47769 Resolve passes Totton on 3 June 2001 with the 1M84 10:05 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly Virgin CrossCountry service. The non-electrified lines in the foreground mark the start of the freight only branch line to Marchwood and Fawley.

47782 passes Baulking on 14 August 1994 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z27 08:50 Weston-super-Mare to Worcester Shrub Hill 'Cotswold Venturer' railtour. The train would return just over an hour later, hauled by GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 5029 Nunney Castle.

So far this is about as close as the railways of the Oxford area have got to electrification! The yard at Hinksey is rather oddly home to an overhead electfrication train on 1 September 1999, as 43177 passes by with the 1B48 17:12 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. The badly mismanaged Great Western electfrication scheme that should have seen this line wired had to be scaled back due to massive overspending.

08589 shunts a lengthy rake of Royal Mail BG and GUV vans at Swindon on 26 October 1992. Note the coupling hook abandoned in the 'four foot', directly in front of the loco. 08589 was withdrawn a few weeks later.

D306 Atlantic Conveyor passes Castor on 19 March 2000 with the 13:56 Peterborough to Wansford service, during the Nene Valley Railway's Diesel Gala. Near the rear of the train is the well used public footpath crossing leading to the River Nene.

47250 pulls out onto the main line at Swindon on 25 October 1982 with the 6C36 12:10 Swindon Transfer to Severn Tunnel Junction Speedlink. This being a Monday, it was booked for a slightly later departure time, other days of the week it left at 11:20. A pair of shunters can be seen in the background, 08925 on the left, and 08696 on the right. Behind them is the town's gas holder, and the British Leyland car body plant. The tall chimney in the background belonged to the Wills cigarette factory. This was demolished in 1987, and the site is now a Tesco supermarket.

43135 calls at Swindon station on 25 October 1982 with the 1A01 08:55 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington service. Because of Swindon station's island platform configuration at the time, it was not much use for photography if the sun was out, although that definitely wasn't going to be a problem on this miserable autumnal day!

D1023 Western Fusilier & D1013 Western Ranger approach Bewdley on 6 October 2002 with the 15:45 Kidderminster to Bridgnorth service, during the Severn Valley Railway's Diesel Gala. The tree in the foreground makes an excellent frame for the picture, but the one just a little further away is just a damn nuisance, by putting Western Ranger in the shade!

60078 Stac Pollaidh approaches Heyford station on the frosty morning of 13 March 1995 with the 7V32 03:35 Barrow Hill to Didcot Power Station MGR. Note that some wag has carefully painted a yellow hi-vis vest onto the figure on the 'Passengers must not cross the line' sign in the lower right corner of the picture!

East Coast loco on the South Coast! D9016 Gordon Highlander swaps its once familiar North Sea view for the English Channel, as it passes Goodrington on 20 June 1993, en-route from Paignton to Kingswear, during the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway's Diesel Gala.

56006 passes through Hungerford station in the rain on 9 June 2002 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z56 10:03 Paddington to Yeovil Junction 'Desert Mule' railtour. Nowadays with the luxury of a ten frames per second camera there would be no excuse for not positioning the loco between the lamp posts, but at the time, with just once chance to get it right, I clearly messed it up here! Locos usually have the full TOPS number on the front today, but it's a bit more minimalist here. Note the very small number 6 just above the horn grille.

Just after sunrise on 4 September 1987, 47194 finds a small patch of light amid the shadows, as it passes Oxford with a train of four wheel tanks. As there is nothing in the working timetable around this time, this is presumably one of the 'as requited' Stanlow to Littlemore oil trains. Behind it, the 1M09 05:50 Paddington to Liverpool Lime Street service is arriving at the station.

47142 The Sapper rounds the curve at Millbrook on 30 November 1989 with an oil train from Fawley. Relatively few Class 47s carried this 'red stripe' variation of the 1980s Railfreight grey livery, just 19, as opposed to 52 which carried the original version.

47115 passes Hinksey Yard on 14 March 1987 with the 4M60 12:35 Southampton Maritime to Lawley Street freightliner. Unlike today, when there are numerous freightliners passing Oxford during the day, in the 1980s they were much more infrequent. 47115's Stratford applied silver roof is almost lost under a coating of dirt, but it had been allocated away from that depot over a year earlier.

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

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

An amazing simultaneous departure at Great Yarmouth on 29 August 1992. 47462 Cambridge Traction & Rolling Stock Depot leaves the station with the 1P31 14:10 Great Yarmouth to Liverpool Street service, while 31191 runs alongside it with the (obviously early) 14:43 Great Yarmouth to Norwich Crown Point ECS. The two trains continued running side by side all the way to Breydon Junction, where the 31 took the Acle route, and the 47 headed for Reedham. 86221 BBC Look East is bringing up the rear of the London train.

An electric loco well away fro the 25kV overhead. 86221 BBC Look East brings up the rear of the 1P31 14:10 Great Yarmouth to Liverpool Street service, as it leaves Great Yarmouth on 29 August 1992. 47462 Cambridge Traction & Rolling Stock Depot can be seen at the front of the train, running side by side with 31191 on empty stock heading for Norwich Crown Point.

Low autumn sun at Melton Ross on 23 November 1996. 60025 works the 6K24 13:29 Santon to Immingham iron ore empties. Just 25 minutes later, 60024 followed it with the 6D71 13:00 Leeds to Lindsey oil empties.

60024 catches the last of the afternoon light, as it passes Melton Ross on 23 November 1996 with the 6D71 13:00 Leeds to Lindsey oil empties. Just 25 minutes earlier Loadhaul liveried 60025 had passed by with the 6K24 13:29 Santon to Immingham iron ore empties.

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.

47337 approaches Clink Road Junction on 11 May 1985 with the 1Z27 07:30 Bedford to Paignton special. This is something that has long since disappeared from the national network, the BR organised day excursion. Apologies for the very poor image quality, but I thought it worth including, showing as it does a normally freight only Class 47/3 hauling InterCity liveried Mk1 coaches.

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

37230 approaches Cowley Bridge Junction on 7 November 1990 with the 6C55 14:37 Bristol East Depot to Exeter Riverside Yard ballast. I was very lucky that this was running nearly an hour early. As there is only a big enough sunlit gap for the loco and a couple of wagons, it is clear that there would no chance of a picture anywhere near the correct time. The yellow Volvo 240 estate on the right was obviously a very reliable car, with the owner seeing no reason to change it, as it features in pictures taken at this location for over a decade!

L409 (51386, 59496 & 51344) passes Hinksey Yard on 19 January 1991 with the 2C41 13:51 Banbury to Reading Network SouthEast service. 1991 was the last full year that these Pressed Steel units had the monopoly of these Thames Valley local services. After over three decades of faithful service, they would soon be replaced by the new Class 165 Turbo units.

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

The horses pay no attention, as the 09:40 Salisbury to Waterloo Network SouthEast service crosses Hurstbourne Viaduct on 13 March 1993. Although this is from a 6x7 slide, and Pentax lenses are very sharp, the Class 207 DEMU is just too far away for me to be able to read the very small bodyside numbers, so the unit will have to remain unidentified.

31443 passes Marholm on 8 December 1984 with the 1E66 08:15 Birmingham New Street to Norwich service. Unfortunately I took very few pictures of Class 31s on these cross country workings, and a lot of those seem to be in very poor light, like this one! The East Coast Mainline is just out of sight on the right.

Consecutively numbered 37672 Freight Transport Association & 37673 pass Ashchurch on 10 October 1992 with the 6V70 08:20 Bescot to St Blazey china clay empties. This was a well photographed train in the early 1990s, for two reasons. It ran on a Saturday, and ran at a time of day when the lighting angle was perfect.

A ridiculously easy load for consecutively numbered 37673 & 37674 Saint Blaise Church 1445-1995. The Transrail pair take the Bristol line at Severn Tunnel Junction on 27 August 1998 with the 6C21 14:50 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to St Blazey Enterprise service. With loads like this, it's not surprising that the Enterprise wagonload service went the way of its forerunner, Speedlink.

37602 & 37604 pass Dartford Junction on 11 March 2000 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z81 12:02 Victoria to Victoria (via Maidstone and Tonbridge) 'Medway Medicaster' railtour, just as 465196 and an unidentified classmate approach with the 12:02 (coincidentally!) Charing Cross to Dartford Connex service. The impressive brick building is a 1920s Southern Railway built electricity substation.

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

43148 passes the site of Shrivenham station 4 September 1992 with the 1A25 07:02 Swansea to Paddington service. Berkshire Vale Transport were using the old station yard for storage at the time, just like Leggett Freightways had done, a decade earlier.

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

57xx Class 0-6-0PT 7752 & 61xx 2-6-2T 6106 emerge from Greet Tunnel on 14 October 1990, en-route from Greet to Toddington, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Great Western Railway weekend.

Looking superb in its original Network SouthEast livery, 165131 passes Wendlebury on 13 March 1995 with the 2C37 11:51 Bicester Town to Oxford service. This had all the atmosphere of a classic branch line in the 1990s, complete with bullhead track. Now it is a modern double track high speed main line.

153366 passes the rail connection to West Burton Power Station on 28 November 1992, as it traverses the flat countryside near the River Trent with the 10:40 Lincoln Central to Sheffield Regional Railways service. The town of Gainsborough can just be seen in the distance.

50039 Implacable approaches Goring on 13 September 1986 with the 1F19 07:45 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. Implacable was withdrawn in June 1989 with nothing more than a coolant leak, and with relatively low engine hours as well. By 1989 it didn't take much for a Class 50 to be withdrawn.

47819 crosses over the River Swale at Morton-on-Swale on 28 December 1992 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z37 05:20 Swindon to Redmire 'Wensleydale Explorer' railtour. This was one of a number of tours run over the Christmas period, to mark the closure of the line.

47819 passes Great Crakehall on 28 December 1992 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z37 05:20 Swindon to Redmire 'Wensleydale Explorer' railtour. Note the rusty track. The train had started out from Swindon behind 47809, but that was replaced at Derby due to a fault.

The impressive rock outcrops at Leyburn Shawl make an excellent backdrop to the Pathfinder Tours 1Z37 05:20 Swindon to Redmire 'Wensleydale Explorer' railtour, as it slowly traverses the Wensleydale branch on 28 December 1992 behind 47819. 37716 British Steel Corby & 37884 Gartcosh can just be seen on the rear of the train.

The driver of 37884 Gartcosh has just exchanged tokens with the signalman at Bedale on 28 December 1992, as he crosses the road with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z37 13:30 Redmire to Swindon 'Wensleydale Explorer' railtour. Although this viewpoint includes the signal box and level crossing gates, it does mean that not only is the second locomotive, 37716 British Steel Corby, virtually hidden, but so is the whole train!

47807 passes a row of freshly pollarded horse chestnut trees at South Moreton on 30 April 1994, as it heads towards Didcot with the 1M50 14:20 Brighton to Manchester Piccadilly service. Note the white paint on the bridge in the background, presumably a sighting relic from the days of semaphore signalling.

A field of oilseed rape helps to liven up a slightly misty morning at Culham on Sunday 29 April 1990, as 43128 heads northwards with what is presumably an empty stock working, as there is nothing in the timetable anywhere near the 08:45 time.

47283 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 29 July 1997 with the 4M99 16:50 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. Although this location was excellent for northbound evening pictures, I very rarely encountered another photographer. This was probably to do with the awkward parking on an extremely busy road.

47298 Pegasus & 47219 Arnold Kunzler arrive at Andover on 19 April 1998 with the 6Z43 14:40 Haverfordwest to Ludgershall MoD special, conveying army vehicles for exercise 'Head First'. The train would shortly reverse onto the up line, using the crossover in the foreground, and then take the branch to Ludgershall, on the left.

47298 Pegasus & 47219 Arnold Kunzler leave Andover on 19 April 1998 with the 6Z43 14:40 Haverfordwest to Ludgershall MoD special, conveying army vehicles for exercise 'Head First'. Judging by the rusty track in front of the locos, nothing had been this way for a while. The train had arrived a little earlier from the London direction.

Ruston & Hornsby 0-6-0 Army locomotive 423 Cromwell waits in the foreground at Ludgershall on 19 April 1998, while in the background 47219 Arnold Kunzler & 47298 Pegasus stand at one of the army depot's platforms, with the 6Z43 14:40 Haverfordwest to Ludgershall MoD special, which had arrived a little earlier with vehicles for use in exercise 'Head First'. The 1961 built shunter was saved for preservation after its army career, and after spending time at various sites, finally ended up at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.

60040 crosses over the Bishton Flyover at Llandevenny on 17 July 2002 with the 6E09 10:27 Margam to Lackenby steel empties. This is the point where the relief lines change from being on the south side of the main lines, to being on either side.

47707 Holyrood makes a smoky departure from Tisbury on 5 October 1991 with the 1V09 09:15 Waterloo to Exeter St Davids Network SouthEast service. The reason for standing in the rain in this field was for the following train, which was booked for D400 & 50030 Repulse.

47741 Resilient emerges from Wickwar Tunnel on 6 May 1994 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z57 16:40 Gloucester to Plymouth 'Tamar Severn Ltd' railtour. I would imagine that there are far fewer pictures of this leg of the tour, compared withthe northbound working, which was hauled by GWR steam King Class 4-6-0 steam locomotive 6024 King Edward I.

C426 (51364, 59516 & 51406) appears to have only been allocated to Cardiff for a couple of months during 1987, and this is my only picture of the unit carrying a 'C' prefix. It is pictured here approaching Hawkeridge Junction with another unidentified unit, whilst working the 2O56 10:10 Bristol Temple Meads to Weymouth service on 4 October 1987.

47481 passes Oxford North Junction on 12 February 1985 with the 1O27 06:45 York to Portsmouth Harbour service. I bet there weren't many passengers making the complete journey from Yorkshire to Hampshire on this bitterly cold day!

A picture of anything in the refuge siding at Moreton-in-Marsh is noteworthy, but a steam loco especially so. Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 46521 takes water on 12 December 1992, whilst working a Didcot to Kidderminster railtour. The signal has just been pulled off for the 14:35 Oxford to Great Malvern DMU.

156411 arrives at Moreton-in-Marsh station on 12 December 1992 with the14:35 Oxford to Great Malvern service. The massive crowd has been attracted by the unusual sight of a steam loco taking water in the down refuge siding. Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 46521 can be seen in the background, waiting to follow the DMU, once that had reached Evesham. I have mentioned previously that Class 156s were not common on the Cotswold Line, and indeed this is one of the very few pictures I have of one on the line. However, that may be more to do with the fact that I was spending more time photographing further afield in the 1990-2 period, rather than concentrating on my home patch.

47285 passes Stracey Arms on 29 August 1992 with the 2P24 15:35 Norwich to Great Yarmouth service. This train was regularly worked by a Railfreight Distribution Class 47 on summer Saturdays, in place of a DMU. Surprising, in view of this, there are no heads out of windows!

L417 (51396, 59506 & 51354) pulls away from Kingham station on 16 April 1987 with the 2B20 16:40 Reading to Moreton-in-Mash Network SouthEast service. Trains generally seemed to run to time on the Cotswold Line in the 1980s, unlike the terrible timekeeping when First Great Western took over several decades later. However, this was running 15 minutes late, and with the train booked to call at all the line's minor stations, there would be very little possibility of making up time. The unit returned from Moreton an hour later.

Ford Escort van NML260L isn't going anywhere in a hurry at Kingham on 16 April 1987! L427 (51407, 59517 & 51365) approaches the station with the 2A56 16:46 Hereford to Oxford service. This area is now part of Kingham's extended and properly surfaced car park, but in 1987 the only vehicle parked this far away from the station building had no wheels. The red van was last taxed a few months previously, but curiously the DVLA lists it as black. Just how many times had it been repainted, as yellow is clearly showing through the red in various places!

L417 (51354, 59506 & 51396) arrives at Kingham station on 16 April 1987 with the 2A62 19:18 Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford Network SouthEast service. This view clearly shows the remains of the old Banbury to Cheltenham line platforms on the right. A forest of trees now covers this area.

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

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

They may have been a massive step backwards in terms of passenger comfort compared with the loco hauled stock they replaced, but the Voyagers did look fairly presentable in their original livery, especially when hew. 221137 Mayflower Pilgrims passes Ashchurch on 19 June 2004 with the 1E28 06:52 Bristol Temple Meads to Newcastle Virgin CrossCountry service.

33208 & 33116 (D6535) Hertfordshire Railtours run along the up relief line at Shottesbrooke on 25 March 1995 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z27 07:29 Coventry to Hastings 'Marsh 'n' Moor' railtour. This used to be my default photographic location between Reading and Maidenhead. I haven't been back for years, as you would hardly see anything now, amid a tangle of poles and wires!

73128 O.V.S. Bulleid C.B.E & 73132 pass Shoreham (Kent) on 25 March 1995 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z27 07:29 Coventry to Hastings 'Marsh 'n' Moor' railtour. This section of he tour was supposed to have been hauled by the National Railway Museum's Class 71 E5001, but it was unavailable. At least a pair of Class 73s was an acceptably unusual substitute.

81007 takes the Crewe avoiding lines at Basford Hall Junction on 3 July 1985 with a northbound Speedlink working, presumably the 6F86 09:10 Willesden to Warrington Arpley. This is exactly the kind of problem that plagues most views looking down from road bridges on 25kV lines - wires everywhere getting in the way! I don't normally take such pictures, but I have included this one, as I have very few pictures of the early electric classes, and this is my only picture of a Class 81 hauling a mixed freight.

The yet to be commissioned GWR lower quadrant starter signal makes a bold foreground to this picture of Hall Class 4-6-0 6998 Burton Agnes Hall leaving Winchcombe station on 8 May 1994 with the 14:20 Toddington to Far Stanley service. One of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Class 03 shunters, 03069, can be seen in the background.

50149 Defiance pulls away from Washford station with the 15:25 Norton Fitzwarren to Minehead service on 1 October 1995, during the West Somerset Railway Autumn Diesel Gala. Very head on lighting, but at least that means the steep sides of the cutting are not causing any shadows!

Viewed from the end of platform 1 at Islip station, the 1T15 08:20 Marylebone to Oxford Chiltern Railways service arrives to pick up a single passenger on 2 January 2021. A pair of Chitern's two car Class 165/0s, 165014 & 165028, are deputising for the more usual Class 168 or 172s.

165031 & 165010 pass Brookfurlong Farm, Islip, on 2 January 2021 with the 1T17 09:00 Marylebone to Oxford Chiltern Railways service. The Islip to Weston-on-the-Green footpath crosses the bridge in the background, and the road bridge in the far distance provides access to Barndon Farm and Oddington Grange.

165003 & 165033 pass Brookfurlong Farm, Islip, on 2 January 2021 with the 1T19 09:20 Marylebone to Oxford Chiltern Railways service. With the prospect of some superb winter light (at least during the morning), and nothing else of interest in the locality, I decided to get some more pictures of Class 165s, which were monopolising the trains to Oxford, due to one of Chiltern Railway's periodic amended timetables, which sees Class 165s replace Class 168s.

165017 & 165021 pass Brookfurlong Farm, Islip, on 2 January 2021 with the 1T21 10:00 Marylebone to Oxford Chiltern Railways service. Just a couple of minutes after this passed the sun disappeared into cloud, so it was time for the long walk back to the car!

Even trains have to wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic! 800321 passes Grove on 2 January 2021 with the 1C12 11:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The company applied the vinyl face mask design to the unit to highlight the obligatory wearing of masks on its trains and stations. It may only be just after midday, but this was the very last of the day's sunshine. Just visible in the background is the recently reconstructed Hanney Bridge.

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

60020 The Willows passes Grove on 2 January 2021 with the 6B33 11:42 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties. This had left Theale over an hour late, but due to the easy schedule, was actually two minutes early here!

800022 races through the diminutive Shipton station on 31 December 2020 with the 1P26 10:58 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The day started with thick fog, and ended with even thicker fog, but during the middle of the day there was almost unbroken sunshine. Unfortunately virtually all the snow of a few days previously had gone, with just a little bit still lying on the grass, and the uprooted fence post in the foreground.

800021 passes underneath the farm occupation bridge at Daylesford on 31 December 2020 with the 1P28 11:55 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The footpath that also crosses this bridge has become much more popular in recent years, but on this occasion there was an almost constant procession of walkers enjoying the winter sunshine.

20075 & 20187 pass Madeley on 9 October 1993 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z44 12:57 Amlwch to York 'Anglesey Odyssey II' railtour. The highlight of this tour was obviously the Amlwch branch, but the train was now about to traverse another line that was living on borrowed time. Less than a mile from this point it would leave the mainline, and via a reversal, head for Silverdale Colliery.

20075 & 20187 are completely dwarfed by the loading bunker at Silverdale Colliery, as they return from the end of the line with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z44 12:57 Amlwch to York 'Anglesey Odyssey II' railtour on 9 October 1993. Although Silverdale station closed nearly three decades earlier, note that the station building is still standing in this view.

After photographing 50038 Formidable arriving at Kingham station on 28 April 1987 with the 1B46 17:00 Paddington to Hereford service, I couldn't resist another picture of the train awaiting the 'right away' at the north end of the platform.

47805 Bristol Bath Road has just passed its namesake depot, as it climbs Ashley Down Bank, and passes Narroways Junction on 16 May 1992 with the 1M42 16:08 Paignton to Liverpool Lime Street InterCity service.

A man walks his dog along the Oxford Canal towpath near Upper Heyford on 14 February 1995, just as 47828 crosses over the bridge with the 1M01 06:42 Poole to Liverpool Lime Street InterCity service. The bridge next to Heyford Common Lock can be seen in the background.

Suitably sombre weather for the final loco hauled 1E26 09:05 Birmingham New Street to Newcastle Virgin CrossCountry service on 26 May 2002. 47843 Vulcan does the honours, seen here passing Ulleskelf. Due to Sunday engineering work, the train had travelled via Toton and Barnsley.

165102 arrives at a slightly damp Hungerford station on 9 June 2002 with the 1K35 11:03 Bedwyn to Paddington Thames Trains service. It is crossing over Station Road, which is only a little used back road, the much busier High Street passes underneath the line in the background. On the left is the distinctive tower of Hungerford's Town Hall.

207001 rounds the curve at Oborne on 5 January 1992 with the 09:25 Yeovil Junction to Salisbury Network SouthEast service. This was the first eastbound train of the day on a Sunday, at the time. In better weather Sherborne Castle would be visible amid the trees in the background.

47299 passes Up Hatherley on 28 August 1995 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z30 08:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Wigan North Western 'Crewe Excursioner' railtour. Although the use of a Railfreight Distribution Class 47 was interesting enough, the real highlight came on the return, when it was the turn of 59003 Yeoman Highlander & 59101 Village of Whatley.

Just the right size gap for a short train of just four vans! 47467 passes the bus depot at Patchway on 29 April 1993 with the 1M91 16:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Crewe Royal Mail vans. The train is descending first of all towards Patchway Tunnel, then a little later the Severn Tunnel.

With a cab full of trainee drivers, 47346 passes Milford Junction on 25 October 1995 with a southbound training run. Note the missing digits on the loco's bodyside number. The loco was stored a few months later, and cut up at Booth Roe, Rotherham in February 1998. It was not officially withdrawn until two months later!

Occasionally in the 1980s, a DMU would be booked for a fairly rapid return from Oxford, and would therefore arrive from the London direction into the up platform, instead of the usual down platform. In order to do this, it would cross over at Hinksey, and use the bi-directional loop. L594 (51104, 59435 & 51073) is pictured doing that on 14 March 1987 with the 2F38 12:49 Paddington to Oxford service, which because of its 11 minute layover at Didcot Parkway, had changed headcode to 2C26 at this point.

A panoramic view of the north end of Hinksey Yard on 14 March 1987, with three loaded domestic coal hoppers awaiting collection. L421 (51401, 59511 & 51359) passes by with the 2A49 14:21 Oxford to Paddington service. It has been a very long time since this location was as open as this!

60071 Dorothy Garrod passes through a frosty landscape at Bourton on 29 December 2000 with the 6A64 07:21 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station MGR. Two decades later this view has been obliterated by 25kV wiring, and no coal trains now venture this way, as Didcot Power Station is nothing but a memory.

47716 Duke of Edinburgh's Award passes Worting Junction on 29 July 1991 with the 1O34 08:10 Exeter St Davids to Waterloo Network SouthEast service. The loco had moved down from Scotland the previous year, and initially worked NSE trains in the Thames Valley, before moving to the West Country.

The grubbiness of 37261 Caithness matches the awfulness of the weather, as it arrives at Blyth on 30 March 1998 with the 6N16 09:27 Lynemouth to North Blyth empty alumina hoppers. The muddy shore of the North Sea is on the right.

37261 Caithness passes Morpeth on 30 March 1998 with the 6S54 11:36 North Blyth to Fort William alumina hoppers. This is one of those locations that I only visited once, for just this one train, and which it is highly unlikely that I will ever return to!

It may be late in the evening, but the station lights at Radley are still a little premature in coming on, as L204 (54371 & 51220) passes through the station on 24 April 1991 with the 2C63 18:18 Bicester Town to Reading Network SouthEast service. Note the new fence on the right, which had just blocked off vehicular access to the up platform.

50039 Implacable passes Hinksey Yard on 8 February 1986 with the 1O15 09:00 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service. Although I didn't get many photos of this train, perhaps I should have put in more effort, as around this time, in addition to the usual Class 47s and 50s, the occasional Class 31 or 45 turned up.

As the very last of the late afternoon sun fades away into high cloud, 50032 Courageous leaves Charlbury station on 27 March 1982 with the 1A51 16:03 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service. The fenced off hole on the left marks the site of Charlbury's former signal box.

50031 Hood passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on 24 October 1989 with the 1F18 12:15 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service. Apart from the busy road, this was an ideal photographic location, in both directions. Unfortunately as the line is now wired, there is no chance of a decent picture either way!

60084 Cross Fell approaches Hapton on 23 May 1993 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 13:40 Preston to Preston (via Padiham and Colne) 'Lancastrian Mini Excursion' railtour. This view has changed beyond all recognition. The small conifers between the railway and the M65 motorway are now very large conifers! The William Blythe chemical works in the background has closed, with the landmark chimney being demolished in 2009.  In the immediate foreground, the field on the right has now succumbed to yet more housing development.