21 December 1992 with the 1C34 12:15 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service. 25kV wires have now largely spoiled this view, although thankfully only the vegetation behind the train has increased in the intervening years.

43034 speeds past South Brent on 1 May 1994 with the 1A70 14:43 Penzance to Paddington service. The signal box marks the site of Brent station, formerly the junction for the Kingsbridge line. The branch closed in 1963, and Brent station followed just a few months later.

43034 accelerates away from Swindon on 24 June 1994, and passes Highworth Junction, whilst working the 1A25 07:02 Swansea to Paddington service. The line diverging to the right leads to the Rover car plant, while on the left are the engineer's dept sidings.

In superb crisp early morning light, newly named 43034 The Black Horse arrives at Kemble leading the 08:30 Cheltenham to Paddington service on 27 October 1994. An unusual survival at this quiet Cotswold station is this fine GWR water tower, which for many years supplied water to Swindon Works, 14 miles away. Kemble was once a double junction, with branch lines going to both Tetbury and Cirencester. The bushes in the background mark the course of the Tetbury line. Kemble is now a very busy commuter station, serving a wide catchment area.

43034 The Black Horse emerges from Ardley Tunnel on 5 November 1994 with the Chiltern Railways 08:10 Paddington to Chester '125 Awayday' railtour, with 43042 still deep inside the tunnel on the rear. HSTs were (and still are) very scarce on the Chiltern Line, and it is ironic that nearly sixteen years later I was back at the same location for another rare visit of the class. Incidentally, in 1994 there was obviously more spare capacity in the HST fleet, as there was another railtour running on this day - the Hertfordshire Railtours 'Coast to Coast', using 43063 & 43076.

43034 The Black Horse leads the 1A43 08:40 Plymouth to Paddington (via Paignton) First Great Western service past Silverton on 19 August 2002. The train is approaching the site of Silverton station (closed in 1964), which was also the junction for a short freight line to Bridge Paper Mill.

One of the few remaining unrefurbished First Great Western HST power cars, 43034 The Black Horse races past the site of Shrivenham station (between Didcot and Swindon) with the 1C13 12:00 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service on 15 November 2007.

With the threat of rain in the background, 43034 TravelWatch SouthWest (not my capitalisation and word spacing!) speeds past the site of Uffington loops on 27 August 2008 with the 1L52 10:29 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service.

Perfect photographic conditions at Compton Beauchamp on 3 May 2013. Clear spring sunshine, and plenty of lineside blackthorn blossom, as 43034 TravelWatch SouthWest heads eastwards with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington First Great Western service.

43034 TravelWatch SouthWest approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 18 November 2014 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The level crossing was replaced in the 1970s with a concrete footbridge, from which this picture was taken.

43034 TravelWatch SouthWest passes Challow on 21 March 2016 with the 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. Just to the right of the power car is one of the steel piles that has been driven into the ground, to form a base for the electfrication masts.

43034 TravelWatch SouthWest passes through the forest of new electrification masts at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 15 August 2016 with the 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. And no, it is not an optical illusion, the mast on the left really is leaning!

43034 TravelWatch SouthWest passes South Marston on 20 June 2017 with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. The train is running 'the wrong way round', as the first class vehicles are normally at the London end of the train.

43034 TravelWatch SouthWest passes Langford Lane, near Wendlebury, on 17 September 2017 with the diverted 1B20 08:37 Paddington to Carmarthen GWR Service. A dull and drizzly day (at least at first), but I wasn't gong to miss the opportunity to get a few off route HSTs on this recently upgraded line.

43034 TravelWatch SouthWest is pictured near Ascott-under-Wychwood on the glorious evening of 29 June 2018, as it heads up the Cotswold Line with the 1W03 18:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. This location is between Ascott-under-Wychwood and Shipton stations, close to where the Oxfordshire Way long distance footpath crosses the line.

Running to Cotswold Line standard time (in other words, late!) 43034 TravelWatch SouthWest passes Lyneham on 26 July 2018 with the 1W02 17:22 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. On this occasion the 22 minutes late running was presumably put down to the extremely high temperatures, but all kinds of excuses have been put forward for the line's abysmal punctually record, which is now far worse than at any time that I can remember.

Not so much the Golden Valley, but more like the Green Valley at Frampton Mansell on 20 June 1987. Rightly famed for is display of golden foliage in the autumn, the line through the valley of the River Frome is a little less colourful in high summer. 43035 leads the diverted 1C14 09:00 Paddington to Swansea service down the gradient, having just crossed over that well known local landmark - Frampton Mansell Viaduct (hidden behind the bushes beyond the vintage tractor). Some of the houses in Frampton Mansell village can just be seen on the extreme right.

43035 makes a smoky departure from Oxford station on Saturday 5 November 1988 with the late running 1A18 07:07 Hereford to Paddington InterCity service. For odd some reason, this train was branded as the 'Cathedrals Express' during the week, but not on a Saturday. As the HST obviously never carried a headboard, it was irrelevant anyway! The only subtle difference was that on a Saturday it called at Reading, instead of being non-stop to London after the Oxford stop.

A bitterly cold morning at Bourton on 13 November 1992. 43035 accelerates away from Swindon with the 1A31 09:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. You can tell how cold it is, note the condensation in power car's light cluster.

Still retaining InterCity livery, but with the coaches in Great Western Trains colours, 43035 leads the 1C11 07:35 Paddington to Penzance First Great Western service over St Germans Viaduct on 19 September 1998. The tide is clearly out in this view, with several boats sitting on the muddy bank.

43035 passes Uffington on 18 September 2010 with the 1B20 09:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. This particular location is not often visited by photographers, as it requires a long walk from the nearest road.

43035 speeds past the site of Shrivenham station on 27 June 2011 with the 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The remains of both platforms are still in place, although you wouldn't know it from the amount of vegetation on the down platform!

43035 has just joined the Melksham line at Thingley Junction on 18 April 2015 with the diverted 1L28 07:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington First Great Western service. The main line is virtually hidden by bushes in the background. Engineering works a Bourton, near Swindon, was causing all London trains to be diverted via the Berks & Hants line.

43035 leads the 1L24 06:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service past Challow on 24 February 2016. The radio mast almost mirrors the line of Lombardy Poplars, and is certainly less intrusive that the sea of electfrication masts that now obliterates this view!

43035 speeds past Compton Beauchamp on 8 May 2016 with the 1B79 18:37 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. The soft evening light shows up the different shades of brickwork in the bridge. Presumably before the installation of the down relief line here, the bridge was of a symmetrical design. If so, that explains the different colour bricks of the parapet starting from the centre of the bridge, and the altered left hand arch.

43035 passes signs of impending electfrication at Uffington on 22 January 2017. It is working the 1C11 11:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. As there is plenty of room in this field to dodge the posts, there will still be some chance of a photo, but it will have to be something unusual to tempt me back now that the view has been ruined!

The hawthorn bush in full bloom is a welcome sight, the ironmongery for the coming electfrication less so! 43035 passes Compton Beauchamp on 13 May 2017 with the 1C22 16:30 Paddington to Taunton GWR service.

43035 approaches Thingley Junction on 19 June 2017 with the 1A06 06:20 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington GWR service. This is one of those locations that I should have visited more often, instead of leaving it until just before it is ruined by the installation of 25kV catenary!

43035 pases Chilson on 25 August 2017 with the 1P21 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington GWR service. Luckily the fog was only obscuring the background, and not interfering with the sun where I was stood, although it looks like it was a good idea that I decided not to go to Ascott-under-Wychwood on this particular morning!

43035 speeds past Uffington on 22 September 2017 with the 1A12 07:40 Paignton to Paddington GWR service. This unobstructed view, from the top of the newly constructed footbridge, only lasted a few months, before the inevitable installation of the overhead wires required a lower photographic vantage point.

43035 passes Chilson on 10 May 2018 with the 1P18 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. This view, which has hardly changed at all since I have been taking railway photos, will soon be completely different, as young trees have been planted in the section of the field just behind the power car.

43035 passes Cassington on 11 May 2018 with the 1P07 04:47 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. This is yet another Cotswold Line location that has been opened up for photography after decades worth of lineside tree growth has been removed.

43035 approaches Kemble at speed on 3 July 2018 with the diverted 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. This was routed this way, as its normal route via the Severn Tunnel was closed for electfrication works.

43036 passes Bourton on 28 December 1985 with the 1A31 10:05 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service. Although by the time the HSTs received this 'executive' livery, the Class 253 set designation had largely been abandoned, some repaints still carried the set number (253018 in this case).

43036 takes the Westbury line at Fairwood Junction on 20 April 1988 with the 07:30 Plymouth to Paddington service. The complete train is in the second livery applied to the class, the so called 'executive' livery, which was applied from 1983 onwards. This was the last livery to use the 'InterCity 125' branding, and when in clean condition looked particularly smart and suited the trains well, particularly bearing in mind some of the colour schemes they have had to carry subsequently! 43009 was pictured at the same location three years later in the next variation of this livery.

Before the Great Western Mainline electfrication, and the advent of the Network Rail compound, there used to be a good view from the north side of the line at Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on summer evenings. 43036 is pictured heading west on 23 June 1995 with the 1B62 18:30 Paddington to Swansea service.

43036 approaches Iver on 19 October 1996 with the 1A18 06:32 Swansea to Paddington Great Western Trains service. As can be clearly seen, the fast lines were closed for engineering works, so all trains were using the relief lines. This was a definite bonus, as the early morning shadows would have made decent photography virtually impossible if this HST had been on its normal track. The bridge from which this picture was taken has subsequently been demolished.

Livery transition time for the 1B17 10:00 Paddington to Swansea service at the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 26 February 1997. 43036 still retains InterCity livery, but the rest of the train is in the short lived Great Western Trains colour scheme.

The weak setting sun provides some backlighting for 43036 as it passes South Marston on 24 June 1999 with the 16:30 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. This viewpoint has changed considerably since this picture was taken. On the right the first preliminary earthworks for the rail connection into the Keypoint Railfreight Terminal & Honda car plant can be seen. A rail junction with the mainline now occupies this site.

43036 in original First Great Western livery leads a rake of new liveried stock on the 12:45 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service on 9 October 2003, seen here passing Circourt Bridge, Denchworth. Just visible in the background, the signals by Denchworth Bridge are showing all three aspects. Red on the up relief as 47799 had just passed by light engine, and was obviously waiting at Wantage Road, green on the up main as 43129 was approaching with an up train, and amber on the bi-directional down main, as it is always like that!

Ideal winter photographic conditions at Uffington on 10 February 2009 as 43036 leads the 1C13 12:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service through the snowy landscape. The Longcot to Uffington footpath passes under the small bridge below the third coach. A deliberately wide viewpoint was chosen here to show plenty of snow in the foreground, after all you don't get many opportunities to take this kind of picture. Although obviously a tractor has been across this field since the last snowfall, needless to say I was the only walker to trek the long distance from the nearest road to get to this spot!

43036 glistens in the severe backlighting at Challow on 16 July 2011, as it heads towards the capital with the 1L67 15:00 Cheltenham to Paddington First Great Western service. I wouldn't normally bother with such a backlit picture, but the brief burst of sunshine amidst the dark clouds has highlighted the rippling bodywork of the power car, making for a slightly different and interesting picture.

43036 climbs Campden Bank and passes through a fine avenue of trees at Mickleton on 26 March 2012 with the 1P56 13:14 Hereford to Paddington First Great Western service. Prior to the reinstatement of double track this had been a rather restricted location, but pending the regrowth of the young ash trees in the foreground, an impressive new viewpoint has been created.

Viewed from the Walton Well Road bridge, 43036 approaches Oxford on 13 July 2013 with the late running 1P37 08:43 Great Malvern to Paddington First Great Western service. A somewhat restricted view for anything approaching Oxford on the relief line!

43036 passes Baulking on 29 March 2014 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Note that instead of the more normal eight coaches, this train only has seven, recalling the early days of the Western Region HST fleet.

43036 passes Baulking on 4 August 2014 with the 1A11 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. The bridge in the background marks the site of Uffington station, formerly the junction for the Faringdon branch.

A fine spring morning at Compton Beauchamp on 30 March 2015. 43036 heads for the capital with the 1A12 10:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Presumably this will be the last spring that pictures can be taken here without the obstruction of the new overhead catenary.

On Saturday 18 April 2015, the Avon Valley line between Trowbridge and Bath was very busy, with First Great Western trains diverted away from the Swindon line, which was closed for engineering works. One such diverted train was the 1C14 12:06 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, seen here passing Avoncliff, 20 minutes late, with 43036 leading.

Signs of engineering work at Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 20 April 2015. 43036 passes a parked excavator next to milepost 71, as it heads westwards with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service.

43036 approaches Worcester on 31 August 2017 with the 1W25 12:21 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. This surprisingly wooded scene is actually surrounded by houses. Lark Hill Road overbridge can just be seen in the distance.

Unbranded 43036 brings up the rear of the 5L46 10:00 St Philips Marsh to Ely Papworth Sidings ECS at Badgeworth on 22 October 2017. This is an off lease GWR set, heading for a new life in Scotland. I did well to get safely across the busy road for this picture, after getting a picture of 43134 leading the train!

43036 brings up the rear of the 2W93 15:08 Dundee to Aberdeen ScotRail driver training special at Arbroath on 1 September 2018. 43143 is a the head of the train. This photo is taken from the little footbridge at the West Links Parks station of the 10¼ in gauge Kerr's Miniature Railway, which explains the rather unusual foreground!

43037 bursts out from under the bridge at Hay Lane near Swindon on 15 September 1979 whilst working the 13:45 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service. Hay Lane was once the site of a temporary terminus for the Great Western Railway during the course of its construction between London and Bristol, nearby Swindon being only an insignificant village at the time. Between 17 December 1840 (when the line was extended from Challow) and 3 May 1851 (when the extension to Chippenham was opened) this remote spot was a hub of railway activity.

43037 passes Hawkeridge Junction on Sunday 4 October 1987 with the diverted 1B08 09:10 Paddington to Swansea service. The rear of the similarly diverted 1A28 09:30 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington can just be seen disappearing into the bushes on the extreme left of the picture.

43037 accelerates away from Swindon, and passes Highworth Junction on 28 April 1999 with the 1A07 06:05 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. I sometimes went to this location before going to work in order to photograph the Longbridge to Swindon Rover car panel empties entering the nearby works. Unfortunately on this occasion I didn't get that picture, as when it did arrive, it stopped in the far distance and didn't move for over an hour. As by 1999 the train was Class 66 hauled, it wasn't such a disaster!

43037 leads the diverted 1B20 11:00 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service through the trees near Chalford on 21 April 2002. The disused Thames & Severn Canal can just be seen in the bottom of the valley.

43037 Penydarren speeds past the junction to the Keypoint Industrial Estate at South Marston on 22 June 2010. It is working the 1A12 09:29 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington First Great Western service. The name Penydarren commemorates Richard Trevithick's pioneer steam locomotive of 1804.

A dull and damp day at Uffington on 13 July 2010. 43037 Penydarren passes underneath the signal gantry with the 1L65 13:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Wester service. Note the slightly leaning redundant signal on the right. This is left over from when there used to be loops at this location.

43037 Penydarren passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 13 September 2012 with the 1C10 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Whilst the loss of Didcot Power Station's chimney and cooling towers after decommissioning may not be too much of a loss for this view, the erection of the overhead electrification wiring certainly will be.

43037 Penydarren passes Moulsford on 4 September 2013 with the 1C24 17:30 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare service First Great Western. Just behind the train is the famous 'Four Arches' Moulsford railway bridge, which crosses the River Thames.

43037 Penydarren unusually runs along the up relief line at Cholsey on 2 January 2015 with the 1L58 12:20 Cheltenham to Paddington First Great Western service. The writing is on the wall for these classic trains at this location, as the freshly installed masts on the left prove!

43037 Penydarren brings up the rear of the 1P26 06:17 Hereford to Paddington GWR service at Culham on 26 September 2015. The partially demolished Didcot Power Station looms out of the mist in the background.

43037 Penydarren passes the junction for the South Marston Industrial Estate branch on 15 July 2016 with the 1L82 16:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington GWR service. As can be seen from the rusty rails, the branch line is currently disused.

Great Western Mainline desecration at the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 4 February 2017. 43037 Penydarren speeds past the signs of its own demise with the 1C14 12:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service.

Sheep graze in the fields at Daylesford on 2 March 2017, as 43037 Penydarren passes by with the 1P57 14:25 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Its almost like thirty years ago, as I am now taking every opportunity to photograph HSTs on the Cotswold Line before they are replaced by Class 800s, whereas three decades ago it was Class 50s that were photographed at pretty much every spot I could get to between Wolvercote Junction and Moreton-in-Marsh!

43037 Penydarren passes Daylesford on 13 February 2017 with the 1W25 12:21 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. This photo is taken from a farm occupation bridge, which also carries the footpath from Daylesford to Oddington.

Corporate vandalism at Bourton on 13 March 2017. 43037 Penydarren passes through Network Rail's blot on the landscape, as it works the 1L28 07:08 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. Brunel was all for progress, but the great man would not appreciate what they have done to his railway!

43038 passes the site of Finedon station with the 07:07 Sheffield to St Pancras service on 1 August 1992. 43038 is painted in an unusual variation of the InterCity livery, with yellow covering virtually all of the front end, and most surprisingly a white cab roof. As can be seen from the condition this is in here, white is hardly the most practical colour for an HST power car roof. When the power car is at he rear of the train the exhaust gets pulled down by the slipstream with obvious results. The exhaust deflector plates fitted shortly after the class was introduced were supposed to alleviate this, but obviously they are only partially successful!

43038 races through Drem station on 4 October 2001 with the late running 1E08 08:00 Aberdeen to Kings Cross GNER service. Not the most photogenic of locations, but as I had stopped off specifically to photograph 56032 on the 6B44 11:15 Oxwellmains to Powderhall Binliner empties, I thought I might a well get a shot of one of the stylish GNER HSTs passing through the station.

43038 City of Dundee pass North Rigton on 6 September 2004 with the 1A15 07:28 Harrogate to Kings Cross GNER service. This was just ten minutes into its journey, the only direct London train of the day, which at the time had no return working!

To anyone familiar with the Swindon to Didcot line in recent years, this picture will come as something of a shock. On 21 June 1980, 43039 leads the 1A99 09:25 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington service past Baulking. Just compare this wide open view with the same scene in 2007. In 1980 the southern cutting side resembles a meadow, with not a single bush visible. This allows a clear view to the site of Uffington station in the background, complete with original 'bow string' road bridge (since replaced).

43040 approaches the site of Knighton Crossing on 26 January 1980 with the 1C50 14:15 Paddington to Swansea service. Apologies for the very poor quality of this image, but it was taken on a Praktica PLC2, but more critically it was taken too early, so has had to be pulled up from a small section of the original Kodachrome 64 transparency.

Viewed from Didcot Parkway station, 43040 Granite City sweeps round the east curve at Didcot on 31 July 1992 with the 1B58 18:20 Paddington to Hereford 'Cathedrals Express'. This curve connects Didcot East Junction on the London to Bristol line with Didcot North Junction on the route to Oxford.

43040 Granite City passes Bourton on 1 November 1994 with the 1A25 07:02 Swansea to Paddington service. The loco's Granite City name is hardly appropriate for the Western Region, but at the time that it was named (June 1990), it was part of the East Coast fleet, and therefore much more familiar with the granite city of Aberdeen.

43040 pulls away from Moreton-in-Marsh station on 14 May 1997 with the 1A16 05:56 Hereford to Paddington Great Western Trains service. The siding in the foreground has since been lifted, and the footbridge has been replaced by a larger version, but the semaphore signalling still remains.

43040 arrives at Evesham station on 17 May 1997 with the 1A33 08:05 Hereford to Paddington service. Worcester Road can be seen on the right, behind the retaining wall, in front of which an impromptu wildflower meadow seems to be taking over the land next to siding.

Only the rear power car spoils the appearance of an otherwise complete Great Western Trains HST at White Waltham on 7 March 1998. 43040 heads westwards with the 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads service.

A slightly different angle on the well known lineside location at Berkley, and one that can not now be repeated because of the installation of a huge communications mast right in the foreground of this view. 43040 approaches the ivy clad bridge on 9 January 2000 with the 1C31 10:15 Paddington to Penzance First Great Western service.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes Manningford Bruce on 12 April 2007 with the 1C85 13:05 Paddington to Plymouth First Great Western service. A couple of months later, 43040 would be called to Brush for refurbishment and would loose this tatty original version of FGW's purple livery in preference for the later simplified version.

The track across the field in the foreground adds an interesting composition to this picture of 43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh speeding towards Bourton on 29 March 2012 with the 1A16 12:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Note the recent embankment strengthening work.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes Baulking on 5 July 2013 with the 1C20 15:30 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare First Great Western service. Note the unpainted section of roof panel. Also of note for modellers, is the fact that the 'First' wording is missing from the front of the power car.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes Baulking on 16 April 2014 with the 1A14 11:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. A perfect spring morning at a location soon to be lost under a sea of 25kV wires.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes Abbotswood on 13 June 2014 with the 1L28 07:08 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington First Great Western service. Although most FGW HSTs from Worcester travel via the Cotswold Line, this is one of a small number than travel via Cheltenham and Swindon.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh is in immaculate condition, as is the rest of its train, as it passes Denchworth on 8 September 2014 with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. This is approximately the half way point of this four track section of the Great Western Mainline. The relief lines extend from Wantage Road (just out of sight around the corner in the distance) to Challow. They were reinstated in the 1990s.

As a prelude to electrification, the lineside vegetation has been cleared at Farleaze (between Badminton and Hullavington), allowing a clear broadside view of trains from the rustically named Pig Lane. 43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes the slightly soggy fields on 18 November 2014 with the 1L51 10:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington First Great Western service.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes a gang of track workers at South Marston on 30 June 2015, as it heads towards the capital with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. This was travelling slowly, as it was being held up by 66516, which was working the 4L31 09:03 Bristol to Felixstowe North freightliner.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes signs of impending electfrication at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 1 October 2015. It is working the 1G38 13:36 Paddington to Cheltenham GWR service. The electfrication of the line is running late and massively over budget.

Superb lighting at Denchworth on 9 October 2015, as 43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh speeds westwards with the 1B42 14:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. Full sun, dark clouds, autumn colours, and some decent traction. What more could you want?

A final glimpse of Challow, already virtually ruined as a photographic location by the electfrication masts. 43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh passes by on 16 August 2016 with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service.

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh leaves Worcester on 31 August 2017 with the 1P61 15:21 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. For some unknown reason, I had never visited this well known location before, and as both the semaphore signal, and the former Metal Box factory behind it are due to disappear, I only just made my first visit in time!

43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh sweeps round the gentle curve near Chilson on 25 January 2018 with the 1W23 11:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. A return to the old order for this train, as the previous week it was entrusted to one of the new Class 800 DMUs.

Observant passengers travelling behind 43040 Bristol St. Philip's Marsh on the 1A75 05:05 Penzance to Paddington GWR service, were in for a surprise shortly after this picture was taken at South Marston on 9 July 2018. Because the slow moving diverted 7A09 06:27 Merehead Quarry to Acton Mendip Rail 'jumbo' stone train was in front of it, the HST used the bi-directional signalling capability of the Great Western Mainline to overtake it, by using the crossovers at Bourton and Uffington.

Following the failure of the 1A40 21:45 Penzance to Paddington GWR sleeper near Ivybridge on 17 October 2019, most unusually a pair of HST power cars were used to take the stock to Reading the following day. So here we have the bizarre sight of 43040 & 43198 Driver Stan Martin 25 June 1950 - 6 November 2004 towing failed 57605 Totnes Castle and the sleeper stock past Uffington on 18 October 2019, running as the 5Z70 10:35 Laira to Reading Traincare Depot ECS. This was running exactly to time, and although it was fairly bright, it unfortunately missed the sun by just a few seconds. Had the early running before Swindon continued, it would most likely have passed in full sun. However, at least it wasn't raining, and this would be worth photographing in any light!

Passing milepost 97½, 43041 climbs up the Golden Valley at Chalford on 25 March 1995 with the 1A29 08:30 Cheltenham to Paddington service, one of the few InterCity trains on the route at the time. Unfortunately this viewpoint has now been ruined by the installation of a tall radio mast.

43041 City of Discovery passes through Mortimer station on 28 June 1998 with the 1O11 09:14 Edinburgh to Bournemouth 'Dorset Scot'. The station building is the most complete surviving example of one of Brunel's brick built Italianate style small stations, and is naturally Grade II listed.

43041 passes Shrivenham (Ashbury Crossing) on 16 December 2006 with the 12:15 Paddington to Cheltenham First Great Western service. The City of Discovery nameplate appears to have been removed, leaving just the crest. The nameplate was one of the cheap looking 'tin' plates, and the backing plate seems to be still in situ.

43041 passes Kingston Lisle on 6 January 2009 with the 1G29 11:48 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa First Great Western service. It may be just after midday, but the moon can clearly be seen in the centre of the picture.

43041 leads the 1A13 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service through a snowy landscape at Bourton on 4 February 2009. Swindon's Honda car plant can just be seen in the background.

43041 passes Baulking on 4 March 2011 with the 1B31 12:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. Oddly, I never investigated this particular spot before the two huge signal gantries were installed.

The early morning fog has just dispersed at Uffington on 19 November 2011, to allow the sun to light up 43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life, as it speeds eastwards with the 1A10 07:28 Exeter to Paddington (via Weston-super-Mare) First Great Western service. As can be seen from the fog and cloud in the background, the brightness was quite localised.

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life speeds past Baulking on 6 March 2015 with the late running 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. The two signal gantries just provide a frame to the picture, but the forthcoming electrification will ruin it!

A last look at the well known photographic location of Spring Farm, Goring, before the view is ruined forever by the overhead electrification. 43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life passes the newly installed masts on 6 July 2015 with the 1C02 06:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. Already it is extremely difficult to get a picture, as a pair of masts with cross piece next to the bridge leave just a small gap through which to photograph, using a long lens.

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life passes Callow Hill on 16 February 2016 with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington 'Red Dragon' GWR service. Note the recently rebuilt farm occupation bridge in the background, which now has filled in side arches.

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life races underneath the signal gantry at Denchworth on 18 February 2016 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. Waiting on the relief line behind is 70807 with the 6M50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot engineers train.

Green liveried 43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life with mismatched blue stock approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 14 September 2016 with the 1G38 13:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service.

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life and mismatched blue stock pass Challow on 6 April 2017 with the 1L38 07:58 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The delayed electfrication programme has finally obliterated the view from the bridge in the background, so this trackside viewpoint from the edge of the field is now the only option.

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life passes Grove on 30 November 2017 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. No attempt seems to be made to keep the green power cars and coaches together, and two years after the livery's introduction, mixed combinations are the norm.

A solitary dog walker braves the snowy expanse of Wolvercote Common, as 43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life slows for Wolvercote Junction on 18 March 2018 with the 1W02 11:23 Reading to Hereford GWR service. This should have been the 1W02 10:37 Paddington to Hereford, but suffered crewing problems, like a lot of Cotswold Line trains in early 2018.

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life pulls away from Moreton-in-Marsh station on 19 April 2018 with the 1P18 06:42 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. I carefully framed this to include not only the milepost in the foreground, and the buffer stop for the down refuge siding, but also to show the evidence of some quite serious lineside vegetation removal. The power car is just crossing the footpath that links Moreton-in-Marsh with the allotments on the Evenlode road.

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life passes Purton on 17 September 2018 with the 1G47 15:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service, most unusually running exactly to time! The fenced off part of the field in the foreground is a public footpath between Collins Lane level crossing (just visible in the background) and Widham (now part of Purton village).

43041 Meningitis Trust Support for Life brings up the rear of the 1C74 09:03 Paddington Plymouth GWR service, as it heads away from Hungerford on 13 November 2018. A going away shot, but then the HSTs will soon be going away from this line for good!

Regrettably I took very few pictures on the East Coast Mainline prior to electrification, but on 21 April 1984 I recorded 43042 passing Abbots Ripton with the 11:50 Newcastle to Kings Cross service. Although one of the country's premier routes, at this time the down relief line was still laid with 95lb bullhead track! Plenty of warning of approaching trains here, as the farthest bridge (an aqueduct carrying a small stream over the line) is nearly two miles away. The modern bridge carries the B1090 road, while the arch bridge between the two is New England Bridge, on the minor road to the village of Wennington.

A meeting of the Devonians! What at first sight might seem like unfortunate timing, this in fact shows the up and down 'Devonian' named trains passing at Badgeworth on 17 March 1994. 43042 leads the 1V42 08:15 Leeds to Paignton service, while the 1E40 08:33 Plymouth to Newcastle train heads in the opposite direction. Note the steel girder of the partially constructed Grovefield Way bridge near Up Hatherley in the background.

Although my visit to the North Wales Coast on 15 June 1996 was primarily to photograph the Class 37s that were still the staple motive power of the route, obviously the opportunity was taken to photograph anything else on this day of unbroken sunshine. 43042 passes Penmaenmawr with the 1D86 09:03 Euston to Holyhead InterCity service.

43042 brings up the rear of the 1L38 09:25 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service, as it winds its way up the Golden Valley at Chalford on 21 April 2002. The train's normal route was closed for weekend engineering work.

43042 leads the 1Z73 15:40 Hanborough to Worcester Shrub Hill First Great Western service past Chilson on 15 June 2008. The line was closed for engineering works between Hanborough and Oxford, and because the rostered driver for one of the replacement Class 166 diagrams didn't sign HSTs, FGW commendably assembled this short rake. Coaches 44059 &  42277 are marshaled between 43042 &  43182.

In superb evening light, 43042 approaches Moreton-in-Marsh with the 1Z79 18:40 Hanborough to Worcester Shrub Hill First Great Western service on 15 June 2008. The Cotswold Line was closed between Hanborough and Oxford for engineering works and a hourly Worcester to Hanborough shuttle service was in operation. The driver for one of the diagrams didn't sign Class 166s, so the highly unusual but commendable step was taken of providing a two coach HST to cover the diagram. The combination of 43042, 44059, 42277, & 43182 was sent up from to Bristol St Philips Marsh especially for two out and back workings to Hanborough. On a day with lots of cloud around the few minutes of sunshine that coincided with this train was most welcome!

First Great Western passengers sample some rare track at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 4 July 2011. 43042 runs along the up relief line with late running 1L48 09:28 Swansea to Paddington service. Something was obviously amiss, as once the train had joined the relief line at Challow, it stopped at the first signal (in the far distance of this view), before moving off after a long wait. Another FGW train overtook it during this period. Passengers trains do not normally use this line and indeed at least two railtours to my knowledge have requested these loops as part of their itinerary, even though they are only a few feet to one side of the normal line. That's track bashing for you!

43042 passes Uffington on 30 July 2011 with the 1B25 10:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. In the background can be seen a recently strengthened section of embankment, where piling was put in to counteract a minor landslip.

Superb autumnal lighting at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 23 October 2013, as 43042 heads towards the capital with the 1A09 08:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. This location can get bitterly cold, as there is nothing (except the modern bridge's high parapet) to shield you from the wind.

Superb crisp early morning light at Challow on 19 November 2013. 43042 heads towards London with the 1A08 05:09 Plymouth to Paddington (via Bristol Temple Meads) First Great Western service. Even by mid November only half the trees are showing any signs of autumn colour.

43042 will soon be calling at Swindon station, as it passes Blagrove on 14 May 2014 with the 1L20 05:58 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. Although now just warranting a small note in the timetable, this is in fact a named train - 'The Capitals Ltd'.

43042 speeds past Shrivenham on 5 November 2014 with the 1B42 14:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. Although I suppose the lineside bushes provide some autumn colour, nearly three decades earlier the view was much more open and photogenic.

43042 sweeps round the curve at Goring on 6 July 2015 with the 1P21 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington First Great Western service. This will presumably be my final visit to this location, as while the masts are presently just an ugly intrusion in the landscape, once the wires go up there will be no chance of a picture. Locations such as this, where the line is in a cutting, and there is no possibility of a trackside view, will obviously be completely hopeless for photography.

43042 speeds past Steventon on 29 September 2015 with the 1B42 14:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. Note the bumper crop of apples on a couple of the trees in the small lineside copse on the left. As this wood is surrounded by fields and therefore inaccessible, presumably all those apples that don't get eaten by birds or wild animals, will just rot on the ground.

In preparation for the Great Western Mainline electrification, numerous trackside locations have been turned into work sites. One such is the site of Challow station. 43042 leads the 1A07 06:48 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington GWR service past the portakabins on 21 March 2016.

43042 speeds past the site of Uffington station on 21 May 2016 with the 1L24 06:28 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. This view has largely been ruined by the palisade fenced compound in the foreground, and will shortly be obliterated by the new overhead wires, but I have including this picture as a record of the new signals, which have replaced the former gantry.

43042 accelerates away from Kemble on 31 July 2016 with the 1L63 13:33 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. Since my last visit here in 2014, the line from here to Swindon has had the second track reinstated.

43042 passes Steventon on 5 January 2017 with the 1B28 11:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Just three minutes earlier 43005 had headed west with the exact opposite livery combination of a green power car on a blue train!

The driver of 43042 looks up at me, as he passes underneath the A46 Evesham bypass at Aldington on 21 March 2017. Despite being taken from the shadow side, I quite like this different interpretation of the 1W27 13:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service.

43042 passes Oddington on 17 September 2017 with the diverted 1L68 14:21 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The train is passing over the site of the former level crossing. HSTs were using this route all weekend, owing to engineering works at Reading.

Not long after sunrise on 21 October 2017, 43042 passes Uffington with the 1A75 05:40 Plymouth to Paddington GWR service. Note that the overhead wiring is incomplete, with only the down line wire so far installed.

43042 passes South Marston in the last of the weak afternoon sunlight on 10 November 2017 with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Note the variety of overhead lines structures in the hugely delayed electfrication project.

An ordinary picture of a GWR HST at Oxford? Look again, as this HST is passing non-stop through the centre road. 43042 is working the 5Z70 10:00 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington ECS on 12 December 2017, a day when a number of Cotswold Line services were cancelled. This was presumably the 1P26 06:42 Hereford to Paddington, which only got as far as Worcester Shrub Hill. The ECS didn't even leave Worcester on time, and was over an hour late here, which was a lot better for the light angle.

43042 passes underneath the infrastructure that will replace it, as it speeds through Steventon on 6 June 2018 with the 1A77 05:41 Penzance to Paddington GWR service. Now that the wires have gone up, I have to resort to previously unvisited spots, just to avoid the masts!

43042 passes Highnam on 26 June 2018 with the diverted 1B76 18:14 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. As this route does normally see HSTs, and as the reign of these iconic trains is coming to an end (at least in this area), the opportunity was taken to photograph one with the instantly recognisable landmark of Gloucester Cathedral in the background.

43042 runs along the new down relief line at Wolvercote on 2 August 2018 with the late running 1W32 15:50 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh GWR service. The new line follows the course of the old wartime relief line. The track was reinstated in 2016, and then almost immediately lifted again! A mere six years after work started on the project, speedy Network Rail finally commissioned the line, as part of a much improved track layout through Oxford in July 2018.

One green, two blue, one green, two blue, one green, two blue and one green! 43042 leads a truly mixed rake, as it approaches Hungerford on 1 October 2018 with the 1A77 05:41 Penzance to Paddington GWR service. I was going to wait until the autumn colours were at their best before coming here, but I wasn't going to waste a sunny morning!

43043 passes Oakley on 16 August 2007 with the 1C13 07:05 Sheffield to St Pancras 'Midland Express' Midland Mainline service. A good clear location with nothing in the way to shade the line. So what happens, the sun goes in of course! The railway makes one of its numerous crossings of the River Great Ouse in the background.

Still retaining the old East Midlands Trains livery, albeit in extremely dirty and tatty condition, 43043 passes Wistow Road, Kibworth Harcourt on 2 February 2011 with the 1B53 14:28 Nottingham to St Pancras service. The rest of the train is in the new, more striking, colour scheme.

43043 passes Cossington on 22 March 2012 with the 1B23 06:34 Leeds to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. As booked, it was following just a few minutes behind 43048 with the 1C22 07:41 Sheffield to St Pancras, although both trains were running slightly late.

43044 speeds past the new houses on the edge of Syston as it passes Barkby Thorpe with the 1C11 07:27 Sheffield to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service on 26 July 2008. Interestingly there is a train on all three lines in this picture. On the left an unidentified Class 170 unit waits at the signal with the 07:24 Birmingham New Street to Stansted Airport Cross Country service, while on the right 156414 approaches with the 07:38 Nottingham to Leicester East Midlands Trains service along the bi-directional relief line.

43044 passes Barrow-upon-Soar on 15 September 2012 with the 1B48 13:28 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Trains service. The footbridge in the background replaces the one that was demolished in a rail accident in February 2008.

43044 passes Cossington on 13 November 2013 with the 1D27 11:15 St Pancras to Nottingham East Midlands Trains service. This is of course very run of the mill, but on this occasion what followed it a short while later definitely wasn't!

Looking absolutely stunning in its recently applied InterCity Executive livery, 43044 arrives at the Severn Valley Railway at Kidderminster, as part of the 5Z21 07:24 Neville Hill to Kidderminster, hauled by 37057 Barbara Arbon. 43044 is owned by the 125 Group, and will soon have its Paxman VP185 replaced by an original Paxman Valenta engine.

43045 passes Barrow Upon Soar on 12 September 2009 with the 1B38 11:28 Nottingham to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. I had been visiting the Great Central Railway Diesel Gala, but around noon the sun is virtually head on at most locations on that line, so I came here where not only does the line run at a better angle for the midday sun, but also the middle of the day is required in order to avoid the line being covered in shadows.

43045 swings round the curve at Souldrop on 21 April 2010 with the 1B43 12:28 Nottingham to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. Yet again we are in one of those transitional periods, when rakes of stock can be in a different livery to the power cars. In this case 43045 retains the former Midland Mainline livery (with appropriate rebranding). 222003 can just be seen heading away in the distance with the 12:55 St Pancras to Sheffield, luckily just getting out of the way in time!

43045 leads the 1B33 10:28 Nottingham to Sheffield East Midlands Trains service past Barkby Thorpe on 28 March 2012, on the sixth consecutive day of glorious unbroken spring sunshine (apart from the odd foggy morning).

The early morning fog is just beginning to clear, allowing a little weak sunshine to break through at Burn Lane, near Selby, on 7 April 2015. 43045 leads a hired in East Midlands Trains HST set, with the 1A12 07:00 Hull to Kings Cross Virgin East Coast Trains service. Prior to the opening of the Selby diversion in 1983, this was part of the original East Coast Mainline.

43046 brings up the rear of the 1Z43 09:10 St Pancras International to Crewe 'Midland Pullman' railtour at Sutton Bonington on 12 December 2020, with lead power car 43055 just passing underneath the roadbridge. This was the inaugural passenger run of Locomotive Service Limited's recreation of the sadly missed 1960s Metro Cammell Blue Pullman sets.

43046 brings up the rear of the 1Z45 13:59 Crewe to St Pancras International 'Midland Pullman' railtour at Elmesthorpe on 12 December 2020. 43055 is leading. This was running 18 minutes late, with the result that the sun was almost setting, so even at this relatively open location, not much of the train is lit.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 brings up the rear of the late running Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z37 13:09 Eastleigh Arlington to Crewe ECS at Hinksey on 6 May 2021, as 43055 speeds towards Oxford under clear signals. The trackside signs have slightly compromised this viewpoint for anything on the down main line, but I certainly wasn't going to miss this going away shot in perfect light.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 brings up the rear of the Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z64 12:54 Eastleigh Arlington to Crewe ECS at Wolvercote on 30 May 2021.  43055 at the front, will soon be passing underneath the Oxford bypass, and then passing over Wolvercote Junction.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 brings up the rear of the Midland Pullman 1Z14 06:49 Bristol Temple Meads to Carlisle 'Settle & Carlisle Pullman' railtour, as it sweeps round the reverse curves near Tackley on 12 June 2021, with, as ever, 43055 leading. This was running an hour late, due to an earlier air brake fault.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 catches the very last of the evening light, as it passes Tackley on 12 June 2021 with the Midland Pullman 1Z15 16:36 Carlisle to Bristol Temple Meads 'Settle & Carlisle Pullman' railtour. Not the most scenic of locations, but one of the few in the Oxford area that would still be relatively free of shadows at 20:33.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 brings up the rear of the Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z17 14:00 Bristol Parkway to Crewe 'Blue Pullman' ECS at Bredon on 13 June 2021. As ever, 43055 is leading. Although the vegetation on the side of the cutting was cleared here a few years ago, it is already starting to restrict the view once again.

Complete with a temporary yellow warning panel, 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 passes Fiddington on 26 September 2021 with the early running Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z86 13:26 Pengam Sidings to Crewe ECS. As usual, 43055 is bringing up the rear. This was returning north, after working a Swansea to Penzance railtour the day before.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 brings up the rear of the Midland Pullman 1Z43 06:00 Reading to Fort William 'West Highland Pullman' railtour, as it leaves Kemble station on 23 October 2021. The Great Western Railway grade II listed water tower looms out of the darkness behind the power car.

Mini HST in the rain! 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 passes Tackley on 7 December 2021 with the Locomotives Services Ltd 5Z36 07:55 Crewe to Eastleigh Arlington ECS, with 43055 bringing up the rear. This was running 11 minutes early, but instead of running straight through Oxford, it was held for nearly two hours, passing Didcot 112 minutes late. If I had known that was going to happen, I would have gone to a spot south of Oxford for a second picture!

The sun starts to beak through the early morning mist at Culham on 26 March 2022, as 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 heads north with the Midland Pullman 1Z80 06:13 Slough to Inverness 'Lord of the Isles Pullman' railtour, with 43055 bringing up the rear. This was the first day of a three day tour of Scotland, which included a trip to Kyle of Lochalsh.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 approaches Bramley on 12 August 2022 with the Midland Pullman 5Z11 10:00 Crewe to Eastleigh Arlington ECS. This was in preparation for the following day's 'Cornish Coastal Pullman' railtour.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 passes Wolvercote Junction on 10 December 2022 with the Midland Pullman 1Z47 06:06 Holyhead to Bath Spa 'Bath Christmas Pullman' railtour. 43055 is bringing up the rear. It was a completely sunny and frosty morning when I arrived here, but unfortunately shortly before the train was due some fog appeared and blotted out the sun. It seems that this was quite local, as even a short distance to the south of Oxford the sun was out. Naturally by the time I got back home the sun had reappeared!

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 passes Fiddington on 3 May 2023 with the Midland Pullman 1Z43 06:21 Maidenhead to Scarborough 'Yorkshire Coast Pullman' railtour. 43055 is bringing up the rear. The bushes on the left, which were cut down a few years ago, are beginning to dominate this view once again. It is 08:25, and the shadows are now only just clear of the line.

43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 brings up the rear of the Midland Pullman 5Z43 10:00 Crewe to Eastleigh Arlington ECS at Yarnton on 30 June 2023. 43059 is leading. Luckily this was running four minutes early, otherwise this view might have been spoiled by the 4M71 09:51 Southampton Western Docks to Birch Coppice intermodal coming the other way.

43047 (or W43047 as it was then) passes Baulking on 21 June 1980 with the 1A01 08:45 Swansea to Paddington InterCity service. Apart from the large tree on the left, near the site of Uffington station, virtually the only vegetation on the cutting sides at this time was grass. How different it looks now after over three decades of neglect. Note the numerous small landslips in the background.

43047 passes Hasland on 28 June 1992 with the 16:30 Leeds to St Pancras service The distinctive twisted spire of Chesterfield church can be seen in the background. A little further to the south there was formerly a large engine shed, and a couple of rows of worker's cottages, named Loco Terrace. No trace of either now exists.

43047 passes Tupton on 25 September 2000 with the 1C45 15:27 Sheffield to St Pancras Midland Mainline service. I have only got a few pictures of HST power cars in this livery, and most of them are in this filthy condition!

43047 passes Barkby Thorpe on 26 July 2008 with the 07:55 St Pancras to Nottingham East Midlands Trains service. How much longer can these couple of fields survive? They represent a tiny gap in the urban sprawl of Leicester, and they are all that separates the housing estates of Thurmaston and Syston.

Bringing a touch of welcome livery variation to the East Coast Mainline, East Midlands Trains 43047 leads the 1Y86 14:02 York to Kings Cross Virgin East Coast service past Hambleton on 29 November 2016. The hiring in of a couple of East Midlands power cars is a long standing arrangement.

43047 passes Gossington in superb early morning light on 9 September 2023 with the Midland Pullman 1Z43 05:46 Paignton to Fort William 'West Highland Pulman' railtour. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is bringing up the rear. This was day one of a three day tour.

43047 passes through the centre road of Oxford station at high speed on 9 May 2024 with the Locomotive Services Ltd 3Z43 14:51 Crewe to Paddington ECS. This was in connection with the Midland Pullman 1Z43 18:44 Paddington to Bath Spa Railway Industry Association 'Railway Children' charity charter. The headboard reads: '2024 Midland Pullman For Railway Children'. On the left work is underway to add a new track, and a fifth platform to the west side of the station.

43047 passes Standish Junction on 14 September 2024 with the Midland Pullman 1Z81 06:35 Leeds to Paignton 'Torbay Riviera Pullman' railtour. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is bringing up the rear. Directly in front of the train is a ladder giving access from the high level Swindon line, to the lower level Bristol route.

43047 emerges from the fog at Stoke Orchard on 17 September 2024 with the Midland Pullman 1Z71 05:00 Carnforth to Minehead West Somerset Railway 'Exmoor Coast Pullman' railtour. The fog was much slower to clear than forecast!

43048 crosses the viaduct over the River Great Ouse at Radwell in soft evening light on 21 May 1989 with the 17:38 Nottingham to St Pancras InterCity service. This is the second of seven crossings of the Great Ouse in the short distance between Sharnbrook and just south of Bedford station.

43048 T.C.B. Miller MBE passes Cossington on 22 March 2012 with the 1C22 07:41 Sheffield to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. As the Met Office had promised, it was a fine spring morning, albeit very hazy. Unfortunately it got progressively hazier during the day - one of the penalties of settled high pressure!

43048 T.C.B. Miller MBE speeds past Barrow-upon-Soar on 15 September 2012 with the 1B38 11:28 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Trains service. An ideal photographic location, until that annoying shadow starts to get in the way (just got away with it here).

Making a pleasant change from the constant procession of Virgin East Coast red and white trains, East Midlands Trains liveried 43048 T.C.B. Miller MBE speeds past Burn on13 March 2016 with the 1E16 13:00 Edinburgh to Kings Cross Virgin East Coast service.

43048 T.C.B. Miller MBE brings up the rear of the early running 5Z43 06.29 St Philips Marsh to Derby Etches Park stock move at Ashchurch on 3 May 2016. The multi-coloured convoy was being led by 43300 Craigentinny, and includes 43013, 43423 Valenta 1972-2010, & prototype 41001. They all been exhibited at the previous day's Bristol St Philips Marsh Open Day.

43048 brings up the rear of the 0Z56 11:25 Neville Hill to Long Marston at Norton on 22 September 2020. 43058 is leading. The off lease pair are heading for secure storage, their place on the Midland Mainline having been temporarily taken by HSTs from the East Coast Mainline.

A pair of former East Midlands Railway power cars join the Cotswold Line at Norton Junction on 22 September 2020. 43048 brings up the rear of the 0Z56 11:25 Neville Hill to Long Marston, with classmate 43058 leading.

43049 Neville Hill leads the 1B23 06:34 Leeds to St Pancras International East Midlands Trains service past Cossington on 31 March 2016. How long will it be before the extremely knackered fence in the foreground is replaced by the totally over the top palisade type, that seems to be Network Rail's preferred option, even for rural areas?

Sunday engineering work on 5 July 2020 saw East Midlands Railway trains diverted via the Melton Mowbray line. Unfortunately the middle of the day was quite cloudy, but luckily 43049 Neville Hill passed Ashwell in a few minutes worth of sunshine amid the clouds. Here it is passing Ashwell's semaphore signals with the 1B51 13:18 Nottingham to St Pancras International service.

Looking immaculate in its recently applied InterCity Swallow livery, 43049 Neville Hill passes Hinksey on 19 January 2022 with the 5Z33 08:12 Crewe to Eastleigh Arlington ECS. I had intended to go to the footbridge further to the north, but as I approached the area I noticed that this was running 71 minutes early, and was already at Wolvercote Junction. The A423 Oxford ring road bridge was nearer, but I needn't have bothered rushing, as it was held at Oxford until very nearly the right time! 43047, still in East Midlands Railway livery, is on the rear, with its engine shut down.

43049 Neville Hill brings up the rear of the Midland Pullman 1Z43 05:51 Hull to Paignton 'Torbay Riviera Pullman' railtour, as it leaves Goole on 1 April 2024. 43055 is leading. This was before sunrise on a very dull and damp morning.

An everyday 1990s scene from Cheltenham, that has now changed completely. 43050 passes the remnants of a once extensive track layout at Alstone, as it works the 08:22 Nottingham to Paignton 'InterCity Holidaymaker' on 4 August 1990, taking a Neville Hill HST to the West Country. The rusty sidings have now been removed, as have the railways buildings in the background, to be replaced by the inevitable modern industrial unit 'big shed'.

Early morning winter light at Harrowden Junction on 11 January 2014. 43050 heads south with the 1B23 06:34 Leeds to St Pancras East Midlands Train service. Note the large flock of birds feeding in the field in the background.

The afternoon shadows are lengthening at Cossington on 20 January 2020, as 43050 heads south with the 1B51 13:49 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. Always a popular spot, this location now sees people turning up not just to photograph the freight, but also the HSTs in their last few years in service.

43050 brings up the rear of the 1Z22 08:20 Tyseley to Bristol High Level Siding Network Rail test train at Bretforton on 4 November 2020. Both this, and the leading power car (43060) had recently been acquired from East Midlands Railway.

East Midlands on the Great Western! 43050 leads the 1Z23 06:11 Bristol High Level Siding to Tyseley Network Rail test train past Grove on 5 November 2020, with 43060 bringing up the rear. The former East Midlands Railway power cars now sport Colas Rail vinyl stickers for their new role.

43051 The Duke and Duchess of York crosses the River Avon at Eckington on 6 September 1997 with the 1V39 06:05 Leeds to Newquay Virgin CrossCountry service. This was a hired in Midland Mainline set. I wouldn't think that the The Duke and Duchess of York nameplates would be worth anything now!

43051 leads the 07:49 Newcastle to Kings Cross National Express East Coast service past Great Heck on 14 March 2008. All except the rear power car is still in modified and rebranded dark blue GNER colours.

43051 passes Usan signal box with the late running 10:30 Kings Cross to Aberdeen National Express East Coast 'Northern Lights' service on 5 May 2008. The train is just about to enter the short section of single track that extends for two miles to Montrose. Note the signalman with his hand on the block instrument ready to give train out of section to Inverkeilor. The train is composed of a complete rake of stock in the former GNER livery with branding replaced by 'National Express East Coast' wording.

43052 passes Compton Beauchamp on 15 September 1979 with the late running 12:45 Paddington to Swansea service. This particular set (253026), which included power cars 43052 & 43053, was one of a small batch that moved from the Western Region to the Midland line during the first major reshuffle of HSTs vehicles in late 1982. 43052 is pictured here in original condition with the two large circular exhaust ports on the roof as yet uncovered by the deflector plates that were added to stop exhaust contamination of the cab roof. It wasn't until I came to scan the original Kodachrome slide that I realised that the house at Galleyherns Farm in the background was obviously newly built in 1979.

Diverted away from the Midland Mainline because of Sunday engineering works, 43052 passes the site of Glendon Sidings and approaches Glendon South Junction with the 1C00 07:23 Derby to St Pancras service on 12 February 1995. The freight only route via Corby is regularly used for such diversions. The field in the foreground was formally part of Glendon East Ironstone Quarries, with tramways connecting with the mainline.

43052 speeds past Wistow Road near Kibworth Harcourt on 3 February 2011 with the 1B43 12:28 Nottingham to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. When I arrived at this location there were track workers and white vans everywhere, and although these can of course be cloned out of the picture, I was relieved when they all disappeared shortly before this train was due.

43053 pulls away from Gleneagles station (just visible in the background) with the 07:55 Inverness to Kings Cross National Express East Coast 'Highland Chieftain' service on 6 May 2008. Note the amount of ballast strengthening work that has been carried out on the side of this very deep cutting. The sun was trying to come out here, but although clear on both the east and west coast, central Scotland seemed reluctant to be rid of the clouds!

43053 University of Worcester passes Uffington on 20 January 2011 with the 1G38 13:48 Paddington to Cheltenham First Great Western service. The radio mast in the background marks the site of Uffington station, junction for the former Faringdon branch.

43053 University of Worcester passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 13 September 2012 with the 1A14 11:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. Commonplace at the time, but now the HST, power station, and even the viewpoint have all disappeared.

43053 University of Worcester passes Broughton Gifford on 18 April 2015 with the diverted 1B20 08:30 London to Swansea First Great Western service. Trains were being diverted due to track relaying work at Bourton, near Swindon. The single track Bradford Junction to Thingley line via Melksham was stretched to capacity with all these additional trains, so much so that the infrequent local trains on the line were cancelled for the day.

43053 University of Worcester approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on the frosty morning of 20 January 2016 with the 1A12 07:40 Paignton to Paddington GWR service. This was the first time that I ventured down to the trackside at this location.

43053 University of Worcester passes Farleaze (near Hullavington) on 28 January 2016 with the 1L52 10:29 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. A pleasant location down a no through road, which with hindsight I should have visited mire often.

With the Bishton Flyover in the background, 43053 University of Worcester passes Llandevenny on 30 January 2016 with the 1L48 09:24 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. Despite recent tree clearance, the winter shadows are still a little problematic here.

43053 University of Worcester takes the Swindon line at Standish Junction on 24 September 2016 with the diverted 1L42 08:43 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. This was routed the long way round via Gloucester due to the closure of the Severn Tunnel for major engineering works in connection with the Great Western Mainline electfrication.

43053 University of Worcester is appropriate traction for the 1P61 15:21 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service, seen here leaving Moreton-in-Marsh on 15 March 2017. An extremely long lens has compressed the perspective, making Moreton-in-Marsh station (between the two bridges in the background) seem much closer than it really is. The 1W29 14:21 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street Class 180 DMU can just be seen disappearing in the distance.

43053 University of Worcester passes South Marston on 27 October 2017 with the 1A09 07:13 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. This is obviously not an area where rail trespass is considered likely, judging by the decrepit state of the lineside fence!

43053 University of Worcester approaches Standish Junction on 13 January 2018 with the 1G21 10:15 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. A dull day, but if the sun had been out, this location would have been horribly backlit.

43053 University of Worcester approaches Steventon on 25 January 2018 with the 1L38 07:59 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The overhead wires end just behind where I am standing, due to the hiatus regarding the rebuilding of the bridge in Steventon village, a little further to the east.

43053 University of Worcester accelerates away from Moreton-in-Marsh station on 18 May 2018 with the 1P12 05:28 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. The station can just be glimpsed in the background, where 166221 Reading Traincare Depot had just arrived with the 1W11 05:12 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh service.

An appropriately named loco for the Cotswold Line. 43053 University of Worcester approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 6 August 2018 with the 1W00 08:21 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. In the foreground is Frogmore occupation crossing, which gives the local farmer access between fields on either side of the line.

Appropriately named traction for the Cotswold Line. 43053 University of Worcester passes Combe on 8 January 2019 with the 1P31 12:09 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. Combe church, and the adjacent former rectory dominate the skyline. Luckily the predicted end of HSTs on the Cotswold Line in December 2018, proved not to be the case, and the first few months of 2019 will still witness these classic trains on the route, before the DMUs finally take over.

43053 brings up the rear of the late running 5Q76 11:35 Long Marston to Newport Docks (Sims Group) at Abbotswood on 10 January 2022. The former GWR power car is on its final journey, along with classmates 43070 & 43079. The whole sad ensemble is being led by 37611 Pegasus, in suitably gloomy weather.

The Hertfordshire Railtours 1T32 07:20 St Pancras to Workington 'Cumbrian Coast 125' railtour approaches Grange-over-Sands on 25 April 1992, with 43054 leading, and 43073 binging up the rear. This slightly unconventional head on viewpoint was deliberately chosen to give a panoramic view of the River Kent estuary. On the extreme right is Arnside Viaduct, which the HST had crossed a few minutes earlier.

Superb evening light at Cossington on 11 May 2001, as 34054 heads north with the 1F52 18:25 St Pancras to Leeds Midland Mainline service. I haven't got many pictures of HSTs in this livery, and most of the ones that I have got seem to be in this filthy unwashed condition.

43054 passes Brighton on 25 November 2008 with the diverted 1C37 13:18 Sheffield to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. The diversion was due to the three month closure of Bradway Tunnel, on the Sheffield to Chesterfield line.

43054 speeds past Barrow-upon-Soar on 15 September 2012 with the 1B43 12:28 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Trains service. In view of the very low wall separating the line from the adjacent car park, I'm surprised that Network Rail haven't ruined this location with a palisade fence!

A welcome surprise at North Queensferry on 30 August 2016. On hire to Virgin East Coast, East Midlands Trains 43054 leads the late running 1E25 14:52 Aberdeen to Kings Cross Virgin East Coast service through the station. Still in the tunnel, on the rear of the train is 43295.

43054 has obviously recently been through the washer, being noticeably cleaner than other trains seen at Cossington on 20 January 2020. It is working the 1B38 11:45 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service.

43055 Sheffield Star passes Finedon Road on 27 February 1994, as it accelerates away from Wellingborough with the 1F30 09:30 St Pancras to Sheffield service. This being a Sunday, this was the first northbound train of the day.

43055 bursts out from under the roadbridge at Milton Ernest with the 10:25 St Pancras to Sheffield Midland Mainline service on 16 August 2007. This is one of the premier trains on the route, stopping only at Leicester, Derby and Chesterfield.

43055 passes Cossington on 28 July 2008 with the 1C41 14:27 Sheffield to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. 43048 (also in the then relatively new EMT livery) is on the rear. A day of intermittent bursts of hazy sunshine.

43055 approaches Wellingborough on St Georges's Day, 23 April 2010 with the 1D42 14:15 St Pancras to Nottingham East Midlands Trains service. No doubt much more widely photographed than normal, due to running just three minutes behind 37667 & 37510 on 6Z70, and with many photographers still on the bridge!

43055 passes Cossington on 20 January 2020 with the 1B53 14:45 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. It has just overtaken 158847, which is working the same operator's 2L66 13:37 Lincoln Central to Leicester service.

43055 passes Sutton Bonington 12 December 2020 with the 1Z43 09:10 St Pancras International to Crewe 'Midland Pullman' railtour. 43046 is bringing up the rear. This was the inaugural passenger run of Locomotive Service Limited's superbly finished 'Blue Pullman' livered HST set, and despite the gloomy weather, was probably one of the most photographed railtours of 2020!

43055 passes Elmesthorpe on 12 December 2020 with the 1Z45 13:59 Crewe to St Pancras International 'Midland Pullman' railtour. 43046 is out of sight on the rear. This has turned out much better than I thought it would, as there was a massive difference between the dark foreground and the bright sky in the background. This was not helped by the train being 18 minutes late, with the sun getting lower all the time. In the event, the contrast between the train's bright Nanking blue livery, and the golden tinted clouds in the background, makes an excellent picture.

43055 passes Hinksey Yard on 6 May 2021 with the Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z37 13:09 Eastleigh Arlington to Crewe ECS. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is bringing up the rear. This had left Eastleigh 50 minutes late, and was still 37 minutes behind time here. This delay was fortunate, as the weather was improving all the time, and the wait was rewarded with this perfectly lit picture, with an impressive cloudy background.

A colourful contrast at Uffington on the exceedingly dull morning of Saturday 29 May 2021. 43055 heads westwards with the Midland Pullman 1Z60 06:00 Eastleigh to Penzance 'Cornish Coastal Pullman' railtour. As the weather was so poor, I thought at least the yellow of the oilseed rape would inject a bit of brightness into the scene.

43055 passes Wolvercote on 30 May 2021 with the Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z64 12:54 Eastleigh Arlington to Crewe ECS. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is bringing up the rear. I was really surprised to be the only photographer here, especially as it is one of the least backlit locations on this section of the train's route.

43055 passes Tackley on 12 June 2021 with the Midland Pullman 1Z14 06:49 Bristol Temple Meads to Carlisle 'Settle & Carlisle Pullman' railtour. This was running exactly one hour late, which unfortunately corresponded with an increase in the clouds, one of which is partly shading the background. I slightly misjudged this location, as I thought the whole train would just about fit in the gap, but unfortunately 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 on the rear is hidden by the bushes. At least I was able to get a going away picture of the whole train.

43055 passes Bredon on 13 June 2021 with the Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z17 14:00 Bristol Parkway to Crewe 'Blue Pullman' ECS. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is on the rear. This was following the previous day's Bristol to Carlisle railtour. Even backlit, under an high midday sun, this Nanking blue livery looks stunning, in marked contrast to GWR's awful dark green colour scheme.

With Bredon Hill dominating the background, 43055 brings up the rear of the early running Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z86 13:26 Pengam Sidings to Crewe ECS at Fiddington on 26 September 2021. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999  is leading. The small yellow warning panel is a temporary fitting, as there are paperwork issues concerning the brightness of the headlights.

43055 emerges from the darkness at Kemble on 23 October 2021 with the Midland Pullman 1Z43 06:00 Reading to Fort William 'West Highland Pullman' railtour. This was the first day of a three day tour, which would also involve a trip to Mallaig. I had hoped for a little but more light in the sky, so this is only a barely adequate record shot.

HST / Blue Pullman clag! The driver of 43055 opens up, as the Locomotive Services Ltd 5Z37 10:49 Eastleigh Arlington to Crewe ECS passes Yarnton on 24 January 2022. This had left 20 minutes late, but with such easy timings it had easily recovered time, and was one minute early here.

43055 passes Grove in miserable conditions of 29 November 2022 with the Midland Pullman 1Z53 06:03 Newcastle to Bath Spa 'Bath Christmas Pullman' railtour. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is bringing up the rear. With absolutely no possibility of the sun coming out, I visited this normally hopelessly lit location, knowing that the gap was just long enough for a nine coach HST.

43055 passes Bredon's Norton on 12 April 2023 with the Locomotive Services Ltd 1Z51 05:51 Hull to Paignton 'English Riviera Pullman' railtour. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is bringing up the rear. This was running 14 minutes late, and was travelling fairly slowly, as it was right behind the 6V05 08:22 Round Oak to Margam steel empties.

43055 brings up the rear of the Midland Pullman 1Z43 06:21 Maidenhead to Scarborough 'Yorkshire Coast Pullman' railtour at Fiddington on 3 May 2023. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is at the front of the train.

43055 passes through Heyford station on 30 November 2023 with the Midland Pullman 1Z43 05:40 Ulverston to Bath Spa 'Bath Christmas Pullman' railtour. 43047 is out of sight on the rear of the train. The man steering the Wild Goose narrowboat on the right is taking no notice of the train, but he is obviously concentrating, as he passes close to the other two boats!

43055 slowly pulls out of Goole station shortly before sunrise on 1 April 2024 with the Midland Pullman 1Z43 05:51 Hull to Paignton 'Torbay Riviera Pullman' railtour. 43049 Neville Hill is bringing up the rear. The clocks had gone forward the previous day, so what would have been a very dull picture on a cloudy and drizzly morning, was instead a picture taken in near darkness!

43055 passes Bredon on 27 June 2024 with the Midland Pullman 1Z43 06:15 Crewe to Paignton 'Torbay Riviera Pullman' railtour. After extensive vegetation clearance a few years earlier, the lineside bushes and brambles are once again becoming intrusive.

HST railtours have never been particularly common due to the high utilisation of the sets, which leaves little spare capacity for such one off trains. The train pictured here is certainly one of the earliest tours - the 'Ian Allan Limited' from Paddington to Newcastle via Carlisle on 26 June 1982. 43056 is seen leading the tour past Compton Beauchamp (between Didcot and Swindon) in gloomy weather. Although at first glance looking exactly like the HSTs that traversed this line every few minutes (except for the large stick on headboard!), this is in fact an Eastern Region eight car set, and 43056 would have been more at home pounding up and down the East Coast Mainline, having only recently taken over from the Deltics.

43056 University of Bradford slows down for the Wellingborough stop on 12 December 1985 whilst working the 09:30 Nottingham to St Pancras service. With a forest of semaphore signals and masses of disused sidings, to say nothing of a pair of relief lines, this scene is largely unaltered since the last days of steam. The same view today shows considerable rationalisation!

43056 passes the site of Finedon station on 1 August 1992 with the 07:07 Nottingham to St Pancras service. The route had been reduced from four to two tracks a few years earlier, a short sighted decision, as the lifted tracks have now been reinstated.

43056 negotiates the reverse curves at Kibworth Harcourt (Wistow Road) on 25 April 1996 with the 1C30 13:33 Nottingham to St Pancras service. It is sporting the typical 1990s version of the InterCity livery, i.e. the red and white stripe on the front completely worn away! Interestingly this picture appears to show 43056 running without its University of Bradford nameplates, but still with the crest. Supposedly the plates were removed over a year after this picture was taken. Confirmation anyone?

Unfortunately I have got relatively few pictures of HSTs in the Midland Mainline 'teal and tangerine' livery. However, 43056 could very well be a candidate for the power car that I have photographed in the most different liveries. Here it is on 19 July 2002 leaving Wellingborough with the 1D08 07:55 St Pancras to Nottingham Midland Mainline service. Although by this time of day there had already been a stream of HSTs heading for the capital, this was only the second through train of the day heading in the opposite direction.

Clearly showing the interim National Express East Coast livery consisting of a white stripe applied to the former GNER colour scheme, 43056 speeds past Gateforth with the 1E10 07:53 Aberdeen to Kings Cross service on 14 March 2008. Not a bad location for an electrified line, especially as you can take the picture while sitting on the Armco barrier at the side of a not very busy country road! This was one of the final sunny shots of the day, as can you can see from the background, the cloud was rapidly building up.

Dramatic lighting at Baulking on 9 December 2010, as 43056 The Royal British Legion speeds westwards with the 1B40 13:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. The red poppy on the nameplate can clearly be seen, even at this distance.

43056 The Royal British Legion can easily be recognised from a distance by the large red commemorative poppy on its nameplate. It is seen here passing Denchworth on 24 February 2011 with the 1B37 13:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central First Great Western service. This is a well traveled power car, having initially worked for many years on the Midland Mainline, it later saw service on the East Coast route, before arriving on the Western. However, even when its normal stomping ground was between London and the Midlands back in the 1980s, it did on one occasion venture onto Brunel's route to the west with an Ian Allan railtour.

43056 The Royal British Legion catches the early morning sun, as it passes Compton Beauchamp on 3 May 2013 with the 1L05 03:57 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. At this time of the morning (06:30), a very long lens is required at this location to clear the shadows in the foreground.

43056 The Royal British Legion passes Haresfield on 29 August 2014 with the 1L50 10:20 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington First Great Western service. With and almost indecipherable First logo, and several panted patches on the roof, this power car is looking a little tatty.

43056 The Royal British Legion passes Denchworth on 19 September 2015 with the 1C14 12:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service. First Great Western was rebranded as Great Western Railway the following day.

43056 The Royal British Legion passes Denchworth on 5 October 2016 with the 1C21 16:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. This classic view, from Circourt Bridge, is in the process of being changed forever by the massively over budget electfrication scheme.

43056 The Royal British Legion approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 5 January 2017 with the 1L36 08:31 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. This was travelling at full line speed, but would soon experience a sudden brake application, as the result of a bizarre signalling move. 70801 had for some time been sat at a red signal a little further along the up relief line with the 6M50 07:55 Westbury to Bescot engineers train. However, just before this HST was due, it was let out onto the main line, with the result that the HST had to overtake it by using the bi-directional signalling capabilities of the route, and passing it on the down main! Even so, this odd manoeuvre delayed the train by several minutes.

43056 The Royal British Legion passes the recently installed electfrication masts at Uffington on 5 May 2017, as it heads towards London with the 1L46 09:55 Cardiff Central to Paddington GWR service. Photo taken from the steps of a new footbridge.

43056 The Royal British Legion brings up the rear of the late running 1G21 09:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service at Little Haresfield on 7 June 2017. 43171 is the leading power car. A going away picture allows a bit more width at this slightly vegetation choked location.

43056 The Royal British Legion passes Edington on 6 July 2018 with the 1A72 05:53 Plymouth to Paddington GWR service. It is passing some lineside bushes that are living on borrowed time, as just past the occupation bridge in the background, track workers were getting ready to carry out some more lineside clearance. Near this location is the reputed site of the Battle of Edington, where Alfred the Great defeated Guthrum in 878.

High Speed Reflection. 43056 The Royal British Legion arrives at Charlbury on 7 August 2018 with the 1W31 15:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service, passing the 1P37 15:51 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington, which is waiting to access the single track section to Wolvercote Junction.

43056 The Royal British Legion approaches Hungerford on 13 November 2018 with the 1A75 05:05 Penzance to Paddington GWR service. This was running late, but not late enough for the shadows to have cleared the field in the foreground!

In the final weeks of HST operation over the 'Golden Valley' route to Cheltenham, 43056 The Royal British Legion passes Badgeworth in superb winter light on 30 January 2019 with the 1G11 07:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service.

43057 races past Defford on 23 July 1994 with the 06:05 Leeds to Newquay 'InterCity Holidaymaker'. This is the site of Defford station, which closed in 1965. Just visible behind the power car is the remains of the old end loading dock platform.

43058 passes Harrowden Junction with the 1B58 15:28 Nottingham to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service on 21 April 2010. After many false starts I have finally managed to get a complete HST in the new East Midlands livery in the sunshine!

43058 approaches Langham Junction on 5 July 2020 with the diverted 1C61 14:32 Leeds to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. The reason most people like semaphore signals is because of their old fashioned picturesque quality. That clearly doesn't apply here! The massively over engineered post and platform looks completely at odds with the vintage upper quadrant arms at the top, and counterweights at the bottom.

Former East Midlands Railways power cars 43058 & 43048 pass Norton on 22 September 2020, running as the 0Z56 11:25 Neville Hill to Long Marston. The ghostly impression of the former EMR branding can just be seen on 43058's bodyside. Like so many other HST power car's this pair are heading for storage, pending an uncertain future.

43058 & 43048 accelerate away from a signal check at Norton Junction on 22 September 2020 with the 0Z56 11:25 Neville Hill to Long Marston. I had already seen this a shirt distance around the corner, at Norton, but as it was running a few minutes early, it had to be held here to allow a train to come off the Cotswold Line.

43058 passes Easenhall on 2 November 2020 with the 5Z44 11:11 Carnforth to Rugby Locomotive Services Ltd crew training run. 43059 is bringing up the rear. Not as interesting as the originally rumoured Blue Pullman liveried set, but former East Midlands Railways power cars, hauling former GWR coaches, on the West Coast Mainline, is definitely worth recording!

Having left Rugby 18 minutes early, the 5Z45 13:56 Rugby to Crewe Holding Sidings Locomotive Services Ltd crew training run was held at Easenhall until almost right time on 2 November 2020. Luckily this corresponded with a lengthy sunny spell. 43059 is pictured bringing up the rear, with 43058 at the head of the train.

43058 brings up the rear of the 5Z45 13:56 Rugby to Crewe Holding Sidings Locomotive Services Ltd crew training run, as it moves away from a signal check at Easenhall on 2 November 2020. 43059 is leading. The train had left Rugby 18 minutes early.

The Rail Charter Services HST made its public debut in 12 July 2021, when the repainted five coach set worked the 5Z64 13:37 Eastleigh Arlington to Crewe ECS, in preparation for the start of the Settle & Carlisle 'Staycation Express' special trains. It is pictured here passing one of the steel piles of the abandoned Oxford electfrication project at Culham, with 43058 leading, and 43059 bringing up the rear. I was extremely fortunate with the sun here, as there were lots of clouds all around, and just one field away the whole area was under a huge mass of dark clouds.

43059 passes Ancaster's semaphore signals with the 1S02 11:28 Skegness to Nottingham East Midland Trains service on 25 July 2009. This HST set is diagrammed to do two return trips to the east coast resort on Saturdays between 18 July and 5 September. If the brake van in the siding on the right looks a little derelict and weed choked, that is because it has been in that position since 1968! Even it was fit to travel by rail, it is never going to leave that way, as the siding is no longer connected to the main line.

I went to the footpath crossing at Gonerby Moor (between Barkston East and Allington Junctions, near Grantham) to photograph the 1S04 17:08 Skegness to Nottingham East Midlands Trains service on 25 July 2009, as it is one of the few locations where the sun is at the right angle and is free of shadows so late in the day. A large gap appeared in the clouds just before it was due and I thought there would be no problem getting the shot. However, the appointed time came and went and the sun started to sink towards a huge mass of dark cloud. Just as the lights were about to go out I heard a hoot from around the corner heralding the arrival of 43059, in the very nick of time!

43059 passes a bright, but exceedingly cold and blustery Harrowden Junction on 19 March 2018 with the 1B48 13:32 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Trains service. As can be seen from the clouds, this was a day when it was a matter of luck whether the train you wished to photograph corresponded with a sunny spell!

43059 passes Kilby Bridge on 31 July 2020 with the 1B33 10:45 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midland Railway service. In the nineteenth century there were sidings here, serving nearby lime kilns. These had closed prior to the First World War.

43059 passes Easenhall on 2 November 2020 with the 5Z45 13:56 Rugby to Crewe Holding Sidings Locomotive Services Ltd crew training run. As this passed me ten minutes before its departure time, it was approaching a red signal, at which it would be held until nearer the right time, allowing a passenger train to pass.

43059 brings up the rear of the Rail Charter Services 5Z64 13:37 Eastleigh Arlington to Crewe ECS, in a very lucky patch of sunshine amid the dark clouds at Culham on 12 July 2021. 43058 was leading. This was the repainted set's first public outing.

43059 brings up the rear of the 5Z43 10:30 Crewe to Eastleigh Arlington ECS at Yarnton on 3 May 2022. Midland Pullman HST Mk3 41182 & Mk1 13227 make up the rest of the train, which is being led by 37688 Great Rocks.

43059 passes Yarnton on 30 June 2023 with the Midland Pullman 5Z43 10:00 Crewe to Eastleigh Arlington ECS. 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 is bringing up the rear. This was a positioning move for the following day's Basingstoke to Llandudno 'North Wales Coastal Pullman' railtour.

43060 races past Barrow Upon Soar on 12 September 2009 with the 1B43 12:28 Nottingham to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. The complete train is in the East Midland's second attempt at a corporate colour scheme. Although not generally liked, I prefer it to both the original turquoise colour scheme, and the later blue, orange and red version, despite the odd graphics.

43060 rounds the curve to the south of Wellingborough with the late running 1B28 07:34 Leeds to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service on 11 January 2014. St Mary's church, which dominates the background, appears to be a typical medieval parish church. It is in fact only just over a hundred years old, being built by Sir John Ninian Comper, one of the most prominent gothic revival architects of the Edwardian era.

An unexpected, but very welcome use for a pair of redundant HST power cars. In late 2020 Colas acquired a pair of former East Midlands power cars for use with their test train contract. 43060 & 43050 have initially just acquired Colas Rail stickers. The new order is pictured at Bretforton on 4 November 2020, with the pair's first foray down the Cotswold Line - the 1Z22 08:20 Tyseley to Bristol High Level Siding Network Rail test train, with 43060 leading, and 43050 at the rear. This was running 45 minutes late.

A colourful Cotswold Line cavalcade. 43060 passes Chilson on 5 November 2020 with the 1Z23 06:11 Bristol High Level Siding to Tyseley Network Rail test train. 43050 is bringing up the rear. The village of Chadlington can just be seen in the distance.

43061 leads the 1C21 08:28 Leeds to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service past Kibworth Harcourt on 25 June 2008. The railway line here actually divides the village of Kibworth Harcourt from Kibworth Beauchamp, which perhaps explains why the Midland Railway just called their station Kibworth! 43061 carries the former Midland Mainline livery minus all branding.

Hired in East Midlands Trains 43061 brings up the rear of the 1N81 09:06 Kings Cross to York LNER service at Fenwick on 22 April 2019. I did see it again on the southbound 1Y84 12:02 York to Kings Cross, but by then the lighting had got very head on, and much less photogenic.

Dramatic stormy lighting at Heyford on 2 February 1995, as 43062 speeds through the canal side station with the 1O11 06:50 Edinburgh to Bournemouth 'Wessex Scot'. The foreground shadow proves that the old GWR footbridge was still in place, rather than the modern solid sided replacement, and also that I was the only photographer present!

In the days before CrossCountry (or Virgin Cross Country as it was then) services were downgraded to DMU operation, 43062 approaches Culham with the 1E42 16:20 Bournemouth to Leeds service. The date is 15 June 1999.

With Charlbury church visible on the extreme right, 43062 John Armitt passes Cornbury Park at full line speed with the 1Z15 09:00 Derby RTC to Derby RTC (via Oxford) Network Rail New Measurement Train on 15 January 2009. 43014 is on the rear of the train. As Charlbury station is just around the corner behind the bushes and all passenger trains call at the station, normally any train photographed here is moving fairly slowly, so to see this special traveling at close to 100 mph certainly made a change! Unfortunately the dull conditions also required a high ISO in order to achieve the necessary 1/1000 sec shutter speed. Note the piles of cable ducting in the background. These are being used to reposition the signal cables in preparation for reinstating the double track, which was removed as an economy measure in 1971.

43062 John Armitt leads the 1Z16 16:43 Derby Railway Technical Centre to Old Oak Common Network Rail New Measurement Train though Tackley on 21 May 2009, with 43014 on the rear. There are very limited choices when it comes to photographing southbound trains on the Banbury to Oxford line if the sun is out in the late evening, so this newly created spot near Tackley station seemed as good as anywhere for a picture of the 'Flying Banana'. Note the remnants of the cleared vegetation in the foreground, the removal of which has opened up the view nicely.

43062 John Armitt rounds the curve at Kibworth Harcourt (Wistow Road) on 2 February 2011 with the 1Q52 07:38 Derby RTC to Derby RTC (via St Pancras) Network Rail New Measurement Train. This once excellent viewpoint has been slightly compromised in recent years by the installation of several communications masts, palisade fencing (luckily not in the foreground) and to a lesser extent the encroaching housing development on the horizon.

43062 John Armitt leads the 1Q16 12:13 Derby RTC to Old Oak Common New Measurement Train past Culham on 27 April 2011. 43013 is bringing up the rear. Not a bad day out, with two test train passing this spot in less than half an hour, 37611 & 37069 having passed by a little earlier.

43062 John Armitt approaches Joan Croft Junction on 12 March 2012, leading the 1Q07 08:56 Heaton to Ferme Park New Measurement Train. 43013 is on the rear. The manually operated gates at this location certainly keep the resident crossing keeper busy.

43062 John Armitt runs between the Rosebay Willowherb and the brambles, as it approaches Ascott-under-Wychwood on 17 July 2014 with the 1Q15 09:05 Derby RTC to Derby RTC (via Oxford) Network Rail New Measurement Train. Like most locations on the Cotswold Line, this spot has become very overgrown in recent years.

43062 John Armitt brings up the rear of the 1Z20 05:09 Reading Triangle Sidings to Derby RTC Network Rail test train at Badgeworth on 2 February 2018, with 43014 The Railway Observer leading. 66751 Inspiration Delivered - Hitachi Rail Europe is approaching with the 6Z78 11:09 Long Marston to Cardiff Docks Greenergy tank move. I had deliberately gone to this location as the two trains were due to pass at roughly the same time. However, I didn't expect them to be quite this close together!

43062 John Armitt speeds through Kemble station on 3 July 2018 with the 1Q15 06:39 Derby RTC to Landore Network Rail Measurement Train. This was running 20 minutes late, as it was pathed behind, instead of in front of, the diverted 4O57 13:29 Wentloog to Southampton Maritime freightliner.

43062 John Armitt brings up the rear of the 1Q15 06:50 Derby RTC to Swansea Network Rail New Measurement Train at Chalford on 3 September 2019. Almost hidden by the lineside bushes, 43013 Mark Carne CBE is the lead power car.

With the wooded slopes of the Cotswold Hills in the background, 43062 John Armitt approaches Standish Junction on 30 July 2024 with the 1Q15 06:44 Derby RTC to Landore Network Rail test train. 43357 is bringing up the rear.

43062 John Armitt brings up the rear of the twice diverted 1Q15 06:44 Derby RTC to Landore Network Rail test train at Standish Junction on 30 July 2024. 43357 is leading the train onto the Golden Valley line for the second time, when it should really have been heading for Bristol via the line in the foreground.

A hazy winter afternoon at Hinksey on 19 February 1994. 43063 passes the deserted yard with the late running 1O12 07:10 Edinburgh to Bournemouth 'Wessex Scot'. The proper way to travel from one end of the county to the other, not on the cramped DMU that passengers now have to put up with!

43063 Maiden Voyager sweeps around the reverse curves at Lowgill on 29 March 1997 with the 1V50 08:50 Edinburgh to Penzance 'Cornish Scot' Virgin CrossCountry service. Needless to say, the tatty old bit of wooden fence on the right has now been replaced by the photographer unfriendly palisade type.

43063 rounds the curve at Crofton 22 May 2012 with the 1A76 05:05 Penzance to Paddington First Great Western service. Note that there is some evidence of the former InterCity livery showing through on the cab roof. Time for another repaint?

43063 approaches Ardley on 7 April 2013 with the diverted 1L14 08:45 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The train had travelled to Banbury via Oxford, and was now heading for London via the Chiltern Line.

43063 brings up the rear of the 1C07 09:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service at Challow on 8 April 2014. The 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service can be seen approaching in the background, led by 43033 Driver Brian Cooper 15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999.

With the clouds gathering in the background, 43063 races underneath the steel girder roadbridge at Shrivenham on 9 April 2014 with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service. This old bridge, and the fence in the foreground have both been replaced by much less photogenic examples.

43063 approaches the western end of Chipping Sodbury Tunnel on 10 September 2014 with the 1L62 12:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. The first year's crop of weeds are already turning to seed at the top of the newly graded cutting. The thistle seeds will obviously colonise what at the moment is a nice smooth grassy bank!

43063 passes the site of Chipping Sodbury station on 15 April 2015 with the 1B46 14:45 Paddington to Swansea First Great Western service. The station site is still used as an engineer's siding, and a parked Colas tamping machine can be seen in this view.

Blue - green - blue! 43063 leads the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service past Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 14 September 2016. Although initially the two green GWR HST sets were kept complete, practical day to day running soon ensured that mixed trains like this would inevitably appear. For those interested, 43162 is the rear power car. Note the thin lines in the field on the left. Just out of the picture the farmer was busy mole draining the field.

43063 passes Little Haresfield on 18 April 2017 with the 1L50 10:36 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. Although the vegetation on the right had been cut back a few years earlier, note how quickly it has grown back.

Electrification is coming! 43063 passes the newly erected masts and footbridge at Uffington on 3 June 2017, as it heads westwards with the 1C20 15:30 Paddington to Weston-super-Mare GWR service. Its a pity the footbridge wasn't installed a few years earlier!

43063 passes Oaksey on 25 September 2018 with the 1L58 12:36 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. In the last few months of their service on the former Western Region, there seems little attempt to keep the coaching stock in matched rakes, and the inclusion of a green coach in an otherwise blue rake seems to be the norm.

43063 approaches Hungerford on 1 October 2018 with the 1A75 05:05 Penzance to Paddington GWR service. This is a location that I have been meaning to visit for many years. I have almost left it a bit late, with the iconic HSTs only having a few months left on the route!

With a typical mixed green and blue rake of stock, 43063 speeds past Grove on 22 October 2018 with the 1A12 07:48 Paignton to Paddington GWR service. The 3J43 02:53 Didcot to Didcot (via the Berks & Hants Line) Rail Head Treatment Train can just be seen waiting on the relief line in the background.

In miserable misty drizzly weather, 43064 slows down for a photo stop at the derelict Winslow station on the Bletchley to Oxford line. It is working the Hertfordshire Railtours 07:50 St Pancras to Matlock 'Midland Peaks' railtour on 13 February 1993. Note that some effort has gone into identifying the station with several nameboards, including replica totem signs. Although I was on my own as the train arrived, soon there were people swarming everywhere as the passengers got their pictures of this most unlikely motive power at this rural location. Just as well they did because the station building was demolished shortly afterwards.

During the summer of 1998, the Saturday 1V38 06:05 Leeds to Newquay, and returning 1E39 14:08 Newquay to Leeds Virgin CrossCountry service was rostered for a Midland Mainline HST set, bringing the extremely unusual sight of Midland Mainline turquoise and orange liveried stock to the West Country. 43064 is pictured approaching St Blazey on 18 July 1998 with the 1E09 service.

43064 approaches Wellingborough on 19 July 2002 with the 1B15 07:32 Sheffield to St Pancras Midland Mainline service. Although the sides look reasonably clean, the front end exhibits the typically filthy condition that Midland Mainline HSTs seemed to always be in at this time (at least whenever I went out to photograph them!). Very little evidence remains of the once extensive sidings at this location, certainly compared with the view in 1985, when I photographed 43056 at the same spot. Coincidentally, I also saw 43056 on this occasion, but heading in the opposite direction.

To mark the end of Paxman Valenta engined HSTs, East Midlands Trains ran a special from Leicester to Scarborough on 26 July 2008, using 43064 & 43081. These were named 125 Group & Midland Valenta respectively the previous day, especially for this tour. In crisp morning light, the 1Z25 09:00 Leicester to Scarborough 'Valenta Venturer' is pictured passing Barkby Thorpe (just north of Leicester) with 43064 leading. I was rather surprised to see a traditional 'steam age' headboard, which looks very strange on the pointed nose of a HST!

Very nearly a complete HST in the new East Midlands Trains livery. Only the rear power car (hiding behind the bush) retains the former Midland Mainline colour scheme. 43064 leads the 1D47 15:15 St Pancras to Nottingham service past Harrowden Junction on 21 April 2010.

43065 leads the 16:50 Kings Cross to Bradford Interchange 'Bradford Executive' service towards Peascliffe Tunnel (near Grantham) on 14 June 1986. As can be seen, the East Coast Mainline was in the early stages of electrification at this time, with just the masts in position. Without any wires to tension them, the posts seem to be far from vertical in this picture. This was the era of mixed HST liveries, and indeed the other HST seen here on this day was the exact opposite of this one - InterCity liveried coaches and original liveried power car.

Buffer fitted 43065 passes Cossington on 24 February 1992 with the 14:30 St Pancras to Nottingham service. Note that the road deck of the Syston Road bridge in the background has been completely removed. The temporary closure of the road wouldn't have been too much of an inconvenience for the locals, as not only is there the bridge on which I was standing, but also the A46 road, which can be seen in the distance.

Buffer fitted 43065 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 11 June 1992 with the 1M41 16:17 Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly service. This was in the good old days when both routes from Wolvercote Junction (Banbury and Worcester) were served by HSTs.

43065 passes the flooded fields near Upper Heyford on 14 February 1995, as it heads south down the Cherwell Valley with the 1O09 08:17 Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth 'Pines Express'. Luckily the towpath of the Oxford Canal, from which this picture was taken, is considerably higher than the surrounding land, so waders were not required!

A brief burst of sunshine illuminates 43065, as it passes Hargrave on 4 March 2000 with the 1D87 08:25 Euston to Holyhead Virgin West Coast service. Very localised brightness, as both Beeston and Peckforton Castles in the background are in darkness.

43065 passes Bishop Wood on 26 July 2008 with the 1A63 17:30 Sunderland to Kings Cross Grand Central service. Although it was disappearing into high cloud, the late evening light was just holding out long enough for this picture.

The remnants of a bygone age litter the background of this view at Finedon Road, Wellingborough on 21 May 1989. Rakes of redundant HTV hopper wagons fill all the sidings, as 43066 sweeps by with the 15:54 Sheffield to St Pancras service. The sidings now have a more profitable use, being used by GBRf for ballast trains.

43066 passes Beeston in hazy light on 11 September 1990 with the 08:30 St Pancras to Nottingham service. In the background is Beeston station, complete with disused goods shed. Also note the Blue Circle cement depot, which was a source of rail traffic. This has subsequently been demolished, whilst on the other hand, the area of waste ground on the right is now a housing estate.

This is something you don't see every day! The driver of 43066, working the 1C42 17:23 Sheffield to St Pancras service, has stopped at Clay Cross on 9 April 1992, and is now shouting at a group of trespassing teenagers, telling them in no uncertain terms to get off the line! Obviously previous trains had noted the trespassers, allowing the HST to approach cautiously and stop, but I have never seen another instance of a train stopping on the mainline and the driver clearing people off the track!

43066 passes Colton Junction in fine evening light on 30 August 1993 with the 1V67 17:05 Newcastle to Bristol Temple Meads. York Minster can just be seen in the background, above the rear of the train. This section of line was only opened in 1983, to replace that section of the East Coast Mainline around Selby that was being affected by mining subsidence.

43066 Nottingham Playhouse passes Cossington on 11 May 2001 with the 1D50 17:55 St Pancras to Nottingham Midland Mainline service. It's almost as if the HSTs painted in this livery used semi water soluble paint for the yellow front end! This one displays the typical blotchy faded look.

Under an impressively dark sky, 43066 Nottingham Playhouse crosses the River Nene near Irchester on 15 December 2001 with the 1C21 08:35 Leeds to St Pancras Midland Mainline service. The houses of Wellingborough can be seen in the background, with the Victorian gothic St Mary's church clearly visible on the extreme left.

The wheat looks almost ready for harvesting at Quarrington on 25 July 2009 as 43066 passes by with the 1S01 08:07 Nottingham to Skegness East Midlands Trains service. This Saturday only train operates between 18 July and 5 September in effort to relief overcrowding on trains to the coast, although certainly on this day it didn't seem to be very full. The HST completes two round trips to the bracing holiday resort, although the speed of the HST is completley wasted, with some very slow running on ridiculously easy schedules.

43066 passes between two pieces of vintage railway infrastructure (three if you count the running in board), as it speeds through Ancaster station on 25 July 2009 with the 1S03 13:50 Nottingham to Skegness East Midlands Trains service.

Smart new liveried power car, old liveried coaches. 43066 passes Sharnbrook on 21 April 2010 with the 1B48 13:28 Nottingham to St Pancras East Midlands Trains service. Unfortunately this corresponded with the sun disappearing into some high cloud, but the livery combination made it worth recording, despite the indifferent light.

Former East Midlands Railway 43066, now operated by DATS (Data Acquisition & Testing Services), visited the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway for their Diesel Gala on 1 April 2022. It is seen here passing Bledlow with the late running 1C04 11:35 Princes Risborough to Chinnor service, hauling Class 411/9 3-CEP EMU 1198. This was the first visit of a HST to the line.

A stranger on the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway. DATS (Data Acquisition & Testing Services) 43066 crosses Horsenden Lane on 2 April 2022 with the 1C02 09:50 Princes Risborough to Chinnor service, during the line's Diesel Gala. Note the gateman with the green flag. Also note the clouds, that were rapidly building up after a bright and frosty start to the day.

DATS (Data Acquisition & Testing Services) 43066 brings up the rear of the 1P05 11:30 Chinnor to Princes Risborough service, as it approaches Horsenden Lane on 2 April 2022, during the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway's Diesel Gala. 50008 Thunderer is hidden by the bushes at the front of the train.

The star attraction at the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway's spring 2022 Diesel Gala was to have been a pair of DATS (Data Acquisition & Testing Services) HST power cars. Unfortunately one of the locos (43054) was declared a failure after it had arrived at the line, so only classmate 43066 saw any use. It is pictured here accelerating away from Horsenden Lane on 2 April 2022 with the 1C06 12:00 Princes Risborough to Chinnor service, which in contrast to the late running of a lot of the trains, actually arrived at the level crossing in the distance a few minutes early, and waited there until the correct time. This was a little worrying with so much cloud building up, but luckily the sun was in a large blue patch!

43067 just about manages to dodge the shadows as it approaches Wolvercote Junction on 27 June 1995 with the 1M41 17:16 Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly service. 43067 has had an interesting life both before and after this picture was taken. Initially just another East Coast power car, it was converted into a DVT in 1989 as an interim measure for use with the new Class 91 electrics and Mk 3 stock. In more recent years 43067 was acquired by Grand Central Railways, and once again found itself pounding up and down the ECML. It became one of the last power cars to retain an original Paxman Valenta engine, but in 2010 was finally fitted with a MTU unit, becoming 43467.

43067 rounds the curve at Gateforth on 14 March 2008 with the 1A62 12:30 Sunderland to Kings Cross Grand Central service, unfortunately just after the sun had disappeared into a bank of high cloud. Note how the black livery of the power car shows off the ripples in the body panels.

43067 passes Shaftholme Junction in miserable light on 24 November 2008 with the 1A62 12:30 Sunderland to Kings Cross Grand Central service. Although it is not really visible from this angle, Joan Croft Junction is situated in the background of this view.

43068 speeds past Abbots Ripton on 16 August 1988 with the 06:30 Peterborough to King Cross service. It certainly required an early start form West Oxfordshire to be at the East Coast Mainline by 06:50. The reason for the early start was to get a picture of the unique 89001.

43068 arrives at Oxford on 2 October 1991 with the 1S03 08:40 Poole to Edinburgh 'Dorset Scot'. This was one of eight Class 43 power cars that had buffers fitted in 1987/8 to work temporarily as surrogate DVTs with Class 91s and the unique Class 89.

43068 passes Aynho Junction on 22 July 1993 with the 1M25 16:17 Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly service, just as 165037 heads in the opposite direction with the 1H59 17:25 Birmingham Snow Hill to Marylebone train.

43068 The Red Nose passes Whitacre Junction on Sunday 14 September 1997 with the diverted 1O10 10:50 Manchester Piccadilly to Southampton Virgin CrossCountry service. This livery, with its completely yellow front end, definitely looked a little odd, and it was so much better when Virgin adopted a black cab roof.

43068 The Red Nose passes Whitnash on 8 August 1998 with the 1O12 06:50 Edinburgh to Bournemouth Virgin CrossCountry 'Wessex Scot'. The loco had been named at Paddington Station the previous year, to mark the 1997 Comic Relief charity event.

43068 The Red Arrows passes Bredicot on 13 July 2002 with the 1V41 06:45 Newcastle to Penzance Virgin CrossCountry service. While most of the CrossCountry network got downgraded to DMU operation around this time, nearly two decades later some HSTs still ply this route, along with the inevitable Voyagers.

43069 passes Uffington with the 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads First Great Western service on 12 February 2008. The straw in the foreground is the result of recent heavy rains washing the loose straw and stubble off the field down into this low lying corner. It covered a large area and was well over a foot thick!

43069 runs along the Great Western Mainline near Uffington on 24 April 2010 with the 1G21 10:15 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa First Great Western service. The train is just about to pass the spot where the Wilts & Berks Canal formerly passed underneath the line.

43069 rounds the curve at Chilson on 6 May 2011 with the 1W02 17:22 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. Note the freshly ballasted new up line in the foreground, which was still a month away from being commissioned.

Golden early morning light at Bourton on 18 July 2013. 43069 accelerates away from Swindon (still obscured by the mist in the background), as it heads towards London with the 1A02 05:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington First Great Western service.

43069 calls at Pewsey station on 23 August 2013 with the 1A77 05:41 Penzance to Paddington First Great Western service. Although minus its roof, the original Great Western Railway footbridge survives here, as indeed does the classic running in board, just visible on the left.

With blackthorn on the left, and gorse on the right, 43069 passes Baulking on 16 April 2014 with the 1L48 09:28 Swansea to Paddington First Great Western service. HSTs normally operate with the first class vehicles at the London ed of the train, so this one is running in reverse formation.

43069 speeds underneath the recently reopened road bridge at Challow on 18 February 2015 with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington First Great Western service. The bridge had been reconstructed to give increased headroom for the overhead wires of the forthcoming route electrification.

Signs of impending electrification at Uffington on 23 September 2016. 43069 passes a couple of mast bases, as it speeds eastwards with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. The erection of the masts on this section of line is extremely erratic. They have been in position up to the nearby roadbridge for several months, but nothing has happened here (luckily) for ages! The termination board was apparently somewhat redundant, as westbound trains were passing at full line speed.

43069 passes Steventon on 5 January 2017 with the 1B31 12:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. The steam rising in the background is from 'Didcot B', the small gas fired power station, while the chimney is part of the redundant 'Didcot A' coal fired plant.

43069 passes the incomplete electrification infrastructure at Challow on 20 January 2017, as it heads westwards with the 1B42 14:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. Note that the only wire so far installed is one of the earth wires.

With a toot from the driver, 43069 passes Compton Beauchamp on 5 July 2017 with the 1C24 17:30 Paddington to Taunton GWR service. With masts only on the south side of the line, it initially appears that this view will still be just about acceptable for photography after the wires go up. However, out of sight in the immediate foreground is the base for a mast on the north side of the line, heralding a huge gantry that will completely block the view!

43069 passes Cassington on 24 March 2018 with the 1P51 13:06 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. Although Network Rail no longer does any routine maintenance of the lineside, they do occasionally have a massive blitz, and clear all bushes and trees from certain sections of line. Once they have done that nothing at all will get done for many years, until the situation is back to square one! Decades worth of neglect have been dealt with at Cassington, opening up this view nicely.

43069 pulls out of Moreton-in-Marsh station on 10 October 2018 with the 1P39 15:14 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. With the shadows rapidly lengthening, I was glad that this was only one minute late, rather than the more normal 10, 20, or 30 minutes late that a lot of Cotswold Line passengers now have to put up with.