Just over two weeks after 165030 travelled north over the Cotswold Line, en-route for rectification work at Long Marston, the Chiltern Railways interloper headed back south on 4 August 2020, running as the 11:40 Long Marston to Aylesbury DMU Depot ECS. It is pictured here passing Cornbury Park, just to the south of Charlbury. The start of the double track section of the Cotswold Line can be seen behind the train, and the tower of Charlbury's church can just be seen poking above the treetops in the background.

68026 Enterprise slowly approaches Honeybourne on 3 August 2020 with the 6Z68 13:30 Long Marston to Stowmarket Down Goods Loop, conveying 20 refurbished JNA box wagons. 66422 can just be seen on the rear. This is the first visit of a Class 68 to the Cotswold Line, and my first picture of a TransPennine liveried loco. I assumed I would be taking my first picture of one of these on a passenger train in Yorkshire, not a freight in Worcestershire!

After waiting underneath the bridge for a few minutes, 68026 Enterprise slowly moves forward towards the red signal protecting the exit from the Long Marston line at Honeybourne on 3 August 2020. The TransPennine liveried loco was a very surprising choice for the 6Z68 13:30 Long Marston to Stowmarket Down Goods Loop, conveying 20 refurbished JNA box wagons.

66422 slowly passes Honeybourne station on 3 August 2020, as it brings up the rear of the 6Z68 13:30 Long Marston to Stowmarket Down Goods Loop, conveying 20 refurbished JNA box wagons. 68026 Enterprise is hidden by the bushes at the front of the train.

60055 Thomas Barnardo passes Challow on 1 August 2020, hauling Chiltern Railways Mk3 coach 12627, running a few minutes early as the 5Z20 08:48 Bristol Barton Hill to Wembley ECS. If it had been at the correct time, it would have been in full sun!

D1944 Craftsman & D1935 Roger Hosking MA 1925 - 2013 pass Heyford on 31 July 2020 with the Statesman Rail 1Z32 05:35 Westbury to Scarborough 'Yorkshire Coast Statesman' railtour. I had chosen this location as it is one of the few spots in the Oxford area where the sun would be on the front, but the colourful field of yellow ragwort in the foreground was an unexpected bonus.

66777 Annette heads north past Heyford on 31 July 2020 with the 4E34 05:13 Southampton Western Docks to Doncaster Iport intermodal. This was running 54 minutes early, having gone straight past Hinksey Yard, rather than waiting there for over 50 minutes, as booked.

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

43307 passes Kilby Bridge on 31 July 2020 with the 1D23 10:34 St Pancras International to Nottingham East Midlands Railway service. If the red and white livery of the power car seems to contrast with the blue and white coaches, compare that with the all over red colour scheme of 43238 on the rear of the train.

Bright red 43238 brings up the rear of the 1D23 10:34 St Pancras International to Nottingham East Midlands Railway service at Kilby Bridge on 31 July 2020. 43307 is at the front of the train. In view of this loco's colour, some wag has stuck a Ferrari badge on the emergency coupling cover, just above the number!

47727 Caisteal Dhun Eideann / Edinburgh Castle passes Kilby Bridge on 31 July 2020 with the 5Q47 10:44 Derby Litchurch Lane to Wolverton Centre Sidings, conveying brand new Greater Anglia EMU 720540. 47739 is bringing up the rear.

47739 brings up the rear of the 5Q47 10:44 Derby Litchurch Lane to Wolverton Centre Sidings EMU delivery working at Kilby Bridge on 31 July 2020. This was taking 720540 to is new home with Great Anglia. 47727 Caisteal Dhun Eideann / Edinburgh Castle is leading the ensemble.

43238 passes underneath the footbridge at Kilby Bridge on 31 July 2020 with the 1B43 12:45 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. Unlike a lot of rural railway footbridges, this one seems to be exceedingly well used. Its location on the edge of Leicester, on a footpath that leads to the scenic Grand Union Canal probably has something to do with it.

Running almost a hour late, which has improved the light angle noticeably, 66756 Royal Corps of Signals passes Kilby Bridge on 31 July 2020 with the 6M32 09:47 Neasden Charrington to Bardon Hill stone empties. It did a good job of recovering time, as it left 80 minutes late, but was only 37 minutes down upon arrival.

66785 moves onto the relief line at Kilby Bridge with the 6F93 11:06 Churchyard Sidings to Ketton cement empties on 31 July 2020, just as the 1B48 13:45 Nottingham to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway HST passes by in the background.

66788 Locomotion 15 emerges from Crick Tunnel on 31 July 2020 with the 4M23 10:36 Felixstowe North to Hams Hall intermodal. Crick Tunnel, on the Northampton loop, is only 595 yards long, compared with the 2,432 yard long Kilsby Tunnel on the adjacent main London to Birmingham line.

There was severe disruption to rail services in the Northampton area on the afternoon of 31 July 2020, with numerous passenger services cancelled due, apparently, to power supply problems. This resulted in several very short term plan empty stock moves. One such was the 5U34 16:10 Rugby to Euston ECS, seen here passing the Rosebay Willowherb on the approach to Crick Tunnel, running 15 minutes late. 350261 retains the old London Midland livery, while 35103 at the rear is in the new London Northwestern colour scheme.

86632 & 86607 emerge from Crick Tunnel on 31 July 2020 with the 4M87 11:13 Felixstowe North to Trafford Park freightliner. This was running 33 minutes late, after first of all getting delayed in the Wembley area, and then getting stuck behind a failed train at Northampton. Although it would have been sunny at the booked time, the sun had disappeared into thick cloud long before it was now due, and I thought this was just going to be a dull record shot. Then amazingly, just as it was approaching, the sun came out again weakly, and although not full brightness, was a hell of a lot better than it was just a minute earlier, and a minute afterwards!

66619 Derek W. Johnson MBE passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 30 July 2020 with the 6B91 12:21 Hayes & Harlington to East Usk Yard stone empties. Horrible harsh overhead lighting, but I just happened to be passing anyway.

59102 Village of Chantry approaches Little Bedwyn on 30 July 2020 with the 6C76 14:39 Acton to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The Rosebay Willowherb adds a splash of colour to the scene, but would have looked even more impressive if it was growing in the foreground!

59004 Paul A Hammond passes Fairfield Crossing Cottage, Little Bedwyn, on 30 July 2020 with the 6C64 15:26 Acton to Merehead Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. The distinctive cottage is just a few yards away from the River Dun, and the Kennet & Avon Canal.

With the white painted Fairfield Crossing Cottage visible in the background, 165114 approaches Little Bedwyn on 30 July 2020 with the 2T50 17:05 Newbury to Bedwyn GWR service. This is just an 18 minute journey, with intermediate stops at Kintbury and Hungerford.

Still wearing DB Cargo red livery, but devoid of any branding, Freightliner's 59201 approaches Little Bedwyn on 30 July 2020 with the 6V18 13:30 Allington to Whatley Quarry Mendip Rail stone empties. Note the footpath on the left. This runs from the crossing in the background, to Little Bedwyn village, almost exactly duplicating the Kennet & Avon Canal towpath route, just a few yards off to the right of this picture.

37092 gets a break from its usual civil engineer's duties on 25 June 1993, and is called upon to work a Class 1 train for a change. Presumably there was no Res Class 47 available to work the 1E45 16:30 Swindon to Newcastle Royal Mail vans, but it was obviously not a last minute problem, because 37092 was running exactly on time when it was photographed passing Hinksey Yard.

Revenue, and non revenue earning freight trains at Pilning on 17 March 1994. 37037 climbs out of the Severn Tunnel with the 7C46 14:03 East Usk Junction to Bristol East loaded ballast, passing 47363, which is waiting in the down loop with the 6B19 09:40 Exeter Riverside to Alexandra Dock Junction. This was one of the few wagonload freight services to survive the closure of the Speedlink network, a couple of years earlier. Construction work for the approach roads to the Second Severn Crossing can be seen in the background, and just visible in the far distance, the patchy sun is picking out the Severn Tunnel's red brick Sudbrook Pumping Station.

47004, 37073 Fort William / An Gearasdan & 47280 Pedigree head north past Lower Basildon on Sunday 17 May 1992. The previous day, both of these Class 47s had not only been employed on scheduled passenger trains, but unexpectedly, the same one! 47280 Pedigree had worked the 1O99 06:40 Liverpool Lime Street to Dover Western Docks from Liverpool to Reading, where it was supposed to be replaced by 47846 Thor. However, 47846 was delayed en-route from Old Oak Common, so as 47004 was on hand, that was used instead.

155302 passes Ashchurch on 2 July 1990 with the 2A21 09:10 Worcester Foregate Street to Swindon service. These Leyland built units did not last long on these trains, in fact most of the class didn't last long at all, with 35 out of the 42 sets being rebuilt during 1991 and 1992 as single car Class 153s.

Running exactly on time, and with an appropriate 'Push Pull Tours' headboard, 33116 passes Potbridge on 10 October 1993 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z40 09:37 Waterloo to Brockenhurst 'Kinky Newt' railtour, hauling 4-TC sets 410 & 417.

Class 438 4-TC 417 brings up the rear of the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z40 09:37 Waterloo to Brockenhurst 'Kinky Newt' railtour at Potbridge on 10 October 1993. The eight coach train is made up from both the repainted Premier Charters 4-TCs, the other one being 410. 33116 is providing the power at the front of the train.

317354 leads the 08:30 Peterborough to Kings Cross service past Abbots Ripton on 16 August 1988. The Class 317s were built in two batches, with the earlier Class 317/1s having a different front end to this Class 317/2 example. An hour earlier one of the 317/1 units had worked a similar service.

First Great Western's first attempt at a blue livery included a large area of white, which as it proved difficult to keep clean, was soon replaced by a more overall blue colour scheme. 43165 passes Llandevenny on 17 July 2002 with the 1L48 09:30 Swansea to Paddington service. This was early days for the new livery, and most of the fleet was still in the green 'fag packer' colour scheme, including the rest of the train pictured here.

Six vans (three BGs and three GUVs), two each in blue and grey, Royal Mail red, and plain blue livery, form the 1S04 14:20 Tonbridge to Edinburgh mail, pictured here passing Culham on 30 September 1991, behind 47566.

47519 could easily be recognised from a distance in 1984, as it had what looked like the word 'Glen' crudely scrawled on one end. It is seen here passing Croome on 14 May 1984 with the 1V85 09:22 Newcastle to Penzance service.

A short but very colourful train heads north at Quedgeley on 6 May 1988. 47543 is heading to Gloucester with a rather antiquated looking weedkilling train, which includes a bright red former LSWR 'Ironclad' coach. This was probably the last year that sights like this could be seen, as Hunslet Barclay took over most weedkilling duties the following year, using their fleet of Class 20/9s.

In Trainload Metals livery, complete with Thornaby kingfisher emblem, 47594 descends the Lickey Incline at Bromsgrove on 23 September 1989 with the 1V39 06:56 Rose Grove to Paignton service, which it had taken over at Birmingham New Street. This was a good day for freight 47s on passenger duties, as an hour later 47152 appeared.

47573 The London Standard passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 18 March 1989 with the 1A32 09:10 Swansea to Paddington service. A very dull day, but worth recording, as it's the only time that I saw a Network SouthEast liveried loco on this train.

31233 Severn Valley Railway & 31201 passes Rowton on 17 August 1996 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z69 13:40 Crewe to Crewe (via Chester) 'Crewe - Chester Flyer' railtour. This was a mini-tour in connection with the main tour from Exeter, which would shortly be heading back to Devon behind 37010 & 37042. I didn't realise it at the time, but whilst waiting for this train, along with several other photographers, I was myself photographed!

43303 passes Up Hatherley on 24 July 2020 with the 1V50 06:06 Edinburgh to Plymouth CrossCountry service. The dull day suited this location, as it is surrounded by tall trees, and there would be no possibility of a decent picture if the sun was out, even in July.

Consecutively numbered 43171 & 43172 pass Up Hatherley on 24 July 2020, running as the 0D67 11:04 Bristol St Phillips Marsh to Long Marston. Earlier in the day 43172 had travelled up from Devon solo as the 0D84 07:09 Laira to Bristol St Phillips Marsh. The pair would later take six Mk3 coaches from Long Marston to Doncaster.

Farewell Harry. Still with its First World War graphics but devoid of its Harry Patch - The last survivor of the trenches nameplates, 43172 brings up the rear of the 0D67 11:04 Bristol St Phillips Marsh to Long Marston light engine move at Up Hatherley on 24 July 2020. A little earlier it had worked up from Devon as the 0D84 07:09 Laira to Bristol St Phillips Marsh, where 43171 was attached for its journey to Long Marston. The pair would later take six Mk3 coaches from Long Marston to Doncaster. At least these power cars are not going to be scrapped, but it does mean that 43172 will presumably lose its distinctive colour scheme, to be replaced by GWR's awful drab green livery.

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

Making a welcome change from the rest of the depressingly drab dark green fleet, 'To All Our Key Workers - The Nation Says Thank You' liveried 802020 passes Uffington on 22 July 2020 with the 1L72 10:58 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The special livery includes messages in 116 languages. The 'Diolch Yn Fawr' message under the driver's side window is Welsh for 'Thank You Very Much'. Although it resulted in the picture being taken with the lens almost wide open, a shutter speed of 1/4000sec was used here, as it is a fairly wide and close up view, and the unit was travelling at close to 125mph.

A new DB Cargo operated stone train commenced on 22 July 2020, taking stone from Moreton-on-Lugg, via the Severn Tunnel and Oxford, to Birmingham. It did not start well, as although it seemed to be OK here, I have seen several other pictures of the loco putting out considerable quantities of black smoke. There was a revised later schedule, which was not picked up by Realtime Trains, so the apparent late running may not have been so great. 66011 is pictured here passing the footbridge in the fields near Uffington, running 82 minutes late (by the original schedule) with the 6Z41 07:50 Moreton-on-Lugg to Small Heath.

220008 & 221140 pass Yarnton on 21 July 2020 with the 1O20 13:27 Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth CrossCountry service. As can be guessed from the mass of dark clouds in the background, this was just a few seconds before the sun disappeared for the rest of the afternoon. Normally this train would just comprise a single unit, but to enable social distancing during the coronavirus crisis, most CrossCountry trains are now formed from two units.

Running an hour early (as usual!), 66789 British Rail 1948-1997 passes Yarnton on 21 July 2020 with the 6X01 10:17 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh long welded rails. The bridge in the background is the A44 Oxford to Woodstock road.

165123 approaches Daylesford on 21 July 2020 with the 2E80 06:53 Worcester Foregate Street to Didcot Parkway GWR service. This is the only Cotswold Line train to still be booked for a two car Turbo unit. Surprisingly, I had not visited this location before. The A436 roadbridge near the site of Adlestrop station can just be seen in the shadows in the background.

This is obviously a location that would look a lot better in the winter, when the bare branches of the tree, and the general brown colour of the landscape would contrast with GWR's green trains. 802107 passes Adlestrop on 21 July 2020 with the 1P20 08:13 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service.

165125 passes Yarnton on 20 July 2020 with the 2L51 17:20 Banbury to Oxford GWR service. There has been a lot of lineside tree clearance around this area, but unfortunately the tall conifers that shade the line in the background are not on railway property!

66742 Port of Immingham Centenary 1912 - 2012 passes Yarnton on 20 July 2020 with the 6Z15 15:55 Eastleigh to Chaddesden Sidings, conveying barrier vehicles that had been used earlier in the day on a Derby to Eastleigh EMU move. 66770 is bringing up the rear.

66770 brings up the rear of the 6Z15 15:55 Eastleigh to Chaddesden Sidings at Yarnton on 20 July 2020. The barrier vehicles had been used earlier in the day on a Derby to Eastleigh EMU move. 66742 Port of Immingham Centenary 1912 - 2012 is at the head of the train.

Viewed from the footbridge in the fields near Yarnton, 66846 heads north with a single wagon on the 6M28 17:54 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working on 20 July 2020. It was running just 26 minutes early here. That would become 63 minutes early by Leamington Spa, 94 minutes at Tyseley, and final arrival at Bescot was 102 minutes early!

66559 passes Yarnton on 20 July 2020 with the 4M99 17:00 Southampton Maritime to Crewe Basford Hall freightliner. Recent lineside bush and tree clearance has opened up this location nicely, and the view is now clearer than at any time that I can remember.

59005 Kenneth J Painter passes Froxfield on 20 July 2020 with the 7A09 07:12 Merehead Quarry to Acton Mendip Rail 'jumbo' stone train. This was running seven minutes early, which was unfortunate, as the 1C74 09:04 Paddington to Plymouth GWR service was approaching from the other direction. In fact, the IET was completely blocking out the Class 59 where I was aiming to take it, but luckily this is the result from a couple of frames earlier in the ten frames per second burst. Even so, the top of the roof of the IET has had to be removed from the immediate foreground!

D1935 (47805) Roger Hosking MA 1925 - 2013 passes Savernake on 18 July 2020 with the Statesman Rail 1Z37 05:37 Peterborough to Paignton 'English Riveira Statesman' railtour. After four months without any railtours, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this was a welcome return of some heritage traction on a mainline passenger train. I had chosen this location, as it was a cloudy morning, and it would be possible to get a decent shot at what would normally be an impossibly backlit spot. Typically there were a few worrying moments when the sun peaked through the clouds! This is the site of Savernake Low Level Station. The High Level station, on the former MSWJR, was just a short distance to the left of this picture. Note the remains of the removed crossover.

There was an unusual visitor to the Cotswold Line on 18 July 2020, when a Chiltern Railways Class 165, that had been receiving maintenance at Long Marston returned to its home depot. 165027 is seen here passing Shipton with the 11:50 Long Marston to Aylesbury DMU Depot ECS. This was running 45 minutes late, due to late arrival of the GWR driver at Honeybourne. There was a Chiltern Railways driver on board, but naturally he didn't sign the Cotswold Line. A further point of interest is that this is not the complete two car 165027 set, as the rear vehicle is one of the driving vehicles from three car set 165029! This view is dominated by the famous FWP Matthews flour mill. The down platform of Shipton station can be seen in the background, the only access to which is through the parked lorries in the mill yard!

A Chiltern Railways unit in the heart of the Cotswolds! 165030 passes underneath the farm occupation bridge at Daylesford on 18 July 2020 with the 16:19 Aylesbury DMU Depot to Long Marston ECS. I had chosen this location as the lighting would have been perfect, but unfortunately the sun had disappeared shortly before the train was due, only to reappear (albeit briefly) just after it had passed! This rather flimsy looking bridge has managed to survive completely unaltered since I photographed 47600 Dewi Saint / Saint David here in 1987.

800023 Kathryn Osmond passes Daylesford on 18 July 2020 with the 1P33 16:40 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The sun was just starting to disappear, but as can be seen from the background, it was about to get an awful lot darker!

47636 Restored approaches Water Orton on 2 April 1994 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 06:15 Bristol Temple Meads to London (via the world!) 'Sector Swansong' railtour. This mega tour, the like of which is totally impossible today, featured 14 different locomotives, from Classes 47, 86, 31, 33, 58, 60, 56, 20 & 37! 47636 is carrying a slightly ironic name here, as it didn't end up being restored, but was withdrawn by EWS in 2000, and cut up four years later.

After coming to a stand, not at, but just past the signal in the background, 156478 slowly gets under way again at Allandale on 19 September 2002 with the 14:59 Falkirk Grahamston to Glasgow Queen Street ScotRail service. This line, between Greenhill Lower Junction and Cumbernauld, was electrified in 2018.

The main Birmingham to Bristol line is temporarily reduced to a single track, as weekend engineering work takes place on 15 September 1996 to replace the down line. 31185 & 31554 are in attendance at Spetchley, standing in the work site, while various machinery is at work on the course of the down line.

Newly named 56069 Wolverhampton Steel Terminal passes Marshfield on 27 August 1998 with the 6B82 11:52 Margam to Ebbw Vale, conveying tinplate, and a single wagon of steel coils on the rear. This train was usually Class 60 hauled at the time.

With just two colourful Murco liveried tanks amongst the oil stained TEAs, 60037 Helvellyn passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham, on 29 December 1995 with the 6B33 12:34 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties.

A Gloucestershire named loco in Gloucestershire. 47569 The Gloucestershire Regiment passes Standish Junction on 5 July 1991 with the 1V62 16:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Plymouth service. The loco's nameplates were removed in 1993, and the regiment itself was disbanded the following year.

47564 Colossus passes Uffington on 14 March 1989 with the 3A12 06:45 Swansea to Old Oak Common vans. Note the oil soaked ballast on the loop line, where locos have stood at the signal. It's a good job cars don't leak oil in the way that classic British Rail diesels seemed to!

47508 S.S. Great Britain passes the site of Uffington station on 14 March 1989 with a Cheltenham Gold Cup race special. I always liked to have a few days off work in mid March to photograph the Gold Cup specials, but unfortunately it nearly always seemed to correspond with a period of miserable weather!

31102 Cricklewood is pictured in the shadow of the gas holder at Horton Road, Gloucester, on the 27 April 1993, as it heads north from the city with a short engineer' train. The gas holder, which apart from the world famous cathedral, was probably Gloucester's most notable landmark, was demolished in 2012.

In the days when Shrewsbury had direct loco-hauled trains from London, 47549 Royal Mail approaches Madeley Junction on 15 August 1988 with the 1J24 10:40 Euston to Shrewsbury InterCity service. The bridge in the background is the then recently opened Telford bypass link road, with the original farm occupation bridge just beyond.

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

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

45107 passes Ampthill (Millbrook) on 8 June 1985 with the 3C66 04:20 Nottingham to Cricklewood empty newspaper vans. The Stewartby Brickworks are in full production in the background. Although the brickworks lasted longer than 45107, they too are also now history.

47651 passes Little Haresfield on 24 June 1989 with the 1S85 07:02 Plymouth to Glasgow Central service, which it would work as far as Birmingham New Street. The loco was fitted with long range fuel tanks the following month, and renumbered 47806.

Presumably en-route from Old Oak Common to Laira, 47589 heads west past Hungerford Common on 3 September 1984 with three barrier vehicles, and what appears to be high speed track recording coach DB999550.

A familiar location, but with less familiar traction. During 1998 & 1999, D9000 Royal Scots Grey was hired to Virgin CrossCountry at the weekend, to work the 1S87 11:26 Ramsgate to Edinburgh service. It is seen here passing Kings Sutton on 20 June 1998.

31602 Chimaera & 33108 approach Standish Junction on 25 August 2001 with the Fragonset Railtours 1Z52 15:19 Paignton to Lancaster 'Devonian' railtour. Unusually for a railtour, this was running exactly on time, which was lucky, as the sun was not only fading away into high cloud, but also getting a bit too close to the horizon for this location in a cutting.

This is not really the kind of train that the Pacers were designed for. 142035 passes Winwick on 12 March 1990 with the 13:17 Stalybridge to Llandudno service. The timetable advertises this train as having a trolley refreshment service, which doesn't seem very likely!

Tyseley set T320 (with DMS 53890 leading), passes underneath the roadbridge near Stoke Orchard on 14 March 1990 with the 2V25 16:02 Birmingham New Street to Cardiff Central service. These trains should have gone over to Sprinter operation by this date, but the old order still appeared sometimes. This is the site of Cleeve station, the only trace of which is the station master's house, a corner of which can just be seen on the right.

Kemble station, pictured on 21 May 1988. The line in the foreground is the former Cirencester branch platform, which now terminates at a buffer stop just off to the right of the picture. The station is Grade II listed, but that didn't stop Network Rail trying to get part of this disused platform removed in 2013. Thankfully Cotswold District Council refused this application.

50046 Ajax was in desperate need of a repaint (which it never got), when I photographed its nameplate at Templecombe on 21 August 1991. Note the position of the former crest. HMS Ajax, along with other Class 50 namesakes Exeter and Achilles, was involved in the hunting of the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, during the Battle of the River Plate in 1939.

With the beached former Sealink 'Duke of Lancaster' ship dominating the background, 47509 Albion passes Mostyn on 30 March 1991 with the late running 1D43 09:35 Euston to Holyhead service. There was plenty of Class 47 activity on the North Wales coast line on this Saturday, as ten minutes later 47337 appeared from the opposite direction with the 7F18 Llandudno Junction to Ellesmere Port chemical tanks.

47523 passes Bourton on 22 December 1989 with the 1A40 09:06 Swansea to Paddington service. Not only was this train unusual in being Class 47 hauled amid a sea of HSTs services, but also it was one of the few trains that didn't call at Swindon, though which it had passed non-stop a few moments before this picture was taken.

There are plenty of people in 43185's cab, as it approaches Hawkeridge Junction on 4 October 1987 with the diverted 1A27 08:30 Swansea to Paddington service. It will shortly be taking the normally freight only chord to Heywood Road Junction.

158745 runs alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal near Crofton on 17 February 2001 with the diverted 06:00 Carmarthen to Waterloo Alphaline Wales & West service. An interesting livery, but you obviously had to pick your seat carefully if you wanted an unobstructed view out of the window!

Recently repainted and named 56057 British Fuels stands at Skipton station on 13 July 1996 with the 6M90 16:48 Gascoigne Wood to Carlisle British Fuels containerised coal. This was running two hours late, which presumably did not impress the British Fuels director, who was travelling on the train.

A slightly different viewpoint at Hinksey on 4 July 1985. Instead of taking a picture from the footbridge that crosses the yard, I decided to take this one looking underneath the bridge, partly for a different perspective, but also to include the Railfreight wagons on the left. 56033 heads south with the 6V11 10:03 Wolverton to Stoke Gifford ARC stone empties.

43137 Newton Abbot 150 slowly leads the diverted 1A40 12:55 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington First Great Western service onto the normally freight only chord at Hawkeridge Junction on Sunday 9 January 2000.

43147 approaches Wolvercote Junction on 21 May 2001 with the 1B61 17:12 Paddington to Hereford First Great Western service. Most of us at the time thought this livery was a bit uninspired, but it looks an awful lot better than the green livery that came nearly two decades later!

47562 passes Killiecrankie on 15 July 1983 with the 1G57 08:30 Inverness to Edinburgh service. The loco is just crossing the bridge over the Allt Girnaig, a small river that rises in the mountains to the east, and joins the River Garry just a few yards off to the left of this picture.

A West Highland Speedlink freight train meeting at Rannoch station on 11 July 1983. 37179 & 20114 wait patiently at the signal with the 7Y37 12:23 Mossend to Corpach, as the highly appropriate 37012 Loch Rannoch approaches with the 6E46 15:19 Fort William to Mossend service. There is plenty of period detail in this picture, including the blue station nameboard, semaphore signals, and the memorial to J. A. Renton, a director of the West Highland Railway. Even more detail is clearly visible on the hi-res version of this Kodachrome 64 scan, including the small footbridge in the distance on the extreme right, and the fact that the secondman has got the token in his hand, hanging out of the window, ready for a quick exchange.

47551 passes Yarnton in the last of the weak evening sun on 14 June 1988 with the 1M31 17:18 Folkestone Central to Liverpool Lime Street service. Uniquely, this loco has carried the number 47551 on three separate occasions. Firstly it briefly received the incorrect TOPS number 47551 in 1974, before quickly being renumbered 47153, as it wasn't yet ETH fitted. When it was converted the following year it received the number 47551 for the second time. Its number was changed to 47801 when it was fitted with long range fuel tanks, but reverted to 47551 three years later.

47539 Rochdale Pioneers passes Didcot North Junction on 21 July 1990 with the 1M88 06:40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly service. Note the rake of London Underground tube stock stabled in the yard in the background.

170476 accelerates away from Goole station on 6 July 2020 with the 1J44 10:25 Hull to Sheffield Northern service. The level crossing barriers are already up, and a car can just be seen crossing the line. With masses of cloud all around, luckily this just happened to correspond with ten minutes of almost unbroken sunshine.

66754 Northampton Saints slowly passes through Goole station on 6 July 2020 with the 6D09 09:53 Hull Coal Terminal to Ferrybridge gypsum. This pictures clearly illustrates Network Rail's very poor standard of maintenance. Not just the weeds growing on the track in front of the loco, but more importantly the massive bush that it almost touching the train in the background. Close inspection of the hi-res version of this picture seems to confirm that it has been trimmed into shape by the passage of trains!

43318 passes Whissendine on 5 July 2020 with the diverted 1C43 10:53 Leeds to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. This is my first picture of a rebranded former East Coast power car at work in the Midlands.

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

222016 passes Ashwell on 5 July 2020 with the diverted 1C56 14:00 Sheffield to St Pancras International East Midlands Railway service. The train's normal route, via Market Harborough, was closed for Sunday engineering works.

43073 passes Ashwell on Sunday 5 July 2020 with the diverted 1F39 13:50 St Pancras International to Sheffield East Midland Railway service. Not the best location, but nice lighting, and an impressive cloud formation.

43309 brings up the rear of the late running diverted 1F44 14:55 St Pancras International to Leeds East Midlands Railway service at Langham Junction on 5 July 2020. Although the adjacent signal box is named Langham Junction, there never was a conventional junction here, merely the northern end of a short four track section, which formerly included sidings in connection with the Midland Railway provender stores.

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