66613 approaches Hungerford Common on 21 April 2021 with the 6V18 11:20 Allington to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. It had been mostly sunny on the way here, but of course that disappeared as soon as the trains appeared!

Just like the good old days - a pair of large logo Class 37/4s on a freight! 37402 Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954 - 8.6.2013 & 37407 Blackpool Tower approach Hungerford Common on 21 April 2021 with the 6Z37 11:36 Parkeston to Westbury ballast. I didn't think that this would be travelling very fast, as it was a few minutes early, and was following right behind the 1C86 14:37  Paddington to Penzance GWR service, which was running a staggering 53 minutes late. However, that must have got a move on, as this was certainly shifting, and with 15 MLA wagons loaded with well over 1,000 tonnes of ballast, was making a good racket, and could be heard for several minutes as it approached from the Kintbury direction.

70808 passes Uffington on 21 April 2021 with the 6M50 07:59 Westbury to Bescot departmental working. The blackthorn blossom is a welcome addition to the picture, in a spring landscape that is rapidly changing to the monotone green of May and June.

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

Neatly framed by the overhead gantry, which otherwise is nothing but a photographic nuisance, Plasser & Theurer Unimat 09-4x4/4S Dynamic Tamper DR75011 Andrew Smith passes Uffington on 20 April 2021. It is nearing journey's end, as it is running as the 10:27 Swindon Transfer to Challow. It would then sit on the up relief line for most of the day, before returning to Swindon in the evening, via a reversal at Foxhall Junction.

800008 is a welcome splash of colour in the otherwise depressingly dull GWR IET fleet. The rainbow liveried unit is pictured passing Uffington on 20 April 2021 with the 1L70 09:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington service.

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

66703 Doncaster PSB 1981-2002 passes Yarnton on 19 April 2021 with the 4O69 13:15 Birch Coppice to Southampton Western Docks intermodal. This had been running 26 minutes late in the Leamington Spa area, but by completely missing out the booked stop at Banbury, it was six minutes early here.

66731 Capt. Tom Moore A True British Inspiration looks superb in its special 'Thank You NHS' livery, as it passes Yarnton on 19 April 2021 with the 6X01 10:18 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh steel rails. As is usual with this train once it gets to the Oxford area, it was running early, nearly an hour early in this case.

No load today, at least not until Hinksey Yard. 70809 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 April 2021, running as the 0Z50 07:50 Westbury to Bescot light engine. Despite the road bridge being just a short distance away, this location requires a very long walk across the fields from Denchworth village.

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

59104 Village of Great Elm passes Circourt Bridge,. Denchworth, on 19 April 2021 with the 6A15 08:32 Whatley Quarry to Oxford Banbury Road Mendip Rail stone train. There wasn't much point in it using the relief line, as no other trains were booked to overtake it.

With just a few weeks to go before the Midland Mainline becomes the latest passenger route to be demoted to a DMU only line, 43238 flies the flag for the old order, as it passes Rushton on 18 April 2021 with the 1C43 10:17 Leeds to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service.

222013 & 222021 pass Rushton on 18 April 2021 with the 1D36 13:00 St Pancras International to Nottingham East Midlands Railway service. A short distance from this is spot is the famous Rushton Triangular Lodge, a 16th century folly designed by Sir Thomas Tresham.

With the sun temporarily subdued by high cloud, 222005 passes Cossington on 18 April 2021 with the 1C56 14:39 Sheffield to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. The village of Sileby can be seen in the distance.

To mark the end of HST operations on the Midland Mainline, 43274 was repainted into East Midlands Railway's latest purple livery in April 2021. It is pictured here passing Cossington on 18 April 2021 with the 1C61 14:31 Leeds to St Pancras International service, with the more conventionally liveried 43102 The Journey Shrinker 148.5 mph The World's Fastest Diesel Train on the rear.

43102 The Journey Shrinker 148.5 mph The World's Fastest Diesel Train brings up the rear of the 1C61 14:31 Leeds to St Pancras International service at Cossington on 18 April 2021. East Midland Railway's purple liveried 43274 is leading.

43320 passes Cossington on 18 April 2021 with the 1D46 15:11 St Pancras International to Nottingham East Midlands Railway service. With just weeks to go before the HSTs are removed from the Midland Mainline, every working is being extensively photographed, something that definitely didn't happen a few years ago!

43366 passes Bredon's Norton on 17 April 2021 with the 1V44 05:36 Leeds to Plymouth CrossCountry service. Classmate 43303 is bringing up the rear. An almost totally unobstructed view, apart from the railings surrounding the farm occupation underbridge.

66054 passes Bredon's Norton on 17 April 2021 with the 6M81 04:44 Margam to Round Oak steel. I wasn't initially going to bother taking this, as a backlit DB (EWS) 'Shed' is less than inspiring. However, the inclusion of the gate in the foreground turns it into a presentable picture.

A neatly clipped hedge alongside the B4080 Bredon to Eckington road at Bredon's Norton. 170104 heads south on 17 April 2021 with the 1V04 07:00 Nottingham to Cardiff Central CrossCountry service. The convoy of four cars was by far the busiest this road got whilst I was here!

800001 accelerates away from Pershore station (just out of sight around the corner) on 17 April 2021 with the 1P19 09:58 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. This was running 15 minutes late, not through any problem with the train, but because the 1W09 07:50 Paddington to Great Malvern unit was running a staggering 44 minutes late, and would in fact be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill, Of course owing to the restricted capacity of the single track Cotswold Line, 800001 could not proceed past Worcester, until 1W09 had cleared Norton Junction.

Running 87 minutes late, 37510 Orion passes Pershore on 17 April 2021 with the 5Q94 06:58 (08:20 actual) Northampton EMD to Long Marston, conveying London Northwestern Railway EMU 350117 for corrosion repairs.

37510 Orion approaches Pershore on 17 April 2021 with the 5Q91 Long Marston to Northampton EMD, conveying repaired London Northwestern Railway EMU 350121. This was booked to leave Long Marston at 11:40, but in fact left nearly an hour late, and then had to wait for a path over the Cotswold Line. It was 108 minutes late here, which has resulted in a much better than expected sun angle, with the sun just grazing the front.

166208 passes Up Hatherley on 15 April 2021 with the 2G81 07:05 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. What a pity this wasn't one number higher in the series, as 166209 is still in the much more attractive First Great Western blue livery.

Plenty of power, but not much passenger accommodation! 43171 & 43153 Chun Castle pass Up Hatherley on 15 April 2021, running as the 0E24 06:37 Laira to Doncaster Works Wagon Shops. As this well known location offers the perfect sun angle, I was surprised to be the only photographer present.

57305 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 14 April 2021 with the 5Q76 09:33 Ely Papworth Sidings to Newport Docks (Sims Group), conveying former Greater Anglia EMUs 317658 & 317650 for scrapping. An unused rusty remnant of the Great Western Mainline electrification project can be seen lying in the grass just to the left of the loco.

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

66748 West Burton 50 passes Bretforton on 13 April 2021 with the 0V20 08:48 Burton upon Trent Wetmore Sidings to Long Marston, conveying former GWR power cars 43086 & 43196. It was only a few months earlier that these two power cars (along with two others) were hauled in the opposite direction!

43196 brings up the rear of the 0V20 08:48 Burton upon Trent Wetmore Sidings to Long Marston at Bretforton on 13 April 2021. The other power car is 43086, and the pair are being hauled by 66748 West Burton 50.

Running 47 minutes late, 66748 West Burton 50 approaches Honeybourne on 13 April 2021 with the 0C20 12:41 Long Marston to Laira, conveying former GWR power cars 43056, 43087, 43193 & 43197. Originally this was to have run as 5C20, and to have included a coach. The delay was caused by having to leave the coach behind, as after the run round at Worcester, the power cars would have been behind the loco, which apparently is not allowed.

The late running 0C20 12:41 (13:28 actual) Long Marston to Laira comes to a stand at Honeybourne, as it waits for a path along the Cotswold Line to Worcester. Former GWR power cars 43197, 43193, 43087 & 43056 are being hauled by 66748 West Burton 50.

20132 Barrow Hill Depot & 20118 Saltburn-by-the-Sea pass Honeybourne on 13 April 2021 with the late running 5X20 Eastleigh to Long Marston ECS, conveying eight former Greater Anglia Mk3 coaches for storage. The coaches are all carrying Chiltern Railways branding. This train was supposed to have left Eastleigh at 09:56, but actually left 90 minutes late at 11:26. This late running just got worse, and it was 135 minutes late here, which unfortunately resulted in some extreme backlighting.

Another load of stone for the controversial HS2 project. 66115 passes Hungerford Common on 12 April 2021 with the 6M15 07:07 Tytherington to Calvert. Hard to believe that there was a thick covering of snow when I left home (30 miles away) a couple of hours earlier!

57002 Rail Express passes Hungerford Common on 12 April 2021 with the 6Z86 08:55 Fairwater Yard to West Ealing Plasser Sidings, conveying a rake of YDA 'Octopus' Ballast Distribution Train Hoppers. This was just about to enter Hungerford Loop, which allowed another, and better lit, picture at Kintbury.

57002 Rail Express passes milepost 58¾ at Kintbury on 12 April 2021 with the 6Z86 08:55 Fairwater Yard to West Ealing Plasser Sidings, conveying a rake of YDA 'Octopus' Ballast Distribution Train Hoppers. I was using a short telephoto lens to accentuate the curve and the canal bridge in the background. This was very fortunate, as just as the loco passed the milepost it met a cloud coming the other way, and the lights went out!

Network Rail Stoneblower DR80205 finds a sunny gap amid the clouds, as it passes Kintbury on 12 April 2021, running as the 6U25 10:11 Castle Cary Up Sidings to Southall Infrastructure Services Unit. The bridge in the background crosses the Kennet & Avon Canal.

66713 Forest City passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, in a very lucky sunny spell on 12 April 2021 with the 5Q30 08:33 Ely Papworth Sidings to Newport Docks (Sims Group), conveying former Greater Anglia Class 317 EMUs 317667 & 317665 for scrapping.

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

802004 & 802014 pass Challow on 11 April 2021 with the 3C10 08:15 Stoke Gifford to Paddington GWR ECS. This being a Sunday, this was the first up train of the day. 111 miles of empty stock running, before they pick up their first passengers - very efficient!

A pathetic load of just two wagons for 66957 Stephenson Locomotive Society 1909-2009, seen here passing Challow on 11 April 2021 with the 08:15 (06:38 actual) Filton Abbey Wood to Hinksey departmental working.

Running 37 minutes early, 56094 passes Challow on 11 April 2021 with the 6C30 07:47 Newland East Signal Box to Hinksey departmental working, conveying 10 JNA spoil wagons. This had actually left 168 minutes early, but was held at Norton Junction for a while. I thought I had done well to find this new scenic viewpoint complete with oak tree, but at the very last moment the sun went in, throwing the whole foreground and tree into shadow. Luckily the train was still in the sun, so this is a composite of two pictures taken just 12 seconds apart!

50036 Victorious leaves Oxford station on 26 May 1990 with the 1F49 11:00 Oxford to Paddington Network SouthEast service. This was the loco's very last day working Thames Valley passenger services, as it was retransferred to the DCWA departmental pool the following day. It was however back on passengers duties the following year on the West of England line.

47155 emerges from the 968 yard long Peascliffe Tunnel on 14 June 1986 with a Coatbridge to Felixstowe freightliner. The first few masts of the East Coast Mainline electrification scheme are already spoiling the viewpoint.

47051 passes through Sonning cutting on 26 March 1992 with the 4O79 09:36 Ripple Lane to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Apart from a couple of visits in 2016, when I was desperate to get pictures before the 25Kv wires ruined it forever, this was the only other time that I visited this iconic location.

20227 passes Golden Valley on 17 October 1992 with the 11:18 Riddings to Hammersmith service, during the Midland Railway Centre's Diesel Gala. The loco was withdrawn from BR service in October 1990, and sold to the Class 20 Locomotive Society. It arrived at Butterley in September 1991.

Running 52 minutes late, 66420 passes Uffington on 7 April 2021 with the 4L36 07:45 Wentloog to Felixstowe North freightliner. This had actually left Wentloog at 09:18, 93 minutes late. The fact there was no sun allowed a picture from the north side of the line for a change, that and the fact that I was still walking up the footbridge steps as it came into view!

'Face Mask' liveried 800321 passes Uffington on 7 April 2021 with the 1L14 09:22 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. Unfortunately the early morning sunshine had long since disappeared, and it was now unremittingly dull and cold.

40145 passes Uffington on 7 April 2021 with the Locomotive Services Limited 1Z36 07:30 Kingswear to Euston private charter. The train had been hauled from Devon to Bristol Temple Meads by 37667 & 37688, and was part of a six day tour that had started from Crewe. It was unfortunately marred on the first day by the failure of LMS 4-6-0 'Black Five' 45231 with severe wheel flats.

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

20142 Sir John Betjeman & 20007 pass a fine display of cherry blossom at Mill Lane, Islip, on 5 April 2021, as they traverse the Oxford to Bicester line with the 5Q20 09:53 Eastleigh Arlington to West Ruislip London Underground Depot ECS, comprising inspection saloon LT 45029 Florence Nightingale and 4-TC set 428.

168215 & 168322 take the up relief line at Wolvercote on 5 April 2021 with the diverted 1H44 12:06 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. The train would shortly reverse at Oxford, and then continue towards London via Bicester.

168003 & 168216 pass Yarnton on 5 April 2021 with the diverted 1H56 15:06 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. Engineering work between Banbury and Bicester had closed this train's normal route. Visible behind the footbridge is the A44 roadbridge.

168217 & 168327 pass underneath the footbridge near Yarnton on 5 April 2021 with the diverted 1H64 16:06 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. The logs in the foreground are evidence of some recent very welcome extensive lineside vegetation clearance.

66849 Wylam Dilly passes Yarnton on 5 April 2021 with the 6X28 17:54 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working. This would ordinarily run as 6M28, but the inclusion of the very long IFA tilting point carriers changes it to an 'X' headcode.

The low evening sun highlights the uneven ground in the foreground (partly the result of the resident mole's activities!), as 168111 & 168214 pass Yarnton on 5 April 2021 with the diverted 1H68 17:10 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service.

A perfect spring morning in the Cherwell Valley on 4 April 2021. 220026 & 220025 sweep round the curve near Tackley with the 1O08 09:04 Birmingham New Street to Reading CrossCountry service. This is not a very well known location, as it requires a lengthy walk from the nearest road.

168324, 168321 & 168218 approach Tackley on Sunday 4 April 2021 with the diverted 1H15 09:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. The train's normal route between Banbury and Bicester was closed for engineering works.

168106 & 168322 approach Tackley on 4 April 2021 with the diverted 1H20 10:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. The railway is following the twisting course of the River Cherwell, and a reverse curve can be seen in the background above the second coach. Just visible in the distance above this is Rousham church, and to the left of the tree, the seventeenth century Rousham House is partly visible through the trees.

Viewed from the rustic farm occupation bridge near Tackley, 168216 & 168325 head down the Cherwell Valley on 4 April 2021 with the diverted 1H25 11:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. This bridge, which also carries the footpath between Tackley and Northbrook, has managed to survive, when many other such structures have been replaced by Network Rail's huge green over engineered modern versions.

168328 & 168001 disturb the fishermen's peace, as they pass through Heyford station on 4 April 2021 with the diverted 1H29 12:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. This train was travelling relatively slowly, as it was closely following the preceding 1O14 10:27 Manchester Piccadilly to Southampton Central CrossCountry Voyager, which had been cautioned, after the northbound 1M42 12:15 Reading to Manchester Piccadilly Voyager had hit a deer between Tackley and Heyford. I did wonder why that train made an unscheduled stop here!

168326 & 168005 pass the former Aynho station (now a private residence) with the diverted 1H35 13:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service on 4 April 2021. Unfortunately the silver birch tree now makes it impossible to get a clear view of the former station building.

168323 & 168109 pass Aynho on 4 April 2021 with the diverted 1H41 14:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. This train would normally run along the embankment which can just be seen behind and to the right of the train, but on this occasion the line between here and Bicester was closed for engineering works. The flyover, which carries the down Chiltern line over the Banbury to Oxford route, can be seen in the background.

This temporary footbridge at Tackley station certainly wouldn't win any design awards! 168324, 168321 & 168218 approach the station at high speed on Sunday 4 April 2021 with the diverted 1H45 15:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. 168328 & 168001 can just be seen disappearing into the distance with the 1R41 14:46  Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street train.

168326 brings up the rear of the diverted 1R45 15:46 Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street Chiltern Railways service, as it approaches Tackley on 4 April 2021, led by 168005. Because of engineering works between Bicester and Banbury, Chiltern's units were having to reverse at Oxford.

With the houses of Tackley visible in the background, 168327 & 168003 traverse the Cherwell Valley Line on 4 April 2021 with the diverted 1H56 17:11 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. After a day of unbroken sunshine, just before this train was due the sun disappeared into some high cloud, but amazingly just as the train appeared in the distance, the weak evening sun reappeared again!

Network Rail Stoneblower DR80205 passes Thrupp on 2 April 2021, running as the 6U25 09:53 Tavistock Junction to Banbury Reservoir Sidings. As the approaching view was exceedingly backlit, I opted for this wide viewpoint going away shot.

Because of extensive engineering works between Banbury and Bicester, Chiltern Railways trains were diverted over the Easter 2021 weekend, running from Banbury to Oxford, and then to Bicester after a reversal. 168328 & 168003 are pictured passing Thrupp on 2 April 2021 with the diverted 1H51 14:06 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone service. The isolated church at Hampton Gay can be seen in the distance.

165122 passes Thrupp on 2 April 2021 with the 2V49 15:07 Banbury to Didcot Parkway GWR service. There were once four track here - the former Woodstock branch running parallel on the left, and a refuge siding on the right.

Running 156 minutes early, 66848 & 66850 David Maidment OBE pass Thrupp on 2 April 2021, running as the 0M28 17:54 (15:25 actual) Hinksey to Bescot. Earlier in the day they had arrived at Hinksey as the 0V27 13:27 Eastleigh to Hinksey.

66761 Wensleydale Railway Association 25 Years 1990-2015 passes Thrupp on 2 April 2021 with the 6X01 1018 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh steel rails. As this was Good Friday, this was one of the few freights still running.

168216 & 168325 pass Thrupp on 2 April 2021 with the diverted 1H64 16:06 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service. Engineering work had closed the train's normal route between Banbury and Bicester. I was very lucky to get this in the sun (mostly!), as although the forecast had said it would get sunnier later in the afternoon, as can be seen from the background of this picture, the exact opposite was happening!

66160 passes Uffington on 31 March 2021 with the 6Z32 11:34 Cricklewood Aggregates to Tytherington stone empties. Note the inclusion of a single red liveried Touax wagon amid the Mendip Rail rake. I had left home in full sun, but as I started the long walk to this location, the sun just started to fade out into high cloud, and when this came it had all but disappeared!

66711 Sense passes Uffington on 31 March 2021 with the 6B59 10:48 Acton to Portbury Auto Terminal stone empties. This was supposed to be a sunny afternoon, but after I had arrived at this location the sun disappeared, and it just got darker and darker!

Viewed from the extremely tall Grintleyhill Bridge, 800025 Captain Sir Tom Moore heads south along the Cotswold Line near Combe in perfect spring light on 30 March 2021 with the 1P24 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service.

An extremely unusual working took place over the Cotswold Line on 30 March 2021, when 37510 Orion took two former Arriva Trains Wales DVTs from Worcester (where they had been taken the previous day from Long Marston), to MoD Bicester by way of a reversal at Oxford. This was definitely not to be missed, but most locations on the southern end of the Cotswold Line would be less than ideal for lighting angle. However, the view from Grintleyhill Bridge, Combe, had the prefect lighting angle. 37510 Orion is pictured here approaching Combe with 82307 & 82308, running as the 5Q74 10:49 Worcester Hereford Sidings to Bicester MoD.

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

222006 passes Braybrooke on 30 March 2021 with the 1C50 13:29 Sheffield to St Pancras International East Midland Railway service. Photo taken from a public footpath bridge, which has been rebuilt with ridiculously over engineered disabled access ramps, which because there is obviously no disabled access across the fields, have been blocked off with large baulks of timber!

43295 rounds the curve at Braybrooke on 30 March 2021 with the 1D43 14:34 St Pancras International to Nottingham East Midlands Railway service. The curve hides the fact that InterCity liveried 43102 is on the rear.

66729 Derby County passes Braybrooke on 30 March 2021 with the 6F93 11:06 St Pancras (Churchyard Sidings) to Ketton cement empties. This was running 90 minutes late, but had actually left nearly two hours late. There was a steady but slow reduction in this lateness, and it arrived just under an hour behind time.

66791 rounds the curve at Braybrooke on 30 March 2021 with the 6M54 12:20 Colnbrook Lafarge to Bardon Hill stone empties. Sometimes the simplest liveries are the best (the blue loco, not the first two wagons)!

A wave from the driver of 43320, as the 1D48 15:34 St Pancras International to Nottingham East Midlands Railway service passes Great Bowden on 30 March 2021. The bridge in the background is the A6 Market Harborough bypass.

43238 brings up the rear of the 1D48 15:34 St Pancras International to Nottingham East Midlands Railway service at Great Bowden on 30 March 2021. This should have returned two hours later as the 1B69 17:45 Nottingham to St Pancras International, but that was cancelled. It went instead to Neville Hill as the 5B69 ECS from Nottingham.

43102 The Journey Shrinker 148.5 mph The World's Fastest Diesel Train passes Great Bowden on 30 March 2021 with the 1B63 16:45 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. It way not have been doing 148.5 mph on this occasion, but I still used a shutter speed of 1/4000sec, just to make sure it was fully stopped, as this is a rather close up view.

66703 Doncaster PSB 1981-2002 passes underneath the footbridge near Great Bowden on 30 March 2021 with the 6M79 12:01 Angerstein Wharf to Bardon Hill stone empties. This was running 58 minutes late.

20132 Barrow Hill Depot & 20118 Saltburn-by-the-Sea find a small patch of sunshine amid the clouds, as they pass Bretforton on 29 March 2021, running as the 0Z60 08:54 Chaddesden Sidings to Long Marston. In the background is Clayfield Level Crossing, with its former crossing keeper's cottage.

20118 Saltburn-by-the-Sea & 20132 Barrow Hill pass Bretforton on 29 March 2021 with the 6Z21 14:26 Long Marston to Chaddesden Sidings, conveying a lengthy rake of refurbished JNA bogie box wagons. Although the cloud melted away later in the day, at this time there was still far more cloud than forecast, and this was photographed in a very lucky patch of full sun.

Running 39 minutes early, 70808 passes Cassington on 28 March 2021 with the 6C98 08:13 (06:28 actual) Norton Junction to Hinksey engineer's train, returning from overnight track relaying. Classmate 70811 can just be seen bringing up the rear.

70811 brings up the rear of the early running 6C98 08:13 (06:28 actual) Norton Junction to Hinksey engineer's train at Cassington on 28 March 2021. Classmate 70808 is leading. The lineside vegetation was completely removed here in early 2018, but already a jungle of brambles and young saplings has started to colonise the trackside again.

47606 Odin passes Chilson on 17 April 1984 with the 1A51 05:55 Hereford to Paddington service. Without the luxury of a modern ten frames per second camera, it was critical to press the shutter at just the right moment with a fast moving subject like this, and I clearly didn't get it right here! At least the front of the loco (and its shadow) is still in the frame, which wasn't always the case when I got it wrong!

47579 James Nightall GC leaves Salisbury on 19 March 1992 with the 1O34 08:10 Exeter St Davids to Waterloo Network SouthEast service. I only went to this location once, specifically to photograph 50033 Glorious, which was due a short while later from the opposite direction.

47659 emerges from the mist, as it approaches Standish Junction on 3 December 1988 with the Hertfordshire Railtours Paddington to Carmarthen 'Red Dragon' railtour. Tour participants enjoyed a couple of round trips on the Gwili Railway, behind GWR Manor Class 4-6-0 7828 Odney Manor.

150253 arrives at Trowbridge station on 21 June 1996 with the 09:33 Bristol Temple Meads to Weymouth service. The car park on the right was formerly the goods yard, which included a really substantial goods shed, which was demolished in the 1980s.

158752 approaches Gilberdyke on 20 November 1993 with the late running 09:42 Sheffield to Hull Regional Railways service. The station here was formerly known as Staddlethorpe, which was more appropriate, as it is actually in that village. Gilberdyke is a short distance to the north, although the inevitable housing developments have now connected the two settlements.

66704 Colchester Power Signalbox is glimpsed through the trees, as it passes Yarnton on 26 March 2021 with the 4M19 11:50 Southampton Western Docks to East Midlands Gateway intermodal. The footpath in the foreground leads from the village of Yarnton to the A44 near Stonehouse Farm.

66793 & 47749 City of Truro pass Yarnton on 26 March 2021 with the 5E02 12:34 Eastleigh Works to Doncaster Down Decoy, conveying barrier vehicles 64707 Labezerin & 64664 Liwet (both former Class 508 EMU vehicles). This was 66793's first outing, after being painted into the 1987 style Trainload Construction livery. It seems that GBRf are determined to have at least one example of all previous diesel loco liveries! The loco is a former Beacon Rail loco, recently imported from Germany.

66622 passes Yarnton in the gloom on 26 March 2021 with the 6Z18 10:55 Bristol Freightliner Terminal to Banbury Reservoir Tarmac loaded stone. The moles have certainly been busy in the field in the foreground, as have the vandals on the wagons!

With the town of Scunthorpe visible on the hill in the background, 66134 crosses the combined rail and road Keadby Bridge, over the River Trent, and approaches Althorpe station on 23 May 2001 with the 6D66 15:20 Immingham to Doncaster Enterprise wagonload freight service.

66178 runs along the down relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 19 October 2000 with the 4B24 15:35 Didcot to Pengam MoD stores. Despite this short lived working only ever being a modest load, it had unfortunately just changed from Class 37 to Class 66 haulage.

47314 passes Hinksey Yard on 3 October 1990 with the well loaded 6A50 14:00 Bicester to Morris Cowley Speedlink. These wagons would soon be heading back in the opposite direction, as part of the 6M93 16:20 Morris Cowley to Bescot Speedlink.