Showing off for the cameras? A brief bust of power from 47376 Freightliner 1995, as it passes Stanton on 26 September 2021 with the 12:30 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala.

43009 passes Fiddington on 26 September 2021 with the 2T39 13:45 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads service. Sundays sees some of the GWR trains on this route upgraded from Class 158 or 166 DMUs to these four coach HSTs, which normally spend most of their time working between Cardiff and the West Country.

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.

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.

Looking superb after its recent repaint, 47105 approaches Toddington on 26 September 2021 with the 15:30 Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. Unfortunately this was running late, which meant that the sunshine had disappeared!

66749 Christopher Hopcroft MBE 60 Years Railway Service approaches Kemble in the fog on 25 September 2021 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z52 05:58 Eastleigh to Kingswear 'Champion Torbay Express' railtour. The train is just emerging from the very short Kemble Tunnel. I only took this picture because it was actually on my route to the location where I would later photograph the same train with the much more interesting pair of Class 50s on the front.

50007 Hercules (masquerading on this side as 50034 Furious) & 50049 Defiance pass Lower Wick on 25 September 2021 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z52 05:58 Eastleigh to Kingswear 'Champion Torbay Express' railtour. As can be guessed from the headcode and the tour's name, this should have been hauled by Class 52 D1015 Western Champion, but that unfortunately failed its mainline test run a week earlier. Note the lorry crossing the further of the two bridges in the background. This is M5 motorway, near Michaelwood services.

Castle Class 4-6-0 7029 Clun Castle passes Stonehouse on 25 September 2021 with the Vintage Trains 1Z29 08:21 Tyseley to Swindon 'SLS Special' railtour. I had guessed that the loco might be opening up, after accelerating away from Standish Junction, and then clearing Stonehouse station (just out of sight around the corner), and I thought there might be a reasonable exhaust effect, but I didn't think it would be this good!

Castle Class 4-6-0 7029 Clun Castle passes Yarnton on 25 September 2021 with the Vintage Trains 1Z30 15:45 Swindon to Birmingham Snow Hill 'SLS Special' railtour. The logs in the field on the right are a remnant of some extensive tree clearance work at this location, but note how the bushes in the foreground are already starting to grow back with renewed vigour.

47773 brings up the rear of the Vintage Trains 1Z30 15:45 Swindon to Birmingham Snow Hill 'SLS Special' railtour at Yarnton on 25 September 2021. GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 7029 Clun Castle on the front of the train, is just passing underneath the A44 Oxford to Woodstock road.

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

Network Rail Harsco RGH20C rail grinders DR79273 & DR79263 wait at a red signal at Challow on 24 September 2021, whilst heading west as the 10:22 Reading Triangle Sidings to Chipping Sodbury. This being a Friday, there were a number of such track machine moves, and just 25 minutes later, Harsco YZA Multi Purpose Stoneblower DR80302 passed by in the opposite direction.

Harsco YZA Multi Purpose Stoneblower DR80302 passes Challow on 24 September 2021, running as the 10:40 Bristol Kingsland Road to Broxbourne Down Tamper Siding. Only with a track machine move would you get something travelling between Bristol and Broxbourne!

37884 Cepheus runs along the down relief line, as it approaches Challow on 24 September 2021 with the 5Q42 09:50 Ely Papworth Sidings to Newport Docks (Sims Group), conveying former LNER HST Mk3 coaches for scrap. The train is formed from: 12154, 42191, 42193, 42192, 42146, 42128, 42238, 42199, 42198, 42239 & 12125. The first and last vehicles are acting as barriers. It seems a shame that these high quality coaches are going to the breakers, when their replacements are a noticeably inferior product. At least they have had a reasonably long life, which probably won't be the case for their replacements, which are already literally cracking up!

37884's Cepheus nameplate, photographed while the loco was stopped at Challow on 24 September 2021, whilst working the 5Q42 09:50 Ely Papworth Sidings to Newport Docks (Sims Group) stock move. Cepheus is a celestial constellation (which explains the graphics on the left), named after a king of Aethiopia in Greek mythology.

66622 passes Uffington on 23 September 2021 with the 6B11 12:21 Hayes & Harlington to East Usk Yard stone empties. After a largely cloudy afternoon, the sun was finally coming out, and it was lucky that the train's earlier running had been curtailed, as otherwise it might still have been in cloud. It was running exactly to time here.

70813 passes Uffington on 22 September 2021 with the 6M40 11:42 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. This was a day when nothing was going right. Firstly, I had just missed blue liveried 66051 on the Severnside binliner, as unusually it missed out its booked stop at Challow, and was 18 minutes early here, passing just as I was crossing the footbridge. Secondly, the 9U54 12:12 Paddington to Bristol Parkway GWR EMU (which I was hoping might be a red one) was cancelled at Reading, and thirdly, 37884 with the 5Q42 09:50 Ely Papworth Sidings to Newport Docks (Sims Group) was stuck at Finsbury Park. On top of all this, the sun had disappeared!

66724 Drax Power Station passes Grove on 22 September 2021 with the 6V32 10:22 Tilbury to Trostre Works steel empties. After early fog, and then thick cloud, it was at last turning out to be a mostly sunny afternoon.

37884 Cepheus passes Grove on 22 September 2021 with the 5Q42 09:50 Ely Papworth Sidings to Newport Docks (Sims Group) stock move. As this was running over two hours late, I had hoped that it would be on the main line, but a GWR IET following close behind meant that it was put onto the relief line, which unfortunately means a more head on picture. The train is made up of nine Mk3 coaches, seven former LNER HST coaches for scrapping, sandwiched between two former Greater Anglia Mk3s, which have a temporary reprieve from the scrapman, as they are being used as barrier vehicles.

After doing a circuit of Didcot Power Station, 56034 Castell Ogwr / Ogmore Castle emerges from the flyash loop with the imaginatively titled 'Didcot Lupin' railtour on 18 August 1991. This tour was organised by Hertfordshire Railtours, and originated at Paddington. This was the second tour of the day to do a circuit of the power station, as 56022 & 56025 had visited earlier in the day.

47425 passes Culham on 13 May 1992 with the late running 1F44 17:20 Paddington to Banbury Network SouthEast service. The coaches may all be in NSE's colorful livery, but all the loco has to indicate its allocation is a tiny red, white and blue sticker below the cab window!

47473 speeds through Radley station on 6 August 1989 with the 1M48 08:10 Paddington to Manchester Piccadilly service. The total lack of cars in the car park is explained by this being a Sunday morning, although at this time there would only have been a few cars, even on a weekday.

47372 passes Sharnal Street on 7 May 1998 with the 4M49 15:39 Thamesport to Crewe Basford Hall freightliner. This location, on the line from the Isle of Grain, once boasted a station, despite being on open countryside. Not surprisingly, it closed in 1961.

Viewed from the footpath crossing at Grove, 800010 Paddington Bear & 800016 heads towards London on 20 September 2021 with the 1A14 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. I'm not sure whether the DMU's engines are still running, or if there is heat coming from the traction motors, but something is creating heat haze to impair the distant view of 66561, which is waiting on the up relief line with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner.

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

50007 Hercules & 50049 Defiance pass Blanchworth on 18 September 2021 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z67 06:04 Birmingham New Street to Penzance 'Mazey Day Cornishman' railtour. I was very lucky with the sun here, as a large area of cloud was moving in from the west (as can be seen in the background), and the sun disappeared just after the train had passed.

166221 Reading Traincare Depot passes Blanchworth on 18 September 2021 with the 2O74 08:42 Gloucester to Weymouth GWR service. This is the highest numbered Class 166, and by a strange coincidence, just eight minutes later, the lowest numbered unit passed by in the other direction. To add to the coincidence, both DMUs are still in the old First Great Western blue livery.

166201 heads north at Blanchworth on 18 September 2021 with the 2V54 05:39 Portsmouth & Southsea to Gloucester GWR service. I doubt if this train is very busy, as I can't imagine there are many people who would want to travel to Gloucester from the South Coast at 05:39 on a Saturday morning!

CrossCountry Class 170s are ubiquitous in the Gloucester area, working the hourly Cardiff to Nottingham trains. However, those traverse the Chepstow line, so 170s south of Gloucester are much less common. 170637 is pictured passing Blanchworth (between Bristol and Gloucester) with the 5Z70 09:49 Bristol Barton Hill to Tyseley ECS on 18 September 2021. This was running 45 minutes early. Realtime Trains showed it passing Bristol Parkway at 09:58 and Cheltenham at 10:06. Bristol to Cheltenham in eight minutes is clearly impossible!

166201 passes Tumpy Green on 18 September 2021 with the 2C98 11:46 Gloucester to Westbury GWR service. The horsebox and jumps belong to the Tumpy Green Equestrian Centre, which generates quite a bit of traffic down the very narrow road over the railway bridge.

60019 Port of Grimsby & Immingham passes Tumpy Green on 18 September 2021 with the 6B13 05:00 Robeston to Westerleigh oil tanks. The spire of Slimbridge church, which dominates the flat landscape around the River Severn, can be seen in the background. I hadn't initially planned on waiting for this train, but the weather had improved, and despite the forecast, there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

The working of the year? In order to give D1015 Western Champion a loaded test run, prior to its return to mainline railtour duties, it was attached to the front of the 6M42 09:20 Avonmouth Hanson Sidings to Penyffordd Cement Works empty cement tanks on 17 September 2021. It worked the train between Avonmouth and Gloucester, having arrived in the Bristol area as the 0Z43 06:30 Kidderminster to Avonmouth light engine. After being detached at Gloucester, it would head back to the Severn Valley Railway as the 0Z50 11:58 Gloucester New Yard to Kidderminster. Looking absolutely superb in its late 1960s chromatic blue livery, it is pictured here with 66719 Metro-Land, passing the large gallery of photographers at Gossington.

47575 City of Hereford passes through Gleneagles station on 28 April 1998 with the 6D46 13:30 Inverness to Mossend Enterprise service, conveying four OTA wagons loaded with timber, and two VGA vans. The rather dilapidated station buildings have been smartened up considerably since this picture was taken.

An easy load of just five coaches for 47657, as it passes Spetchley on 22 July 1989 with the 1V46 09:33 Stockport to Paignton service. This was a bit of a disappointment at the time, as this train was usually worked by a pair of Class 31s, this being the last year that pairs of the veteran Type 2s worked to the west in any number.

37298 runs alongside Cliff Road, on the approach to Southampton station, with the 6Y27 10:28 Quidhampton to Eastleigh calcium carbonate tanks on 2 December 1998. These are the famous ICA 'Silver Bullet' wagons, which were kept spotlessly clean for a number of years after their introduction in 1989. However, by this date they were more brown than silver, although on this occasion the fourth wagon gives a hint as to what they used to look like.

43139 passes underneath the three arch bridge at Stoke Gifford, as it nears Bristol Parkway station on 6 May 1989 with the 1B28 12:00 Paddington to Swansea service. The bridge formerly gave access to a brick works, which was built to supply bricks for the construction of the line in 1897.

J94 Austerity 0-6-0ST 68011 Errol Lonsdale runs alongside the River Dart at Staverton on 14 April 1995, whilst en-route from Buckfastleigh to Totnes. The South Devon Railway is a preserved Great Western Railway branch line, so a War Department saddle tank hauling a maroon Mk2 coach is a little incongruous!

An impressive Cumulonimbus cloud formation rises above the line at Slindon on 15 May 1997, so this slightly unusual composition had to be used in order to include both the train and cloudscape. 86254 heads north with the 1S81 12:44 Plymouth to Glasgow Royal Mail vans. 86254 was just over 30 years old when this photo was taken. It would survive for another five years, and was scrapped in 2004 by C.F. Booth at Rotherham.

Running 50 minutes late, 47813 approaches Ascott-under-Wychwood on 15 July 1990 with the 1O06 07:20 Manchester Piccadilly to Poole service. Inter-regional trains were diverted via the Cotswold Line on Sundays throughout the summer 1990 timetable, and although I took quite a few pictures, with hindsight I definitely should have taken more! This location has changed considerably since the 1990s, and a full grown wood now prevents any chance of replicating this view.

31290 passes South Moreton on 18 March 1990 with the 9X03 West Ruislip to Crewe LUL underground stock for refurbishment. This will stable overnight at Didcot. There is plenty of brake van provision here, with one at the front, and two at the rear, in addition to the two barrier wagons.

Even without the sign on the loco's bunker, there isn't much of a mystery as to where this is, as the huge pile of Mk1 coaches in the background gives it away! Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0ST HL3827 stands in Vic Berry's Scrapyard, Leicester, on 22 April 1989. The loco was formerly owned by Stewart & Lloyds Minerals Ltd, but I have been unable to find out any other information. Did it survive? Any information would be gratefully received. Although there are thousands of pictures of the diesel locos in Vic Berry's yard, I have only seen one other view of this loco in the yard.

47293 passes Hinksey Yard on 1 August 1991 with the 4O81 11:25 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton Maritime freightliner. In those days there were just a few daily freightliners through Oxford, amid a wide variety of other freights. Nowadays it is the complete reverse. 

A brief sunny interlude on an otherwise cloudy day at Ashley on 10 May 1997. Having just called at Ashley station (just the other side of the M56 motorway bridge in the distance), 142044 heads north with the 08:23 Chester to Manchester Piccadilly service.

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

L404 (51379, 59489 & 51337) approaches Appleford on 12 September 1985 with the 5B60 09:06 Didcot Parkway to Oxford ECS. As this became the 2B60 09:23 Oxford to Hereford service, one can't help wondering why it didn't just start carrying passengers from Didcot! It had arrived at Didcot a little earlier as the 2A12 07:43 Moreton-in-Marsh to Didcot.

37694 passes Kirk Sandall Junction on 17 February 1996 with a short engineer's train. The loco was formerly named The Lass O' Ballochmyle, and you can clearly see the marks left on the bodyside, from where the nameplate and associated plaques were removed.

During the spring of 1991, there was a southbound train of new commercial vehicles (Ford Transits?) through Oxfordshire during the late afternoon. Any further information on this short term flow would be much appreciated. The train is pictured passing Claydon on 19 April 1991, hauled by 47150.

47197 passes a field of poppies at Culham on 22 June 1995, as it heads north with the 4E76 18:11 Southampton to Leeds freightliner. The loco had recently had a rebranding, with the red diamonds on yellow Trainload Distribution decals replacing its former blue and yellow wavy lines Trainload Petroleum livery.

33116 approaches Salisbury on 19 March 1992 with Network SouthEast Mk1 TSO 4943. It has just passed underneath the A36 dual carriageway, after emerging from Fisherton Tunnel. Like a lot of locations, this view is now dominated by full grown trees.

43137 Newton Abbot 150 approaches Tiverton Parkway on 1 November 1997 with the 1C20 09:35 Paddington to Plymouth Great Western Trains service. What a pity that this livery wasn't perpetuated when First Group took over the franchise!

Virtually everything in this view of Foxhall Junction, Didcot, is now history. 43174 heads west on 13 March 1997 with the 1C22 09:45 Paddington to Exeter St Davids First Great Western service, passing 60086 Schienhallion, which is waiting with the 6C67 09:43 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth MGR empties. HSTs have been replaced on this route by bi-mode units, and there is no need for any coal trains to be in the area, as Didcot Power Station has been demolished. Even the gasholder in the background has gone. In addition to all this, the view itself has been lost under a sea of electrification masts and wires.

166215 takes the Swindon line at Standish Junction on 11 September 2021 with the 2B80 14:59 Cheltenham Spa to Swindon GWR service. I had just arrived at the footpath crossing as this appeared around the corner. A definite bonus of one of the few surviving First Great Western blue liveried Turbo units in absolutely stunning lighting. The western slope of the Cotswold Hills can be seen on the right.

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

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

Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 46100 Royal Scot passes Tackley on 8 September 2021 with the Saphos Trains 1Z60 06:02 Paddington to Kidderminster 'Severn Valley Enterprise' railtour. Admittedly this location is a short walk from the nearest road, but I was still surprised to be the only person here.

70006 rounds the reverse curves near Tackley on 8 September 2021 with the 4O14 05:36 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Even before I got to this location I knew that the conventional viewpoint in the cutting would still be partially in shade, so the only option was this extreme telephoto view, which does show the winding nature of the line at this point.

'Face Mask' liveried 800321 speeds past Grove on 8 September 2021 with the 1A19 12:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. Just visible in the background (at least on the hi-res original!) is the 4E18 09:42 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard concrete sleeper train, waiting on the up relief line behind the orange pairing of 66623 & 66413 Lest We Forget.

A variation in Freightliner's new Genesee & Wyoming livery at Grove on 8 September 2021. 66623 & 66413 Lest We Forget run along the up relief line with the 4E18 09:42 Fairwater Yard to Doncaster Wood Yard concrete sleepers. The difference in the shade of orange is clearly visible. The train was just moving off, after being held at a red signal near the bridge in the background for over an hour. It had arrived there 85 minutes early, but was still running 36 minutes early when it departed.

66622 approaches the public footpath crossing at Grove on 8 September 2021 with the 6B11 12:21 Hayes & Harlington to East Usk Yard stone empties. It's odd that the former palisade fence has been replaced by this much less intrusive wooden structure. Usually the reverse happens!

66718 Sir Peter Hendy CBE passes Tackley on 8 September 2021 with the 6X01 10:18 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh long welded rails. Although this train was running roughly to time before Banbury, and again after Oxford, as usual it was running nearly an hour early here, by virtue of missing out its booked stop in Aynho Loop. Coincidentally, I saw this same loco, on the same train, just three miles south of this spot, exactly one year earlier. I'm not too bothered about the blackberry bush in the foreground, but the recently installed palisade fence hardly enhances the picture.

66846 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 7 September 2021 with the featherweight 6M50 07:59 Westbury to Bescot engineer's train. Note the huge rust patch on the relatively new bridge in the background. As Network Rail do not understand the concept of repainting metal structures, this will presumably just get worse, until it has to be replaced.

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

66420 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 7 September 2021 with the 4L36 07:39 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. Having left Wentloog 95 minutes late, this was still running an hour behind time here, and consequently had no need of the relief line, where it was booked to stop. Therefore it was travelling at full speed on the main line.

800025 Captain Sir Tom Moore passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 7 September 2021 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The additional 'Captain Tom 100' graphics underneath the train's name was applied in April 2021, when the unit completed a lengthy two day tour of the GWR area, involving 100 station stops, and covering nearly 1,500 miles.

800022 passes Coates on 7 September 2021 with the 1G19 14:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. Just a short distance to the left of this location is Thames Head, the official source of the River Thames. For most of the year there is no water to be seen here, and the more usual source of the river is Lyd Well, about half a mile farther south.

Running an hour early (as is often the case), 60017 passes Coates on 7 September 2021 with the 6M53 15:55 Swindon Stores to Toton Up Sidings steel empties. I doubt if you will see many pictures taken at this location, as it requires a long walk, which seemed even longer in the unseasonal 29c heat! The line in this area was built with traditional Cotswold drystone walls instead of the more usual boundary fence, and the slightly tumbledown remains of one can be seen in the foreground.

66763 Severn Valley Railway passes Uffington on 6 September 2021 with the 6V59 10:10 Tonbridge West Yard to Portbury Auto Terminal stone empties. Unlike a lot of locations that I visit, this required no effort at all to get to, as it is taken by standing right next to my car, in a roadside layby.

66616 passes Uffington on 6 September 2021 with the 6B11 12:21 Hayes & Harlington to East Usk Yard stone empties. Hopefully it will be a few years before vegetation starts to colonise the embankment above the steel piling.

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

An unseasonably hot late afternoon at Little Bedwyn on 6 September 2021. 59001 Yeoman Endeavour passes Fairfield Crossing Cottage with the 6C64 15:25 Acton to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties, with a rake of wagons that are something of a rarity these days, being untouched by graffiti vandals!

800001, the first production Hitachi built bi-mode IET, approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 5 September 2021 with the 1W04 15:46 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. This is the view from Dunstall Bridge, a location that has remained almost entirely free of intrusive vegetation ever since I have been taking pictures.

69002 Bob Tiller CM&EE & 69001 Mayflower pass Moreton-in-Marsh on 5 September 2021 with the GBRf 1Z35 16:00 Bescot Up And Down Goods to Paddington 'This Time It's Personal' railtour. This was part of a mammoth four day nationwide tour. The train, which was already running late, had further problems near Honeybourne, when 69002 lost power, resulting in the train being 48 minutes late here. At least it passed in some nice soft evening light, which certainly wasn't the case at many other locations only a little further north. 66765 is bringing up the rear.

A surprise for the sheep in the field at Dunstall Bridge, Moreton-in-Marsh, on 5 September 2021, as 66765 brings up the rear of the late running GBRf 1Z35 16:00 Bescot Up And Down Goods to Paddington 'This Time It's Personal' railtour. The much more interesting 69002 Bob Tiller CM&EE & 69001 Mayflower were at the front of the train.

Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 46100 Royal Scot passes through Heyford station on 4 September 2021 with the Saphos Trains 1Z70 07:00 Crewe to Salisbury 'Magna Carta' railtour. 47614 is bringing up the rear. The narrowboats on the Oxford Canal make an interesting background, as does the station's name picked out in topiary hedging at the rear of the platform.

47614 brings up the rear of the Saphos Trains 1Z70 07:00 Crewe to Salisbury 'Magna Carta' railtour, as it sweeps through Heyford station on 4 September 2021. LMS Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 46100 Royal Scot is providing the motive power at the front of the train.

Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 46100 Royal Scot passes Yarnton on 4 September 2021 with the Saphos Trains 1Z74 16:20 Salisbury to Crewe 'Magna Carta' railtour. This was running half an hour late, after an extended water stop at Milton, followed by an unscheduled stop in Oxford station. At the booked time there was almost a chance of a little weak evening sun, but instead the train passed in the gathering darkness.

Brunel returns to the line that he helped to engineer in the 1850s! An impressive cavalcade of Network Rail overhead line electrification vehicles with DR76901 Brunel leading passes Daylesford on the Cotswold Line on 3 September 2021. The train, which also includes: 97308, DR76921, DR76919, DR76923 Gavin Roberts & DR76922, was running as the 6X81 15:26 Long Marston to Kings Norton On Track Plant Depot. This was running 10 minutes early, and it suddenly occurred to me that the 1W29 14:50 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR IET was due from the opposite direction. It certainly was a close run thing, as I found out when I turned round!

DR76922 brings up the rear of the early running 6X81 15:26 Long Marston to Kings Norton On Track Plant Depot Network Rail electrification train at Daylesford on 3 September 2021, just as 800024 approaches from the opposite direction with the 1W29 14:50 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. The other vehicles in the train are: DR76923 Gavin Roberts, DR76919, DR76921, 97308 & DR76901 Brunel.

60039 Dove Holes passes Highnam on 2 September 2021 with the 6B13 05:00 Robeston to Westerleigh oil tanks. This is the first picture that I have taken at this particular spot. A cutting topped by tall trees means that shadows would be a problem had the sun been out, but there was no chance of that on this particular morning!

Making a welcome change from the usual Class 66, 60011 passes Highnam on 2 September 2021 with the 6V05 09:15 Round Oak to Margam steel empties. This was running 28 minutes late, but still managed to get to it destination a staggering 95 minutes early!

Running 177 minutes late, 37716 passes Bredon on 2 September 2021 with the 6X22 10:19 (13:31 actual) Cardiff Canton Sidings to Tyne Yard Sorting Sidings, conveying Network Rail YXA rail wagon DR92656 & YJA Matisa P95 Track Renewal Train vehicle DR78832. I had given up on this running and had just arrived home by the time it left Cardiff, so had to immediately go out again!

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

With Didcot's coal fired power station dominating the background, 47814 Totnes Castle passes South Moreton (Didcot East) n 4 December 1999 with the 1V93 09:17 Manchester Piccadilly to Paddington Virgin CrossCountry service.

After picking up some more passengers at Worcester Shrub Hill station, 47789 Lindisfarne approaches Tunnel Junction on 4 May 1996 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z31 05:50 Cardiff Central to Peterborough 'Lincolnshire Explorer' railtour. This superb vantage point gives a good view of Worcester, with the cathedral dominating the view, but also including the spire of the former church of St Andrew's, with the tower of St Swithun's in front, and the Malvern Hills in the distance.

Not something I expected to see on the Great Western Mainline at Purley-on-Thames on Saturday 11 February 1989! 37244 heads westwards with 12 empty HDA MGR wagons, destination unknown. No Realtime Trains or mobile phones in those days!

The ordinary, and the less ordinary at Purley-on-Thames on 11 February 1989. L428 (51408, 59518 & 51366) runs along the up relief line with the 2C23 10:05 Oxford to Reading Network SouthEast service, while in the background 37244 heads westwards with a rake of 12 empty HDA MGR wagons.

60045 Josephine Butler passes Winwick on 15 August 1996 with a loaded MGR destined for Fiddlers Ferry Power Station. The 1,989 megawatt plant closed on 31 March 2020, after 47 years of providing power for the National Grid.

37051 Merehead has 47270 Cory Brothers 1842-1992 dead in tow, as it passes Clay Mills (Hargate) at midday on 28 March 1997 with an unidentified southbound freightliner. The 47 had clearly failed, but I have been unable to identity the working. Any information would be gratefully received.

33102 & 33064 approach Coaley Junction on 4 August 1991 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z63 16:15 Gloucester to Sharpness 'Sulzer Smuggler' railtour. This was one of a number of mini-tours run in connection with the Gloucester Rail Day.

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

47828 passes Wolvercote on 28 August 2021 with the Statesman Rail 1Z68 05:52 High Wycombe to Kingswear 'Dartmouth Royal Regatta Statesman' railtour. This tour was originally booked to travel via the Bicester to Oxford line, but as that line was closed for engineering works, the train had to go to Banbury and then reverse. 47614 had been leading from High Wycombe, and was now taking it easy on the rear of the train.

37611 Pegasus passes a recently harvested field at Chilson on 28 August 2021, as it traverses the Cotswold Line as the 0H67 08:26 Old Oak Common to Long Marston light engine, in preparation for taking another EMU to Northampton. This was running 24 minutes early, as there was an opportunity to let it onto the Wolvercote to Charlbury single line ahead of time, as the 1P17 08:48 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service was running late.

43144 makes use of the area's bi-directional signalling, as it crosses over from the down to the up line, on the approach to Bristol on 27 February 1996. It is working the 1C46 14:45 Paddington to Penzance service. The train has just passed North Somerset Junction, and is approaching Feeder Bridge Junction.

56103 Stora passes Twyford on 11 March 2000 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z41 03:49 Crewe to Victoria 'Medway Medicaster' railtour, which upon arriving in London, would do a circular tour of Kent. Twyford station can be glimpsed through the arches of the bridge in the background. I have included this picture, despite its very poor quality, as for some reason it is the only picture I ever took at this location. Now of course there is no chance of taking any more, as the whole scene is now covered by the wires and ironmongery of the line's 25kV electrification.

47306 The Sapper brings up the rear of the 2D05 12:06 Cardiff Central to Bargoed service at Hengoed station on 18 March 2000. 47799 Prince Henry was at the front of the train, but as the train was already in the station when I arrived, I missed out on a picture of that!

47441 passes South Moreton (Didcot East) on the frosty and slightly misty morning of 11 December 1991 with the 1F39 10:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service, which was running 15 minutes late. The loco needs a repaint - which it didn't get!

47594 leaves Moreton-in-Marsh station on 3 July 1987 with the 1A10 06:04 Hereford to Paddington service. Although this is still an excellent location for photography, it is now surrounded by houses on the left, and bushes on the right.

A hydraulic pairing at Crowcombe Heathfield on 17 May 1997, during the West Somerset Railway's Diesel Gala. 832 Onslaught & 1010 Western Campaigner leave the station with the 12:45 Bishops Lydeard to Minehead service.

56107 passes Cargo Fleet on 22 September 1997 with a freightliner bound for Wilton. There was a 4L79 16:13 Wilton to Felixstowe freightliner in 1997, but this is 14:30, and it is going the other way. Any info would be gratefully received.

47540 The Institution of Civil Engineers crosses the River Don at Thorpe Marsh on 17 February 1996 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z45 07:45 Kings Cross to Rossington Colliery 'Friar Tuck' railtour. Note the change in gradient as the train approaches the bridge.