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I have, for a couple of weeks, been trying to take a well lit photograph of a complete set of WSMR branded stock on the mid-morning train from Wrexham to London Marylebone. On each occasion I have been foiled by either the weather or the lack of the
refurbished coaches on the appropriate train. Saturday 24 July was no different for although the weather was favourable the train, 1P01 (1P03 on weekdays) had three Cargo-D coaches and a single WSMR example just in the front of the trailing DVT as it
arrived into the up platform loop at Leamington Spa. Ironically, a complete set of WSMR stock formed the down train, 1J85, standing in the shadow of the station buildings behind 67013 in platform 2.
WSMR DVT 82303 was bringing up the rear of the train which has just passed the starter signal and is about to swing right onto the branch to Coventry.
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A set of new tube stock for London Underground was moved from Old Dalby to Amersham on 14 July 2010. Running as 8X09, the train left Old Dalby shortly after 11 am but, because of pathing necessities, wasn't due to pass Hatton until 20.09. My original plan had been to go somewhere north of Tamworth for a shot in the afternoon but I completely forgot
about the working until it was too late. So my best bet for a photograph was either the Dorridge area or just south of Hatton station and I chose the latter thinking that Dorridge would probably be heaving with people. The train was hauled by a pair of de-branded DRS class 20s, 20304 + 20305, with another pair 20301 + 20302 dead in tow on the back and
is here seen amidst the Angustifolium Epilobium, commonly known as Rosebay Willowherb, accelerating down Hatton Bank under quite a cloud of exhaust smoke a few minutes late and just catching the last dregs of light. I knew that it wouldn't be going too quickly at this point so just about got away with a shutter speed of 1.640 and an aperture setting of f2 on ISO 320.
The two TEA barrier wagons came from Long Marston in February 2009 and here they are approaching Evesham at that time.
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The morning of 13 July 2010 should have seen a 1Z15 09.00 Derby RTC to Long Marston working. In the event this transmogrified into nothing more exotic than a light engine run, presumably a road learner, involving Network Rail's 97301. I don't normally bother with light engine photographs as they
can look a bit silly on the main line but thought that the first visit of the type to the branch from Honeybourne Junction wouldn't make too bad a shot standing outside the gates at Long Marston. As it happened, I needed to do a farm shop run and made the short diversion necessary to get this picture,
taken just as the locomotive pulled away, having not gone into the site. The arrival was spot on time at 12.09, the bright colour scheme of the former 37100 standing out well in the very dull conditions. As usual for me, I waited until an example of a new livery or sub-class came
conveniently close to home before going for a first shot - it usually happens sooner or later! With a bit of luck a loaded train involving one or two of the class 97s will turn up before too long. A less well preserved class 37, 37898 was parked nearby, waiting for its final journey to the scrapyard.
I was later told by a local contact that 97301 later went into the Long Marston site and was stabled, probably to leave during the following day.
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Another stage of the work to double the track on much of the North Cotswold Line is currently underway with, unfortunately, much of the work being carried out overnight. However, the weekend of 3 & 4 July saw a full possession with several trains being due at various points. I knew some very rough timings and locations and thought that I would start at Evesham and then work my way south until or
if something was visible. As it happened Evesham station was the centre of operations on the Saturday with two trains nose to tail in the area. The first, 6W14, was occupying the up line through the station with 66183 in charge and just poking its nose under the adjacent roadbridge by the centre pivoted starter signal. The down line had already been removed ready for replacement and various
road/rail vehicles were on site to load the train with spoil. It seemed to be coffee break time when I took these photographs...
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While taking the pictures shown above another class 66 was just visible in the background so I had a wander round to Briar Close to see what was happening there. The second class 66, 66030, was standing just behind 6W14's train with a train of empty spoil wagons, presumably running as 6W15. There was nothing much happening and as cloud was rapidly building up I made for home after walking through the industrial estate to ascertain
the identity of the locomotive standing by the signal box. Here is a tighter view of the scene clearly showing the newly excavated
track bed.
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The sole class 66/6 not to carry Freightliner's green livery is 66623 which has been painted into Bardon Aggregate's blue colour scheme. On 22 June 2010 it was allocated to work 6M22, the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty ballast wagons, and is here seen passing Hatton North Junction two or three minutes early.
I didn't notice when taking the picture that the roof is still green and wonder if this is part of Bardon's colour scheme or whether Freightliner decided to save a few pounds by not painting it as it would not be noticeable from ground level. I'm not especially happy with this photograph because 1) the sun is really too high at
just after 3pm and 2) I think that it would have looked much better had the train been formed of the larger wagons sometimes seen on this service. Still, it's a new colour scheme for me at this location so perhaps I shouldn't grumble...
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COLAS Rail's 47739 was booked to work a train of YXA and YFA "slinger" wagons from Doncaster to Long Marston on 16 June 2010. Not having seen a train for nearly three weeks due to being on holiday on Exmoor I felt that a shot or two was overdue. Here is 6Z47 shortly after leaving Evesham working slowly through Aldington Cutting
and the accompanying elderflower blossom with the long rake of stock destined for storage. In retrospect, this was the wrong location for this train because about half of the
wagons are out of view around the curve behind the footbridge, but not having any information on the length of the train meant that this had to do. For a look at some of the
wagons further along the train click on this hyperlink.
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After 47739 had taken the wagons shown above into Long Marston it was scheduled to take a short set of 10 large KEA box wagons to Doncaster. Running as 6Z48 the train is here seen having just crossed over the Littleton Road in Blackminster where the barriers, operated from Evesham signalbox, seemed to protecting the
road for a good five minutes. This is close to the site of the Littleton and Badsey station, the buildings of which were on the other side of the road. The sun is a bit too high around lunchtime for good photography at this time of the year but when the paths along the currently single track are mostly on either side of midday
there isn't much that one can do about it. I kept out the sun for a while by visiting a couple of local farm shops and buying the last of this season's asparagus and the first of the gooseberries. How the brownie points build up...
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Some scenes from the final Harry Potter film were apparently shot at Kings Cross, London in the week commencing 23 May 2010 and the locomotive, GWR Hall 5972, and stock were taken by 37706 from Southall to Carnforth on Friday 28 May. I was surprised that only one other photographer was at Hatton North
Junction for a picture as 5Z59 passed exactly on time, 14.44, just after a small piece of cloud had made its presence felt. I don't know anything about the current steam scene and wonder if 5972 will remain in its present colour scheme for the time being? I guess that it is quite a revenue earner with specials
aimed at youngsters so I suppose that it may be a while before the proper green livery makes a return.
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One of the regular but infrequent test trains to visit the terminus at Stratford-upon-Avon ran on Friday 28 May 2010. This time it was formed of the Network Rail class 150 DMU 950001, was allocated the headcode 2Q08 and was due in at 08.53. It ran just about an hour late and is here seen leaving platform 1 en-route to Hatton where it was to reverse, return
to Stratford and then head off back towards Birmingham. There are few photographic opportunities at Stratford station on a sunny morning; some cloud being welcome as it offers a bit more flexibility. The arrival managed to avoid the sun so I was able to take a shot from the footbridge. My thanks to David Weake for the information and updates on this working.
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A long set of JNA wagons was due to be removed from Long Marston on Monday 24 May 2010. I didn't know if the light engine move from Peterborough via Birmingham and Worcester had taken place but went for a look. The scheduled departure time from Long Marston was 14.10 but experience suggested that something earlier would be likely so I arrived at about 12.30 to find 66724
sitting in the left-hand road and to see the local shunter heading off around the inner loop, presumably to collect the wagons. In the meantime, I took this photograph of 20197 looking a bit forlorn. I have no interest in this sort of thing but thought that one or two viewers might like a look. It wasn't long before the shunter appeared in the distance with the JNAs
which were soon deposited in No. 2 road so that 66724 was able to run forward into the headshunt before going onto the train to be coupled. The yellow crane visible was recently used to assist with some track repairs on the site, something that I should like to have recorded but found out too late.
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At about 12.50 there was a flurry of activity with 'phone calls being made or received, the gates into the site being reopened and 66724's headlight being switched on. This suggested that Evesham signalbox had a path available and that the expected early departure would take place. Here then is 6E53 to Maltby, where the wagons will be used for a coal flow to Immingham, passing the Blackthorn blossom as the train heads onto the branch to Honeybourne.
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I had planned to photograph 66724 with 6E53 at a location between Honeybourne and Aldington but when I arrived there was a somewhat unsightly group of white caravans in a small yard
adjacent to the line so I moved a bit further west to this footbridge. A friend had told me that the preceding down FGW train was on time at Evesham station and that 6E53 wouldn't have
to wait for more than a minute or two at Honeybourne before getting a clear run to Norton Junction where it would pass the next up passenger train. He was, of course, quite correct and
I had been in position for no more than five minutes when the train appeared under the bridges in the background just as some fluffy clouds began to appear which gave the sky some character.
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It's not very often that a train originating from Ipswich ends up at Stratford-upon-Avon but anything is possible with the inspection saloon Caroline and its usual companion 37423. Such was the case on 19 May 2010 when 2Z37 was booked to make an appearance during the mid-afternoon at the terminus. It has been a while since I photographed an inspection saloon here
and here is an earlier shot taken in 1992 when 31405 appeared. It was a bright and sunny morning when the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance arrived nearby but by the time that 37423 was due in the area the light has collapsed meaning that
my plans for a few shots around Warwickshire were scuppered. Instead, I just walked down to Stratford station for a couple of record photographs. Here is 2Z37 arriving in platform 1 at 15.35, some 15 minutes early on the schedule and here is a slightly closer view as it stands under the distinctly non-GWR coloured footbridge.
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The booked departure time from Stratford-upon-Avon for 2Z37 was 16.18 but was about 18 minutes earlier than that when the platform end signal cleared to yellow and Caroline led the ensemble away from from the statiion and off to Birmingham and Derby via Wilmcote and Hatton North Junction. Note the security personnel and barriers on platform 1, deemed necessary to control the
large number of presumably unruly students from the College of Further Education which is situated just across the road from the station. It's probably worth avoiding the 16.27 departure from here to Birmingham in term time...
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The first train to head south after I arrived at Grimsbury bridge just north of Banbury station on Saturday 15 May 2010 was 4O14, the 06.39 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner, headed by 66531. This was one of the most poorly loaded 'liners that I have seen for quite a while with just four containers being conveyed in the centre of the virutally empty train. At least the long used that I used for this shot compresses the
perspective and brings up the background, including the M40 and to some extent takes the eye away from the flat wagons. Also visible are the exits from the down loop and the two connections from the Banbury Reservoir sidings, used by the weekly Self Discharge Train from Mountsorrel.
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The next freightliner to appear was 4O27, the 05.29 Garston to Southampton and this was much better loaded with quite an assortment being carried. This wider shot shows the Reservoir Sidings facility to some advantage. It was very heavily used with one or two trains each day when the M40 extension to Birminhgam was being built but today sees just one working per week, arriving from Mountsorrel in Leicestershire in the early hours of Thursday and leaving
in mid-morning. One of the Self Discharge trains is used for this job which avoids the need for road vehicles to move the stone into the railside hoppers.
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Most passenger trains on the GWR line through Banbury are formed of multiple units from either Chiltern Railways or Arriva CrossCountry. One of the former is represented here by 165038 approaching the station stop with the 09.38 from Stratford-upon-Avon. A welcome change from units is provided by the
albeit infrequent locomotive-hauled services run by WSMR, of of whose trains 1PO1, the Wrexham to London Marylebone, headed by 67015 with three Cargo-D Mk3s and a single coach and DVT is WSMT's own colours. Note that the Cargo-D stock has three different colours adorning the coach roofs.
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As I have mentioned before, railtours and charters don't have much of an attraction for me these days but from time to time one comes along that, if the weather is right, simply screams out to be photographed. Such a train ran on Saturday 15 May 2010 when D1015 (running as D1012 Western Firebrand) + 40145 double-headed a tour to Penzance, the Western having been added as pilot engine from Birmingham International. The weather looked to be set fair so I headed to Banbury so that the location was easily identifiable
rather than just a nondescript piece of track such as can be found in several places a few miles further north. By the time that 1Z40 was due, a lot of fluffy cloud was building up causing a certain amount of angst among the small gallery on the bridge adjacent to the Banbury Reservoir stone terminal. The charter was only 3 minutes behind a Chiltern Railways class 165 and was crawling along against adverse signals towards its booked stop at Banbury station. Cloud was rapidly approaching the sun but in the event all was well
and a nice sunny shot of this probably unique working was had by all. Who would have thought, just a few years ago, that it would have been possible to see such a sight on the GWR main line to Paddington or indeed anywhere away from preserved lines.
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At the time of writing, just one DBS class 66, 66152 has received a livery reflecting the house style of its owners and so tends to be photographed, despite it being "only a shed". On Wednesday 12 May 2010 it was booked to work 4M66, the 09.32 Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal and as I hadn't
seen the locomotive since the repaint I popped over to Hatton for a shot. It didn't look as if the sun was going to appear but I went to a location where, if it did, it would be on just the right place. I don't generally worry too much if the sun is "on the nose" or not, but if such a picture can be obtained
without too much effort I'll go for it. As it happened, the sun did come out just as the preceding class 165 to Birmingham Snow Hill climbed Hatton Bank and knowing that 4M66 has passed Leamington Spa, thought that I might be in with a chance. The back 2/3 of the train was well loaded but no such luck with the front.
The last time that I saw 66152 was on 6 April 2008 when it was in charge of an engineering train at Stratford-upon-Avon just as a snow storm approached.
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Another regular runner on Hatton Bank is 6M22 from Westbury to Stud Farm conveying empty Network Rail ballast wagons for loading. I was walking back to my car after
photographing 66152 on an intermodal but decided to hang on for a few minutes as the sun looked as if it would stay out long enough for a shot. The locomotive was 66605,
a change, for me at least, from 66602 which seems to have been permanently coupled to the wagons for quite some time. I don't especially like this location as it is too
anonymous for my taste, but it is one of the few local spots in which I haven't photographed this working in recent weeks.
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The line through Hatton generally sees very little activity on Bank Holidays but Monday 3 May 2010 was different in that two trains ran to Beeston in Nottinghamshire from Westbury and Hinksey respectively. Both conveyed IFA-U wagons, these being used for the transportation of ready-made switches and crossings
to engineering worksites. I couldn't recall having photographed anything of the sort before so thought that a shot or two would be worth having particularly as my home town, Stratford-upon-Avon is a hell-hole of rowdy visitors on these public holidays so there was no way I going there. I was on my way to a location south of
Hatton station when a signaller friend told me that both trains were going to be turned into the down loop at Hatton to allow passenger trains to pass. With this in mind I went to Hatton North Junction even though this would mean a heavily backlit shot should the sun appear. There was no danger of that when
66085 crawled around the curve from the station with 6X50 from Westbury, the sun being behind a thick bank of cloud which looked about ready to dump a heavy shower just to the south-east.
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Hinksey Yard at Oxford was the origination of the second train of IFA-U wagons to pass Hatton North Junction on 3 May 2010, this time with 66167 in charge. It too was booked to sit in Hatton Loop for a while to allow two passenger trains to pass, the first of which was a
WSMR service with a newly refurbished first class coach in front of 3 Cargo-D examples all led by DVT 82304 and propelled by 67015. A Chiltern Railways class 168 passed next in the middle of a heavy shower but the strong wind meant that
the clouds had blown away when 6X51 came slowly up the last few yards of Hatton Bank. This YRA wagon, not really visible in the main picture because of the track's curvature, brought up the rear of the train. Note the different barrier/match
wagons used on this train and the previous one, pictured above.
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There was a steam hauled train to Stratford-upon-Avon on Friday 23 April 2010, St George's Day and the anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth and death. I have no interest in photographing steam workings, although I don't mind occasionally standing and watching one working hard, but
as this one was coming within a short walk of my home and at a convenient time on a sunny day I thought that I would go and have a shot. The locomotive was 30777 Sir Lamiel, although for some reason it was pretending to be
30453 King Arthur and arrived at Bishopton, just outside Stratford, a few minutes late coasting slowly down the last few yards of Wilmcote Bank. The real 30453 looked very different to 30777 having being built at a different time and the product of a quite dissimilar design so
the reason for the masquerade is unclear. Still, if I owned a Southern Railway steam locomotive I would have it painted in Network South East colours...
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After all the excitement of photographing a steam working on Friday 23 April 2010 I needed a dose of normality so went over to Hatton North Junction to take advantage
of the fine and sunny weather during the afternoon. I had quite forgotten that steam locomotives need to turn before going back from whence they had come and arrived
to find a smallish horde of onloookers waiting for a tender-first light engine move. Still, they weren't in my way and I knew that 66602 with 6M22 Westbury to Stud Farm
was just approaching Leamington Spa. I stayed on the footbridge as 1) a shot from my favourite place in the field would have included several people one of whom somewhat bizarrely
had a high-visibility jacket while on a public footpath and 2) there was a southbound freight somewhere in the St Andrews area of Birmingham which I didn't want to miss. Here then is 6M22 rounding the
curve at Hatton North with its bright train of high capacity ballast wagons.
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A train that has appeared in the working timetable quite recently is 6O15, the 09.41 Scunthorpe to Eastleigh, conveying new rails. It runs as a "Q" so could turn up
on any day of the week but was scheduled to run on 23 April 2010 although actually running as 6X15 on this occasion. The locomotive was 60096 and the train is here
seen at Hatton North Junction running just a few minutes early. I had photograhed 60096 from this bridge once before, although it was coming from the other direction
and hauling an engineering train from the Stratford branch on 19 March 2006. After working 6X16, 60096
returned light engine all the way from Eastleigh to Scunthorpe.
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My plan had been to photograph this train, the 6E55 empty oil tanks from Theale to Lindsey, from the field at Hatton North Junction but didn't have time to move
from the footbridge after taking a shot of 60096 coming from the north with a short train of CWR from Scunthorpe
to Eastleigh. This is therefore a bit of a grab shot after leaping up two sections of the steps of the bridge to gain a bit of height after 66206 appeared around the curve.
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This week has been "Week 1" of the NMT HST's regular schedule so it was due to run as 1Z21 from Paddington to Derby on 23 April 2010. For a change the light was spot on for this train
and this shot is, I think, my first on the NMT on this line in anything approaching perfect conditions. The power cars were 43013 and 43062 and the bright ensemble is seen rounding the
curve at Hatton North Junction on the final leg of the journey to its home at RTC Derby.
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The week commencing 18 April 2010 saw two trains of redundant Fastline coal hoppers moved for storage from Chaddesden, near Derby, to Long Marston. The first, on Tuesday 20th, looked as if it might run through the area in which I was interested in cloud so I decided to
wait until the following day for which the weather forecast was better. The train, 4Z47, hauled by COLAS Rail's 47739 arrived slightly early at Evesham and was also released a few minutes ahead of schedule which was lucky for me as a big patch of cloud, just visible in the background, was
rapidly advancing on my position at Blackminster. I chose this spot deliberately knowing that the white blackthorn blossom would be in full flower thus giving the photograph a bit of identity.
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The cloud that was hanging around during the morning of 21 April 2010 cleared away by lunchtime so I went for a couple more shots during the afternoon. This is probably the last time that I shall visit Budbrooke this year as the undergrowth is becoming too intrusive
but as it's one of my favourite shots on Hatton Bank I thought that another look at 6M22 and 6E55 here would be in order. Here is 66602 with the former running a few minutes late just beyond Warwick Parkway with its train of empty hoppers on the way to Stud Farm from Westbury.
The quiet skies that I enjoyed over the weekend were not more; UK airspace having been opened the previous evening.
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The only other northbound freight scheduled to appear on Hatton Bank during the mid-afternoon of Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, although it didn't run on the Monday of this week, is 6E55, the discharged oil tanks from Theale to Lindsey Oil Refinery. In contrast to 6M22, 6E55 with 66165 in charge
was running a few minutes early as it went past Warwick Parkway station on 21 April 2010.
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Just before going home from Budbrooke on 21 April 2010 I hung on for a few minutes until a northbound Chiltern Railways' train came along so that I could try out this shot that I've had in mind
for a little while. The unidentified class 165 has just left Warwick Parkway station and is passing a field adjacent to St. Michael's church who no doubt used the cross during their Easter
celebrations a few weeks ago.
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Trains of scrap metal have recently started running on an ad hoc basis to various rarely served locations. One of these is Sheerness in Kent and on Thursday 15 April such a working ocurred when DRS class 37s, 37510 + 37667 took a such a train there from Tyne Dock, running via the East Coast Main Line . The return was scheduled for Saturday 17 April
and was routed via the WCML, Coventry, Stechford, Aston, Bescot, Walsall, Sutton Park and then Water Orton and Burton-upon-Trent. I was interested in getting a photograph because it rare to see DRS 37s on anything other than very short trains of one or two nuclear flasks and because there isn't much freight along the Coventry to Birmingham line I went for a walk along some public footpaths near Balsall Common in search of a spot and found, unsurprisingly, that virtually everywhere was too overgrown or had new fences where previously there had been none. I knew that 6Z70
had run just about on time all the way from Kent
and came upon this clear patch with about 30 minutes to wait. It was really nice to be in this area, near Birmingham International Airport without the constant drone of aircraft; there are usually at least three or four in view at any one time here, all flights having been grounded because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland spewing tons of ash and dust into European airspace
with the associated hazard to jet engines. In between trains one could hear only birds singing on a perfectly lit Spring afternoon.
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The late afternoon, around 17.30, is the perfect time in early Spring for a photograph of a train getting to grips with the 1/110 of Hatton Bank. Unfortunately, there is rarely the chance to photograph anything but Chiltern Railways' units then, and I have plenty of class 168 pictures there already. Saturday 17 April 2010 gave the ideal
opportunity for something different when a returning charter from Oxford to Skegness was scheduled to run this way and here is 47787 heading 1Z52 past Warwick Parkway station on one of the few days I can remember when there wasn't a single cloud to be seen in the sky all day. Neither was there any aircraft noise or contrails from traffic using the nearby Birminhgam International airport as most of
European airspace was closed because of the hazard from a cloud of volcanic ash from an eruption in Iceland. This is a good location for wildlife too; there are several rabbits, a magpie and a pigeon in view, all having been startled by the train.
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Long Marston saw another visit of COLAS' class 56s, 56311 + 56312, on Friday 16 April 2010. On the previous day they had run light engine from Washwood Heath to Crewe, collected a class 86 and then gone to Worcester Yard where the train was stabled overnight. The morning trip from Honeybourne to Long Marston was slightly delayed because a track inspection gang was scheduled
to visit the line, and the single line rules mean that if anyone is on the branch the token must go with them to ensure that no train can access it. Everything was resolved in favour of the train, 0Z86, and here it is arriving some 20 minutes late. While waiting on the bridge this beautiful Alvis came from the direction of Long Marston village.
There was a short delay in opening the gates into the yard after 0Z86 arrived which gave the chance for a single shot of the three locomotives in a very brief spell of sun. The cloud covering most of the sky
was a bit of a disappointment after the clear blue skies in the area until about 10.30...
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The main interest on 16 April 2010 was 56311 + 56312 removing a rake of 20 TEA bogie tanks from Long Marston and taking them to Bescot. This train, 6Z56, was scheduled to leave at 13.10 and it was a few minutes before that time when the impressive looking ensemble pulled out of the exchange sidings and onto the branch. The light had picked up a little but
the sky was still pretty much solid cloud but I suppose that it's good to have a record of such a relatively unusual working. After this shot I went straight off, as yet undecided where to go, but with a couple of bridges in mind where the sun, if it appeared, would be in the right place.
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In the event, and with a rapidly clearing sky becoming evident as I drove west, I decided upon this bridge on the outskirts of Evesham. The cutting sides were cleared last year when the first stage of the North Cotswold Line enhancement took place, and I have been waiting for a suitable train in the right conditions. There was quite a lot of fluffy white clouds blowing around
in the strong easterly wind, but with 6Z56 being a few minutes late leaving Honeybourne the sun made it into a large clear patch at just the right time. I do wish that there some "real" freight along this line; maybe when the double track eventually arrives there will the opportunity for diversions to use it if the Oxford to Leamington Spa corridor is under possession.
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Thursday 15 April 2010 saw two movements of empty stock from Crewe to Eastleigh along the GWR line from Birmingham to Leamington Spa. The first of these, 5Z47, looked interesting because it was being run either by or on behalf of SERCO and was allocated top and tail class 47s, both in green livery. I had rather
hoped that SERCO yellow stock would appear but in the event the train consisted of 47815, four InterCity Mk2s and 47812. Departure from Crewe was almost an hour late and this was still the case when the train rolled down Hatton Bank at 12.11. I don't know the reason for this stock move
but I assume that the coaches may be going for conversion into SERCO-equipped vehicles. The light was absolutely dreadful, so bad in fact that I didn't bother with four other trains, a northbound Freightliner, a southbound DBS intermodal, the Banbury to Mountsorrel empty SDT and a Wrexham & Shropshire service going to Wrexham.
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The second of two stock moves along the Hatton line on Thursday 15 April 2010 was a 5Z80 from Crewe to Eastleigh, taking ECS south in preparation for a rail charter on Saturday. The locomotive used was 67016 and the train is here seen descending Hatton Bank a few minutes early at about 13.20. My orginal plan had been to go a mile or so north of this
location for this shot, having just taken quite a similar view of 47815 also on a Crewe to Eastleigh stock transfer, but I was too busy chattering and decided to stay where I was. The light had improved by a small amount since the previous photograph but still was
on the dire side of dreadful. Still, DBS 67s are not all that common along here these days so a record shot was worth the short trip from home.
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I have been waiting for a few weeks in the hope that either a Wednesday or Friday afternoon would be clear and sunny so that I might be able to have a few pictures on Hatton Bank before the foliage becomes too obtrusive. Wednesdays and Fridays are better because there are two northbound freights scheduled
within 60 minutes at a time of day when the sun is favourable. The first along on 9 April 2010, just as the sun was coming out of some thin cloud, was 6M22, the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty ballast wagons hauled, as usual by a Freightliner class 66/6, 66613 on this occasion. The line here is climbing at a gradient of around 1/110 but an optical illusion caused
by the fact that the field in which I was standing slopes uphill quite steeply to the left makes it look almost level.
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There is a frequent passenger along the GWR line between Leamington Spa and Birmingham, most of which is formed of Chiltern Railways' class 168 units. Here is 168111 shortly after leaving Warwick Parkway station en-route to Birmingham Snow Hill on 9 April 2010. Although I quite enjoy a session photographing multiple units once in a while,
it is a shame that no locomotive hauled passenger trains use this route on a regular basis; the WSMR services, with the exception of the 11.20 departure from Marylebone to Wrexham for which the sun is unfavourable, now all run via Coventry. Arriva CrossCountry do have a presence on the line with an hourly service to
Birmingham New Street, and an unidentifiable class 220 is here seen running north up Hatton Bank shortly before 168111.
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My final shot on Friday 9 April 2010 was of 66004 heading up Hatton Bank with 6E55, the 13.35 Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks, running about 10 minutes early and so a likely candidate to be looped
a couple of miles north in order to allow a passenger train to pass. This train used to attract a lot of attention as until the mass storage of class 60s it was generally in the hands of a member of that class.
Now, of course, it is largely ignored, even by a flock of rooks looking for bugs amongst the sheep droppings in the field, although several pigeons obviously found it more of a threat and rapidly left the scene.
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A third set of Fastline branded coal hoppers was moved from Chaddesden Yard, near Derby, on Thursday 8 April 2010. COLAS Rail's 66845, formerly DRS 66410, was used to move the stock, destined for storage, to Long Marston, their usual class 47s being occupied on a train of empty steel carriers from Washwood Heath to Boston. I was initially disappointed that one of the COLAS liveried 66s wasn't used as I am yet to photograph an example, but
as these will hopefully be around for some time came to the conclusion that it was better to picture this locomotive in a transitional colour scheme which may not last for much longer. I hadn't seen any timings for 4Z47 but guessed that an arrival time of around 11.15 at Evesham wouldn't be far off the mark so after my daily visit to the swimming pool at my Health Club, went straight across there, only to
find that my first choice of shot was no longer available, thanks to a very high and solid wooden fence having been erected. This meant that Briar Close, adjacent to the signal box was the next best bet and I arrived
to find a couple of friends in attendance which at least meant that I hadn't missed the train. The new and not very attractive radio mast behind the box meant that a long lens shot was probably not the best idea so I took this shot incorporating the lower quadrant inner home signal.
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After arriving at Evesham, 4Z47 was to wait there for the best part of 30 minutes in order to cross a down train to Worcester. This meant that there would be no difficulty in finding another location on the other side of the town for another photograph; after all it would have been silly to waste the glorious light. Not many enthusiasts were about, my two friends being about it and they are just visible on the bridge
in the background of this shot taken from a road bridge on the Evesham to Offenham road. No doubt everyone else was on the main Gloucester to Birmingham line waiting, along with many others, for a double-headed steam special to Preston. I had been tempted to have a go at this but the thought of the inevitable crowds on such a nice day put me off the idea. I should also have quite liked to have had a shot of 67003
on the Didcot to Ashchurch train but didn't really have time without missing my swim. The train as pictured here nearly caught me out as I was expecting a distant signal on the other side of the bridge to be set to green before it came, but it wasn't. Luckily, 4Z47 with 66845 was moving quite slowly, maybe because of a problem with the barrier crossing at Clayfield Lane, a short distance to the east of here.
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Long Marston can be on my way home from the Evesham area if I use the country roads via Honeybourne so I thought that I may as well drop in to get a final shot as 66845 arrived; after all it is in a new colour scheme for the branch... I didn't have too long to wait before before I heard a horn as it left Honeybourne and a few minutes later appeared in the distance. This is probably about the best lighting it is
possible to achieve here as it is very unusual for anything to arrive here before the sun has moved quite a way round towards the south. I can never decided whether I prefer the shot taken here with a strong lens or something wider so I've included both. The gate into Long Marston was already open and little was time was wasted before the hoppers were running along the exchange sidings ready for storage in their new home. A train of JXA wagons was ready to leave at around 13.00, but
some domestic matters precluded me from waiting for this train to leave.
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During the week commencing 28 March 2010 most of the Jarvis company, including Fastline Freight, was taken into administration. This meant that Fastline's coal carrying operation ceased and their hoppers became, temporarily at least, surplus to requirements. Two sets of hoppers were scheduled to be moved from Chaddesden Yard at Derby to Gloucester Yard where they were to be stored. COLAS Rail were contracted
to perform the stock moves on Saturday 3 April and their class 47, 47727 ran light diesel from Washwood Heath to Chaddesden to pick up the first train, running as 4Z48 and scheduled to leave at 12.00. Although the train left Derby on time, it had picked up nearly 60 minutes by the time it reached Abbotswood Junction and was predictably looped to allow several
passenger trains to pass. The weather conditions at Croome Perry, near Pershore, started off quite reasonable but by the time 47727 was released from the loop it had become dark with rain just beginning to fall. My intention had been to move a few miles south for the second train headed by 47739 and which was in the Tamworth area at this time, but with about 90 minutes to wait and an increasingly dark sky
approaching, I decided that going home was a much better option.
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A rake of twenty TDA tanks was taken from Bescot to Long Marston on Monday 29 March 2010 with COLAS Rail's 47739 providing the power. Running as 6Z47 the train ran pretty much to time all the way, arriving just a few minutes late at its destination where it is here pictured approaching the road bridge adjacent to the
entrance to the site and passing a field liberally sprinkled with various bird-scaring devices to protect the crop. The light had picked up quite a bit since earlier in the morning, although a shower of rain was just starting to fall as I pressed the shutter release and the hills in the background were nearly obscured by low cloud. Good though it is to see a class 47 on a decent length freight, I wonder why the tanks could not have been moved
from DBS operated Bescot Yard on the usual 6V17, rather than by COLAS, which presumably increased the cost by having to have a path set up especially for the job?
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It's been quite a while since last I visited Norton Junction near Worcester, so on 16 March 2010 I went there with the intention of photographing 6V05, the 09.35 Round Oak to Margam train of empty steel carriers. Once the clocks have gone forward at the end of March, the sun is too head for this shot to work
well. The train was just about on time when it passed the lower quadrant semaphores controlling the junction with the Cotswold Line at 10.39 with a dirty 66027 in charge. I understand that these signals, along with the others on the line to Oxford are not going to be replaced
when the line is partially re-doubled, whenever that may happen. Local sources say that no date has yet been set for the remaining work to get underway. The signalbox is on the other side of this roadbridge and is in this view, taken a few minutes later than that of 6V05, of a First Great Western HST leaving
the Cotswold Line with a delayed service from London Paddington to Hereford. The delay was caused by a cable theft, the second within days, from a site near Honeybourne.
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Relatively few freights, other than steel to and from Round Oak, run on the line from Abbotswood Junction to Worcester but one of the regulars is that conveying MOD traffic from Didcot to Ashchurch. As there is no access to the Ashchurch branch from the south, trains have to run to Worcester Yard for the locomotive to run round its stock
before heading south to their destination. On 16 March 2010, 6B36, headed by a grubby and graffiti splattered 66126, was heavily delayed and passed this bridge, near Norton Barracks, at 12.20, around two hours late after its visit to Worcester.
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I've no interest in horse racing, but the Cheltenham Festival can usually be relied upon to produce one or two trains taking punters to the racecourse. On 16 March 2010 a Euston to Cheltenham special ran, unsurprisingly powered by 67006 and 67005. The outward run was booked to go via Worcester but in the event went straight down the Old Road.
I was at Norton Junction after photographing the Round Oak to Margam steel empties and decided not to move onto the main line for a shot because the light would have been tricky, to say the least. In any event, the ECS was booked to go to Worcester
for servicing so there was every chance of a photograph on the northern end of the Cotswold Line. Here is 67006 leading the colourful ensemble towards Worcester with 67005 bringing up the rear.
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The daily oil train from Lindsey Refinery to Westerleigh, and the return, 6E41, continues to produce a class 60 on most occasions. On 16 March 2010, I wasn't sure where the train was but as I was in the area a quick look over the bridge near Abbotswood Junction saw it coming. The light isn't really in the right
place at midday but it seemed rude to not take a shot as I was right on the spot. Here is 60071 in a rather misty and backlit, but attractive part of Worcestershire, heading north with the long train of empty tanks.
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Some unusual motive power was provided for 6M67, the 13.02 Bridgwater to Crewe nuclear flask train on 16 March 2010. The normal power is a pair or DRS class 37s, or sometimes class 20s or more rarely, a combination of the two and in recent times a couple of their 66s. I don't recall class 57s being used on flasks
in this area before so decided to hang around the Abbotswood area for a shot. This train is booked to run to Crewe via Worcester and Kidderminster but has been known to go up the Old Road so it seemed sensible to place myself somewhere south of Abbotswood Junction to be sure of getting my photograph. Here then are 57009 + 57008
heading north at quite a speed considering that they had been held in Eckington Loop to allow an Arriva Cross Country HST to pass. The speed seemed a likely indicator that 6M67 wouldn't be turning left a few hundred yards north at Abbotsood Junction and I later heard that it was indeed sent main line. One of my earlier
shots of 57009, this time double-heading with 57004 was taken at Hatton in 2006.
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A train of VTG JNA box wagons was taken from Long Marston to Peak Forest on Friday 12 March 2010 for use on the Dowlow to Ashburys circuit. The locomotive, 66201, ran light engine from Peterborough as 0V17, the headcode normally used for something from Bescot, arriving some time around 09.00. The booked departure time was
13.06 but when I arrived at Long Marston fresh from the swimming pool just before 11.00, the gates were locked and there was no sign of a train. After a run down to Honeybourne, I found 6M17 sitting on the branch awaiting a path to Evesham and Worcester. The heavy cloud parted just a little and
allowed a weak sun to illuminate the scene for a few seconds before the murk closed in again and it started raining. It looked to me as if the former Stratford Branch sidings at Honeybourne have seen something run over them very recently; and indeed, the
undergrowth on the line that used to run to the coaling stage appears to have been cut back a bit. That piece of track also looked quite shiny and I wonder what has been on it? I guess that it may have been some on-track plant as a locomotive move would probably
have been reported. My thanks to Graham Lee for the correct identification of the train's consist.
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The remaining pockets of semaphore signalling in Warwickshire are scheduled for replacement in the Autumn of 2010 when control of the North Warwickshire Line is transferred to Landor Street Junction Panel. The nearest signals to my home are those at Bearley Junction and
as Monday 8 March 2010 was clear and sunny I made up my mind to go and take a few shots from a couple of the foot crossings between there and Wilmcote. For reasons involving a sheep, a muddy, icy and slippery canal bank and the RSPCA I ended up at a crossing
further north than I had intended for my first shots with the result that the sun wasn't quite as far round as I should have liked. Still, the signals were the real target with 165002 heading to Stratford-upon-Avon from London Marylebone being almost incidental and really just providing an additional prop.
The signals here did, of course, operate in the lower quadrant, being firmly in GWR territory, but were converted a good twenty years ago to the then standard for semaphores. The splitting home signal was changed after the
outer starter which had already gone over to upper quadrant operation by the time that I started taking an interest.
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Great Western distant signals operating in the lower quadrant are very thin on the ground. I can think only a two or three around Worcestershire, some in Cornwall and this one operated by Bearley Junction signalbox on the up line between Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham.
I wasn't sure if it was being pulled off at the moment because of a speed restriction at the junction so was pleased to see that it was in use today. The Sprinter, 150019, is slowing for the stop at Wilmcote station on 8 March 2010 as it passes the signal on its way to Stratford. As I was keen to get a photograph of a train
passing it in the "off" position, I waited until 150019 returned from Stratford as the 14.27 to Stourbridge junction.
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With all the poor weather we have had recently, I haven't bothered much going out to photograph routine or daily workings as I don't want to get pictures that are less satisfactory to my eyes than some that I may previously have taken in good light.
As the afternoon of Friday 5 March 2010 was clear and sunny, albeit with a few clouds floating around, I decided to spend an hour or two just north of Warwick Parkway station just to take anything that came along. The first train to appear was 4M66, the 09.32
Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal hauled by 66206. The last intermodal I photographed here looked rather different, being headed by 60056 in slightly less favourable conditions.
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One of the most colourful trains to run on the GWR Leamington Spa to Birmingham line is 6M22, the 11.22 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty box wagons. On Friday 5 March 2010 66611 was providing the power as it climbed Hatton Bank near Warwick Parkway station
just a couple of sections behind 168106 which was just pulling away from its booked stop. This location is really one to use only in the winter and early Spring as the undergrowth adjacent to track becomes
too intrusive when the foliage starts to sprout. I don't often use a tripod but one is handy here because a long lens is necessary and I find that it is much more comfortable not to hold a heavy set of equipment, especially when freights are infrequent. The background
includes the tall West End tower of St. Mary's, Warwick and the round tower of Warwick Castle, two of the most prominent landmarks in the area. I had planned to wait for the Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks, but a friend told me that it was running about 30
minutes late at Oxford which would have meant a wait of over an hour in the cold wind, so with this, and some high cloud appearing, I went home.
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A former Southern Region EMU, 1881, was booked to be taken from Eastleigh to Barrow Hill on Wednesday 3 March 2010. I always have a small doubt about moves of this type as there are so many things that could prevent it happening, such as the unit being found unfit to move
or problems with the necessary paperwork. However, everything seemed to go exactly to plan with 5Z47 with 47739 providing the power and here is the train climbing Hatton Bank just about on time. The light was pretty bad but just beginning to pick up but not really good enough
for this distant sort of shot. My first plan had been for a tighter shot taken from the area of the wooded post with the blue top adjacent to the first coach, but first, someone has gone and stuck a metal fence in the just the wrong place meaning that a box will be necessary
to see over it and second, a fellow enthusiast was a bit further up the field and I didn't want to get into his shot. The first two coaches of 1881 appear to received the attentions of a graffiti vandal, his daublings having been painted out with what looks like grey primer.
Running just in front of 5Z47 was 1J82, the 11.20 London Marylebone to Wrexham WSMR service, with 67012 providing the traction. This is the only weekday WSMR train to come by this route, the others runnign via Coventry to Leamington Spa.
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Following my failure to obtain a picture of the Fastline operated Daw Mill to Didcot coal train in the snow a couple of weeks ago, I had another go on the sunny morning of 2 March 2010. I again went to Hatton where the sun would be where I wanted it
for this shot, and once again I failed, even though 6Z37 was supposed to be operating all week. My consolation prize was another well-lit shot of 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner, this time hauled by 66955. It was running pretty much to right time
passing me at 10.33. I don't know for how longer 6Z37 will run as I've seen a report somewhere that Didcot Power Station is not currently in operation, being out of use until Autumn 2010. Maybe I'm just not destined to get this picture...
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The majority of the passenger trains on the GWR Birmingham to Leamington Spa line are in the hands of Chiltern Railways' class 168 Clubman units. Most photographers ignore these because there's no locomotive involved but I usually take a shot or two of them if the conditions are favourable especially when there's
some contrast between the train and the background as with this picture taken on 2 March 2010 with a longish lens as 168106 rounds the curve near Hatton station on the way to London Marylebone. Note also the relaid track of the down line commencing after the pointwork leading from the Stratford branch platform, also used on occasions
by freights leaving Hatton's Down Goods Loop.
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Class 168 units now visit Stratford-upon-Avon on a daily basis after having been quite rare for some years. Here is 168109 about to leave the Stratford branch at Hatton Station Junction with the 11.38 to Marylebone on 2 March 2010. This train was halted at the signal just behind the third coach for several minutes while
66517 working 4M55, the 08.55 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner pulled out of the down goods loop. The exit from the branch platform in the up direction would, if the signal were overshot, have put this train directly in conflict
with the freight, hence the former being held on the short double track section at the end of the branch to avoid even the remotest possibility of a collision.
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A charter to Stratford-upon-Avon means, for me, that the weather will be dull and probably wet and quite possibly foggy. The West Coast Railway Company were in charge of a special to the terminus on Saturday 27 February and it looked as if the usual cloudy conditions had been ordered in advance.
That notwithstanding, I went to a foot crossing near Wilmcote station as I wanted a photograph which included Bearley Junction's up distant, a rare example of an operational lower quadrant semaphore. This is the only one of its type on the line, Henley in Arden's up distant operating in the upper quadrant and all
the others being colour lights. This signal, the post of which used also to carry a home arm in the days when Wilmcote had its own signalbox, is pulled off (with power assistance) for trains going along the North Warwickshire Line as this is the primary route at Bearley Junction. I'm not sure if it is currently used as there is a severe speed restriction at the junction and the signal may be left at caution as a
reminder to the driver. Anyway, here is 47804 leading 1Z47 from Carnforth, with 47786 dead on the rear of the train, in marginally better than expected light, towards Wilmcote station somewhere in the region of 7 or 8 minutes early. It would had to have waited outside Stratford
for 150125 to leave platform 1 at 12.27 with the hourly train to Stourbridge Junction.
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There was a brief but heavy snowfall on 18 February 2010, and as the following day was clear and sunny by 10am I decided to go out for a few shots. The country lanes were still quite hazardous, the journey to Hatton taking about ten minutes longer than normal, and as I arrived at the bridge adjacent to the station the rumble of a freight was clearly audible. I just managed to get my camera out and grabbed this photograph
of 66535 hauling 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner service. My real aim had been to get a shot of 6Z37, the Fastline operated coal from Daw Mill colliery to Didcot Power Station but
I had a call from a signaller friend just after 4O54 had passed and he told me that it was cancelled. I have been waiting for the right conditions to go out for this train so hope that it will soon appear again.
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I knew that no freights were closer than Reading on the Hatton line on 19 February 2010 so decided, rather than go home and waste the good light and snowy conditions, to drive over to Defford on the Birmingham to Gloucester line. I knew that 70003 was on the way with the Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford empty coal train and that I should be able to get to the roadbridge that I had in mind in time. Croome Perry was an alternative
but I thought that the sun would still be too head on there and I already have a shot of 70003 on the same train there. I had been at Defford only for two or three minutes when 4Z70 rolled quietly around the corner, having made it from the Birmingham area in not much over 35 minutes. There is currently a small permanent-way yard on the site of the station at Defford in connection with forthcoming engineering work and there
was a lot of activity while I was there, with various road/rail vehicles being fired up and tested prior to the weekend's work. Some of the debris that always seems to accompany p-way work is clearly visible on the left of the up line and the new rails ready to be laid on the down line are also visible.
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I don't know a lot about this train; just that it is 4V58, the FO-Q 09.32 Washwood Heath to Neath Abbey Wharf empty stone hoppers and that it was running maybe 55 or 60 minutes late. This was just as well or I would not have seen it
on 19 February 2010. The locomotive is a very dirty 66012 and it is passing the small engineering yard at Defford, Worcestershire. There was more snow on the ground than appears to be the case; the stubble in the field to the right of the train must have been
quite long and there was a good 3" on the footpath running across the railway bridge. Running just in front of 4V58 was a Cross Country HST led by power car
43384 working the 06.32 Dundee to Plymouth. This was a bit of a grab shot as I was looking south when it came under the bridge in the background.
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One of the few trains that can just about be relied upon to produce a class 60 at the moment is 6E41, the 11.41 Westerleigh to Lindsey duscharged oil tanks. To be quite honest, I wasn't intending to wait for this but the scene looking towards Bredon Hill was just
too pretty to ignore. I know that many people wouldn't have taken this shot given that it is so heavily backlit, but I thought that the sun reflecting from the snow would give the picture quite a lift and compensate for the sun being at an acute angle to the camera.
I have a lot of class 60 shots and it really needs either first rate lighting conditions or an unusual location for the class to enthuse me enough to wait around for one. By quite some coincidence, I took a shot of this train on 26 March 2007 in the same location with
the same locomotive, 60009 , albeit in rather different conditions with Bredon Hill being partially obscured by mist.
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I recently seem to have developed a bit of an obsession with obtaining pictures of DMUs at Henley-in-Arden. One of the pictures I have been after is a train passing the inner home signal in good light, a commodity which of late has been in short supply.
The best train for the angle of the sun is that arriving at Henley at 14.05 and the sky looked as if was clear enough to make the short trip from home on 11 February 2010 and sure enough, 150003 appeared right on time with the sun in a big clear patch.
Part of my keenness to get photographs here is that fact that the signals and associated signalbox will be gone by the Autumn and I much prefer the winter sun with its lower angle than that later in the year. The bay platform line and adjacent siding
have already been disconnected with new track and ballast having been laid through the statiion. All of the work so far has been taking place overnight to avoid disruption to the hourly passenger service, but I believe that at least one weekend of daylight
activity is planned later in the year.
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When a train is in clear sunny conditions, moving very slowly and a quite different perspective is available by widening the field of view, it is inevitable that a second
shot is inevitable. I can't see the point in putting online two or more shots that are identical save for the train having moved a couple of inches, but when the wider angle gives
another view altogether, perhaps by including a station platform, I think it is worthwhile. What I still call an ATC ramp is a new addition to the down line at Henley-in-Arden
but there is currently, on 11 February 2010, no sign of any new signal posts. No doubt these, when they arrive, will be the ugly and massively over-engineered variety that are
now in vogue.
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Five of the KIA steel carriers taken into Long Marston on 24 February 2009 were removed on 9 February 2010. The working involved CLOAS Rail's 47749
which ran light engine from Worcester arriving at Long Marston at about 11.45. The shot I had planned for the loaded return wasn't available so just went straight to Honeybourne to await the arrival of 6Z47 which happened
just a few minutes early and just before a down HST was due. One of the crew from 47749 can be seen heading towards the ground frame ready to call Evesham box once the HST had cleared the section to obtain permission
for his train to join the main line. The light never really went much above dreadful, but did pick up very slightly at one point so I took another shot of 6Z47
as it stood on the branch.
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First Great Western's passenger trains were running approximately to time on 9 February 2010 so 47749 was able to leave the Long Marston branch just about on time. It is here seen crossing over to the main line before heading off to
Worcester where it would run round the stock and go to Llanwern. There were several Network Rail gangs in the Honeybourne area, one of which ws examining the trackwork in the former branch platforms at the station and were probably assessing the
work to be done when the next phase of the redoubling and alterations to the layout takes place later in the year. A second was greasing and adjusting the points mechanisms of the ground frame as a Paddington to Hereford HST approached.
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The first train to Long Marston to run in 2010 was booked for 2 February when a short set of 4 Mk3 coaches ran from Norwich. The arrival time at 5Z22's destination was 16.22 and with the sun, if there was any, not setting until 16.57 there was a chance of a shot somewhere on the Cotswold Line. Earlier in the day I had made my mind up that
I wasn't going to bother until I was told that the coaches were in a livery that hadn't previously run over the line. When the rain stopped and a little brightness appeared at about 15.20 I thought it might be worth a go, so headed to just about the only location where the sun, if out, wouldn't be shining directly into the lens or be too low
to reach the track in the many cuttings. The train left Evesham about 5 minutes late and is here seen behind 37194 having just passed under the Evesham bypass and catching the very last rays of light before a thick bank of heavy cloud just about turned the scene nocturnal. I'm no expert in such matters but the coaches look as if they may be unbranded Nat-Ex stock
probably heading for storage.
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Most of the trains associated with the major engineering work on the North Warwickshire Line run overnight so as to allow the possessions to be lifted before the early morning passenger services begin to run. On Sundays, however, the passenger trains begin later and on 31 January 2010 this gave the opportunity
to photograph 66081 with 6P01, a shortish rake of autoballasters, as it arrived at Stratford-upon-Avon to run-round before heading back to Bescot. Here it is running into platform 1 about 10 minutes early just as the Network Rail gang in the car park were kind enough to tell me that it would. It was booked to
run back via Henley-in-Arden so I didn't hang around, having a feeling that it would be away well before the booked time, 09.50.
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I have taken quite a few pictures at Henley-in-Arden station over the past few months so decided to go to another location a little further north for my shot of 66081 with 6P01 to Bescot. It was a freezing morning with the very weak sun much too low to get into the cutting but I still
quite fancied the shot as it includes both the upper and lower quadrant signals that will disappear later this year when the line is resignalled. I heard the train coming, some 35 minutes early, for some time on the still morning but even with plenty of time to get everything set up I, for the first time since beginning
to use digital equipment in 2004, didn't switch on the camera as 66081 came into view. This meant that not only was the light in the cutting virtually non-existent but I had to reset the zoom length and take a hurried grab shot, the results of which are all too plain to see! I hope that another
opportunity to get this shot comes along soon so that there is a chance to get a sharp version! My thanks to David Weake for the information on 6P01.
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During the recent snowy weather I was lucky enough to obtain a reasonably attractive picture of 150007 from the towing path at Edstone aqueduct betwen Henley-in-Arden and Stratford-upon-Avon. When the sun appeared on Saturday 30 January 2010 I decided that it would
be a good idea to repeat the shot but with the "normal" landscape, so here is a very clean 150122, albeit with 2 coaches rather than 3, in the same spot. After taking this photograph I made the short drive north to Henley in order to finally get a sunny shot of the 13.05 arrival there; one which cloud has so far meant I have missed. On arrival, the sun was beautiful
so I took this view of the switched out signal box and starter and inner home signals and newly laid track, not to mention the recently arrived white trackside container no doubt to accomodate something or other for the ongoing engineering work. By the time the passenger train was due some small patches of cloud had appeared: need I say more?
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As I mentioned previously in this section, some significant alterations to the track layout at Henley-in-Arden have been expected for some time. During the past few nights, writing on 25 January 2010, the connection to the bay platform and siding has been removed along with the associated signalling and the connection replaced with plain track.
Here is the current scene which can be compared with a photograph taken in approximately the same position on 5 November 2009. Work in the area is ongoing, although entirely during the night, and the removal of the signabox and remaining semaphores cannot be too far away.
Another view of the severed connection from the other side of the footbridge can be seen here and a remnant from the steam age, the grills used for taking excess water from the column used to fill the tanks and tenders of locomotives is still to be seen on the ramp
at the Birmingham end of platform 2.
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After a very cold spell with heavy snow and leaden skies, the morning of 7 January 2010 turned out to be beautifully clear and sunny but with below-zero temperatures so that the snow wouldn't disappear too quickly.
I was keen to get a shot or two in these perfect conditions but didn't want to run the risk of a bent car or worse just for a photograph of a train. With this in mind I went just a few miles from home to the aqueduct at Edstone,
between Henley-in-Arden and Stratford-upon-Avon, arriving in time for the train from Stourbridge Junction due to pass there at about 12.10. Unsurprisingly, 150007 was a few minutes late when it came into view, running through
the very attractive Warwickshire countryside. The surroundings fields were an absolute picture in the snow and here is the view towards the diminutive River Alne, which runs along the
extreme left of the picture, passing the small hut just visible by the hedge.
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The morning of 22 December 2009 in Stratford-upon-Avon started off with low temperatures, icy roads and worst of all freezing fog. This was a bit of a shame as a Tyseley to Derby via Stratford with top-and-tail class 31s were booked to come here twice in the space of not much
more than an hour. I was in two minds whether to bother going out or not but decided that a short trip to Stratford station might be worth while where a photograph would at least have a solid background, essential in foggy conditions. A friend travelling to Birmingham 'phoned
me from somewhere near Shirley as 1Q12 passed his train, incidentally in bright sunshine. The test train was due to at Sratford at 09.42 but it was seven or eight minutes late when it appeared through the fog and came to a stand in platform 1 with 31602 leading a single coach and
31601.
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The 09.07 from Tyseley to Derby via Stratford-upon-Avon is here seen in platform 1 at Stratford-upon-Avon with green liveried 31601 about to lead the short ensemble away from the station and off towards Hatton where it was booked to reverse and return to Stratford before going back towards
the West Midlands via the North Warwickshire Line. The train had arrived here seven or eight minutes late, but with a ten minute break booked was spot on time leaving. The temperature was hovering around zero degrees celsius and the remaining snow and frost wasn't shifting at all, but the
fog was beginning to thin a little by the time 1Q12 left the oddly coloured Great Western footbridge behind.
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As I mentioned above, 30601 + 31602 were due to make two visits to Stratford-upon-Avon on 22 December 2009. Here is 31602 leading 1Q13 through a misty Wilmcote station after running both ways along the single track between Bearley Junction and Hatton. A solitary passenger is waiting for the 10.27
from Stratford to Stourbridge Junction which, if 1Q12 had been running late, might have blocked this shot. Fortunately though, it was on time and came quietly out of the mist just as a very weak sun appeared for a few seconds and gave a touch of illumination to the front of 31602. New station signs
have been erected hereby London Midland, and here is an example showing that the new operators of the station have taken some trouble to keep the size and shape of the new signs consistent with the older versions.
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During their second visit to Stratford-upon-Avon on 22 December 2009, 31601 + 31602 had their ten minute break at the station before returning north and on to Birmingham via Henley-in-Arden. The light was so poor that I really couldn't be bothered to move any further than the other
platform at Wilmcote station to get a final shot before returning home. Here then is 31601 in its relatively new green paintwork leading the short formation of 1Q12 under the Great Western footbridge just as a shaft of sunlight broke through the fog and did its best to ruin the picture; it was
just above the footbridge and shining straight into the lens. I said it before, but I do wish that London Midland would buy a few pots of paint and return the footbridges along this line to the Great Western's colour scheme of chocolate and cream. Maybe it might be possible during 2010, the 175th
anniversary of the company's inauguration...
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The new American locomotives operated by Freightliner, class 70, have been making their first appearances over the last couple of weeks. I wasn't tempted by light engine moves used for crew training or by shots in the dreadful light we have recently suffered but
decided to wait until the chance of a well lit photograph came along, and for which I wouldn't have to expend too much energy. The opportunity came on Thursday 17 December 2009 when 70003 took a loaded coal train from Portbury to Rugeley Power Station and returned
south with the empties. The day started bright and sunny and this continued throughout the morning and, luckily, when 4Z70 rounded the curve at Croome Perry wood. I chose to go here because 1) I knew that the sun would be in the right place, 2) because I have pictures
of virtually every class of diesel locomotive here and 3) because it's not far to go from home. The train had been running about 30 minutes late in the Birmingham area but the deficit had dropped to only two or three minutes by the time that I pressed the shutter release.
My first impression of the locomotive is favourable; it looks smaller than I had imagined, has a good workmanlike appearance and sounds pretty good, even when hauling only empty hoppers.
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On Thursday 10 December 2009 a stock move of refurbished WSMR stock was scheduled from the Marcroft works at Stoke-on-Trent to London Marylebone. As I had not yet seen any of the stock in the company's own livery I decided that a quick trip over to the Coventry line
would be a good idea, especially as the sun looked as if might stay out for a while. As it happened, the ECS move was either cancelled or heavily delayed but this train, 1P13, the 11.27 Wrexham to Marylebone service hauled by 67010 probably didn't look a lot different
as it passed Wootton Green, a short distance west of Berkswell station. Before leaving this location I couldn't resist this shot of 350118 in the lovely afternoon light as it headed to London Euston.
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During early December 2009, there have been many rumours circulating about the future, or lack of future, for class 60 locomotives. Previous stories of their imminent demise have been premature and the real situation is not known at the time of writing. During the late morning
of 10 December a message appeared saying that 60011, the only remaining class member in Mainline Blue livery, was working a Scunthorpe to Eastleigh train of welded rails. There was a suggestion that 6Z17 would be re-engined at Toton but this proved not to be the case and despite 60011 being
scheduled for withdrawal at 22.00 that night, it worked the train throughout. As Hatton was on my way home from the location I had visited earlier I dropped in to see if I was able to get a shot. Strangely, there were few reports of the movement, and none at all from the Water Orton area. Luckily,
a quick call to a friend in the know established that the train had just passed Dorridge station, no more than 10 minutes north of Hatton. Here is 60011 rounding the curve by Hatton statiion just as a weak sun began to drop out of a bank of thick cloud. Even with this little bit of illumination,
the light levels were desperately low which helps to account for the poor image quality.
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After a night of torrential rain, Monday 30 November turned out to be a beautifully bright and sunny day so with a couple of freights likely to make an appearance during the afternoon I went over to Hatton North Junction. The first along was 4M66, the 11.15 Southampton to Birch Coppice hauled by
66183. This was running just about to right time and with a full load made for quite an attractive picture in the late Autumnal sunlight. Shadows here begin to become a problem at about 14.45 at this time of the year and 4M66 was here about ten minutes before that before too much of the line was covered.
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The oil tanks from Lindsey Oil Refinery to Didcot Power Station run at least once a week during the winter and with an earlier departure than in previous years of the empty tanks from Didcot it can offer the chance of a picture of something other than a train of containers on the GWR line from Leamington Spa to Birmingham. On 30 November 2009
the departure of 6E48 was delayed by a little over 30 minutes and it was then held in the down loop at Leamington Spa station for a Chiltern Railways service even though this was at least 3 minutes behind it, with stops at Leamington and Warwick Parkway which would have given the tanks a run to Dorridge loop, at least. This made the
chances of a well lit photograph somewhat worse than they should have been and with a lot of cloud heading towards the sun it was touch and go at Hatton North Junction. All was well in the event and 60091 throbbed around the bend at 15.13, managing to dodge most of the shadows from trees in the adjacent field.
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Thursday 26 November 2009 produced one of those trains which somehow almost manage to sneak under the radar and run without much publicity. Early in the morning, DRS 37s 37688 + 37229 ran light engine to Gloucester to collect a really nice set of TEA tanks and JNA box wagons which were apparently destined either
for Kingsbury or Long Marston. It eventually transpired that by lunchtime the train, 6Z40, was in excess of 3 hours late and sitting in the yard at Worcester Shrub Hill. This was the clue to its destination so I decided to have a pop at it, largely because of the novelty of seeing DRS 37s
on a decent length train rather than one or two nuclear flasks. I went to Evesham as this is one of the few spots that I knew would be free of heavy shadows if the sun came out and the locations I really had in mind for a long train were in cuttings. Here is 6Z40 approaching Evesham station where the token
exchange takes place, before a rapid run to Honeybourne to get onto the Long Marston branch before the following FGW service met any delay.
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As Long Marston can be on my way home from Evesham, albeit by a slightly circuitous route, I went that way to see if another shot might be possible. A lot of slow traffic was encountered on one or two of the roads and as I went through Broad Marston I could see the train ahead of me on the branch. The road ahead was clear
and I made it to the roadbridge adjacent to the site with, quite literally, 5 seconds to spare which may account for the slightly dodgy composition of this shot! If the sun hadn't been out a better result may have been obtained...The locomotives were booked to leave light engine as no load was due to be taken out.
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As I mentioned in the caption to the photograph above, 37688 + 37229 left Long Marston light engine after working 6Z40 on 26 November 2009. They didn't go far and were stabled in the former Stratford Branch platform at Honeybourne station awaiting a driver to retrieve them, the driver of 6Z40 being out of hours because
of the train's late running. I haven't seen anything on this piece of track since about 1992 when the Bescot to Honeybourne Tip trips were running so this picture is currently a bit of a rarity. When the Cotswold Line is doubled in 2010 I believe that trains to and from Long Marston will use a relayed version of the line
upon which the 37s are standing and will join the main line a little to the south of the station. The shadows on the front of 37688 might not be quite so in evidence earlier in the day; this shot was taken at about 12.30 when the sun was quite well round. I would guess that taking the picture at about 10.00 might have produced a better
result.
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My intention on Wednesday 25 November 2009 was to photograph 3S87, the RHTT from Kings Norton to Kings Norton via Stratford-upon-Avon, somewhere along the North Warwickshire Line. In the event, the weather was quite poor at the time that I should have had to have left home so the plan was put on hold.
At about 13.15, tooo late to drive out anywhere for the train, the sky looked as if it would clear so I just made the short walk down to Stratford station. A couple of minutes after I arrived, the 13.27 to Stourbridge Junction formed of 150003 pulled out of
platform 1 under a sky that was just too dramatic to ignore. After the Chiltern Railways class 165 just visible on the left had gone at 13.40, the sun went behind a thick bank of cloud and I thought that yet another dull shot was on the cards. Fortunately though, 3S87 was running a bit late and the winter sun
came back out. As the train was running late it didn't run right along the platform but stopped before the footbridge, where the crew changed ends before going back north. The signal was cleared to green by Bearley Junctiion's signaller almost before 3S87
had come to a halt so that it could leave immediately and run along the North Warwickshire Line with its long signalling sections without causing delay to the following train.
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Saturday 21 November 2009 was an exceptionally dull and dreary day and in keeping with recent weather traditions was a day with a charter train visiting Stratford-upon-Avon. I cannot remember the last time that a special arrived here in anything even approaching decent light so had already
decided to do no more than go for a record shot as the train arrived. Just to make things more difficult from a photographic point of view, 1Z13 from Scarborough, was hauled (and tailed) by WCRC locomotives, the colour scheme of which needs good sunny conditions to give a good image. Here is
the train arriving at the terminus with 57601 leading; the first time that I have photographed a member of this class here as on its previous visit I chose to take my picture near Bearley Junction. As is often the case
with charters to Stratford the train was run in top-and-tail mode to facilitate easier shunting between platforms 1 and 2; on this occasion 47826 was on the rear and thus in position to lead the return working.
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While the passengers were alighting from their train from Scarborough I wandered along platform 2 at Stratford-upon-Avon for a record shot of 47826 complete with its Scarborough Spa Express advertising vinyls adorning the bodysides. Platform 2 here is not used on a daily basis and generally sees only
workings of this nature, including the steam hauled trains from Birmingham which run on summer Sundays. For reasons unknown, when the terminus was resignalled in the 1990s no facility for trains to run directly into platforms 2 or 3 was included in the plans. These does seem somewhat shortsighted given that most
Chiltern Trains services to London Marylebone have to shunt from the arrival platform before leaving and any specials have to do the same, but into platform 2. This inevitably causes some delay and on Saturdays, when there is a half-hourly Birmingham service, there is insufficent time for
the shunt to take place, and as usual, the incoming London Midland class 150 had to wait outside the station until 5Z13 had entered platform 2. As I walked home from the station the sound of 57601 moving into the platform was clearly audible above the traffic noise...
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The afternoon of 19 November 2009 saw what has been reported as the final run of 6Z48, the 13.05 Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor empty steel carriers. The motive power was yet another unusual and colourful class 47 combination, being the former Virgin Cross Country liveried 47769 with COLAS Rail's 47749.
Although the light was on the dark side of poor I felt that a final shot of the train would be in order and went to Bentley Heath crossing, just north of Dorridge station. On arrival, the foreground to the left of the track was occupied by a large lorry, but this left in time for the ground level shot
which I had planned to take to become available. I thought that this wider view would show the contrasting paint schemes off to their best advantage. The train was checked at the signal and went into the goods loop to allow an Arriva Cross Country voyager to pass; a good move because it allowed a slower shutter speed and thus
a smaller aperture than would otherwise have been necessary had it been running at line speed. I shall quite miss these brief Thursday afternoon outings for 6Z48, mostly because of the colourful variety of locomotives that has been rostered to it.
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I was just returning home at about 07.40 on Wednesday 18 November 2009 after taking my wife to work and, as usual, glanced across Morrison's car park towards the railway station. I was somewhat surprised to see 37425 standing in platform 2 at the head of
an engineering train, obviously after late-running work on the North Warwickshire Line. I live fairly close by, so quickly picked up my camera and tripod and went back to the station
to see if a shot was available as locomotives of any description here are not that common. I had just set up with a guessed exposure of 1/5 sec at f11, my camera being on ISO 400 after a failed attempt for the RHTT on Sunday, when the brakes were blown off. This then is the only image I had a chance to take; not exactly what I would have liked but
a record, albeit with the train just moving, presumably en-route to Bescot. My BlackBerry is out of commission again for yet another trackball repair so I didn't see any messages nor was I able to post out the information myself.
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The weather forecast for the afternoon of 12 November 2009 indicate that strong winds and heavy rain would replace the clear skies of the morning. Hoping to catch to catch a cloudy but bright interlude I headed off to
Wootton Wawen station, on the North Warwickshire Line, with the intention of taking a photograph of 3S87, the RHTT scheduled along there. When I arrived at the bridge over the station, the sun was out and, being in a cutting, the
line was shadowed with a brightly lit background. This wasn't at all what I wanted, so had a quick drive to Danzey, on the other side of Henley-in-Arden where the sun, if out, would be in the right place. Naturally, as soon as I arrived, a
thick bank of cloud appeared but as the train appeared in the distance a small hole in the cloud allowed the sun to poke through. New London Midland station signs have recently been erected here, replacing the previous
Regional Railways versions. I really enjoy these short sessions on my local lines and much prefer it to spending a few hours alongside
a main line somewhere photographing routine traffic, especially in poor light. Maybe, after many years, I have become more selective!
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A rake of Mk2 coaching stock has been trying to escape from Long Marston for a couple of weeks but for various reasons apparently revolving around school holidays and
unavailable locomotives, it didn't happen until 9 November 2009. The motive power on the day changed from 47812 to 31190, the green liveried locomotive running light diesel
from Washwood Heath to collect the coaches. An early departure from Long Marston took place but the train, 5Z47 to Barrow Hill, had to stand time on the former East Loop
at Honeybourne until both an up and a down train had passed and cleared the single line between Moreton in Marsh and Evesham.
Here, 31190 and the six coaches stand on the loop from Long Marston in quite dark and misty conditions, the Cotswold Hills being virtually obscured by the murk.
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As soon as the HST shown in the linked picture above had reached Evesham it was possible for a crew member from 31190 to insert the key in the ground frame at Honeybourne switch the points and call
5Z47 to come over the spur and onto the Cotswold Line spot on time at 13.25. The train was then to run via Evesham, Worcester, Droitwich Spa and the Lickey Incline to Birmingham and on to its
destination at Barrow Hill. This shot will not be possible by this time next year when the Cotswold Line receives double track as trains from Long Marston will run on the tracks on the extreme
left of this picture past the platforms at Honeybourne station and join the main line just south of the platforms.
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Just as I was arriving at Long Marston on 9 November 2009 I took a telephone call saying that the three class 87s that had returned to Long Marston
on 8 October were about to leave by road. As there was some time before the railway action was due to take place I drove round to a road junction just beyond the main gate of the storage depot. Within a few minutes I saw the
low-loaders on the internal road system and thought that a quick couple of shots would ensue before I went back to record 31190's departure by rail. Unfortunately, there must have been some sort of problem and when I received
a text message saying the the train was about to leave I left the roadside and went straight to Honeybourne. After the train had gone I went for another look at the main gate and
found 87013, 87004 and 87014 on their respective lorries but with no signs of a departure imminent. I therefore took just this quick shot before going home. I understand that the 87s were taken to Hull for export by sea to Bulgaria. My thanks to Jack Boskett for the call about the class 87 move.
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Friday 6 November was another dull and drizzly day in Stratford-upon-Avon so I took the opportunity to obtain another couple of shots of 3S87, the RHTT that runs down and up the North Warwickshire Line with a reversal at Stratford. I do like to take pictures of these short trains
in station settings so that there is some definable character to the shot, especially when the light is on the dire side of dreadful. Here is DR98908 leading the formation through Wilmcote, a pretty well preserved example of a Great Western country station, unusually with buildings
still extant on both sides of the lines. That on the down side, adjacent to the train, has been closed for as long as I can remember but I can recall the booking office on the up side being in use. I believe that a cardboard model of the down side building used to be available and examples
are probably in use on model railways somewhere in the country.
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There wasn't too long to wait before 3S87 reappeared, climbing the last few yards of the 1 in 75 of Wilmcote Bank before passing the eponymous station, but even in that short time the light deteriorated quite dramatically. I took this shot early enough to show the privately owned and well maintained buildings on the up side of the station, along with
part of the substantial house once occupied by the Stationmaster here. The GWR knew how to look after their staff in the days when the holder of such a position was a prominent member of the local community. I know that it's down to personal choice but I do feel that those who
photograph only locomotives in the countryside miss out on some great historic locations and infrastructure. In how many places does one see
a bicycle shed built in such as style as this, with accurately shaped woodwork? OK, the colour, a pinkish brown, is not authentic GWR but it does match that of the other stations along the line. New London Midland Railway signs are gradually
appearing in the area and I imagine that it won't be too long before Wilmcote gets the treatment.
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On Thursday 5 November 2009 I decided not to bother with a shot of 47805 hauling the Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor empty steel train but went instead to Henley-in Arden station for a few more pictures of a DMU and the RHTT going to and from Stratford-upon-Avon.
The old railway infrastructure at Henley is unlikely to survive for much longer given that resignalling is imminent so I thought that it would be a good opportunity to top-up my images from here. First along was 150019 slowing for the station stop while working a
Stourbridge Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon train. Despite there being plenty of blue sky around, I wasn't lucky with the sun on this occasion so the Autumnal colours aren't shown to their best advantage but
I was happy enough to secure some more photographs of this attractive country byway.
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The DMU in the picture above soon cleared the signalling section which currently ends at Bearley Junction and this allowed the signaller to pull off the signals giving
3S87, the Kings Norton to Kings Norton via Stratford-upon-Avon RHTT, a clear road. A couple of minutes after the inner home signal was raised, the sun came out
and I took this picture of the bay platform and siding signals. I did once ask a signaller here if it might be possible
to take pictures with these signals in the "off" position, but he declined, saying that he thought it quite possible that the points, if moved across to allow the
signals to be pulled off, might well not go back again! Anyway, 3S87 with DR98958 leading, came right on time and shortly after the sun went in again, this time into
a sky full of black cloud.
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I hadn't really intended to stay at Henley in Arden for the return of 3S87 but changed my mind so as to get this picture as it ran through the platform with its
water jets going at full belt. A cloudy sky was helpful on this occasion so that a shot looking towards the south-west was possible. Unlike the last time I saw this working,
it had been held to right time either at Stratford station or Bearley Junction which meant that it
should have crossed a Stratford-bound class 150 in the platform. Fortunately, the DMU was a minute or so late and my shot, with DR98908 now leading, wasn't obscured.
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For the second time in recent weeks a class 31 hauled SERCO train has visited Long Marston. The first I didn't see because the weather was so bad that even the short journey from my home would have been a waste of time, but this one,
on 29 October 2009 ran in much better conditions. InterCity liveried 31454 was in charge of the transit move of an HST coach from the New Measurement Train along with two other vehicles acting as translators and barriers. The ensemble ran as
1Z06 from Derby and was due to arrive at Long Marston at 11.50. I should have quite liked a shot of the working around Evesham but didn't leave my Health Club's swimming pool until 11.10 so went straight to Long Marston from where I heard
a squeaky horn as 1Z06 arrived at Honeybourne. There wasn't, therefore, long to wait until it came into view and slowly approached the end of the branch in just a little soft sunlight. As the train was a few minutes early, the gate wasn't open although the
Motorail Logistics crew was on the way in their Harry Needle Railway Company locomotive, and here is another look at 31454 and the first coach. Use this hyperlink
to have a closer look at the NMT vehicle.
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1Z06 hadn't been in the exchange sidings at Long Marston for more than a few minutes before 31454 was uncoupled from the stock and 01552 BH attached to the other end. Here is the unusual sight of a SERCO train being
hauled by an industrial shunter. The journey was very short, probably no more than 50 yards, and the three yellow coaches were uncoupled once again and stabled alongside a rake of box wagons. I don't know the reason
for this transit move but the return working has been scheduled for the afternoon of Friday 30 October, albeit a little too late for a photograph now that the clocks have gone back an hour; unless, as is sometimes the case,
an earlier path is found. The crew from the class 31 left Long Marston and were driven off in a van by the same man that had operated the ground frame at Honeybourne to get the train onto the branch.
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With only a short time left to run on this route, the empty steel train from Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor, 6Z48, managed to produce yet another differently coloured class 47 on 29 October 2009. This time it was
47812 in two-tone green that did the honours and with the light getting poorer by the minute I went, just for a change, to the nearest spot from home as I didn't see the point in going too far for a dull shot. The train ran a few minutes early and is here seen rounding the
curve just to the north of Hatton station where the original number of the locomotive, D1916 is visible.
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I always like to take a few pictures of the RHTTs on my local lines and once the clocks have changed at the end of October there are few better places for a shot than Henley-in Arden. Here is DR98912
leading 3S87, the Kings Norton to Kings Norton via Stratford-upon-Avon train, past the signalbox and associated semaphore signals. To be quite honest, as one who was brought in GWR territory, I should prefer
signals operating in the lower quadrant but the pegs here still are an attractive feature of the North Warwickshire Line. It won't be long, probably less than 12 months, before the box here is taken out of service
and the signals replaced with modern equipment operated from Landor Street panel so this year may well be the last chance for this shot. For a better view of the signalbox, use this hyperlink.
One benefit of the resignalling will be that a half-hourly passenger service will be possible throughout the day with the chance to run trains with fewer stops, thus resulting in much reduced journey times. There will also be more paths available
so the few special trains that run from the north to Stratford may be routed this way.
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The regular passenger services along the North Warwickshire Line run between Stourbridge Junction and Stratford-upon-Avon. These are currently formed of class 150 DMUs although new class 172 units should make an appearance in the relatively near future. Here,
150007 forming the 14.27 from Stratford, calls at Henley-in-Arden and is using platform 2 from which the overall canopy was removed many years ago, the passenger accomodation now being a steel and glass shelter. The canopy remains on platform 1,
but somewhat bizarrely, there are no seats of any description. New signage was being fitted during my visit and it is to be hoped that a use may be found for the boarded up but still sound building.
In common with several other stations along the line, Henley has been painted in some rather odd colours, bearing no relationship to any railway company colour schemes either past or present. Before many minutes had passed,
3S87 returned north and is here seen between the up and down signals on the Stratford side of the station. The RHTT has to wait here for a few minutes until the preceding
passenger train had cleared the section by reaching Shirley station.
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With the prospect of a few freights along the line through Hatton and with Friday 23 October being the last weekday before the clocks go back for Autumn I spent a couple of hours at the south end of the cutting. The first train at which I pointed my camera was the 12.20 Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill formed of class
168 168109. I can rarely resist taking pictures of these units when the sun is in the right place and especially when there is such an attractive cloudscape. I do not know whether it is down to the topography of the area but the skies around Hatton and Warwick often have a highly photogenic appearance during the early afternoon.
One of the regular Autumnal features of the landscape at Hatton is a field of pumpkins ready for the customers at Hatton Country World preparing for Halloween celebrations.
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The first freight to pass me was the Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal but the light was dreadful, it was routed into the down goods loop and there were no containers in view as it approached my viewpoint so I didn't take a shot. The main object of the exercise
was to try and get a decent picture of 60040 hauling 6E48, the 12.25 Didcot Power Station to Lindsey Oil Refinery empty oil tanks. This had gone up earlier in the day, but running about 4 hours late so even though there were just 10 tanks in the consist some delay to the return
was likely. I was fortunate that I was in contact with Howard who was close to Didcot and to whom I am most grateful for the updates on 6E48's progress. The light had just about collapsed altogether shortly before the train was due and I thought that this shot of the
New Measurement Train running as 1Z21, with power cars 43014 + 43014, would be my last with even a glimmer of light. Three passenger trains passed in near darkness but when I heard 6E48 approaching the sun somehow found
a totally clear patch of blue sky which lasted for about 3 minutes. The following train, 6E55 from Theale to Lindsey which also was running late, came in cloud...
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The regular Thursday run of 6Z48, the 13.05 Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor empty steel train, produced yet another another colourful class 47 combination on 22 October 2009. This time, the colour was provided by Virgin Trains liveried 47769 which was being transported dead in train, 47805 being the motive power.
The light was dreadful with heavy rain just beginning to pass over when it passed Hatton a few minutes early at 14.25. I wouldn't have gone out for this short train on such a dark afternoon had 47769 not been part of the consist but thought that the unusual sight would be worth the short trip to the nearest
location to my home. Sadly, it appears that this train is not to run for many more weeks, at least on this route. One theory is that the steel is to be imported into Boston docks and taken to Burton from there.
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Cross Country Trains run several HSTs from Scotland and the North East to the West Country route. Thes relatively elderly sets still perform as well as they always did and provide infinitely more comfortable accomodation
for passengers than the noisy, cramped and vibrating Voyagers. Here is 43357 leading the 06.32 Dundee to Plymouth service past Croome Perry Wood at 14.06 on a sunny Friday 16 October 2009. I was a bit disappointed
that the Autumnal colours in the background have yet fully developed so I may return in a couple of weeks given the right conditions.
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Adding a welcome splash of colour to the sunny scene at Croome Perry on 16 October 2009 is 153380 leading an unidentified class 158 on the 14.51 Great Malvern to Weymouth. I quite like the current
First Great Western colour scheme as it generally provides a good contrast to whatever background one has in the photograph. I generally prefer to take southbound shots in this area at Defford, a couple
of miles south of Croome, but the lineside trees cast quite heavy shadows by 14.30 at this time of the year.
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Class 60 locomotives have recently been seen on an almost daily basis on one or other of the steel trains to and from Round Oak. On Friday 16 October 2009 the former Mainline 60011 was allocated to 6M81 from Margam to Round Oak and the return, 6V07.
I always thought that the blue livery of Mainline was the smartest of the early days of privatisation and even today, with differing shades of blue on the bodysides, I find it
an attractive colour. The rapidly fading logo of its former operator can just be made out as the locomotive and its train of empty steel wagons passes Croome Perry Wood near Pershore on the way to South Wales.
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A train of empty coaching stock ran from Carnforth to Stoke Gifford near Bristol on Friday 16 October 2009. It started off with WCRC's 47787 leading and with a couple of class 37s on the back but the 47 caught fire between Crewe and Stafford. Another 47, 47851, was despatched from Carnforth to haul 5Z64 forward but
before changing one of the 37s which 47851 dragged with it. After a lot of shunting and delay the train finally set off again and is here seen passing Croome Perry just before the sun managed to drop out of a bank of cloud. The railtour for which the ECS was destined also had problems following the failure of one of
the WCRC 37s hauling the train north. The locomotive failed at Bristol Parkway which delayed the train by around 90 minutes while 47851 was taken from the back and placed behind the remaining live 37. The train was then taken forward by the 37 and 47 working in tandem.
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The afternoon of Wednesday 14 October 2009 became clear and sunny after a murky start and with nothing much of interest about I went for another photograph of the RHTT train running along the North Warwickshire Line. I initially looked at Henley-in-Arden but the sun was a little too straight at 13.15 so decided to move south a few miles
to Edstone Aqueduct, where the line swings around onto an east/west axis. I heard the horn on DR98957 blow for a crossing just as a narrow boat started its journey across the longest cast-iron aqueduct in England and thought that I might have my shot obscured; an unusual situation to say the least. In the event, all was well and 3S87
came about 5 seconds after the boat had cleared my position.
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As Autumn progesses the Raihead Treatment Trains start their daily journeys around the country both to clear leaves from the line and to apply Sandite, a paste intended to aid adhesion in slippery conditions. The West Midlands RHTTs are based at Kings Norton from where one diagram runs down to Stratford-upon-Avon,
where arrival is scheduled for 13.48. I wasn't surprised to see a slightly early arrival on 13 October 2009 when DR98907 + DR988957 came into the station before reversal and a northbound run along the North Warwickshire Line via Henley-in-Arden. The other line to Stratford, that from Hatton to Bearley Junction, is not covered as there
are no real gradients that might cause problems for the trains running over it. Here is a slightly closer view as the MPV stands in platform one while the crew changes ends, and a heavily backlit shot as the train, 3S87, departs a few minutes after the
13.41 Chiltern Trains service to Marylebone has started its journey.
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The Northern Belle made its third visit of 2009 to Stratford-upon-Avon on 9 October. The train started from Leeds and as well as Stratford, passengers were able to alight at Birmingham International for the Horse of the Year Show. The original plan was it to run from Birmingham International
to Coventry and Leamington Spa, before reversing and heading for Stratford via Hatton station. In the event, the plan changed and the reversal took place at International with the train running via New Street and Dorridge to Hatton North and thence on to Stratford via Bearley. Here is 67002 leading the
smart stock through Bishopton and passing the site of the Park and Ride station due to be constructed in the near future. This site was chosen because it is immediately adjacent to the existing and under-utilised Park and Ride for car travellers. With the reversals planned for the journey it was obviously
necessary for the train to be topped-and-tailed and 67001 is just visible under the bypass bridge in the background.
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The three class 87s that were taken from Long Marston to Crewe on 16 September did not pass the tests carried out on them and were therefore returned for further work on 7 October 2009. They were tripped to Worcester the previous day and I was tempted to go for a photograph of
them but decided instead to trust the weather forecast and wait for a decently lit picture when the second stage of the move took place. The locomotive used to move 87004, 87013 and 87014 was 47839 and the bightly coloured ensemble is here seen leaving Evesham station a few minutes
late, having had to wait for First Great Western's 166213 to clear the single track from Moreton-in Marsh.
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I went home from Evesham via the back roads which took me past Long Marston and arrived with a few minutes to spare before 0Z57 arrived. Here is the train moving into the site where a recent arrival from the Harru Needle Railway Company is ready to move the three class 87s
to the sheds where the remedial work will be carried prior to their export to Bulgaria. The class 57 was not due to leave for Honeybourne until much later, but did not hang about and wwent almost straight away; use the hyperlink for a photograph of
it joining the branch and an earlier path to Worcester.
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As more class 60s are reinstated to traffic because of a requirement for 66s to work Rail Head Treatment Trains they are returning to some of the workings previously associated with them. The Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks, 6E55, is one of those trains and 60010 was
allocated to the job on 5 October 2009. The weather was dull so I decided to go for a shot from the north side of the footbridge at the southern end of Hatton Cutting but by the time the train was due the sky was beginning to clear a little and I was tempted to move
to another location in case the sun broke through. Fortunately, a signaller friend was able to tell me where 6E55 was and I decided that it would be a bit tight if there was any traffic so stayed put. Here then is 60010 slowly climbing Hatton Bank against adverse signals caused by it following a Chiltern Trains class 168
booked to stop at Hatton station, about half a mile further north.
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The train of oil from Lindsey Oil Refinery to Didcot power Station on Monday 5 October 2009 was hauled by 60045. This train runs infrequently during the summer but its frequency increases during the Autumn and Winter and this is the second week in succession that it, and the return, 6E48,
has turned up. I had left my previous location on the footbridge at the southern end of Hatton Cutting as the sky in the west was clearing quite rapidly and this proved to be a good move. I knew that 60045 had been replaced by 66099 for the northbound run of the empty tanks but I was quite content
with this change of motive power as long as the sun was clear of the patches of cloud drifting around. I heard the train approach although it was out of sight and judging by the low speed at which it was obviously travelling it was clearly routed into the down goods loop. As far as the light was concerned
this was a good thing as the sun came out fully only as 66099 with the empty tanks approached my position. Another year of unchecked growth from the trees here will, I think, mean the end of this photographic location, one which I have been visiting for the past 25+ years.
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The loaded steel train from Dollands Moor to Small Heath, 6Z47, was hauled by examples of class 47 in COLAS and Riveria Trains liveries on 29 September. Through circumstances that I forget and that now don't matter anyway, the returning empties on 1 October
2009 were in the sole hands of 47839. I quite wanted a picture of a single blue class 47 on this freight but, having most used most of the local locations more than once since the train starting to run, was undecided on where to go. I remembered that I used to
go to a bridge near the M40 between Rowington and Lowsonford so went for a look there. The roadside trees have grown up a bit since 1994 but there was quite a goodly patch clear of shadows in just the right place. I needn't have worried;
the sun, predictably enough I suppose, fell into a big dark cloud just as the train was due. I would have been a bit peeved had the train been hauled by a COLAS/Riviera Trains combination. Here is 47839 emitting a nice burst of exhaust as it rounds the curve and heads south towards Hatton.
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Following on from the now rare working of a class 60 on 6E55 last week, another turned up on a more unusual working on Thursday 1 October 2009. This
was 6M31, the 10.26 Banbury to Mountsorrel Lafarge empty stone train which has never been regularly hauled by a 60; I can recall three or four previous occasions in recent years. It is difficult to know where to photograph
this train south of Birmingham if it looks as if the sun might appear. I had originally intended to take my picture from the north side of the footbridge at the south end of Hatton Cutting but when I arrived there the sun was breaking
through and the sky in the background was too bright and therefore moved to a much tighter and more overgrown spot further north. I needn't have worried; the light was just about at its worst when 60019 appeared right on time,
fortunately staying on the main line rather than being looped. On the way back to my car via an excellent cooked breakfast at the Hatton Locks Café, I took a couple of views around the Grand Union Canal's flight of locks. This is the view
looking north towards the café, and this looking south towards Warwick. The bell tower just visible used to be part of what was called Hatton Lunatic Asylum
in less politically correct times. It now forms just about the only feature on an otherwise bland modern housing development.
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For the first time in months a class 60 was rostered to work the Lindsey Oil Refinery to Theale oil tanks, and thus the 6E55 return, on 27 September 2009. I had virtually made up my mind not to go out for the
train as there was heavy cloud cover with no obvious signs of any breaks. However, at about 15.00 I was in my garden and saw that some lighter cloud and a few blue patches were appearing. Half an hour later there were one or two significant
clear spots so I made the short journey over to Hatton North Junction. The preceding Chiltern Trains unit was on time and at 16.10 60085 came around the curve at a reasonable speed, showing that 6E55 had not been looped but had followed
the stopping train up Hatton Bank. The light wasn't brilliant but a lot better than I had earlier envisaged.
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Once again, on Thursday 24 September 2009, the empty steel train from Burotn-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor was in the hands of Riviera Rail's locomotives. This time it was 47805 and 47839, the pair having to have run-round each other before departure as the
speedometer in 47839 was faulty. The sun wasn't quite out as 6Z48 passed Hatton station but I quite like the soft Autumnal light even though unclouded sun would obviously have been preferable. My excuse for yet another shot here is that I hadn't yet photographed
the blue 47s on the curve and nothing to do with the fact that I couldn't be bothered to drive any further...
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I had just reached my car after photographing 47805 + 47839 at Hatton when a friend further south telephoned to say that 37609 hauling 20304 + 20305 had just passed
Leamington Spa in a northbound direction. If it had been just a single light engine I wouldn't have bothered with a picture, but the station at Hatton is quite good
for a tight shot of a short train so I went back and just after getting onto the footbridge the train, from Eastleigh to Crewe Gresty Lane appeared. I don't really
follow what is going on with the various locomotive fleets but the class 20s look as if they are freshly repainted into DRS' colours. Use the hyperlink
for a closer shot of 20305 bringing up the rear of the train.
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A test train, the first to run over the line since a major possession during the summer, went up and down the North Cotswold Line on 23 September 2009. I wasn't able to photograph the morning run in the up direction but did go over to Evesham
for the return from Oxford. The train, 4Z10 from Derby, was powered by 31106 which has recently been repainted in the rail blue that it carried in earlier times. I don't, these days, chase around as soon as a new paint job appears but prefer
to wait until the locomotive comes within easy reach before getting a picture. If that happens to be a nice sunny shot then that's great, but on this occasion the sun was firmly covered as the train approached Evesham station so I took the opportunity
to take the photograph from the north side of the line, meanwhile hoping that an opportunity for a sunny shot will come along soon. The locomotive was very clean and reflections from the vegetation in the cutting are clearly visible. Note also the lower quadrant
signal in the background; it looks very much as if the signal wire tensioner needs a turn or two as the angle of the arm seems a little awry.
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Another three class 87s destined for export to Bulgaria were taken to Crewe from Long Marston on Wednesday 16 September 2009. Unusually, COLAS Rail sent one of its class 56s, 56311, to do the job, the locomotive having
been stabled overnight in the centre siding at Worcester Shrub Hill station. Here is the ensemble complete with 86401 still in Network SouthEast livery making an early departure from Long Marston as 0Z57. The other electric locomotives are 87013, 87014 and
87004, the latter still in BR rail blue albeit with the Bulgarian numbering system applied. For a closer look at the rear two locomotives please
click on this hyperlink. The class 86 is not for export but presumably will be taken to Crewe either for storage or refurbishment to main line standard.
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The light on 16 September was mostly very poor but with occasional and brief sunny spells. In the hope that one of the latter would coincide with 0Z57's departure from Honeybourne, I went home via this location just to the east
of Evesham. A clear patch was approaching the sun as the barriers across the road in the background were being lowered but it arrived about two minutes too late and after 56311 and its load had passed. This is not really a typical North Cotswold Line
location with the nearby scrapyard but I quite like to show the different viewpoints along the line, and in reality, I don't have much interest in photographing these workings once they have reached the busier lines north of Worcester. For another
look at 87401 as the train receded towards Evesham, use this hyperlink.
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For the second time in recent weeks, the empty steel train from Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor was operated by locomotives hired from another company as COLAS Rail's own class 47s were busy elsewhere. On 10 September 2009, Riveria Rail's 47848 + 47839 were used and as I find the
Oxford Blue livery carried by the pair quite attractive I decided to take a ground level shot looking over the gate at Bentley Heath crossing, near Dorridge; a shot that was rarely possible until the adjacent signlabox was taken out of use and demolished because the signaller generally
parked his car in just the wrong spot. The train, 6Z48, was checked at the signal visible over the sixth covered flat which accounts for the impressive exhaust as it accelerated away towards Dorridge station. By quite a coincidence, I photographed the same pair of locomotives,
albeit on separate trains, at Leamington Spa in March 1993.
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For those with a fondness for photographing class 150 DMUs, the line between Birmingham Snow Hill and Dorridge is a happy hunting ground as there is regular service at 20 minute intervals throughout much of the day. The train generally run into the bi-directional platform 3 at
Dorridge and return north within a few minutes of arrival. Here is 150001 crawling towards the crossover from the up main line at Bentley Heath, situated just to the south of the crossing, to the line leading to the platform. Dorridge is also served by Chiltern Trains' class 165 and 168 units
to and from London Marylebone and here is an example of the latter, 168106 slowing for the station stop.
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I had one of my increasingly rare outings for a couple of charters on Saturday 5 September 2009. The first was a Worksop to Claydon Junction railtour which ran to London Marylebone and then along the freight line to the Railway Centre at Quainton Road before covering some
relatively rare track for passenger trains, this being the road through Calvert and into the loop at Claydon LN & E Junction before reversal. The morning started with crystal clear skies but cloud rapidly built up from the west and by the time 1Z37 was south of Birmingham
the cover was quite heavy. I just went to Hatton and was lucky in that the sun just managed to clear some quite thick cloud as the train, headed by WCRC 33207, rounded the curve towards the station. The train was running on time at this point but had earlier been around 20 minutes late
because the trailing locomotive, 37516, had suffered a brake problem involving a lack of air pressure in the system. There was fortunately a stack of recovery time built into the schedule in the Birmingham area which allowed the lost time to be, well, recovered...
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The second charter that I photographed on 5 September 2009 was the second visit in recent weeks of the Northern Belle to Stratford-upon-Avon. Wilmcote is on the way home from Hatton where I had been photographing earlier in the morning so it seemed silly not to drop in at the
attractive station for a shot of 67027 passing through with 1Z67 from York. The light had entirely collapsed by the time the train was due but I felt that a picture was worthwhile as this is only the second daytime working of class 67 along the line. The train is here seen passing under
the GWR footbridge, which although in reasonable condition is painted in a strange shade of browny-pink, quite unlike anything the GWR or any subsequent railway company has used.
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I hadn't really intended to go out for the return from Stratford-upon-Avon of the Northern Belle on 5 September 2009 but when the sky brightened but remained cloudy at about 16.30 decided that this
would be a good opportunity to obtain a shot of 67027 with 1Z68 on the curve at Hatton North Junction. Other than an early morning class 150 and the steam hauled trains to Birmingham on summer Sundays,
nothing uses the line from Hatton's West to North junctions and with a bright but cloudy afternoon a shot from the north side of the bridge, to my eyes better than that from the other side, is possible.
Here then is the train heading slowly towards the Leamington Spa to Birmingham main line and thence on to York.
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Another engineering train was booked to work on the North Cotswold Line on Thursday 27 August 2009. This time, the work was not to drop ballast but to collect spoil so the wagons were of the empty, low-sided variety and hauled by 66087. Here is 6W86 from Hinksey Yard shortly after leaving Evesham and approaching the
crossing near to the site of Littleton and Badsey station. On this occasion, the train was signalled by hand over the crossing meaning that the half barriers remotely operated by CCTV from Evesham signal box were not lowered. This location benefited from some radical tree clearance earlier in the year; before this took place the shot was virtually
a green tunnel but now it possible to see the road bridge on the Offenham road and the redundant track panels awaiting removal. A wider shot used to be quite impossible, but with some clearance having taken place close to the bridge, quite a decent picture is now possible as is here seen as
66087 with 6W86 is about to pass underneath.
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I had really intended to go just for the one shot of 6W86 and had driven over in my Morris Minor, not the ideal vehicle for chasing around winding and somewhat bumpy country lanes, but seeing that the sky was clearing a little to the west, decided to have a try for another shot towards Honeybourne. As I arrived in the car park there
the train was just approaching and it was apparent that a crew change was about to take place. I scrambled up the bank to the roadbridge and found that a shot with a 35mm lens was just about possible as 6W86 stood in the platform. When the track doubling has taken place in 2010, the currently unused island platform will be used for up trains
and anything travelling to or from Long Marston will use a relaid track on the extreme right, joining the main line on the down side of the platforms rather than the spur presently to be found on the other side of the bridge. After taking this shot I wandered around to the station and took a few
pictures as 66087 basked in the sun, while chatting to the driver who was awaiting instructions as to the move south where the spoil was waiting to be loaded.
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It has been quite a while since a class 60 has worked a southbound train in daylight along the Birmingham to Leamington Spa line so I thought a quick run over to Hatton for this one on 24 August would be time well spent. This was the first class 60 upon which I laid eyes since the beginning of April 2009! The train was a 6Z50, 07.32 Doncaster to Thingley Junction working with 60039 conveying a set of YFA
wagons. These apparently are rail-lifting plant with a diesel power unit included in the set and for those interested, here is a closer view of the back of the train. This short train is massively over-powered and I wonder why a class 60 was allocated to it? I don't
follow individual locomotive classes and their moves into and out of storage with any real interest but suspect that given the dreadful state of its bodyside paintwork, 60039 is perhaps recently out of storage and was given this light duty as a sort of test run. Whatever the reason, I hadn't previosuly photographed
a 60 here on the up line so it filled a small gap in my collection. Running about 15 minutes in front of 6Z50 was 66070 with 4O21, the 11.40 Hams Hall to Southampton intermodal. This was quite early on the booked schedule, no doubt as a result of not having to waste any time loading containers...
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The weather forecast for Wednesday 19 August 2009 promised good sunny spells across the Midlands so I thought that at last I might be lucky and get a photograph of a Cotswold Line ballast in decent light. The train in question, 6W85, was due to enter the possession at Evesham at 13.30
and a friend told me that it left Worcester Yard at around 12.50, putting it pretty much on time. From my position just south of Evesham station I saw the lower quadrant signal in the distance drop and a few moments later watched as 66090 stopped
in the platform . The sun disappeared as 6W85 left the platform, without the centre-pivoted signal by the bridge being dropped, but fortunately came out again just in time for my shot. I took another view as the train headed away, largely to get a picture of a train
passing the outer home signal operating on the down side of the single line.
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Just as I was leaving the location from which I took the photograph above, 6W85 came to a halt so I thought that I might have time for another crack at it a bit further east. The nearest bridge is that at Aldington so I went straight there to find the train sitting virtually out of sight
around the curve beyond the footbridge. Over 70 minutes elapsed before it started to move, by which time the sun had moved well around towards the west and 66090 was somehow blowing up a lot of dust from underneath its bogies, despite moving at less than walking pace all of which conspired to make a fairly unsatisfactory picture. Just after 6W85 passed
under the bridge it came again to a halt which was my cue to head home for a cool drink, but not before filling my floppy hat with blackberries. More brownie points for me...
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Test train workings south of Birmingham via Solihull and Hatton are relatively unusual so I thought that a picture of 1Z12, the 08.57 Derby to Bristol, would be worth having. When I left home at 09.55, the sky had cleared after early cloud and prospects were good for
a sunny shot. By the time I had reached Hatton a thick blanket of cloud had covered the entire sky and when 37218 appeared coasting down the bank the light was pretty awful. I believe that a brand new radio coach is one of the four in the consist of 1Z12, but I have no idea
which it is. I didn't actually look at the back of the train but I think that the trailing locomotive is 37602.
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One of the few classes of diesel locomotive not previously to have visited Stratford-upon-Avon is class 67, although a signaller friend says that one may have reached Bearley Junction on an overnight engineering train from Bescot. Saturday 15 August 2009
saw the Northern Belle run from Leeds to Stratford with 67027 and 67002 performing the honours thus being the first class members to be photographed here. As a local, I felt it necessary to record the arrival at the station and here is 1Z83 coming into platform 1
with 67027 leading and 67002 just visible on the back of the train.
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While the passengers were alighting from the Northern Belle at Stratford-upon-Avon I made my way to the roadbridge over the line to get another view as the stock was shunted out of platform 1 and into No. 2. There was a bit of a delay as the rear of the train
was beyond the platform end signal meaning that the points could not be switched and the shunt signal activated. The stock had to be pulled further south until the track circuits were clear before moving forward and out of the station as is seen in this photograph. This caused the
following DMU from Stourbridge Junction to be delayed by some 10 minutes and which gave the unusual sight, witnessed from the road as I walked home, of two trains doing a bit of parallel running into platforms 1 and 2 respectively. The return to Leeds, 1Z84, was booked via the North
Warwickshire Line but in the event was routed via the very much less interesting line through Claverdon and Hatton North Junction. The signal box at Henley in Arden was switched out but the preceding DMU would have been past Shirley, the end of the section from Bearley Junction, in plenty
of time so this caused a bit of a disappointment for those of waiting for it. To me, this was the only route that had any interest as locomotive-hauled trains are not exactly unusual between Hatton and Tyseley...
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Despite that part of the North Cotswold Line between Evesham and Oxford being closed for preparatory work for next year's track doubling, certain dates were set aside for trains to Long Marston. Friday 14 August 2009
was one of those days and the 10.17 from Bescot to Long Marston, 6V17, ran on that day. The train, formed of at least three different types of flat wagons, is here seen as 66177 begins to accelerate away from a 10mph speed restriction which ended just beyond the footbridge in the
background, the locomotive producing a column of exhaust smoke in the still air of Aldington cutting. The new track is clearly visible, having been laid and ballasted over the past couple of weeks; the existing track was too worn to have
been of further use.
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The 13.05 Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor empty steel rain with the usual COLAS class 47s on 13 August 2009 after the previous week's run with a DRS locomotive. I thought that it was time I took a shot of this train
in a station for a change but couldn't be bothered to go very far, hence this shot of 47739 + 47727 passing Hatton. This isn't a bad location but the curvature of the track does mean that most of a lengthy freight isn't
visible, but there at least is some railway infrastructure in view to give some interest other than the train. The sun was in and out during the afternoon but managed to be behind a cloud at the crucial moment; needless
to say, it came out a few seconds later just as an DBS class 66 with 4M66 came north through the platforms.
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Several dates for Long Marston traffic have been allowed for during the preliminary work taking place for the Cotswold Line doubling. One of these dates was 11 August 2009 and 66728 ran light engine from Gloucester in order to pick up newly overhauled and
painted 86701 and 86702. The GBRf locomotive is here seen just after arrival, 6 minutes early, at Long Marston while the Motorail Logistics staff were just arriving to open the gate. The two class 86s can just be glimpsed in the background in road 1 of the
exchange sidings.
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The booked departure time for 0Z87 from Long Marston to Crewe was just after 15.30, but with an arrival time for the light engine of 13.20 I could see no way that an early
departure would not happen, particularly as that part of the Cotswold Line from Oxford to Evesham was under a possession and just an infrequent shuttle formed of a class 165 was running between Evesham and Worcester.
Sure enough, at 13.40, the headlights on 66728 were switched on and the train moved out of the yard and onto the branch to Honeybourne. After testing, the 86s are to be a small fleet made available for charter work
and will look splendid on the newly refurbished but unbranded Mk3 set owned and operated by Virgin Trains.
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As soon as 66728 with 86701+86702 were on the branch towards Honeybourne from Long Marston, I headed straight to Evesham with the intention of getting a sunny shot as the train passed the
semaphore signals on the east side of the station. I made it to the bridge with only a couple of minutes to spare, the train having taken very little time to negotiate
the junction at Honeybourne. Use this link to a picture of the two smart 86s which are here seen just about to pass under the roadbridge adjacent to Evesham station.
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When I arrived at Evesham to take the photograph shown above a shuttle to Worcester was just leaving so I reckoned that 0Z87 would have to wait by the signalbox for at least 15 minutes before the
passenger train reached the end of the single line at Norton Junction. Although I had intended to go home after taking my shot at Evesham, it seemed silly not to make the short journey to Lower Moor
to complete my set of pictures from there of electric locomotives being dragged along. I had only about about a 10 minute wait before the bright headlight of 66728 came into view and the unusual-looking
consist came by, 110.5 miles from Paddington according to the milepost just in front of the class 66.
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Whilst photographing 66513 on 6Z98, the Daw Mill to Didcot Freightliner trial, on Thursday 6 August I wondered if it would be possible to get a photograph of one these workings in good light. The following afternoon became clear and sunny and although
I didn't actually know if the loaded working had run, I took the chance and went to Hatton North Junction to get a shot of the returning empties, 4Z89. A couple of passenger trains went north and then, spot on time and following a Chiltern Trains service
to Birmingham Snow Hill, 66549 crawled around the curve, its train having been held as booked in Hatton Goods Loop. I'm a bit surprised how little interest was created by these trial runs of power station coal; the first by Freightliner on this
line. Maybe it was just the poor weather for most of the two week trial...
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The weather forecast across the Midlands for Thursday 6 August 2009 was for good sunny spells throughout the day. With that in mind and with the prospect of DRS 47501 working 6Z48, the 13.05 Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor empty steel along with
a couple of Freightliner operated coal trains to Didcot from Daw Mill colliery I set off up the A3400 with a view to going somewhere around Solihull for some photographs. By the time I had reached Bearley, the sky to the north was looking distinctly
murky and unpromising so I diverted to Hatton and arrived just as the sun was entering some thick cloud. The first coal train came but I messed up the shot altogether, the front of the locomotive being well out of focus. A friend further along the line
told me that 6Z48 was on its way with the unusual motive power, occasioned by the failure of one of COLAS' own 47s, in charge and here it is a few minutes later approaching Hatton station. I think that I'm right in saying that this is the first time that a DRS class 47 has worked a revenue earning freight along this
line so it was worth recording despite the dreadful light. Note the flock of racing pigeons just to the left of the tree in the mid-background...
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Having made a complete mess of my shot of 66525 on 6Z88, the first of the two Freightliner operated coal trains from Daw Mill to Didcot Power Station on 6 August 2009, I decided to hang on at Hatton to try again on the second, 6Z98. This came a few minutes early
behind 66513 and is here seen rounding the curve just to the north of the station. I do like to have a record of these short-term trial flows, the first by Freightliner along here, and with just one day more to go may yet score one in the sun. We'll see.
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Another ballast train was booked on 5 August 2009 to run on the North Cotswold Line. This time it was 6W37 from Hinksey to Evesham, the starting point of the possession. It was booked to leave the work site, Aldington, in time to leave Evesham at 12.25 so it was a couple of hours before
that I arrived at the occupation bridge, just in time to see the train moving very slowly towards me as it dropped ballast. After parking my car I walked up the public footpath to a footbridge arriving just in time for this telephoto lens shot of 66082 as it came under the occupation
and the Evesham bypass bridges. The light was dreadful with drizzly rain but with the train moving at about walking pace I didn't need too high a shutter speed to freeze the action.
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I had plenty of time to change to a standard lens before 66082 with 6W37 came near enough to the footbridge on which I was standing for another photograph. Ballast was still being
dropped as the train moved along; these autoballasters really make the process a lot quicker and easier than it used to be. The track here
has been replaced as the old bullhead rail on was too worn to be slewed across in readiness for next year's doubling work. The redundant track panels can be seen to the right of
the wagons. As 66082 passed under the footbridge I noticed that its roof appears to have taken a swipe and a good splash of white paint.
I wonder how that happened?
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As usual with these ballast workings, 6W37 was topped-and-topped, the trailing locomotive at this point being 66051. I had had time to go back along the footpath to the occupation bridge at Aldington
to get this shot as the train receded from the camera around the reverse curves towards Evesham; the rain by this time having stopped and the light having improved a touch. The shower was passing across Bredon Hill, visible
in the background. There is saying around here that if you can't see Bredon Hill then it's raining and if you can see it then it's going to...The two road/rail vehicles that are ready to spread the ballast are temporarily
on the trackside but would have re-railed themselves to start work as soon as 6W37 was clear.
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After leaving Aldington I made the short journey to Evesham station to find that the up platform was well populated with passengers waiting for the shuttle train to Worcester, this section of line being open for business. Within a few minutes, 165130 came into the platform for the passengers on it to alight ready for the onward journey to Oxford in one of the fleet of coaches waiting in the car park. This picture is slightly unusual in that it shows a down train in Evesham's
up platform, with the ground signal in the "off" position to allow it to run wrong-road for a short distance until the single track to Norton Junction is joined.
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The ballast train running as 6W37 to Hinksey Yard was due to pass Evesham station at 12.25 but it was some 15 minutes after this time that the signal in the background
was dropped and 66082 nosed into view. I suppose 15 minutes late isn't too bad for an engineering train leaving a possession; I have certainly waited a lot longer than this in the past!
The semaphore signals here are due for replacement in 2011 when control is passed to Didcot Panel, so there may yet be time for a sunny shot here; I so far having missed out on the occasions that I have tried
since the cutting banks were cleared.
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A short term flow of coal from Daw Mill colliery, near Nuneaton, to Didcot Power Station took place during the week which commenced 27 July 2009. Unusually, this was operated by Freightliner Heavy Haul and as far as I can remember is the first time that this
company has taken coal to Didcot. I wasn't able to get out earlier in the week for a couple of the workings but on Friday 31 July I went over to the footbridge at the south end of Hatton Cutting to get a shot of 66566 with 6Z98, the 13.25 from Daw Mill, here seen as it rolled slowly
down the bank towards Warwick. The light was very poor but in my opinion it's better to have a record shot in dull conditions than none at all, especially if the train doesn't run again. If it does, then there's a chance to improve with another picture.
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The weekly run of 6Z47 from Dollands Moor to Washwood Heath/Burton-upon-Trent turned into a bit of a saga on 29 July 2009. One of the class 47s allocated to the train ran with the handbrake applied which caused a small fire meaning that it had to be removed. This in turn meant that another locomotive had to be found to assist with the northbound run because 14 loaded
wagons were considered to be too heavy for a single 47, probably a reasonable decision because 6Z47 both has to pass through the damp Sevenoaks tunnel and climb the 1/110 of Hatton Bank. In the end, 56312 was attached to the front of 47739 and it set off, only to be routed via the West Coast Main Line because the Western Region were apparently not able to find a path
on the usual route. The train eventually ran to Washwood Heath where the locomotives ran round and went straight to Burton Yard during the late evening before 56312 was returned light engine to Ashford. The following day, 30 July, the returning empties, 6Z48 ran pretty much to time and I went to Hatton quite liking the idea of a shot of a single 47 there on a decent length train.
The sun was in and out but managed to find a small patch of clear blue sky for a couple of minutes at just the right time as 47739 passed Hatton Station Junction at 14.33, by which time it has dropped just enough for a nicely-lit picture.
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The morning of Thursday 24 July saw the first ballast train of the current possession on the North Cotswold Line run from Norton Junction to a worksite just east of Evesham station. The train, 6W87, started from Hinksey Yard near Oxford and was routed via Didcot, Swindon, Bristol, Charfield and Ashchurch to Worcester where it reversed before heading to
its final destination. I received a call from a friend as it left Worcester somewhat early at about 08.50 and headed across to the nearest point for me, Evesham. The light was going to be pretty much head-on all the way along the line from Norton Junction but I thought that if the train was held to time outside Evesham there would be a chance for the sun to get
onto the side of the formation. Just after I arrived, this road/rail vehicle was leaving the tiny yard with a flat wagon attached carrying a large drum of signalling cable. Here is another view, albeit heavily backlit, as the vehicle used the crossover onto the up main line
where it enters Evesham station. The ballast train soon appeared in the distance but sat for quite some time in the distance while another road/rail machine entered the possession. After another long wait, 66083 with 66114 on the back finally ran to the signal box where a crew change took place.
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It was just after 11.30 before 6W87 finally moved slowly towards the worksite, by which time the sun had moved round enough to give some decent side lighting. Unfortunately, it was also so high in the sky by then that the light was far too overhead and harsh. The joys of photographing ballast trains in the height of the summer. Even so, I much prefer a couple of
hours photographing this sort of working than spending time covering routine workings somewhere on a busy main line, especially given the one-off nature of the train concerned. As the train was in a possession controlled by radio and telephone, the lower quadrant signal was not pulled off for the train to pass, and
here is an unusual-looking view as it passes the bracket signal protecting the up platform in Evesham station.
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The worksite for 6W87 was shown as being Common Road, an area just outside Evesham station with no opportunity for a decent photograph. I went instead to Aldington, mostly with the intention of visiting the nearby fruit farm to buy a couple of pounds of fresh cherries and gain some brownie points form my wife. I did make a quick diversion
to the nearby bridges and just after arrival I heard a horn and then the sound of ballast being dropped. After a few minutes, 66083 poked its nose around the corner so I took this rather distant shot with Bredon Hill and the roofline of Evesham in the background. Shortly after taking this shot, a road/rail vehicle with a ballast levelling blade
ran towards the train to work on the ballast that had just been dropped. I understand that the existing track is in such poor condition that it cannot simply be slewed across to make room for the second track, but will have to be replaced. The new track has already been dropped and can be seen in
this view in the up direction. A few moments later, the driver of 6W27 turned off the headlights on 66083 and placed a portable tail lamp on the bracket before reversing to allow the ballast work to progress.
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At the time of writing in mid July 2009, the Cotswold Line is about to become the subject of dramatic changes as much of it is about to receive double track after many years of being largely single. One of the sections of line to see this work carried out is that between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh so with only
a few days to go before a two week long closure I went to this location just west of Evesham to take a few pictures of the scene pre-alteration. The first working that I saw was the New Measurement Train working
as 1Z16 Derby to Derby via Worcester and Oxford with power cars 43062 + 43014. The weather was cloudy so I took the opportunity to take my photograph from the north side of the line which, to my eyes, was the more attractive view with the houses and churches of Evesham clearly visible in the background.
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Before leaving this location near Evesham I took a photograph of a First Great Western service train, the slightly late running 11.22 Paddington to Great Malvern om the approaches to Evesham station. Once again on a dull day the better view was from the north side of the line showing the attractive stone occupation bridge leading to a riverside hotel and the less pleasing and much more modern bridge
taking the Evesham bypass over the line. Much clearance work on the south side of the cutting took place in the early Spring and the remains of several trees can clearly seen in this view. Just off the stone bridge in a field is this
ex-railway van used as a store of some description. The white paint marks, a circle containign a cross, showing the van to be withdrawn from service are still visible.
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The once regular Bescot to Long Marston trains have been a little thin on the ground recently but on 1 July 2009 6V17, the 10.16 from Bescot did run, conveying a very nice rake of open box wagons which, judging by the flotsam remaining in them,
once conveyed scrap metal. The train, headed by 37670, is here seen approaching Evesham station where it stood for a few minutes to allow a down HST to come into the platform before heading south on the single track to Honeybourne Junction where it will turn off onto the
Long Marston Branch. I was surprised to have been alone for this shot given that for most other moves, whatever the motive power, there has usually been one or two other photographers on site. The time of this picture was about 1pm on one of the hottest days of the year
and the sun was simply too high in the sky for a satisfactory image.
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Here is another view of a well-weathered 37670 at Evesham with 6V17, the 10.16 Bescot to Long Marston as it passed the inner home signal. The scene here will change dramatically within the next 2 years as the re-doubling of parts of the Cotswold Line progresses; and as the weeds on the track are swept away!. The signal box and associated semaphore signals
will disappear in 2011, along with the other mechanical 'boxes along the route, with the exception of those at Norton Junction and Moreton-in-Marsh, the latter of which is subject to a preservation order. The track will be doubled for about one mile from here towards Worcester. Modern electrical signalling will mean that there will be little disadvantage
in retaining single track from that point to Norton Junction and will avoid the enormous expense involved in remodelling the junction. The return working to Bescot, 6M17, ran on 1 July 2009 altouugh it actually ran as class 4 and conveyed a single ex-Virgin Trains DVT. As the afternoon was far too hot for
my taste I didn't stay out for this, despite early running, but went home and sat under a tree in my garden with a cooling drink...
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The first visit to Long Marston of Advenza Freight's newly acquired 66841 took place on 29 June 2009 when it was booked to take 20901 + 20905, 56021 and 31423 along with some KXA and other flats to Derby, where the 66 was due to be detached with the class 20s taking the train forward to Stockton.
There appeared to be some problem with the train, possibly obtaining a satisfactory brake, and 66841 was detached from the consist and left the site light engine towards Honeybourne. I went home at this point but on arrival I checked my BlackBerry for updates
to found out that the problem had been solved and that 66841 was on its way back. Inertia took over and I decided to stay put rather than go out again.
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Test trains are relatively infrequent along the North Warwickshire Line between Tyseley and Stratford-upon-Avon compared with some more major lines, as indeed are locomotive hauled trains of any description and are thus worth going out for.
On Friday 25 June 2009, DRS class 37s 37218 and 37607 topped and tailed a 1Q13 from Tyseley to Derby via Stratford, Birmingham Snow Hill, Blakedown, Stourbridge Junction, Round Oak and back again to Hatton North and West Junctions and thence on via Washwood Heath
to Derby. The weather was vile during the first part morning with mist and drizzly rain being the main features until the real rain set in later. Here is 1Q13 arriving at Stratford-upon-Avon spot on time, with 37218 leading, in dreadful light. It's lucky that the train
was stopping here so that a shutter speed of 1/250 was enough to freeze the action. For a look at the scene here in 1990, click on this hyperlink for a picture, albeit in slightly better lighting conditions, from 28 March of that year.
This is an afternoon photograph and if the sun is out in the morning there isn't much of a shot available, so maybe the poor weather for 1Q13 was an advantage.
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1Q13 with 37607 and 37218 was booked to stand at Stratford-upon-Avon for the thick end of 30 minutes so after taking this shot of the train standing in a misty platform 1 at Stratford-upon-Avon I asked the driver if he thought that they might get away a bit early or have to wait for a right time departure. He told me that it would be as booked
so I decided to make the 10 minute walk home to pick up my car and head off to Henley-in Arden on the North Warwickshire Line.
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After the walk home from Stratford-upon-Avon station and a very slow drive to Henley-in-Arden behind an ancient (and empty) school bus seemingly incapable
of more than 30mph I arrived at the station to find the signal for the down line "off" for a DMU to Stratford and "on" for the line to Birmingham. The DMU arrived within
a couple of minutes and the driver and senior conductor asked me what was expected as they had seen several photographers further along the line. I am indebted to the driver
of the Stratford-bound train for this photograph, as he pulled away from the station stop very slowly indeed so as not to block my view of 37607 leading 1Q13 into the platform, the signal
having been cleared as the train approached it. In fact, the DMU was right by my shoulder as I pressed the shutter release! I like to take these rarities in totally recognisable
locations and here is the view of Henley-in-Arden station as 1Q13 passed through. I'm not sure what has happened to the light on platform 2; it looks as if one
side has been removed, possibly to save a little power...
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The other part of 1Q13's run in which I was interested was when it ran from Hatton North to West Junctions, a piece of track used in the early morning by a Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon DMU and the summer Sunday steam train from Stratford
to Snow Hill. Nothing else, other than very occasional charters, disturbs the rust so I was quite keen to get a photograph on the appropriate piece of line. Here is 37218 leading the short formation over the crossover from the up main line to
the curve around to Hatton West Junction where the line from Hatton station to the Stratford branch is joined, thus forming a triangular junction. As can be clearly seen the wet weather earlier in the day coupled with the high temperature had
conspired to form some quite misty conditions; hardly conducive to good photography but the unusual nature of the working made up for it to some extent. Here is another view of the train as 37607
trails 1Q13 around the curve.
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In the set of timings that I had seen for 1Q13, the train looked as if it would just sit on the Hatton North to West curve for a few minutes and then simply reverse, going back the way that it had come. From my position on the footbridge I could hear
that more movement than expected was taking place and sure enough, I soon heard a toot from the area of Hatton station and then the sound of class 37s accelerating towards me. What actually happened was that 1Q13 had run a short distance onto the Stratford
branch, reversed, run up to the branch platform at Hatton station and then reversed again before joining the down main line via the spur just beyond the road bridge.
The reversals around the triangle meant that 37218 was now leading again and here it is, with 37607 also under power on the rear, storming away towards Birmingham. I watched the train going away towards the tall bridge at Shrewley and the whole of the cutting was obscured
by thick smoke from the locomotives. The Shakespeare Express will have to work hard to beat that...
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One of the shots I have wanted to take of 6Z48, the 13.05 Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor empty steel train, is that from the footbridge at Hatton North Junction. The shot I had in mind was using a long telephoto lens to compress the perspective and bring up the high bridge in the village of Shrewley. This
sort of shot really needs perfect light, and on Thursday 24 June 2009 it looked as if this might be the day. Unfortunately, by the time the train was due the sun was at about 50% strength with quite a lot of haze so I settled for a less powerful image as 47727 + 47749 brought their train through the cutting.
Still, there's always another week, although the sun is now perhaps too high at this time of the day...
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During the summer months when the sun is relatively high by 09.00 I like to go to this location just south of Leamington Spa for an hour or two. On 23 June 2009 the first train to come along was 4O14, the 05.40 Garston to Millbrook freightliner hauled by 66574. The shot is becoming more difficult here each year both
through unchecked lineside bushes and a row of very tall Leylandii evergreens outside the boundary fence. By the time 4O14 appeared at about 09.05 the worst of the shadows were pretty much off the tracks with just a small amount on the locomotive's bogies. One of the attractions of the picture here used to be the
clear view of Leamington Spa and the tower and spire All Saints church but even that has now all but disappeared. It's a shame because this was, in my opinion at at least, a much more interesting that the only nearby alternative a short distance further south at Whitnash, little more than a cutting surrounded by trees which
could be anywhere in the country.
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On 23 June 2009 a charter was run from Sheffield to Salisbury using WCRC's 47826 on the front with 47804 on the rear. I quite fancied a shot of the former as it has advertising decals on one side promoting some steam trips in Yorkshire and these one-off oddities are always worth recording.
Typically, the only patch of cloud in the sky managed to be in exactly the wrong spot as 1Z13 rounded the curve from Leamington Spa station and started the 1/110 climb to Harbury tunnel in the worst off all lighting conditions, a dark foreground with sun out in the distance. WCRC's colour scheme
really needs sun to bring out its colour but I was unlucky by about 30 seconds on this occasion! C'est la vie...
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There was an open weekend at Long Marston on 6 & 7 June 2009 and in connecton with this a train of locomotives ran from Eastleigh on Thursday 4 June. This was led by the very smart 47580 from Tyseley and conveyed 73006, 50026
and 50135, formerly 50035. The latter has, somewhat bizzarely, been repainted
into Loadhaul livery as worn in the early days of privatisation by classes 37, 56 and 60 despite the fact that class members, in their latter years at least, didn't do a lot of freight work other than working some infrastructure trains in the South West. It is fair to say though that the locomotive is privately
owned and that the owner has an absolute right to paint his machine however he chooses and I must say that the finish on 50135 is of an extremely high standard. The train, 0V47, is here seen shortly after leaving Norton Junction while heading to Worcester to run-round before heading west along the Cotswold Line towards Long Marston. I was keen to get a shot of 50135 for the record and those taken today are quite likely to
be my only pictures of it as I don't really care for open days or preserved lines where its appearances will be made.
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The line between Abbotswood Junction and Worcester sees a few freight workings, most of which are steel trains to and from Round Oak which is situated on the remaining stub of the line from Stourbridge Junction to Bescot.
On Thursday 4 June 2009, 66009 was in charge of a very long 6V07, the 13.21 empties to Margam and is here pictured near Norton Junction running at least 45 minutes early. The tall tree on the left of the tracks casts a shadow even when the sun is at its highest
but with a slightly wide angle lens the effect can be mitigated to some extent.
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DRS has an occasional presence on the northern end of the south Cotswold Line in the form of nuclear flasks from Bridgwater in Somerset. Although booked to run to run this way habitual early running often means that 6M67 is diverted and goes straight up the main line, or Old Road,
to Birmingham via the Lickey Incline. Luckily, on 4 June 2009, the booked route was taken and here are 20304 + 37069 with a single flask just after passing under the M5 motorway en-route to Worcester. Less luckily, the sun didn't cooperate and came out from behind thick clouds a couple of
minutes after the train had passed by.
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Most passenger trains between Paddington, Worcester and Great Malvern are currently formed of HST stock but Turbos of classes 165 and 166 do make appearances from time to time. I was told that a local MP complained to
First Great Western about the older and inferior DMUs being used in preference to the the newer HSTs! Maybe someone should give him a lesson on railway chronology...Anyway, here is
166201 on the approaches to Worcester on 4 June 2009 with the 13.21 Paddington to Great Malvern which, at this point was running in the region of 20 minutes late.
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A more conventional scene with an HST leaving Worcester is here seen as the 15.11 Hereford to Paddington passes Norton Barracks on 4 June 2009 with power car 43023 leading. The line through here is becoming quite overgrown and due to the presence of a large
tree on the left hand side of the line a hefty shadow is cast across both tracks, this becoming more and more obtrusive as the sun moves round towards the west. This is one reason for switching to a longer lens as the afternoon progresses; the other being
to foreshorten the view and bring closer the tower of Worcester Cathedral.
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As soon as the 15.11 Hereford to Paddington HST has cleared Norton Junction, 0V47 with 47580 leading was released from Worcester Yard. Following the run round, Loadhaul liveried 50135 was immediately behind the 47 with
73006 bringing up the rear. Norton Junction's up distant signal can be seen just in front of 47580 and is showing a yellow aspect meaning that 0V47 will have to wait at the
home signal until the preceding HST has reached Evesham station on the single tracked Cotswold Line. It is a hangover from GWR days that the Cotswold Line was the primary route which meant that the distant signal would be "off"
for train using that line rather than going to the Midland Line via Abbotswood Junction.
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As 0V47 had to wait at Norton Junction for something like 10 minutes, I should have had plenty of time for a fast drive to Long Marston to record the colourful ensemble's arrival. Unfortunately, I had put my prescription sunglasses, required for driving,
somewhere safe while standing on the bridge at Norton Junction. It took me quite a while to find them and therefore arrived at Long Marston slightly too late to get the picture I wanted. The train was just moving into the exchange sidings as I reached the bridge
to the unmistakeable sound of a class 50 ticking over. I think that 50026 and 50135 may be the first of the class to have travelled over the branch from Honeybourne to Long Marston although it is just possible that one may have reached here on an MOD trip.
As I was driving towards Long Marston village the sun was highlighting 0V47 standing in the yard as would have been rude not to have stopped and take a quick shot of 47580 + 50135 over the hedge, even though the view was far from clear.
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Tuesday 2 June was another hot and sunny day so in the absence of any one-off in which I was interested I decided to have a trip to the Birmingham to Gloucester line to take a few photographs of some steel workings. There has recently been quite an upturn in the number of trains
conveying steel to and from the Midlands and I expected to see at least 4 trains. First along though was an Arriva HST service, 1V39, the 06.32 Dundee to Plymouth with power car 43303 leading. The sun at Claydon, near Ashchurch was perhaps still a little straight at just after 2pm
but at least the light would move in the right direction as the afternoon progressed.
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One of the steel trains that has picked up recently after being an infrequent runner for some time is 6M94 Corby to Margam and its return working 6V92. The latter is here seen with
66046 in charge as it runs up the gradient from Ashchurch to Tredington on 2 June 2009. This is a location that I tend not to visit too often as it is difficult to vary one's
shots and thus avoid having too many looking pretty much identical, but it is on a quiet bridge with little passing traffic, unlike the road bridge in the background. It is also a much pleasanter
place to stand than the footbridge a bit further north at Northend, often populated by less than desirable characters and liberally annointed with the unpleasant results of irresponsible
dog owners not clearing up after their pets.
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Most of the passenger traffic on the Birmingham to Gloucester line is run by either Arriva or London Midland but First Great Western makes its presence felt with trains to and from Worcester and Malvern.
Here is 158959 with the 14.51 Great Malvern to Weymouth just after the station stop at Ashchurch on Tuesday 2 June 2009. This train is usually a sign that an empty steel train is on the way as 6V07 from Round Oak to Margam, if it's running, is generally
allowed out of Worcester as soon as it has cleared the section towards Norton Junction.
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Round Oak steel terminal in the West Midlands is another that saw a downturn in traffic from Margam when the current economic problems manifested themselves in 2008. It has recently, however, seen a real increase
in traffic, with 3 daily workings being the norm. Here is 6V07, the 13.21 empties from Round Oak running south from Ashchurch towards Cheltenham behind the highest numbered DBS class 66, 66250. This wider view shows
that there is a good crop of buttercups in the adjacent meadow, not such a common sight in these days of intensive agriculture.
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The use of class 153 single units on their own isn't all that commonplace in the West Midlands, the best known being the shuttles from Coventry to Nuneaton. First Great Western also use the modern-day "bubbles" and on some long distance runs.
Here is 153318 on the 12.26 from Southampton Central to Worcester Foregate Street on the final approach to Ashchurch station. There isn't much of a northbound shot at this location but with a long lens a train-sized gap (for a small train!) in the lineside undergrowth
can be found with the escarpment of the Cotswold just visible in the background.
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As I mentioned above, steel traffic to Round Oak terminal is currently quite buoyant and the third northbound train of 2 June 2009 is here seen behind 66034 as it drops down the bank towards Ashchurch from Cheltenham. This working is 6M41, the 11.55
Margam to Round Oak conveying steel in covered wagons. The change in gradient can be clearly seen in the background as the line passes over a level crossing and under the occupation bridge at Fiddington and at this point my gradient profile maps tell
me that the actual gradient is 1/297. The use of a long lens has accentuated the slope and has also brought the escarpment of Cotswold Hills into clear view.
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My final shot on 2 June 2009 from a bridge just south of Ashchurch was of 66027 climbing towards Cheltenham with 6V36, the 08.17 Lackenby to Margam train of steel slabs. This has only recently started running again after a long period of inactivity and is, along with the
returning empties, a welcome addition to the traffic on this line. Ashchurch station is visible under the road bridge in the background and this is served by regular buses going to the nearby town of Tewkesbury, one of my wife's and my favourite locations for a day out without
having to drive too far. Also visible is the tower of St Nicholas' church which is siituated just a few yards to the east of Ashchurch station.
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The weather during the last few days of May 2009 was warm, sunny and, around Stratford-upon-Avon at least, with little cloud in the sky. Despite the favourable conditions I didn't go near a railway until the afternoon
of Monday 1 June when I felt almost guilty that I wasn't taking advantage of the perfect afternoon light. There was nothing out of the ordinary around that took my fancy so I just went to Hatton North Junction with the intention of taking
a few shots of any freight that turned up, The first along was 4M66, the 11.15 Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal headed by 66153 but the front of the train was devoid of containers so I let it pass without a picture. Next was
66622 hauling the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty ballast boxes, 6U72. The locomotive was looking a bit scruffy, no doubt the result of running around with aggregate trains in the poor weather of the previous week or two. Running a few minutes in front of 66622
was Switch and Crossings Tamper DR 73906 which was making more noise than a lot of locomotive hauled trains as it rounded the curve after leaving the goods loop just south of Hatton station.
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The photogenic units of Chiltern Trains run at roughly half-hourly intervals and on a nice day such as 1 June 2009 it is inevitable that they form regular photographic subjects. This then is 168111 accelerating away from the station stop
at Hatton, situated just around the corner. The composition of the picture may initially look a bit odd as there is more sky in the shot than would be considered normal but I was keen to include the moon, visible above the smaller of the
two background trees. A case of full sun and half moon...
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I don't have a great fondness for class 220/221 Voyagers, but on the bases that they are better to photograph than to travel on and also that I think that everything moving on the railway should be photographed at some point I take the
occasional shot of them if the light is good enough. Here is 220031 passing Hatton North Junction on 1 June 2009 with a train to Manchester Piccadilly. It is a great pity in my eyes at least that a few mainline passenger services weren't
routed along this line in earlier days as it is far more photogenic than the alternative route to Birmingham via Coventry.
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My final shot from Hatton North Junction on 1 June 2009 was of 6E55, the 13.35 Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks. This came around the curve from Hatton station right on time at 16.12 having been routed via the goods loop to allow an Arriva
Voyager to pass. The locomotive was 66130 which was accelerating the tanks at quite an impressive rate considering that most of the train was still on the last section of the 1/110 gradient forming Hatton Bank. My tally of 66s on this service
is gradually increasing now that they seem to have taken over, temporarily at least, from class 60. This trend may well be reversed when the economic downturn has relaxed its grip a little and locomotives are gradually released from store.
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Saturday 23 May 2009 saw quite a variety of traffic on the Leamington Spa to Banbury line and remarkably, the weather forecast was more than favourable in that long sunny periods were predicted. Some of the trains were scheduled to run via Oxford
and others via the Chiltern Line through Bicester North so it seemed a good idea to be somewhere north of Aynho Junction so as to be able to see the maximum amount of traffic. I decided upon the bridge adjacent to Banbury stone terminal as all the
trains in which I was interested were southbound. The first up train along was a Virgin "Blockbuster", 1Z06, the 05.45 Liverpool Lime Street to Euston formed of two class 221 Voyagers, 221104 and 221105 respectively.
Just to show that the northbound shot from this bridge isn't up to much, here's a picture of 221140 accelerating away from the station stop at Banbury. Thanks to Chris Beaumont for the Voyagers' ID
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A railtour from Crewe to Weymouth ran on 23 May 2009 and here is 1Z44, hauled by 37602 + 37069 passing the stone terminal just north of Banbury station.
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Most of the freight on the GWR line through Banbury is container traffic and typical of the trains seen is 4O14, the 01.15 Ditton to Southampton Freightliner service. On 23 May 66587 was in charge and is here seen
approaching Banbury on the up main line. As can be seen, there are both up and down loops here and it is not uncommon for freights to be routed along these lines to allow one of the frequent passenger trains to overtake.
I picked this location because it is possible to vary one's shots with the use of different lenses and this one was taken with a 200mm to bring the background, including the bridge carrying the M40 and the connection
to the main line from the stone terminal, into view. Not all container traffic along here is operated by Freightliner and a little while earlier, 66043 with 4O53 from Trafford
Park to Eastleigh yard had gone south.
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Just fifteen minutes behind 4O14 another 'liner appeared, this one being 4O27, the 05.29 Garston to Southampton hauled by 66955. Part of the stone terminal is visible in this photograph, this being served on Thursdays by a DBS
train from Mountsorrel in Leicestershire. The terminal was opened when the M40 extension was under construction and saw at least daily trains of aggregates from the Mendips hauled by examples of classes 37, 56 and occasionally 59.
The current operation uses the highly efficient self-discharge train which leaves the terminal for the north in the mid-morning and runs via Hatton, Washwood Heath and Whitacre Junction.
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Whenever I go somewhere to take railway photographs I do like to obtain a representative sample of all the traffic on the line including whatever units are on the passenger
services. The fact is that today the majority of trains on our network are units and it seems worthwhile to photograph them as classes and liveries change from time to time
and it is good to have a record. I think that the Chiltern Turbos are quite photogenic in good light and here is the 09.03 Kidderminster to London Marylebone slowing for
the station stop at Banbury, formed of 168218 and an unidentified sister unit.
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The Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway company run regular trains through Banbury and these have added some interest to the line for railway photographers. The trains are usually formed of a DVT, three Cargo-D coaches and a class 67 locomotive but on Saturday
23 May there was a football match at Wembley involving a team from Shrewsbury and 1P01, the first of WSMR's trains of the day, was strengthened by the addition of a fourth coach. It is here seen approaching Banbury with DVT
82303 leading and propelled from the rear by 67013.
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In connection with the football match mentioned above, WSMR ran three additional services from Shrewsbury to cater for fans wishing to travel to London. The first of was 1Z01, the 08.40 to Marylebone formed of DVT
82305, five Cargo-D Mk3's and 67015 and the train is here seen on the approaches to Banbury station from where it will run to Aynho Junctioin and then run up the Chiltern Line via Princes Risborough. Return fares for the special trains were the same very reasonable £40.00 which is the standard charge for the trip on any of the company's trains. As far as I am aware, this
was the first charter run by WSMR, a good initiative to capture some business from road transport in a niche market.
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The second of WSMR's specials from Shrewsbury to Marylebone was 1Z02, which left the Shropshire town at 09.07 with their newly reliveried 67010 leading 3 Cargo-D and 5 Virgin coaches together with DBS's
67021 on the rear. These footexes aroused a surprising amount of interest from railway enthusiasts and this bridge near Banbury stone terminal had around 20 photographers in situ. I imagine though that the earlier
passage of a railtour had brought out quite a few who may not have otherwise been present. The third special train to Marylebone from Shrewsbury was formed of an eight coach class 168 hired from Chiltern Railways but
I didn't wait to see this one as it wouldn't have looked very different from Chiltern's service trains, most of which were running in a similar formation on 23 May 2009.
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On 21 May 2009, for the first time since 6Z48 from Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands commenced running it failed to leave Burton either on time or early. Due to being blocked-in by another train, 47739 + 47749 set out for their destination in the region of 70 minutes down on the booked schedule. I had gone to Hatton North Junction in the hope of getting a
decently lit shot in the cutting but after a short period on the footbridge I decided to head south towards Banbury where the direction of the light would be better later in the afternoon and where I stood a chance of a shot of the
Queen of Scots stock running from Carnforth to Eastleigh, which came about 90 minutes early after missing out an extended layover in Kenilworth loop, in some of the worst light in which I have taken a photograph for some time. The COLAS train arrived just after 17.00 by which time the light had improved a little but not
really enough for anything more than a record shot as it passed the Banbury stone terminal a short distance north of the station.
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After a fairly quiet time along the Long Marston branch, there was a bit of activity on Thursday 14 May 2009. COLAS Rail's 47727 ran light engine to Crewe to collect 86233 and after arrival at Long Marston was scheduled to pick up 87033, 87029, 87020 and 86250 all of which are destined for export following renovation work and repainting into their new liveries.
While waiting for 0Z86 to arrive I took this shot of the well-packed yard including 37029 sitting in front of 20901 + 20905 together with the electric locomotives ready for transport. The weather was dreadful with low cloud and mist lying in the valley in which the former MOD facility is located, but my home is only about a 10 minute drive away
so it wasn't too far to come for a few photographs.
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I had seen reports of early running of 47727 and 86233, and it wasn't long before the colourful duo appeared in the distance and rolled slowly towards the roadbridge before stopping outside the gate, which was just being opened. There is a very good crop of hawthorn blossom this Spring, plenty of which
is visible in this view of 86233 as it waits to be hauled into its new home.
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The booked departure time of 0Z87 from Long Marston to Worcester was 15.40 but it was some 70 minutes before that when 47727 left the exchange sidings and headed towards Honeybourne, where it had to sit awaiting a path to Evesham and Worcester until the booked time. Immediately behind 47727 was
87033 with its 2 classmates with the Floyd liveried 86250 bringing up the rear. The train was going only as far as Worcester on this occasion with onward movement to Crewe where electrical testing will take place being due
another day.
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The management of Hatton Estates, who own the land on the south side of the railway line, have recently created a permissive footpath along the side of the railway line between the footbridge at the south end of Hatton cutting and the three arch road bridge on the
Norton Lindsey road. This has been in common usage for years but until now the Estate management have had, on occasions, a very unpleasant attitude to those using it either for walking or railway photography. I have had a fairly acrimonious encounter with them but now that
access is allowed felt happier in walking along the headland of the field and thus putting myself in full view so on Monday 11 May 2009 went there with a view to taking a few shots of whatever came along. The first freight was 6U72, the 11.56 Westbury to Stud Farm empty ballast boxes hauled
by 66602. The undergrowth and hedges, planted some years ago as part of Hatton Estates strategy to attract wildlife and provide cover for pheasants, is making the shot here very difficult. I don't think that photography here, one of the "traditional" locations for decades, will be possible for much longer.
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The area around Hatton cutting is a mass of blossom in early May 2009, exemplified here by the Hawthorn in flower all around Chiltern Trains' 168108 as it climbs the bank with a train from Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill on 9 May. The regular passenger services along this line help to fill the long gaps
between freight services, especially in the afternoon, when one is lucky to get two or three freights in a three hour session. I quite like photographing units but the short formations can give problems in areas with panoramic views and I find that a longer lens helps to fill the frame and draw in the background, in this case
the north-east side of Warwick looking towards Cubbington.
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Freight trains can be pretty thin on the ground on the GWR line between Leamington Spa and Birmingham. This train, 6E55, the 13.35 (MWFO) Theale to Lindsay emptry oil tanks, appeared exactly one hour after the previous freight as shown. Until recently this was a virtually solid class 60 turn
but with so many of the class now in store has gone over to class 66 haulage, in this case 66207. I have dozens of pictures of 6E55 with a 60 at the front but very few with a 66 so I suppose it's time to redress the balance. The afternoon of 9 May 2009 was beautifully sunny which is what I needed for
this type of shot although there was a very strong wind howling up the hill which made holding the camera steady a bit of a problem. There is no doubting the time of year looking at the abundance of Hawthorn, also know known as May blossom, all over the background.
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Having been away on holiday for the thick end of three weeks, it's been a while since I have done any railway photography but with the prospect of a bright afternoon on Thursday 7 May 2009 I made the
slight effort to have a look around Hatton North. I was just walking over the high bridge at Shrewley when 66087 appeared in the distance with an early running 4O21, the 11.10 Burton-upon-Trent to Southampton intermodal. My rucsac with
the camera in was still on may back and I was fortunate to obtain a grabbed shot just as the sun was coming out of a cloud. I can never decide whether or not I like the shot from here; I sometimes feel that the bridge is perhaps a little too high
and that there isn't enough angle but it isn't a picture that appears very often so I think it is worth including.
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Now and again a train runs that I really enjoy photographing. The empty steel from Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor, 6Z48, is one of these and when I heard that it was formed of just 3 wagons on 7 May 2009 I felt that
a broadside view of it at Hatton North would nicely balance the more conventional views I had taken in previous weeks. The train, headed by 47739, passed Tyseley a few minutes in front of an Arriva Voyager but their
positions had swapped by the time it reached me as the freight was looped at Dorridge to allow the passenger to pass. To be honest, I would prefer a full-length train headed by a pair of 47s as there are quite a few shots I have planned
where a short train wouldn't work, but I was pleased enough with this view as the sun just popped out in between two quite thick banks of cloud.
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I was keen to get a photograph of this train; one that has started to run only recently. It is 6U72, the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty ballast boxes utilising the large new Network Rail boxes. On 7 May 2009
the train was headed by 66602 and is here seen passing Hatton North Junction. This working replaces 6M01, the now-defunct Hinksey VQ to Stud Farm, although it runs in pretty much the same path to the north of Oxford. I had really wanted
to take this shot from a much wider angle in order to better show the wagons, but the turf farmers on whose land runs the public footpath have placed a huge metal-caged plastic cube of weedkiller or similar in exactly the wrong spot! C'est la vie...
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After a dull start, the weather on Tuesday 14 April 2009 looked as if might brighten up after lunch so I had a trip across to the Birmingham to Coventry line. There is virtually no freight along here these days but there
are plenty of passenger trains about and it is good to keep one's collection of these up to date. First to appear by the occupation bridge at Wootton Green, near Balsall Common, in a patch of half sun was Desiro 350121 on a local train to Coventry. These are one of the very few trains upon which I have travelled
and, in my opinion, are very comfortable and fast and give a much better ride than some units, such as Voyagers, designed for long distance travel.
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The WSMR passenger services nearly all travel to Leamington Spa and beyond via Coventry as this is a shorter route than the photographically much better line via Solihull and Hatton. Diversions because of out of course running and congestion around Birmingham do occur from time to time but on 14 April 2009 everything ran
to the booked plan and here is 67012 heading 1P13, the 11.22 Wrexham to Marylebone train near Wootton Green on the line from Birmingham to Coventry. This is quite a pleasant rural location but it is difficult to vary shots, a large bush in the middle ground is becoming intrusive and there is no chance of photographing anything
heading towards Birmingham because of heavy undergrowth on the other side of the bridge upon which crosses the line here. For these reasons it isn't a place I visit very often but it is a useful
place if anything out of the ordinary comes along or when one just fancies a few shots of passenger trains.
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One of Virgin West Coast's Pendolinos is currently out of service following a shunting accident and a locomotive hauled substitute set is operating a few Birmingham New Street to Euston trains. The subject of this picture is 1B50, the 14.00 to Euston being driven from DVT
82101, still in the remnants of its Virgin colour scheme, and propelled by 90036 wearing the livery of its former owner, EWS. I don't get especially fired up by any electric traction, probably as a result of developing my interest
in railways miles away from any electrified lines, but I do quite like the contrast of the various different paint jobs carried by this train, including 4 Cargo-D Mk3s, as it passed Wootton Green, near Balsall Common, on 14 April 2009.
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Unlike many enthusiasts, I don't have an obsession with class 37 locomotives or indeed any particular class, but I do quite like the contrast between the yellow of Network Rail's test trains and the blue of DRS' fleet. By the time 1Z12, the 08.35 Derby RTC to Didcot via various places such as Bescot (twice) and Bushbury Junction, had reached me
at Wootton Green on the Birmingham to Coventry line, the sun had been obscured by some quite thick cloud which looked to be set in for the afternoon. Even so, I was reasonably happy with this photograph of the train, topped and tailed by 37069 and 37609 respectively, which was given a lift by the clean yellow paintwork of the stock. In the background is a factory that processes
chipped wood and the HGV trailer visible is being tipped up to empty its load of chips into the facility's hopper.
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A land cruise operated by Green Charters ran from Huddersfield to Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford on Saturday 11 April 2009. I can just about raise enough enthusiasm for a railtour to my home town so took a walk along the towpath of the
Stratford-upon-Avon canal to a boarded crossing just on the south side of Bearley Junction to get a photograph of 57601 topping the train with 47854 on the rear. The semaphores in this location are due for replacement in the near future
when the North Warwickshire Line is resignalled so I was more than happy to get a locomotive hauled train here. The tour, 1Z73, was spot on time as it pulled away from Bearley Junction after waiting a few minutes for the preceding class 150
on a Stourbridge to Stratford service to clear the section.
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The departure of 1Z74 from Stratford-upon-Avon when it headed for Oxford was scheduled for 14.10 which had given the passengers plenty of time for some lunch and a look around the town. The train was headed by 47854 and is here seen at Songar Crossing
on the single track between Bearley and Hatton West Junctions. There are very few worthwhile locations along this section of line, especially if the sun is out, so I was quite content to drive for no more than 5 minutes from home to obtain a record shot. The presence of the
grey trackside box was a bit of a surprise to me as it wasn't there when last I used this location. I assume that it was placed there during recent work on the line. As the train was well on its way when I arrived I had to make the best of a bad job.
I don't usually take "going-away" pictures but did take this one of 57601 as it tailed the train through the newly blossoming blackthorn bushes along the line because class 57s are not exactly commonplace hereabouts.
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I was sitting at home at around 17.00 on Friday 10 April 2009 when my telephone rang and a friend who had been walking his dog near the new Trinity Mead housing estate on the south side of Stratford-upon-Avon told me that there was an Alleley's low-loader with an class 87
on board sitting, failed, on the estate's peripheral road. As it was Good Friday there was very little traffic and I arrived within a few minutes to see 87031 on the trailer with a crew working on the tractor unit of the rig. The light was dreadful and it was raining but a rarity
such as this cried out to be photographed. I was later told that 87031 had been stored at Tyseley but was en-route to Long Marston. Once the tractor unit had been repaired it certainly headed in the direction of Long Marston. Here is another view
of the locomotive just before it moved away.
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There were a lot of reports during Saturday 4 April 2009 about 6V98, the Lindsey Oil Refinery to Westerleigh oil tanks, because its locomotive, 60098 was low on power and was something in excess of 4 hours late by the time it reached Gloucester. The return working, 6E41, didn't happen until the following Monday when 60011 was provided to take the failed 60068 and empty
tanks north. I was sent a text message form between Gloucester and Cheltenham saying that the train had passed there at 12.15 and decided to go over to the nearest spot, Stoke Prior, for a photograph as I don't have many shots of doubled-up class 60s. The light was dreadful with a misty background and a monochrome picture would have been the best bet, but the novelty made the trip worthwhile. A few minutes in front of 60011+ 60068
an equally interesting working appeared in the form of 153375 running as 5Z53 from Eastleigh to Tyseley after a repaint into London Midland City livery.
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A train of empty coaching stock was booked to run from Humberstone Road, Leicester to Southall on Sunday 5 April 2009 and was booked via Nuneaton, Water Orton, Birmingham and Hatton to Leamington Spa and points south. West Coast Railway's 47760 was rostered for the run and whilst the deep maroon of their colour scheme isn't my favourite, it doesn't look bad in bright sunshine. The train, 5Z64, left Leicester a few minutes early at 09.52
and was booked to pass Hatton behind a Chiltern stopper at around 11.15 at which time the sun, if out, would be in the prime position for photography. As there seemed to be a reasonable chance of the sunny start to the morning continuing for a while I took the chance to
give my Morris Minor a run and timed it to arrive at Hatton station about 15 minutes before the time that I expected 47760 to appear. Everything went to plan and here is the attractive set of stock beginning the descent of Hatton Bank against adverse signals casued by the passage of the preceeding
Chiltern Trains unit and only a short while before the sun went behind a cloud.
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It's Thursday so it must be 6Z48. The fourth of the Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor ran on 2 April 2009 but this week there were some differences in that just 7 covered flats were conveyed which meant that just one locomotive, 47727, was required. This obviously had an influence on my
choice of location as a spot suitable for a long train would be less good for something much shorter. With this in mind I ditched my first choice for the shot and went to the footbridge just south of Hatton where the Down Goods Loop leaves the main line. The light wasn't especially good but
improved quite a lot as I waited for the train to appear, which it did right on time and, as usual, behind an Arriva Cross Country Voyager.
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The afternoon of Friday 27 March 2009 was cold but there was a reasonable chance of some decent sunshine so I went to Hatton South Junction in the hope of scoring a sunny shot of 66237 on 6V59, the 10.27 Mountsorrel to Westbury ballast. Unlike
my previous attempt, the sun came out just at the right time as the train rolled down the bank towards Warwick at just after 2pm. There's nothing particularly unusual about this working but I do like the yellow JNA wagons and the contrast that they
provide with the colour scheme of the locomotive and the background yet to burst into Spring green.
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The first of two trains not in the working timetable to run south via Hatton on Friday 27 March 2009 was this; ballast tamper DR73906, presumably on its way to the West Ealing base
of Plasser and Theurer. I'm not a true on-track-plant enthusiast but usually photograph examples when I see them largely because of their bright colours and the fact that they are
often more interesting than some multiple units and, indeed short locomotive hauled trains. One of the latter was the second of the non-WTT moves I saw at Hatton; this being
37760 on a silly little 5Z37 ECS move from Tyseley to Southall. I don't like [1] very short locomotive hauled trains and [2] WCRC's colour scheme
and certainly would not have gone out especially for a working like this, but knowing that it wasn't far away decided to hang on for a look at what all the fuss was about. Very little!
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One of the better loaded freightliners on the Birmingham to Southampton line is 4O05, the 12.00 Birch Coppice to Southampton service. On 26 March 2009 66591 was provided and is here seen rounding
the curve at Hatton Station Junction. The sun appeared out of some thick clouds a couple of minutes before the train appeared, for which I was grateful but was disappointed that the same was not the case
when 66097 with 6V94, the 10.27 Mountsorrel to Westbury ballast train. The last few times I have been out on this line during the afternoon this train hasn't run
and I should like to have scored a sunny photograph in case it either ceases to run or is diverted to another destination.
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For the third week running I decided, on 26 March 2009, to have a go at photographing the empty steel train from Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor, 6Z48. I wanted a shot at Hatton Station Junction before the foliage has appeared on the trees and filled in the background a little. I knew that the sun, if out, would not be on the front of the leading locomotive, but there is more to life and railway photography than that!
The afternoon was intermittently sunny and showery and I didn't really expect a sunny picture of 47727 + 47739 this week but even though a fair sized patch of cloud passed across the sun in between the preceding Arriva Voyager and 6Z48, the latter managed to arrive in a nice big clear patch of blue.
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The relocation of three withdrawn class 37s from Barrow Hill to Long Marston took place on Friday 19 March 2009 with 20901 + 20905 providing the power. I was a bit ambivalent about photographing this move because it wasn't the sort of thing I am particularly bothered about, but the combination of perfect light and the
recollection that I didn't have a shot of any class 20s at Evesham spurred me into action. It is quite likely that a repeat here won't be possible bearing in mind the imminent demise of the signalbox and associated semaphores, hence yet another trip to this well-used location. It's also a good spot to get a clear view of
the consist of the train, which comprised 37412 , 37672 and de-branded 37029 with 4 PFA flats to provide brake force. The rather colourless ensemble, 6Z37, is here seen passing the lower quadrant inner
home signal at Evesham running in the region of one hour late after losing some time both north and south of Birmingham and consequently missing its path onto the single track Cotswold Line. There was just time for a brisk walk and short jog around the corner to the other end of Evesham station for another shot as
6Z37 pulled away with a good dose of whistle and English Electric exhaust noise.
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Dorridge station, on the GWR line from Birmingham to Leamington Spa, enjoys a 20 minute service throughout the day. The trains are invariably formed of London Midland class 150 DMUs which shuttle up and down from Stourbridge Junction via Birmimgham Snow Hill and Moor Street stations. Here is
150002 approaching journey's end on 19 March 2009 as it slows for an adverse signal which indicates that the train will be routed over the crossover just to the south of Bentley Heath crossing and into platform 3, clear of both up and down main lines. A Chiltern Trains class 168 can just be seen disappearing
around the curve in the background as it travels the final few miles of its journey to Birmingham Snow Hill.
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Most of the freight on the GWR line form Birminhgam to Leamington Spa is container traffic to and from the deep water terminals at Southampton. Both Freightliner and DBS operate services along here and it one of the former company's trains, 4O05, the 12.00 Birch Coppice to Southampton, that is here seen approaching
Bentley Heath on 19 March 2009. Despite the downturn in traffic often seen reflected in poorly loaded intermodals, this one is well loaded with only a few empty flats being in evidence.
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The main reason for my visit to Widney Manor Lane, Bentley Heath, during the afternoon of 19 March 2009 was to photograph the second running of 6Z48, the 13.05 Burton-upon-Trent to Dollands Moor empty steel train. My original plan was to take my shot at Widney Manor station, but in the 10 years or so since my last visit there the
station footbridge has been moved quite a long way south along the platforms resulting in a shot that was nothing like I wanted, and one that I didn't think would do justice to a train with double-headed motive power. I had left enough time to find an alternative so thought that this bridge would be worth a try. It is a location that
I hadn't used before and, being just a fairly anonymous piece of line it isn't really to my taste, but pragmatism won the day and I was reasonably happy with the result, the line of silver birch trees on the left adding something to the picture. COLAS Rail's 47739 + 47727 are just being opened up as they round the curve a little to the north
of Bentley Heath crossing with the empty covered flats.
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The afternoon of 17 March 2009 promised some warm sun so I decided to head over to the Cheltenham to Birmingham line for a few photographs. My first port of call was the site of Defford station and not long after my arrival along came 6V92, the Corby to Margam empty steel train headed by
66030. Until recently, this was mostly a class 60 turn but is now pretty much a solid class 66 working. No doubt this accounts for the total lack of emailed sightings about the train and its early running. This locatiion is a couple of miles of the popular spot at Croome Perry Wood but sees far fewer
enthusiasts despite, to my eyes at least, the more open and interesting backdrop. I shouldn't complain...
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Fastline have been running coal trains from Portbury and Avonmouth terminals and this has given the opportunity to photograph a class 66 in something than the usual EWS livery. On 17 March 2009 66304 was in charge of 4V09, the Chaddesden to Portbury working and it is here seen crossing the Warwickshire Avon
at Eckington. This is a location that I like to visit now and again, but the variety of possible shots is limited so I tend not to use the spot too often. It is, however, a pleasant place alongside the river and is blissfully free of traffic noise, apart from the occasional light aircraft from Defford airstrip
and a few narrow boats and cruisers on the water.
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Another steel train to have recently gone largely to class 66 haulage from class 60 is 6V07, the afternoon Round Oak to Margam empties. This is 66166 crossing the River Avon at Eckington, near Defford on 17 March 2009. Despite the forecast of clear skies, there was quite a milky appearence to the sky with some large blobs
of cumulus cloud floating around. Perhaps the weather forecasters view of "clear skies and warm sun" is different from those of us who prefer a literal interpretation of those words.
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The nuclear flask train was Bridgwater to Crewe have been running in recent weeks, usually with a combination of classes 20 and 37 in charge. I don't often bother with these very short trains but the shot at Eckington Bridge
is ideal for the length of them so here are 20314 + 20308 crossing the River Avon with 6M67. It was running very early, as is not uncommon, passing me at 15.36 after missing out the extended layover in Gloucester Yard.
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First Great Western's class 153 single units are not uncommon on the Cheltenham to Worcester line but they are mostly seen coupled to another, longer, unit. Here though is 52329 runnng solo while crossing the Warwickshire Avon at Eckington with what I think is the 12.26 from Southampton Central to Worcester Foregate Street. I wonder how
often a passenger travels the whole route on this train? It forms a local service via Westbury and Bristol so is probably well used for intermediate stations, but hardly a time-efficient train for a longer journey.
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The number of steel train traversing the South Wales to West Midlands line dropped off quite dramatically at the start of 2009. By mid March things had picked up and on 17 March 2009 I saw three such workings during the afternoon. The third of these was 6M41, the 15.00 Llanwern to Round Oak, powered by the only class 60 in Petroleum sector markins and without
the EWS vinyls which were applied to those locomotives not repainted into the company's house colours. The light was far from perfect when the train crossed the Warwickshire Avon at 16.50 but there was quite a nice golden hue to the fading sun which just about made the
photograph worth taking. One always has to be careful when doing the post-processing of shots involving a train being outlined against the sky in order to avoid an unsightly white halo around the roof. This results from using settings in the Unsharp Mask in Photoshop that are too high, or for those using their cameras set to take pictures
in jpeg format, from allowing the camera's algorithms to do the sharpening (and probably saturation) for them. I prefer to use RAW format and retain complete control at all stages in the hope that my pictures look natural and not heavily processed, as it seen far too often on various fotopic sites.
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I had a quick trip to Badgeworth on 16 March 2009 to photograph a few bits and pieces in the bright morning sun. Unfortunately, the light became rather milky as I approached Cheltenham but I hoped that it might clear a little as the sun's heat burned off some of the high cloud and it wasn't too bad
as 1V31, the 1V31 06:08 Edinburgh to Plymouth Arriva HST led by power car 43304 came around the bend from Cheltenham station. This is one of the few locations on the line from Birmingham to Gloucester which is usable after mid-morning, as it swings round to a roughly east - west direction so that the sun
is well onto the side of the train for quite an extended period.
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There is quite a variety of diesel multiple units along the line from Gloucester to Cheltenham and two different examples of the colour schemes are here seen at Badgeworth on 16 March 2009. First Great Western's
150261 is heading east towards Cheltenham as a sister unit, but from the Arriva stable heads west at the same time. The light had dipped quite badly for this shot but I kept my camera ready just in case a decent
crossing shot presented itself.
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Freight is not exactly frequent on the Gloucester to Birmingham line but one of the most reliable trains is the empty tank working from Westerleigh Oil Depot to Lindsey Refinery. This is generally a clas 60 working at the moment but a temporary
storage of all class members has been rumoured to take place by the end of March 2009. This is causing a ridiculous amount of teeth gnashing amongst certain quarters of the enthusiast network; it seems to be forgotten that as the country is in a severe economic
recession the freight operating companies need to rationalise their assets. As the leasing costs of class 66s has to be paid whether or nor the locomotives are used it is perfectly obvious that locomotives owned outright, such as class 60s, need to be put away for the
time being. It is also obvious that 60s will return to the scene when the upturn comes; probably over the next 12 to 18 months. Here is 60068 throbbing past Badgeworth on 16 March with 6E41 to Lindsey and just catching a rather milky patch of sun.
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While driving to Badgeworth on 16 March 2009 I noticed that a class 66 with a short train was in the exchange sidings just south of Ashchurch station. When stock is taken into Ashchurch MOD it sometimes happens that the return to Didcot is no more than a light engine move.
Luckily, there was traffic on this occasion and here is 66019 with a lovely train of OCA and VGA wagons forming 6A32 passing Badgeworth. There is far more to railways than the locomotive at the front and I really like to see a short mixed freight as shown here; sadly, these are all too
infrequent these days and MOD trips are the best bet to see them. Just disappearing under the bridge in the background is 6E41, the Westerleigh to Lindsey empty oil tank train , headed by 60068.
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COLAS Rail have just won a contract to move imported steel from Dollands Moor to Burton upon Trent. The first loaded train ran overnight on 10/11 March 2009 and laid over in Small Heath yard until the early hours of the following day, the locomotives, 47739 + 47727 being stabled at
Tyseley. The return of the empty IHAs has very sociable timings and is booked to run south via Birmingham, Solihull and Hatton during the mid-afternoon. The weather in Stratford-upon Avon during the morning was not conducive to good photography but a call to a friend at Birmingham International
airport brought the welcome news that the sky was much brighter and looked as if the cloud might break so I decided to go to Bentley Heath footbridge, near Dorridge. The train, 6Z48, had left Burton in the region of 50 minutes early but was held pretty much to time in Elford loop
and also worked, as booked, into the loop at Dorridge to allow an Arriva Voyager to pass. The sun was fully out as the brightly coloured locomotives ran slowly under the bridge towards the entrance of the loop, a few yards to the south.
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A rare outing for one of DRS' under-utilised class 57s took place on 12 March 2009 when 57010 took a rake of 6 vehicles as 5Z58 from Crewe to Eastleigh. This news was originally that a pair of class 20s was to haul this ECS move, but I wasn't too disappointed when the 57 was allocated as this was my first
sight of one of the company's examples of the class. I had really expected the train to run via Coventry to Leamington Spa and on to its destination but was much happier when it was routed on the GWR line through Solihill and Hatton. The group of seven photographers on the footbridge at Bentley Heath
was wondering with some apprehension if the train would arrive before the cloud, and as here seen, it did; but it was a bit too close for comfort...
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A rare move for one of the COLAS class 56 locomotives and on-track plant was scheduled for Monday 2 March 2009. The train, 6Z56, was booked to run from Rugby to West Ealing via Nuneaton, Water Orton, Birmingham and Solihull thus giving me the chance to photograph a member of the class on their
old territory at Hatton, where they once were a daily sight on MGRs to and from Didcot Power Station. The departure time from Rugby was around 09.30 but it didn't actually take place until nearly 2 hours later meaning that the clear blue sky and lovely morning sun became covered with thick cloud.
Here is 56311 approaching Hatton station having picked up about 30 minutes by being able to miss out various pathing stops.
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A very short train of two TEA tank wagons left Long Marston for Derby on 25 February 2009. I wasn't intending to photograph this move but decided that it might be worth having a shot of 6Z89 headed by 66715 in the newly cleared cutting on the approaches to Evesham station in case nothing
else runs this way for a while. The 2 tanks were labelled "Barrier Wagon" so I presume that this is use to which they will be put if they go back into service. The light was dreadful when the train arrived but I started to walk around to the road bridge at the other end of Evesham station
for another shot as the train pulled out of the platform. Unfortunately though, before I had gone very far the token had been exchanged and 6Z89 pulled out and off towards Worcester, some 15 minutes early.
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Another set of KIA covered steel carrying wagons was taken for storage from Bescot to Long Marston on Tuesday 24 February 2009. Despite my comments last week about not bothering with these trains in poor light, I decided to go out for 6V17 because I hadn't
photographed a train of this type in the area. With the demolition of Evesham signalbox scheduled for the near future when parts of the Cotswold Line receive double track, and the fact that Long Marston is reaching full capacity as a result of the recession
I thought that I might at well have a shot while it still is possible. Although I have taken far too many pictures in this location I still want my shots to have an identifiable background rather than on a piece of bland countryside with nothing to identify
its whereabouts. Here then is 66145 running about 10 minutes early about to enter Evesham station and here is another from the roadbridge at the other end of the station taken while the train was waiting for 180104 to leave the
single track from Moreton-in-Marsh with a service from London Paddington.
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Some major tree felling has recently taken place around Evesham station, none more drastic than that in the cutting immediately on the south side. It is many years since a shot like this was possible, probably close to 20 years in fact, when I remember going across
on occasional Sunday afternoons when InterCity diversions of class 47s and coaching stock took place. This train is the 11.22 Paddington to Great Malvern formed of Adelante 180104 pictured a few yards before the Evesham stop. The cutting sides are currently a little
messy but the piles of woodchips will soon disperse making for a very decent shot and one well worth taking before the 2 semaphore signals are removed and the single track doubled. I wonder if the redundant ivy-covered telegraph post will be removed to open the view a
little more?
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Three trains of stock for storage ran from Bescot to Long Marston during the week commencing 15 February 2009. The first two were composed entirely of covered steel wagons but I saw neither because the light was so poor during the week that it would have
been a waste of petrol to have gone out. The final train of the week ran on Friday 20 February and I intended, as the light was good, to photograph it somewhere along the line from Norton Junction to Evesham. Unfortunately, a commitment in the late morning
meant that I would have missed it so went straight to Long Marston to photograph it there. The sun, of course, failed to co-operate by going behind a cloud and the shot of 66189 with 6V17 was slightly too heavily backlit
for a decent image to be obtained. This photograph shows the return working, 6M17, shortly before departure in the somewhat congested-looking exchange sidings where examples of many withdrawn locomotives can be seen. The stock of 6M17 can be seen
by using this hyperlink. The stock that formed 6V17 is the rake of bogie tanks and covered steel wagons in road No.1, to the left of 6M17.
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The sky to the south-west looked as if it might clear so I drove over to Honeybourne in the hope of getting a sunny shot of 6M17 with its nicely mixed load en-route to Bescot. Sure enough, the sun came out of a bank of cloud at just the right time a few minutes
after the train arrived on the East Loop. There were both up and down passenger trains due within the next 40 minutes meaning that no path to Evesham and Worcester would be available for the thick end of an hour so I didn't wait around in the chilly wind
but went home, just as the sun was obscured once again.
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Test trains are not all that uncommon on the GWR line through Hatton, so much so that I don't very often bother with them. Now and again though, one comes along that is a bit out of the ordinary and is worth a trip out, even if the light
isn't too good. Here is 1Z12, the vastly overpowered 09.59 Eastleigh to Derby climbing Hatton Bank just south of the cutting with 37609 and 37259 leading a lightweight train and 37605. All three locomotives were under power which seems
a bit of a waste considering that a single engine would have been more than capable of hauling the short consist without any trouble. A short while earlier, 1J81, the 10.17 Marylebone to Wrexham had gone north past the last tiny patch of snow
with 82303 leading 67015 running in the region of 30 minutes late.
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There was a heavy fall of snow across Warwickshire during the early morning of 5 February 2009. I quite fancied the idea of a few shots of some freight in a snowy landscape so decided to make the short journey to Hatton North Junction; the side roads were in a dreadful state and I had to drive
as if there was an egg between my right foot and the accelerator pedal of my car! I arrived without mishap and quite enjoyed the walk to the Junction as the snow was pristine and crunchy underfoot. The first freight to appear was
6M18, the 05.00 Portbury to Ratcliffe Power Station service, hauled by 66302, and running just about 60 minutes late. There was little traffic on the nearby M40 and the train was audible on the climb of Hatton Bank for at least a couple of minutes before it arrived.
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The next train that I expected to see was 6M31, the ThO 10.24 Banbury to Mountsorrel empty self-discharge working. This is normally a class 66 job but does throw up a class 60 from time to time and this was the case on 5 February 2009 when 60096 was rostered. There was no doubt that this was on the way
up Hatton Bank as I could hear it coming for quite a while before it came around the bend just north of Hatton station. For some reason, I made a complete mess of the shot and inexplicably moved the camera too far to the left. This ruined the composition and caused me to lose part of the consist in the process. If the
sun had been shining I would have been annoyed, to say the least, but I wasn't too bothered in this case as snow scenes without sun are less than satisfactory. Still, it was good to record a 60 on this train at a time when
very few of the class are in active service.
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One cannot stand at Hatton North Junction for too long without seeing a Freightliner and 5 February 2009 was no exception. Here is 4M55, the 08.55 Southampton to Lawley Street service headed by 66576. This is due at Leamington Spa at 11.55 and passed me at 12.09 so was running within a minute or two of its booked time, quite
impressive given the weather conditions. It seems a long time since anything other than a class 66 was seen on these container trains, but going back through my
older photographs I can lay claim to have taken shots of classes 33, 37, 45, 47, 56, 57, 58, 60 and 66 on liners in this area. Most of those won't be possible in the future...
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Now and again, late running of a train is an advantage to the photographer. This was case on 5 February 2009 when 4Q08, the Laira to Derby test train ran some 270 minutes behind schedule. I wasn't
expecting to see this but the late running gave the opportunity for a shot, despite the uncomfortable coldness getting through my walking boots and into my toes after a couple of hours at Hatton North Junction.
The train could be heard for ages on the climb of Hatton Bank, the relatively light traffic on the adjacent M40 for once not masking the sound. 31190 propelling DBO 9703 and 2 coaches was going at quite a speed
when it came around the bend from Hatton station, the crew no doubt keen to make up some time and get home.
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A train of Freightliner's FRA flats was due to be moved for storage from Crewe to Long Marston on 4 February 2009. This was a move taken on by Advenza Freight and one of their locomotives, 47810, was rostered for the job. I knew that it was running a little early before
Worcester and thought that this might continue, as long as the FGW passenger were on time. As I was running a little late I chose to go to the nearest location to my home and ended up at Evesham. Unfortunately, the road leading to the bridge I had in mind was closed to traffic
and I had to park and walk the few hundred yards around the corner, and only a few seconds after my arrival, 6Z17 appeared in the distance. It came slowly past the signabox in some quite pleasant half-strength sun and rolled to a halt in the station. A train of flats isn't the most photogenic
load, but it does give the chance to see the signalbox, which is likely to be closed and demolished when the partial double-tracking work takes place on this line.
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47810 and 6Z17 were booked to sit in Evesham station for a few minutes to allow a down passenger service from London Paddington to clear the single track. This gave me a few minutes to walk to the other side of the station and take a shot or two from the roadbridge there. Some of the trees
have been cleared from here but the sun is still low enough for shadows to be a slight problem. On the right of the train the new ramp for use by disabled passengers can be seen, this having been opened since my last visit here. The class 180 Adelante, 180104, has just arrived and this allowed the crew of 47810
to go the broom cupboard on the platform, extract a token for the section of single line which in turn allows the signalman to clear the up starter. The train departed within a few seconds to Long Marston where the flats were deposited, 47810 returning to Gloucester light engine.
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One of the class 86 locomotives taken to Long Marston some time ago has been refurbished and modified for use on the Hungarian rail network. The former 86248 was taken from Long Marston to Crewe for live testing on 3 February 2009 as 0Z90 with haulage
provided by 66725. The colourful ensemble is here seen leaving the site about 30 minutes early at 12.44 in a luck patch of bright sun, but sadly, not in the snow that I hoped would still be lying around in some quantity following heavy falls during the
previous day. Use the following hyperlink for a closer look at the class 86 as it was taken on the branch to Honeybourne.
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I really hadn't intended to go to Lower Moor for a second shot of 66725 with 86248 on their way to Crewe but the train was running early and the location I had in mind involved invloved a walk of around 3/4 mile. The last thing I wanted to see was
the train passing by before I was in place so went for the more secure option. As it happened, 0Z90 left Evesham just 4 minutes early and I would have had plenty of time for the walk, but I don't think that the extraordinarily lucky spotlight of sun would
have happened a couple of miles to the east.
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In theory, this scene should have been history well before 2009, but First Great Western are still using four class 180 Adelante DMUs to fill in gaps in their fleet. The majority of services along here are in the hands of HSTs with some Worcester trains being formed of class 166 units
so it made a change on 3 February 2009 whenI photographed 180102 on the Cotswold Line at Lower Moor while it was forming the 11.22 Paddington to Great Malvern service.
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A move of Mk2 stock from Oxley to Long Marston was arranged for Friday 16 January 2009. One can never be sure if these trains will run as planned and in any case I was ambivalent about the working as it was due to convey just two vehicles. However, it
seemed churlish not to take advantage of the information and updates so kindly provided so I went over to Long Marston to se what was what. Here is Advenza's 47375 approaching the gate with the FGW liveried coaches, running as 5Z60. The sun at this time of
day, 13.40, is pretty much straight into the lens and with it being so low makes the obtaining of a decent image virtually impossible. Fortunately, there was plenty of cloud around and a good-sized patch obscured the sun at just the right moment.
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When I drove past the yard at Long Marston on the way to the bridge, I saw two Virgin liveried coaches on the curve just beyond the exchange sidings and assumed that these would form 5Z61, the 16.00 departure to Doncaster Wabtec. I thought it most unlikely
that the train would wait until 4pm and as soon as I could see that 47375 was coupled to the stock I made my way around the corner to the foot crossing near Broad Marston. There wasn't long to wait before a heard the locomotive's horn and it soon appeared
coming around the curve towards me at 14.18. The train came to a stand just before the crossing to ensure the safety of any pedestrians and then moved away towards Honeybourne and Evesham. For another view of 5Z61 with the stock better visible, click on
this hyperlink. The train arrived at Evesham some 28 minutes early and departed from there at the booked time, 16.28.
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Most Stratford-upon-Avon to Marylebone services are formed of Chiltern Railways' class 165 stock, with occasional substitutions by class 168. Whilst I have seen several 168s it has always been on occasions when I have had no camera available. When going walking
into Stratford-upon-Avon I have taken to carrying a compact digital camera to record the day-to-day street scenes around the town and from time to time donate a CD of images to the local archives. It has always been said that in 20 or 30 years time it is the ordinary
scenes that will be of far more interest than special events; one does forget how much the average High Street changes in a relatively short period. Anyhow, I had my Canon Powershot A550 in my pocket (the model with a proper, zooming, optical viewfinder, none of this ridiculous
holding a camera at arms length to compose a picture for me!) when I passed Stratford station just as the 09.38 to Marylebone was about to leave on Friday 16 January 2008 so finally obtained the shot I have been waiting for some time to take.
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Tuesday 6 January 2009 started off with freezing temperatures and clear blue skies. After a trip to the gym and swimming pool I decided to head over to the Cotswold Line to, hopefully, take advantage of the sun and any snow still lying around. There certainly was plenty of snow around Fladbury but
unfortunately it was largely in shadowed areas, that in the sun having pretty much melted. There was still a small amount on the surrounding hills but it didn't look as if would last long. The first train to come past the boarded foot crossing between Fladbury and Lower Moor
was 165104 forming the 12.06 Worcester to Paddington Service. These units have made a bit of a resurgence on the line since the timetable change in December, after not having been seen
along here for a while.
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Everything appeared to be running to schedule on the Cotswold Line on 6 January 2009 because the 10.22 Paddington to Hereford train came north just 13 minutes after the class 165 unit shown above passed me. I'm not especially fond of ground level shots, much preferring a little height in order to better show the local
environment rather than just a train in an unidentifiable piece of countryside, but on a line such as this with a fair number of lineside trees it is difficult to find a location clear of shadows in the middle of winter. Low-level shots also require a lot of care in the post-processing stage in order
to avoid a white halo around the train roof against the sky; the result of over-sharpening. This sin also manifests itself by making the radiator grills of locomotives and power cars look too bright and almost silver in colour. All this, linked with heavy colour saturation, makes so many photographs seen on picture galleries look
totally unnatural and nothing like the actual scene by the lineside.
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Network Rail has been sending a lot of PNA wagons to Long Marston for storage in recent weeks. The fourth rake was sent there on 6 January 2009, the train running as 6V17 from Bescot and hauled by 66177. It is here seen at Lower Moor foot crossing running right on time, having left Norton Junction as soon as the preceding HST
had left the single line section at Evesham. The train was reported as leaving Bescot around 60 minutes late, but this is quite normal as 6V17 is booked to sit in Worcester Yard for nearly an hour and, as long as paths are available between Bescot and Worcester I'm sure the driver would prefer to
stay in a warm office at Bescot rather than hang around at Worcester. This isn't my favourite view for this train but spots clear of shadows are few and far between in the winter and I wanted a stretch of track where the full length of the train, 43 vehicles, would be clearly in view. Use this
hyperlink for a closer view of PNA 3643 as it passed by.
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A little snow fell during the early hours of Monday 5 January 2009 which coincided with the running of a 6Z47 from Wembley to Long Marston. The object of the exercise was to return the 6 KWA ferrywagons that had been taken out before Christmas to act as a backup for extra mail services, although to what use
60mph vehicles would be put on the WCML was never established. Here is 66731 arriving at Long Marston about 30 minutes late at 09.44. In a way it was a pity that the sun didn't come out of some fast-moving cloud, but the line would have been quite heavily shadowed by the adjacent bushes at this time of day. I have
not before photographed here with snow lying on the ground; the nearest was a couple of years ago when 47714 + 47200 arrived in a short-lived blizzard.
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Some of the messages about this working on 9 January 2009 suggested that 47746 with some brake force vehicles was to leave Long Marston. Nothing of the sort happened and once the driver of 66731 had returned to his locomotive from the control tower OZ48 left the site in a nice patch of sun, which
complemented the small amount of snow remaining on the ground. While gazing around, I noticed that what look remarkably like overhead electrification masts have been erected. Also visible is one of the rakes of PNA wagosn recently sent for storage by Network Rail.
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The week commencing 15 December 2008 saw the first weekday runs of Fastline Freight's coal service between Portbury and Ratcliffe Power Station. After watching the weather forecast for the week on the previous Sunday, I reckoned that Wednesday 17th would be the day for a shot of this and sure enough
the light was near enough perfect in the late morning so decided to go to Croome Perry where the sun would be spot on even if 4Z18 ran late. There was also a Long Marston to Barrow Hill train booked with, allegedly, a class 47 and 7 Mk2 coaches to be taken out by 66723. I paid a quick visit to see what was
going on on and arrived just in time to see 66723 roll up as 6 Virgin and 1 one Arriva liveried coaches were being shunted into place. There was no sign of a class 47 and with time being a little short if 4Z18 was on time
I left Long Marston and arrived at Croome Perry with only about 10 minutes wait before 66303 rolled out of the wood with its long rake of empty hoppers from Chaddesden sidings in Derby. Note how the ball of mistletoe in the tree just beyond the occupation bridge has grown since I took this picture of
37408 + 37411 here, almost exactly 4 years ago.
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While standing on the grass verge at Croome Perry on 17 December 2008 I received a message from a friend saying that a full Arriva Cross Country HST set was on its way with 1V39, the 06.32 Dundee to Plymouth service. I think that HST liveries have improved as time has passed and the latest is the finest so far applied to
these trains. Here is 43303 leading the set out of the wood as a Voyager from the same TOC recedes towards Abbotswood Junction. This isn't the best location for HST photographs as the rear power car is out of view but at this time of the year one's options are limited. A little while earlier, 47237 had gone north with Advenza's empty scrap train
from Cardiff to Shipley. There is no worthwhile northbound shot here at the best of times and at this time of day in mid-December a going away shot, although largely unsatisfactory in my eyes, is the only choice. The wagons on this train always bring back happy memories of chasing class 33s around Kent on the trains conveying Channel Tunnel lining segments.
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Some 10 days ago, a train of JUA iron ore tipplers and a couple of TEA tanks were moved from Cardiff Tidal Sidings to Gloucester with the intention of onward movement to Long Marston. The final leg of the journey happened on Monday 15 December with Advenza Freight's 47375 being allocated to the train, 6Z06, the 11.15 from Gloucester.
Here is the unusual looking consist on the approaches to Evesham station and here is a closer view of one of the TEAs and a JUA. The latter were formerly used on the trains coveying imported iron ore from Port Talbot to Llanwern, in happier times when South Wales still had a thriving metals industry.
The light didn't get better than dreadful all day, which I why I chose locations where the train would be moving very slowly so that a reasonable record of the interesting consist would be possible without using sky-high ISO settings on my camera.
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There was plenty of time for a leisurely drive from Evesham to Long Marston via some pleasant villages to see 6Z06 arriving. I can't imagine that any iron ore tipplers of this type have previously been along this stretch of line, although an earlier incarnation of them certainly would have been seen here in the days when thousands of tons
of ore was sent from the quarries around Banbury to South Wales. Some of these ran via the SMJ using the Old Town curve in Stratford, but others did run via the GWR line throughout. The JUAs in today's run have clearly been standing outside for some time judging by the quantity of water, weeds and general rubbish in them,
as illustrated here . When the train stopped prior to entering the Long Marston site, the water in this wagon gave the impression of a mini-tsunami as it surged to and fro. Tacked onto the end of the train was
this KIA, apparently from a set of the type used on Cardiff Rod Mill to Ripple Lane traffic.
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In the few minutes that I was waiting for 47375 to arrive at Long Marston there were several hoots from the shed area of the sight and I assumed that these were from one of the shunting locomotives moving some stock around. There was a 5Z50 16.00 Long Marston to Gloucester booked,
although the departure time seemed a little late, given that movements do not usually happen here in the dark. In the event. 47375 was uncoupled from 6Z06, ran a short way around the curve in the background and soon reappeared with 4 Virgin-liveried Mk3 coaches. Within a couple of minutes,
the train ran the length of the exchange sidings and, at 14.29, moved onto the branch towards Honeybourne. The light had deteriorated even further so I didn't bother going any further to have another shot after taking this one as it pulled away.
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The morning of 11 December 2008 started off with low cloud, mist and low temperatures; just the formula for a relatively early train from Tyseley to West Ealing. The working was 6Z47, with privately owned 47580, recently returned to the main line, taking a track machine south to the Plasser works.
As expected, a slightly late departure occurred with 6Z47 passing Hatton some 30 minutes down on the booked time. As I mentioned above, the weather was extremely dull but the train was moving quite slowly which allowed me to drop the shutter speed to 1/640 and use an aperture of f2.2 on ISO 320.
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Three more class 87 locomotives were booked to be taken from Long Marston to Crewe on 10 December 2008. The motive power for the move was 66723 which is here seen about to be allowed into Long Marston after a slightly late arrival from Bristol.
The three freshly painted 87s, 87006, 87003 and 87034, can be seen in the exchange sidings having just been deposited there by the shunting locomotive also in shot.
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The booked time for the departure of 0Z90 was 12.15, but after the delay in bringing the 87s to the exchange sidings it was some 15 minutes after this time that 66723 moved towards the branch to Honeybourne. The sun had just come out of a bank of cloud as the train started its journey to Crewe, after a morning much cloudier than had been forecast. The eventual destination of the trio is Bulgaria, as it was for the others of the class to leave here.
As soon as I had taken this shot I went to Honeybourne with the intention of taking a shot from the station platform, framed by the roadbridge, but there light was quite poor so I didn't bother and headed straight off to another location as the sky looked much clearer towards the North-West.
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Lower Moor, between Evesham and Pershore, is really just about the only location that is both relatively quick and easy to get to when chasing a train and is guaranteed to be free of shadows in the early afternoon in December. I arrived there to find about 6 cards already in situ and with, I guessed, about 10 minutes to wait before 66723 with 87006, 87003 & 87034 came into view. My guess was about right
and the colourful ensemble soon came into sight. I don't normally go for a very wide shot such as this, but have been waiting for quite some time for a short train in perfect light to run along here at the right time of day so as to show the attractive
Vale of Evesham scenery off to its best advantage.
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The weather on Saturday 6 December 2008 was perfect; clear skies with bright winter sunshine. With the prospect of a couple of diverted freights along the Leamington Spa to Birmingham line I went over to Hatton North Junction for a short, or so I thought, session. The first train I photographed was 1J86, the 12.17 Marylebone to Wrexham service with DVT 82301 propelled by 67014. The sun at Hatton
doesn't get round onto the front of the train here until just before sunset so I decided to take a view that maximised the well illuminated side of the train. Fewer photographs of these northbound WSMR services have been taken since the DVTs were introduced, maybe there will be a brief upturn in interest when the refurbished coaches in the company's own livery are introduced.
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I was hoping to see two or three freights at Hatton during the afternoon of 6 December 2008, the first of these being 4E69, the 09.45 Southampton to Doncaster Belmont intermodal, due here at about 13.45. The train, headed by by 66006 passed me at 13.57, so wasn't too far off its booked schedule and was travelling very slowly at this point having just exited the Down Goods Loop, as witnessed by the haze of exhaust
visible over the third and fourth containers. The track here joining the main line is the branch from Stratford-upon-Avon and Hatton West Junction which sees just one timetabled train per day, a service from Birmingham to Stratford running first thing in the morning. Occasional test trains from Derby also use the curve along with steam runs to Birmingham Snow Hill on Sundays over the Summer.
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The shadows at Hatton North Junction begin to encroach on the tracks by about 14.30 and were all too visible when 66304 came around the curve at 15.13 on 6 December 2008, with 6M90, the 11.30 Avonmouth to Radcliffe loaded coal train. The train had left Avonmouth some 35 minutes late but had picked up most of this time by the time it reached here, and considering how close the sun was to the horizon the result wasn't
too bad. This is a heavy train but the class 66 was making quite light work of the job and passed at a reasonable speed having had a good run up Hatton Bank with favourable signals all the way from Leamington Spa.
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This was the train that was my main target at Hatton North Junction on Saturday 6 December 2008. It is 6E41, the 10.19 Westerleigh to Lindsey empty oil tanks, diverted from its normal route via the Lickey because of extensive engineering work on the Gloucester line. The locomotive had to run-round the train at Gloucester before running along the Kemble line to Swindon and thence to Birminhgam via Oxford, Leamington Spa and Hatton.
It was due at Hatton not long after 13.30, but through late running didn't arrive behind 60024 until 15.17, just 4 minutes behind the Avonmouth to Ratcliff coal train. The sun was just on the point of sinking out of sight but held on long enough for a partly reasonable shot. It is good to see these diverted services but there is little to distinguish this train from the Theale to Lindsey empty tanks, 6E55, which also uses this route.
While walking back to my car, another freight, 6E48 Didcot Power Station to Lindsey went north but there would have been no sun on the tracks had I waited for it.
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A GBRf move out of Long Marston was planned for Wednesday 3 December. This looked as if it might be quite interesting as it was running as 5Z90 and going to the PRDC at Wembley. The light engine, from Bristol, was due to arrive at 11.10 so I arrived a few minutes before that time to find the gates into the site open. In the event 66731 was a few minutes late, no doubt due to
late running by First Great Western on the main Cotswold line. Unusually, as soon as the locomotive was inside the secure area, the gates were closed. This set alarm bells ringing and when I heard the driver on his telephone saying that, "The wagons aren't ready" I took it to me that the 12.15 departure time wasn't likely to be achieved. In fact, it was some 2 hours later and after
a change of headcode to 6Z90 that the diminutive shunting locomotive propelled 6 KVA ferrywagons into road No.2 ready for 66731 to move onto them. The departure time had been put back a couple hours to 14.14. As the sun, which had shown no signs of disappearing all day, would be completely wrong for a departure shot at that time, I drove down to Honeybourne, via some still icy lanes.
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For reasons unknown, 66731 with 6Z90 was further delayed leaving Long Marston and by the time it reached Honeybourne the sun was very low and the track heavily shadowed. That notwithstanding, there was enough of a clear patch on the former East Loop to allow a reasonable photograph to be taken against a very Autumnal looking Cotswold backdrop. An up HST passed and within a couple of
minutes the driver of 6Z90 left his locomotive and walked towards the groundframe. As soon as the HST had reached Moreton-in-Marsh, the frame was released and 66731 pulled its train forward on the main line and off towards Worcester. I don't know why ferrywagons are needed at the PRDC, I had assumed that some NPCCS for Christmas mail use was to be
taken there, but maybe another day...
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A charter, organised by Compass Rail, ran from Liverpool South Parkway to Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday 29 November 2008. The weather, as seems to the norm for days on which locomotive-hauled trains run to Stratford, was absolutely dire with heavy cloud merging with a slowly clearing fog, accompanied
by near zero temperatures. I don't normally bother with railtours and the like, but do like to record unusual arrivals at the station in my home town so made the 10 minute walk to the bridge over the end of the platforms. The train, 1Z42, was topped and tailed by Riveria's 47815 and 47805, and arrived spot on time after running
via the North Warwickshire Line, and is here seen drawing to a halt in platform 1 with the exceptionally grubby two-tone green locomotive leading. After a short delay, 47805 was started and took the train out of the station to the crossover before propelling the ensemble into platform 2 to await the passengers' return in time for
a 17.00 departure. The seven coach set fitted nicely alongside the platform and here is a shot of 47805 with 150005 about to pass it with an incoming train from Stourbridge Junction ready to form the 12.27 departure back to the West Midlands.
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A train of empty coaching stock ran from Carnforth to Poole on Friday 28 November 2008 in preparation for a railtour the following day. The locomotives were 37676 + 37248, the former being, I think, newly released to traffic in WCRC's house colours. I'm not entirely sure about this as I
don't take a great deal of interest in what goes on in the field of preservation and the private ownership of older locomotives. I had to be in Leamington Spa over lunchtime so made a slight diversion to Old Milverton where I knew that the sun, if out, would be in the right place for a photograph.
When I arrived, the sun was out but shadows from the hedge meany that a long lens would be needed. Three down trains and one up passed by, all except the up Voyager in cloud, or rather a bank of fog which had quickly built up. Luckily, this blew away just as the nose of 37676 came into view
in the distance and it just held for long enough as 5Z47 came slowly along the switchback track towards an adverse signal on the other side of the bridge. I don't know what's happened to the front of 37676; it looks as if it has suffered a shunt at some point which hasn't been properly repaired...
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Since I photographed 56311 + 56312 on and around the Cotswold Line on 14 November 2008, the pair have been working loads of imported steel from Immingham Nordic Terminal to Washwood Heath on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with the empties returning on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I didn't see any point in rushing out to photograph
the southbound working in poor light so decided to wait until a day came along when some sun was more or less guaranteed. This happened on Tuesday 25 November 2008 and I made my way to the bridge in Kingsbury, adjacent to the junction for the oil terminal and the Birch Coppice branch. This wasn't really my first choice of location because the sun's angle is a little too straight at 10.30
but does obviate the chance of a missed shot should the train, 6Z57, be routed to use the slow line via Whitacre Junction. This picture shows 56312 + 56311, both under power, taking the heavy train of loaded covered flats past Kingsbury on the final stage of their journey, with 66615 shunting its oil tanks ready
to form 6E47 to Humber Oil Refinery.
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The WSMR trains between Wrexham and Marylebone are now using DVTs on all 3 sets of stock. However, on Saturday 15 November 2008, the first up train on the day, 1P01, was reported as having both a DVT and 67015 on the north end meaning that on the return diagram these two vehicles would be leading.
With this in mind I went over to Hatton for 1J86, even though the light was simply dreadful - too bad in fact to bother with the walk from the station to North Junction. 67015 leading the DVT, stock and 67013 came up the bank spot on time, following a Cross Country Voyager, and the unusual formation was duly
recorded. Note the class 165 Chiltern Turbo waiting for the road in the Stratford branch platform; this is the 13.40 from Stratford-upon-Avon to Marylebone.
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There was some more Long Marston activity on Friday 14 November 2008, this time including a couple of "firsts". Two class 56s were scheduled to run from the Nene Valley Railway, near Peterborough, to Worcester and then on to Long Marston in order to pick up a long rake of flats, with temporary sheeting covers to protect the load, soon to be used on a new flow of steel coil from
Immingham to Swindon, for use by Honda Motors. The trains are to be operated by COLAS who will be using 56311 and 56312, the latter in a striking new livery. Everything went exactly to plan (except the weather!) and here is 0Z56 passing the signalbox at Evesham a few minutes early. These are the first 56s I have photographed under their own power on
the Cotswold Line, although 56103 hauled a returning charter organised by Hertfordshire Railtours from Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington via the line on 2 May 1993, Worcester Rail Open Day, and a few MGRs to Didcot Power Station ran this way in the 1980s. Thanks to Steve Widdowson for the historical information.
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I do know that no class 56 locomotive has previously worked along the Honeybourne to Long Marston branch under its own power, the only members of the class having previously been along it are those derelict examples dragged there for storage within the site. I was therefore keen to obtain this shot of 56312 and 56311 arriving so didn't hang about at Evesham. I arrived with a good 5 minutes to spare so it wasn't long before the unprecedented sight of a pair
of the heavyweight engines appeared in the distance. The gates were already open and here is the pair about to run into the exchange sidings, where their load can be seen waiting in road No.2.
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In the relatively short time that 6Z56 was standing in the exchange sidings at Long Marston, there was just one very brief patch of sunlight. The almost spotlight effect shows off the wagons forming the train as well as the variety of other stock stored in the yard, including the PGAs that arrived earlier in the week. I don't think that I've ever seen quite so many
high visiblity jackets surrounding a train here - no doubt a function of the new operator visiting here. Shortly after I took this shot, 56311 was started up and the smoke effect had to be seen to be believed. I was, unfortunately, in the process of changing lenses at the time so wasn't able to record the eruption...
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The smooth running of the operation continued and a slightly early departure was made, once all the requisite checks of the vehicles and brakes had taken place. It was good to hear the sound of a class 56 working as the train was slowly moved onto the start of the One Train Only branch to Honeybourne. I can't imagine that this will happen again in the near future
so was more than happy to have witnessed it, despite the poor weather and lighting conditions.
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Once 6Z56 had left Long Marston I made a bee-line for Honeybourne as there was no way that I wanted to miss a shot of a new class for the line standing on the former East Loop. The light reached a nadir during the drive over and didn't improve whilst the train was standing which was a great pity because of the attractive Autumnal colours on the trees all around here. It was still running early at this point and it seemed as if a path to Evesham was going to be available
so I took just a few shots before heading off for another attempt on the main Cotswold Line.
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I received a text message from a friend whilst jogging back to my car saying that the down FGW train had gone but that the up was still north of Evesham, meaning that 56311 and 56312 would have to wait there until it arrived at the station. This gave plenty of time to get to the nearest decent location, Lower Moor, between Evesham and Pershore. There was already a small gallery of photographers in situ and the news was that the up HST had already gone. There wasn't long to wait before
the rounded front end of 56311 appeared under the bridge at Fladbury. The light had picked up a little but I chose to use a standard f1.8 50mm lens to make the most of it as this piece of glass
always performs well in low light conditions. This is a sight that I shall remember for a long time, especially as I can't foresee a repeat performance.
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A long rake of PGA hoppers has been languishing at Bescot for a few weeks awaiting movement to Long Marston. On Tuesday 11 November 2008 that move finally took place as 6V17, the 09.30 from Bescot. The train left some 75 minutes late
but had picked up about 20 minutes by the time it reached Worcester, where it is booked to sit for a while, awaiting a path behind a Paddington bound HST. Unfortunately, the HST was running late too, so 66160 with 6V17 didn't leave Worcester Yard
until 13.13, just about the time it should have been arriving at Long Marston. For once, the late running was an advantage as the very heavy cloud around Evesham was breaking up nicely by 13.35 when I heard the locomotive's horn as it approached the distant
signal for Evesham station. The sun broke through nicely as the train came slowly around the curve by the signalbox and drew to a halt in the station, to await the passage of a northbound Adelante. The rusty appearance of the PGAs blended in well, I thought, with the
remaining Autumnal colours of the trees in the background.
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A second weekend of engineering work took place on the North Warwickshire Line starting overnight on 7/8 November 2008. I didn't know where the work was taking place so had a look at Henley-in-Arden where nothing other than line protection boards were visible, before driving on to Danzey Green. This was the scene there, with 60060 standing on the northbound line with a single track panel flat, 66177 at the head of a long train of scrap panels
and and road/rail vehicle heading south and into the worksite. The track panels were in the process of being secured to the wagons but it seemed to me that the departure might not be too far away. I quite like watching
the movements associated with permanent way work as it passes the time whilst waiting for a locomotive hauled movement. Here is another view at Danzey, this time of some more road/rail vehicles passing through the station, and here is a close-up view of the second of them.
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A friend turned up at Danzey and we decided that it would be worth the short trip to Wood End, the next station towards Birmingham, in case the train of scrap track panels standing wrong road made a move. Nothing happened in the 30 minutes or so we were there and as Steve had to return home he dropped me off at Danzey where my car was parked. After about 10 minutes, the driver of 66177 walked up the
track and joined his train. This was the cue for me to go back to the road bridge just north of Wood End station and before too long I heard a horn as the 66 moved away form Danzey. A couple of minutes later the horn was blown again as it entered the tunnel and then the train stopped at the protection boards in the station. The appropriate board was soon removed and 66177 headed wrong line towards Shirley,
the site of the first available crossover, and then off to Bescot. The light was quite poor but class 66s aren't all that common on the North Warwickshire Line and I was more than happy with the result as the train pulled away. As Danzey station was on the way home, I dropped in again to see if anything was moving. 60060 was still standing on the up line and it looked as if it was time for the relief crews
to take over the job as several cars and vans appeared. I took a final shot of the yard, mostly because of the Autumnal colours and dark sky, before going home.
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Two trains with "Z" headcodes were booked to pass Hatton in the late morning on 3 November 2008. The first was 1Z12 from Derby RTC to Lovers Walk (Brighton) and comprised of a Network DBSO and coach propelled by green liveried 31190. Presumably because the locomotive was on the back of the train, it elicited very
little enthusiast interest and just one posting on an email group appeared on my BlackBerry. Here is 1Z12 about to pass Hatton station in very poor light a few minutes early with 31190 producing a fair amount of noise and exhaust smoke.
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The second of the special workings to pass Hatton on 3 November 2008 was 2Z10, running from Derby RTC to Southampton. It seems that even when a class 37 is used no-one takes any interest when it is propelling the train, judging by the total lack of
emailed reports of its progress. In the event 2Z10 ran about 3 minutes early and I photographed it with 37423 and Caroline coasting down Hatton Bank at exactly 13.00 in some truly dreadful light.
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Some major track renewal was planned for the North Warwickshire Line over the weekend of 1st and 2nd November 2008. Through the good offices of some friends and contacts it was established that the area around Danzey station was the worksite so even though the weather was dull in the extreme, I went across for a look.
The major surprise was to find 60060 standing with one wagon in a completely photographable location; just about the only clear spot for miles and one with a little interest in the form of a road junction and field gate. The quality of the pictures was never going to be great given the appalling light, but locomotives
are rare on this line so record shots just had to be taken. One has to be careful with the post processing of images where the subject is against a dark sky in order to avoid the heinous crime of a white sharpening halo around the locomotive roof; a sure sign that the whole photograph has been over-sharpened. Use this
hyperlink for another view of 60060.
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After photographing 60060 just south of Danzey station on 1 November 2008 I carried on to the station to find 66019 standing beyond the platform on a long train of flats loaded with the redundant track panels. The light was becoming worse by the minute and a strong wind was blowing but a couple of shots just had to be taken with the
200mm lens in conjunction with a monopod to minimise camera movement. Here is the train and a road/rail crane in operation along with all the uusual impedimenta of engineering work on the trackside.
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66019 soon pulled its train of track panels forward and out of sight to the south of Danzey station which allowed 66200 with a rake of empty JNAs to come into the area
ready to be loaded with spent ballast yet to be dug out of the trackbed. This was the time for crew changes and a taxi came to pick up one set of men whilst a van carrying their relief
arrived. By now it was nearly 3pm and the light had all but gone, so off home into the warm...
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On Sunday 2 November 2008, the engineering work around Danzey on the North Warwickshire Line continued. I saw a message saying that at least 2 of the trains were at Henley-in-Arden and looked set to hea south to Bearley Junction where they would reverse and return to Bescot via
Hatton North Junction and Solihull. The nearest good photographic location for me is the aqueduct at Edstone and on arrival I found a long train of empty rail panel carriers in position. It wasn't exactly photographable because the centre of the train was plumb underneath the canal,
with 60060 and 60045 on either end. It wasn't long before I heard a horn in the distance which I took to be the first of the trains moving away from Bearley Junction and shortly afterwards, the PICOP moved the stop board/light so that 60060 could move forward, wrong line, to the junctiion.
Here is 60045 bringing up the rear of the train as it heads south.
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The obvious next move for another shot of the train, by then headed by 60045 after reversal at Bearley Junction, was Claverdon station. I think it is important wherever possible to have a clearly recognisable backdrop for pictures on lines where locomotives are a rarity and a station is the ideal spot.
Here is 60045 passing through the platform at Claverdon with its train of empties - the first of the class I have photographed on the single line stretch betweeb Bearley and Hatton West Junction. 60060 is just about visible through the murk on the rear of the train, and
here is the locomotive again passing the site of the original station at Claverdon. I don't much go in for "going away" shots, but wanted to take the rare opportunity to the show the view here with something other than a unit. The fenced-off structure has appeared since my last visit here and doesn't
add to the rural ambience of the photograph...
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A rare nocturnal locomotive-hauled move to Stratford-upon-Avon ocurred on Tuesday 28 October 2008. The Structure Gauging Train, running as 1Q06, the 17.59 Derby RTC to Derby RTC via Stratford left Derby about 30 minutes late, but with a similar layover scheduled at Snall Heath I didn't expect much delay
by the time it reached my home town. I had a call from a signaller friend when 1Q06 was at Shirley on the North Warwickshire Line and this was my cue to make the short journey from home to the station. It was a very cold evening following some heavy snow during the late afternoon and platform 2 at Stratford
was not the cosiest place to be at 20.35! The final train of the day to Birmingham and Stourbridge Junction hadn't been gone many minutes when 31233 heading the SGT with 31105 on the back rumbled around the curve and into the platform.
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The Structure Gauging Train was booked to stand at Stratford-upon-Avon for about 10 minutes so I waited for the driver to switch on the lights on the front of 31105 before taking my photographs. It is many years since last I did any night shooting
but I did remember that an exposure of 15 second at f5.6 using 100ASA film used to give a good result here, so that was my starting point on 28 October 2008. I like the effect of the differing colour temperatures of the street lighting in the background
and the starburst caused by the long exposure. The road was already set and the platform-end signal showing a green aspect and it wasn't long before the driver blew his horn to mark the end of photography for the evening and went off with a wave into the dark. The laser
gauging beam was switched back on as the train moved off, giving quite a show on the curve out of the station. I should have taken my video camera too...
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Five TDA tank wagons were taken from Bescot to Long Marston on Tuesday 28 October 2008. The allocated locomotive was 66097 and the train, 6V17, is here seen approaching the end of its journey spot on time at 13.05 amidst some Autumnal colours on either side of the branch from Honeybourne.
The Motorail Logistics crew arrived to open the gate in a rail vehicle I hadn't previously seen, which appears to be painted in colours similar to those of Porterbrook, the owner of many of the locomotives stored at Long Marston. A return to Bescot, 6M17,
was booked to run and five Virgin liveried DVTs were taken out. I didn't stay to see this move as the light deteriorated and it poured with rain. In the event, 6M17 was some 90 minutes late at Evesham so I think that I made the correct decision.
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On Friday 24 October 2008, two trains of empty oil tanks were booked to run through Hatton North Junction. They normally run on separate days but in the same path so I was
interested to see which would come first, and at what time. In the event, 6E55, the Theale to Lindsey working turned up first, exactly 60 minutes early at 15.15 with 60013 in charge. The Autumnal
colours at Hatton are are a little disappointing this year - the large tree in the midground has lost most of its leaves over the past week and those on the curve have yet to turn properly red yellow and orange.
The radio mast visible between the two trees just beyond the line is in the yard at the south end of Hatton station and clearly shows the virtually 90 degree curve through which the railway (and Grand Union canal) follows the geographical contours of the land.
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Whilst waiting for some freight activity at Hatton North Junction during the afternoon of 24 October 2008, I whiled away the time by photographing the regular passenger trains. I never think it's
a good idea to upload every single image taken during a session at a single location but I do quite like this shot of a three coach Chiltern Railways class 168 unit, 168218, forming a London Marylebone to
Birmingham Snow Hill service. The shadows were becoming a bit intrusive by 4pm so I switched to a stronger lens which helps to accentuate the curve, and almost tunnel-like effect of the tree-lined railway.
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I was expecting to see the Didcot to Lindsey Oil Refinery empty oil tanks behind 60055 on Friday 24 October 2008 but when an hour had elapsed beyond its booked time at Hatton North Junction. I started to pack my camera
away. Just then, 66085 headed around the curve in the last clearish patch of sunlight with 4M36, the Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal. I'm not sure whether or not I like these "final moments" shots in shadowy locations, I do really prefer
something a little clearer. The empty oil tanks didn't appear largely because, as I was later told, they passed north of Burton-upon-Trent around 14.30 and, with the clocks being put back one hour this weekend, it is unlikely that I will photograph it here much before early February 2009.
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The Great Western Castle class locomotive, 5043 Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, has been undergoing a very long restoration at Tyseley. Its first loaded run was to Stratford-upon-Avon on Sunday 19 October 2008 and I heard it leave on the first of two return trips whilst I was in my garden. Not long afterwards, I received a message
saying that it had failed with a hot box near Tyseley, the passengers being turfed off and told to join the next London Midland service to Snow Hill. To fulfil their obligations to passngers, Vintage Trains fired up 47773 as a substitute on the next train. This spurred me into action and I made the short walk to the nearest vantage point to my home, this being the road bridge at Bishopton Lane. The light wasn't too bad when I arrived but by the time the train appeared under the bypass bridge
in the background, it had turned absolutely dire. I think it was still worth a shot as class 47s are less common here than steam locomotives!
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Arriva CrossCountry trains have recently been using an HST for at least one of its services, 9S53, the 06.40 Plymouth to Aberdeen, although I believe that the headcode is soon to revert to the more traditional class 1S53. I wanted a photograph of the set with the newly painted power cars but still with the MML coaches as these transitional pictures
are more interesting in years to come than those showing the overall corporate liveries. The train was due to pass Bromsgrove at 10.05 so, on Friday 17 October 2008, I went just south of that point and had to wait only a short tome before the welcome sight
of 43303 at the head of the train came into view. I committed the cardinal sin of cutting of the top of the electricity pylon in this picture so went the whole hog and cropped the image slightly to increase the impact of the train and make it look as if the error were intentional!
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A train I haven't photographed very often is 6M96, the 06.27 Margam to Corby loaded steel coils. It is booked a "Q" path on Fridays but I had seen from an early morning locomotive list that it was down to run on 18 October 2008. This very heavy train requires banking up the Lickey Incline and when I took this picture at Stoke Prior it was mocing at walking pace
towards the signal just around the corner which will show a single yellow aspect as it approaches telling the driver that the next signal will clear from red to a "feather" as he approaches and that he will be routed into Bromsgrove loop to await the banker, an EWS class 66. The timekeeping of 6M96 can best be described as variable and on this day it was running in the region
of 35 minutes late.
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The afternoon of Friday 17 October 2008 was reasonably sunny and fancying some fresh air without travelling far I decided to have a walk along the towing path of the Grand Union canal, ending up at Hatton North Junction just before 15.00. I expected only two freights plus the HST NMT but it's a pleasant enough place to spend an hour on a sunny afternoon.
The first of the expected freights was 6M01, the 14.10 Hinksey Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empties behind 666546 which caught me out by sneaking very quietly around the curve as I was watching a Common Buzzard circling in search of prey. I grabbed my camera from the ground just in time and took this without checking any settings - fortunately all was OK from my initial
few minutes spent setting up the exposure and focus.
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As the afternoon of 17 October 2008 progressed, a lot of thin high cloud blew in from the south-west and made the light rather "milky". I had hoped that 6E55, the 13.33 Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks with 60054 in charge would run on time, but it was caught up behind a Chiltern Trains stopper and the NMT HST. I wasn't happy with my shot of the NMT and, assuming that 6E55 was in Hatton Loop,
was in the process of changing lenses when it appeared at normal speed. Additionally, a Chiltern Trains class 168 was coming from behind and I was fortunate that by switching to a shorter lens I avoided a shot with the unit halfway past the locomotive. In the event, the shot is not what what I hoped for, because the light had deteriorated too much, but I won't often turn away from a photograph of
the only class 60 still in grey livery and without an EWS sticker on the side...
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The empty Lafarge self-discharge train from Banbury's Reservoir Sidings to Mountsorrel, 6M31, is usually hauled by an EWS class 66 locomotive. On occasions, though, a class 60 is rostered which gives the opportunity to photograph one of the class on Hatton Bank hauling something other than a train of empty oil tanks.
Thursday 16 October 2008 started bright and sunny so I went over to the southern end of Hatton cutting and lined up a nice shot which involved balancing somewhat precariously on a stepladder to get over the rampant undergrowth which has resulted from a warm and wet summer. I knew that 6M31 had passed Fenny Compton nearly 30 minutes early
and this resulted in it approaching the down goods loop at Hatton very slowly; obviously having been signalled to turn into it. A bit of a scramble ensued as I jumped off my steps and ran down the footpath to get to this clear(ish) spot just as 60077 moved slowly along the line. The shot has a bit too anonymous a backdrop for my taste but
at least the side of the train is well lit and the wagons show up well.
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On Wednesday 15 October 2008 the steam locomotive 30777 Sir Lamiel was due to visit Stratford-upon-Avon from London Victoria. To assist with shunting the stock and to bank the returning train out of the station, WCRC 33025 was sent light engine down the North Warwickshire Line, being due to arrive
about 30 minutes before the main train. It won't be too long before the mechanical signalling and associated signal boxes along this route are removed so I thought a walk to one of the several footpaths crossing the line between Bearley Junction and Wilmcote might be a good idea so that I could update
my photographic collection, not having been along there for years. 33025 appeared on time, following a class 150 DMU from Stourbridge Junction and is here seen seen accelerating away from a long-standing temporary speed restriction across the junction at Bearley. The loose-looking support wire for the bracket signal,
appearing above the locomotive, doesn't seem to be performing any useful function!
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Before the class 33 locomotive sent to shunt had gone out of sight towards Stratford-upon-Avon, 30777 was waiting at the sugnal on the single track from Hatton West Junction. It had picked quite a bit of time as it had reported 2 minutes late at Heyford but was now close to 15 minutes early. The signalman at Bearley Junction
allowed to proceed under caution from the single track and his outer started was cleared just as the train came to the end of the speed restriction. With cylinder cocks open, the injectors on and with leaking cylinder glands, Sir Lamiel is making a fair impression of a hovercraft as the regulator is opened to get it on move
towards it destination. I sometimes think that steam locomotives look better in black & white, especially in poor light. I shall have to be careful, this is the third steam run I have photographed in 2008...
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The Railhead Treatment Trains (RHTTs) commenced operations during the week of 13 October 2008. In my part of the world, these are all MPV operated which I quite like as one doesn't get to see these vehicles very often. Here is
DR98961 moving away from Bearley Junction on 15 October 2008 as it heads from the North Warwickshire Line towards Stratford-upon-Avon. The train was slightly delayed because of a "Cathedrals Express" with 30777 Sir Lamiel having run early
and been allowed to precede it to the terminus. The weather was quite poor but this did allow the headlight of the MPV to give a nice reflection on the nearside rail.
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