The introduction of class 66 to the British railway scene has probably caused more argument and controversy since steam haulage ceased in 1968. Dubbed "Red Death" by the more sensationalist railway press, the locomotives stirred up strong emotions amongst enthusiasts, the less rational of whom immediately swore never to photograph one regardless of the location or the train being hauled. I well recall this being said when class 60 was introduced, and look at their following today. Even in 2005 one still hears people saying the likes of, "I'm not bothering with that, it's only a shed". To my mind, this attitude shows that the person voicing the sentiment is not a true railway enthusiast, but a blinkered throwback to the never to be repeated times when a dozen different classes could be photographed in a single day without straying more than a few miles from home. Much as we might regret the passing of favourite classes, times move on and if we enjoy being at the lineside and photographing trains, then we have to accept that class 66 is here to stay. That the design is successful is undeniable. It is spreading across Europe and has rapidly become the standard freight locomotive of choice to most operators. In the UK, we have several different colour schemes, and this adds to the interest. I hope that the pictures in this section will show that the class does have some attraction and that it is the whole train that is of interest, not just the locomotive.

	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...
	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.
	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...
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	After all the excitement of photographing a < a href="http://www.petertandy.co.uk/30453_Bishopton_230410.jpg"> 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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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 have taken previously 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.
	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.
	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...
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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 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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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...
	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 a week more to go may yet score one in the sun. We'll see.
	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 wascreated 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...
	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.
	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?
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	The worksite for 6W27 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 6W87 turned off the headlights on 66083 and placed a portable tail lamp on the bracket before reversing to allow the ballast work to progress.
	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.
	Fastline Freight has, on Saturday 20 September 2008, started a new coal flow form Avonmouth (Bennett's Terminal) to Ratcliffe Power Station. The first run of empty hoppers, 4G90, went to Avonmouth during the early morning, being booked to pass Banbury at 08.00. The normal route for the empties will be via Gloucester but this train was diverted due to engineering work in the Yate area. I fancied a shot of the first train but without driving too far couldn't think of anywhere worthwhile. The Hatton area would clearly be out of the question so I ended up on the bridge at Grimsbury on the northern outskirts of Banbury. I could have done with 4G90 being at least 30 minutes late but it came 10 early and, with a Voyager following close behind, was put into the up loop. All this meant a pretty unsatisfactory photograph taken at ISO 200 - much higher than I normally favour.
	The loaded return working, 6M90, of the first Fastline Freight from Ratcliffe to Avonmouth ran during the afternoon of 20 September 2008. It left Bennett's terminal some 20 minutes late, not normally a problem for photography but when a train is booked to pass Hatton at 18.38 at this time of the year a few minutes can make the difference between getting a shot or not getting a shot. Fortunately, 66301 and 6M90 picked up some time by missing out a booked wait at Oxford North Junction and good regulation meant that it was routed in front of a Chiltern Trains service from Fenny Compton. This put it back on time and it is here seen passing Hatton North Junction at a surprisingly good speed considering the 2000+ tonnes on the drawbar, a couple of minutes early in the very last dregs of light. Just like the morning shot at Banbury I was reduced to using ISO 200 - the other settings being a shutter speed of 1/500 and an aperture of F2 on a 50mm prime lens.
	I very rarely spend much time taking photographs on railway stations but on Friday 10 October 2008 I had a couple of hours at Leamington Spa. There are some very decent shots of southbound trains to be had at the north end of the down platform and my first shot was of 66093 hauling 4O04, 09.35 Washwood Heath to Eastleigh Yard intermodal. There is a short but steep gradient into the station from the Warwick direction, locally known as "the dip", and even when a heavy train is given a clear road some effort is needed to bring it into the up through line.
	This train is 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner in the hands on 66568, and some of the effort needed for it climb out of "the dip" at Leamington Spa on 10 October 2008 can be judged from the exhaust haze. A northbound service had just turned right onto the Coventry branch and this meant that 4O54 was stopped on the Warwick side of the short gradient. I always think that a longish lens is useful for this shot as the compressed perspective shows both the steepness of the climb and the exhaust to good effect. In the days of older locomotives being used on these trains there were some quite spectacular sights and sounds to be witnessed here.
	The sun made what seemed to be its first appearance for several weeks on the morning of Friday 19 September 2008 so I decided to have an hour by the lineside at Hatton. The undergrowth at the south end of the cutting has made photography virtually impossible with just a small gap in the vegetation at one small spot. This gap is fine though for a carefully composed picture utilising the hedge and fence and gives a reasonable view of the train, as shown here by 66192 heading north with 4M33, the 08.10 Southampton to Burton on Trent intermodal, running just about spot on time. This working was climbing at Hatton Bank at what seemed to be the normal speed but just a few minutes later the following Arriva Cross Country Voyager was severely checked at the new signal a few yards to the north. I wonder if 4M33 had a problem towards the top of the bank or maybe there was a fault with the signalling - an event that seems all too common along here.
	The target for the afternoon on 27 September 2008 was this, 66305 with 6M80, the 11.30 Avonmouth to Ratcliffe loaded coal train operated by Fastline Freight. The first train had run the previous week in a later path but with an earlier departure booked this time, the chances of a well lit shot were much greater. The train managed to leave Avonmouth around 2 hours late but the weather was such that there seemed little prospect of anything getting in the way of a sunny shot. 66305 is here seen at Hatton North Junction having just been released from Hatton Down Goods Loops and consequently travelling very slowly with over 2000 tonnes in tow. There were also reports of a light engine move involving 37401 & 37417 running from Didcot to Bescot to peform on an engineering train on the Central Wales line. It had been said that the 37s were taken to Didcot for onward movement to Eastleigh for withdrawal, but someone somewhere seems to changed their mind. I'm no great fan of light engine photography but it seemed rude to not hang on for a few minutes given the perfect light...
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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...
	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.
	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.
	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...
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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...
	Two of GBRf's class 66/7s were booked to take a train of ECS from Old Oak Common to Crewe during the morning of 27 June 2007. Even considering the dull weather, this had to be worth a short trip to photograph and I decided on Whitnash, just to the south of Leamington Spa, as a suitable location. The train was running slightly early and it is here seen braking for the run down to Leamington Spa station with 66726 leading and 66723 almost out of sight on the back on the formation.
	The dreadful weather of the weekend on 21 July 2007 resulted in large tracts of Gloucestershire being inundated with flood water. One of the worst consequences of this for the residents of Tewkesbury, near Ashchurch, was the failure of their water supply due to a plant treating drinking water being flooded. Tesco and EWS made rapid arrangements to help out by ferrying large quantities of bottled from Mossend to the MOD depot, via Bescot. This picture shows 66207 arriving at Ashchurch with 6Z12, the 07.30 from Bescot. The water, carried on pallets in the ferrywagons, will be offloaded by fork-lift truck and then taken by road the short distance into Tewkesbury. The train will run beyond the exchange sidings to the south of the roadbridge upon which I was standing, reverse into the sidings and then propel its train along the branch, formerly the line to Evesham and Redditch, visible on the right of the picture.
	Here is 66207 after the procedure I outlined above has taken place. The branch has 2 footpaths crossing it and a shunter walked alongside the track in front of the first wagon to ensure that no pedestrians were in danger, the man being in radio contact with the driver at all times. This train seems to have required some fairly complex manning arrangements in that a Didcot driver appears to have come here by road to relieve the Bescot man, who would not sign the branch, the latter returning to the West Midlands by road. Another crew came, presumably from Worcester, to unlock the ground frame allowing access to the the exchange sidings. All this would have to happen again, but in reverse when the train leaves Ashchurch for Bescot in the late afternoon when it runs to Gloucester to run round, there being no egress to the north for trains leaving the exchange sidings.
	The sun had shone pretty much all morning up to the point when 66207 with 6Z12 appeared in the distance and went into the down loop at Ashchurch. A Voyager, a 170 and a 158 passed in sun but clouds built up just as the train of bottled water was given the road out of the loop onto the main line. The only glimmer of sun came as it reversed around the curve on the line towards the MOD facility. Here is 6Z12 about to disappear into the undergrowth surrounding the short branch.
	The Didcot to Ashchurch MOD trains have been running recently and with one booked to run on Tuesday 31 July 2007 I decided to go and photograph it. 6B36 has to run north past Ashchurch in order to run-round at Worcester as there is no access to the exchange sidings and branch from the south. Here is 66133 approaching the road bridge adjacent to Ashchurch station spot on time at 09.30 with its short train comprising of Warflats with vehicles for repair or maintenance. The exchange sidings are clearly visible on the left, although only the centre road in currently in use.
	Whilst waiting for 6B36 to return to Ashchurch from Worcester I also photographed 66159 on a long rake of IZAs conveying bottled water from Mossend to Avonmouth. The train, 6Z12, ran from Bescot as part of an initiative between EWS and Tesco to aid the victims of the recent flooding in Gloucestershire who have had no fresh tap water for some 10 days. The water is brought back north by road and distributed as necessary. Two trains of water went into Ashchurch MOD but it was announced on 30 July that the Army's involvement in this part of the operation was to cease from the following day.
	66163 was not far behind 66159 on 6Z12 and here is 6B36 running slowly through Ashchurch station prior to entering the exchange sidings and heading to the MOD facility, along the short branch visible on the right. The water tower appearing over the light green footbridge is a survivor from steam days when Ashchurch station was the interchange point for traffic from the Evesham and Redditch branch and that which ran to Upton on Severn. There were then 4 platforms and all the associated infrastructure. The present station is a fairly new re-opening at which one train each way per hour calls throughout the day with additional services during the peak hours.
	Once 66133 and 6B36 had left the main line and was locked in, it soon propelled the light load of road vehicles onto the branch. Here it is about to curve round through the undergrowth preceded by a man on foot to protect the 2 foot crossings. Click on this hyperlink to have a closer look at a couple of the vehicles in the train's consist. There was no return traffic and 66133 returned light engine to Didcot.
	I gleaned from various locomotive lists on 18 September 2007 that a class 66 was rostered for 6E55, the Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks. Having photographed several 60s on this working reccently I thought it would be good to get something different and as Hatton is on the way from Lea Marston, decided to go to a spot at the entrance to the cutting on Hatton Bank. Here is 66003 with a good rake of tanks, some of the newer ones being just visible in the background, pretty much spot on time at 16.09. This area has seen some rampant proliferation in undergrowth in recent times and it is becoming difficult to find a clear patch for a long train, in the summer months, at least.
	Another set of six FLHH hoppers for in-warranty rectification work were taken from Hunslet, near Leeds to Long Marston on 6 May 2008. This time the locomotive was 66723 and 4Z73 is seen about to pass over the boarded foot crossing at Lower Moor, near Pershore. Despite the clear sky behind the train, quite a lot of cloud had built up near the sun and a large piece obscured the sun only a few seconds after the train had passed me. The secondman in the cab of 66723 seems to be amused by something - my large floppy hat maybe?!
	Most of the freight traffic on the Birmingham to Reading line is of the intermodal variety with both EWS and Freightliner sharing the traffic. 66593 is here seen at Whitnash representing the latter with the company's 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton on the stiff climb out of Leamington Spa towards Harbury tunnel. Class 66s don't seem to have too much a problem even with trains loaded to in excess of 1300 tonnes and with a less than full load, 66593 was making very light work of the job on 7 May 2008.
	Thursday 8 May 2008 was a bright and sunny day and I decided to go to the bridge on the Norton Lindsay road at Hatton to photograph the northbound WSMR train due at about 10.45. First to come though was a convoy of locomotives running from Kidderminster to Furzebrook for a gala at the Swanage Railway. I must say that I have no interest in preserved lines, especially when something like a class 50 is for some reason painted into a two-tone green colour scheme whch the class never carried, but even so, this was too colourful a trainset to ignore as it rolled down Hatton Bank. The locomotives are 66724, D444, 37906, 37275 and 20096.
	I saw a message on the morning of 20 May 2008 saying that 66709 was working a 4Z87 Hunslet to Long Marston and after a quick check, realised that I didn't have a decent shot of this locomotive taken on digital equipment. I didn't want to travel too far as my day-to-day car was having the climate control re-gassed so would have to go in my 1969 Morris Minor - not a problem as it's as least as reliable as any more modern car, but the seats aren't all that comfortable for long journeys! With that in mind I went to Evesham, just for a change, and arrived to see an a FGW Adelante, 180104, sitting in the down platform. An HST soon arrived heading east so I knew that 4Z87 wasn't going to be too far away. The sky was uniformly cloudy with just a few small breaks but my luck at this location held yet again and the sun came through as 66709 appeared on the curve behind the signal box. I think this is 66709's first visit to the Cotswold Line and to Long Marston but there was no way I was going to beat the train to the latter in Albert the Morris so headed home.
	One of the few regular freights through Hatton not formed of intermodal or freightliner stock is 6E55, the Theale to Lindsey Oil Refinery empty tanks. On 21 May 66168 was diagrammed for the train which is here seen passing Hatton North Junction. A class 60 is usually on the front of this working, in which case there are normally plenty of reports of its whereabouts. The average enthusiast appears to be so locomotive orientated that when a much rarer traction for the train, a 66, is diagrammed their almost infantile attitude that "I'm not photographing that, it's only a shed" means that those of us with an interest that goes beyond the machine at front have no idea if, or when, the train is coming.
	There were a couple of train running on the GWR route from Birmingham to Leamington Spa in which I was interested on Saturday May 24 2008. The first to appear was 4m21, the Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal headed by GBRf's 66723. This had been looped in Hatton Down Goods Loop to allow a Chiltern Turbo to pass and is here seen exiting the loop and passing through the main line platform. There is really nowhere along this line to photograph this train with the sun in a decent position so I settled for this shot which at least has plenty of detail to enable it to be identified rather than something taken in an anonymous piece of countryside.
	A Open Day was held at Long Marston on Saturday 7 June 2008 and for the first time in recent years, a railtour from Euston was organised to take passengers directly into the site. I didn't go to the Open Day as I don't have much interest in photographing endless lines of static stock, especially when I have photographed pretty much all of them in much more interesting circumstances when en-route to the site. I also have little interest in railtours but didn't want to miss the chance to record the first passenger train on the branch from Honeybourne since 15 October 2000, so here is a filthy 66182 topping 1Z58 as it slowly approaches the end of its journey. The light here is not favourable at this time of day, especially when the sun is shining on some parts of the scene and not others. Still, I was happy to get a record shot...
	The train from Euston to the Long Marston Open Day was tailed by 66081, seen here as 1Z58 cautiously crawls along No 1 road watched by a bevy of photographers and staff ensuring nothing amiss happens to the train on the ancient trackwork.
	Long Marston has seen some odd-looking trains in recent years but this must take the biscuit for the oddest. 666722+66724 arrived from Leeds with a single FLHH hopper on Friday 13 June 2008 but the return working, 4Z89 to Crewe was the real focus of interest. 87002 Royal Sovereign was due to be taken out prior to a loaded test run next week but I wasn't really expecting to see such a mixed train being formed up in the exchange sidings. Here is 66722 with 87002, a Cargo-D Mk3, and 3 FLHH hoppers tailed by 67724 leaving the site at about 16.00, nearly 2 hours late following a delayed arrival. Following a period of fine weather it was perhaps inevitable that this interesting move was made in appallingly bad light under leaden skies and with a fine drizzle falling.
	I didn't hang about once 4Z89 was on the move and arrived at Honeybourne with just a few seconds to set up my long lens and fix the camera onto a monopod. There was only a short delay before the crew member seen here made his way towards the ground frame to obtain permission to set the points so that his train could join the main line. The light was worse here than at Long Marston and a real contrast to the beautifully sunny conditions I enjoyed here earlier in the week.
	There was obviously no passenger train due in either direction as the road was soon set for 66722 and its ensemble to leave Honeybourne East Loop and join the Cotswold Line to head for Evesham, Worcester and Crewe. Here is 4Z89 with 87002 clearly visible through the murky weather standing in the platform at Honeybourne, the fresh paint reflecting the vegetation on the currently disused island platform. Later in the journey, 66722 was sent from Worcester Yard to rescue 60093 which had failed on 6V07, the Round Oak to Margam empty steel train. The Metronet locomotive dragged 6V07 to Worcester Yard before rejoinng its own train and heading north to Crewe.
	The new GBRf initiative, a sort of modern pick-up goods serving Long Marston runs every Tuesday and Friday and is currently conveying FLHH hoppers receiving new bogies. I have covered some of the runs and knowing that only a single hopper was forming 4Z87 from Hunslet on 10 June 2008 wasn't going to bother until I remembered that a GBRf locomotive, 66722 had been left at Long Marston over the weekend in order to make an appearance at the Open Day. With the prospect of a double-header in mind I had a trip over to find the Metronet livieried locomotive at the head of 4 hoppers in the exchange sidings, to which was added a further four a few minutes after my arrival. The train locomotive for 4Z87 was 66724 which is here pictured after a slightly early arrival waiting for the gate to be opened.
	It wasn't long before 66724 ran into No.2 road and the single hopper shunted off by the resident class 08. This allowed 4Z89 to be formed and after a long period of checking brake connections and couplings the train moved gingerly towards the exit road, where it sat for some time. So long in fact that as the sun was becoming too straight for a decent shot and with about 45 minutes until the booked departure time I decided to leave Long Marston and make the short journey to Honeybourne.
	I expected to have quite a wait on the side of the roadbridge at Honeybourne before 4Z89 came into view, but it was only about 10 minutes before I heard a horn on the branch and 66724 appeared. Somewhat unusually, the train stopped on the curve in the distance with only the leading locomotive visible but after a few minutes normality reasserted itself and it ran towards the ground frame. The countryside has lost its fresh green appearance and nearly all the Spring blossom has disappeared, with the exception of the Elderberry bushes.
	There was about 30 minutes before the booked departure time and with no sign of movement from the cab of 66724 it looked as if 4Z89 would wait for the booked time. I spent a few minutes taking a few shots from different angles as this was the first time double-headed 66s in different liveries had appeared here. With plenty of time in hand I then decided to make a move to the other side of Evesham to take full advantage of the sunshine.
	The nearest decent location without a long walk, for which I might not have had time, is Lower Moor and I arrived there to find a small gallery in situ. I hadn't really thought that the train could have gone but a bit of reassurance is always nice! It was around 15 minutes before a horn announced that 4Z89 was coming and here it is running at a good speed through the attractive countryside between Evesham and Pershore on the way back to Leeds.
	A regular afternoon working to be seen at Hatton North Junction is 4M36, the 13.10 Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal. This was hauled by 66067 on 23 June 2008 and was, as usual, not fully loaded. I don't mind a couple of empty flats at the front of the train as long as there are plenty of containers further back in the consist to balance the composition. 4M36 had been held in Hatton Loop and the exhaust resulting from getting the train back on the move can be seen above the locomotive.
	Tuesday 17 June 2008 started off dry, warm and sunny and I quite fancied another crack at getting a decent photograph of 66709 during its second run on the Cotswold Line, while on its way to Long Marston with the 10 HXA hoppers forming 4Z87 from Leeds (Hunslet). I used the opportunity to give my 1969 Morris Minor an outing and decided that a run around the Worcestershire countryside wouold be just the job. I arrived at Lower Moor just a couple of minutes before an up HST went past at 11.54 so guessed that it would only be a matter of some 20 minutes before 66709 put in an appearance. Sure enough, after about 18 minutes I heard a two-tone horn and then the train appeared around the curve behind the houses. It was good to get a proper length train again as the very short consists that turn up on occasions on these runs aren't nearly so photogenic.
	An early morning locomotive allocation list for Friday 27 June 2008 showed 60085 as being on 6X36, the Didcot to Ashchurch MOD train. Members of the class do not often appear on this working so as the sky was reasonably clear at home I made the 30 minute drive across to Northway, just north of Ashchurch station. I arrived at about 09.20 not knowing if the train had already gone north to Worcester so that 60085 could run round the load before returning south to the MOD depot. In the event it was about 40 minutes late and came not long after the sun went into some heavy cloud as shown here.
	The Ashchurch MOD train normally takes around 60 minutes to reach Worcester, run-round and get back to Ashchurch. On 27 June 2008 considerably more time than this elapsed despite the fact that 60085 had been reported as leaving Worcester at least 20 minutes after the report had been received. It turned out that the 60 had failed in the Bredon area, a couple of miles to the north and that 66161 had been taken off the Cardiff to Handsworth empty scrap wagons and was to run light diesel to Ashchurch emergency crossover, cross onto the wrong road and go the site of the failure in order to pick up 6X36. The 66 didn't take too long to appear and is here seen running "bang road" towards Bredon. The crossover can be seen just south of the road bridge - a piece of very rare track!
	The rescue process didn't take long to accomplish; hardly surprising when one considers that at least 5 passenger trains were queueing behind it and the Newcastle to Plymouth HST was cancelled at Birmingham New Street. Here is 66161 with the failed 60085 and 6X36 pottering along Ashchurch Loop clearing the line so that the backlog could be moved. In fact, the first Voyager was just coming into sight by the time this photograph was taken and several other delayed services were soon back in motion.
	I wasn't too sure how long 6X36 would remain in the loop at Ashchurch so after a few minutes I made the short trip to the roadbridge on the south side of the station. I didn't have too long to wait until I saw the point blades move to allow the train to run forward to the entrance to the exchange sidings from where it would be propelled onto the branch, formerly the branchline to Alcester. Here is 66181+60085 heading towards the MOD depot with its train of Panther Command and Liaison Vehicles , a few of the 401 new vehicles of the type currently being delivered to the army. Just before this shot was taken a rare chance to see three trains all together presented itself as 170110 charged south and 170102 worked north. The locomotives came off the branch a short while later, just after another class 66 had gone north light diesel to Worcester (or Norton Junction) to reverse and work 6A32 to Didcot. 66161 was presumably sent back to Gloucester to retrieve the Handsworth scrap but I didn't hang about to see what actually happened.
	It's been quite a while since I saw an infrastructure train during the week on the Birmingham to Gloucester line so when a friend told me that 66183 was on its way with a 6W83 Filton to Crewe Basford Hall working I was quite pleased. I always wanted a photograph of a northbound train at Defford to show the differently coloured salad crops in the field to the left. My wife assures me that the red crop is Lollo Rosso a popular and it must be said trendy, addition to the plates of the nation. The crop on the right is asparagus, that most noble vegetable of the Spring now sadly out of season for another year.
	The remaining 22 JPA cement wagons were scheduled for removal from Long Marston on Wednesday 23 July 2008. The details, timings and locomotive were identical to the move on the previous day, even to the early running of the light locomotive! The main differences on the day were that the JPAs were placed in road No.2 of the exchange sidings and that the sun shone - both better for photography. Here is 66718 in the sidings while brake tests are carried out, the train standing in sun but with a rather misty background evident.
	The brake and other checks went smoothly and 66718 with 6Z91 to Earles Sidings pulled out of the exchange sidings at Long Marston some 45 minutes early in a nice patch of sun; despite the favourable forecast there was actually quite a lot of cloud in the area. The locomotive is named "Gwyneth Dunwoody", the late Member of Parliament for Crewe and Nantwich, whose death earlier this year forced a bi-election the result of which was a loss of a formerly safe Labour seat to the Conservative candidate.
	Once 6Z91 had cleared the sidings I made my usual move down to Honeybourne Junction and arrived just as a down HST was leaving for Worcester. 66718 came into view on the East Loop a couple of minutes later, but with an up passenger due as soon as the previous one had reached Evesham, it wasn't going to move for at least 20 minutes. The uniform rake of tanks look smart behind the clean locomotive but it's a pity the very high sun at this of year is not conducive to good photography. There really is little point in taking pictures in July and August between the hours of about 10.00 and 15.00, but if the target train runs in that window, what can one do? The up HST soon came and went and as soon as it had reached Moreton-in Marsh the road was set for 6Z91 to leave the East Loop and cross over the spur and join the Cotswold Line towards Evesham, Worcester and then on to Earles Sidings via Birmingham and Derby.
	Some of the JPA cement wagons that went for storage on 19 March 2008 were removed and taken to Earles Sidings on Tuesday 22 July 2008. 66718 was the GBRf locomotive allocated to the job and it was reported as arriving from Hams Hall at Evesham at around 09.30, some 65 minutes early. I went to Long Marston to find the resident Hunslet 0-4-0 bringing the wagons into road no.1 of the exchange sidings ready for the 66 to be attached. There was clearly no path southwards onto the single track of the Cotswold Line as 66718 didn't reach its destination until 10.53. It was soon put onto the JPAs in the siding and the usual checks took place.
	Before too long, and slightly ahead of the booked departure time, 66718 drew 6Z91 cautiously out of Long Marston's exchange sidings and onto the branch to Honeybourne. It was apparent that the wagons have weathered since their arrival; hardly surprising considering the largely inclement conditions we have so far enjoyed this summer. One of the wagons had been detached from the back of the consist and I wonder if there had been a problem with the brake valve as there had been a lot of activity around the back of the train, accompanied by much hissing as brakes were blown off.
	After a fairly cloudy morning, the afternoon of Monday 21 July 2008 turned a lot clearer so I had a trip to Hatton North Junction to photograph anything that came along. First was 66603 on 6M01, the Hinksey Yard to Stud Farm empty ballast wagons. This was the first time I can recall having seen a 66/6 on this train and the mix of wagons was also unusual with the small yellow boxes in front of the much larger hoppers. Summer has clearly arrived, shown by the profusion on wild flowers in this location, including a large patch of Ox Eye daisies (Leucanthenum vulgare) covering a lot of the public footpath. There were also hoardes of ants, so much so that I had to tuck my trousers into my socks to avoid a repeat of an occasion last year when I received about 20 bites on my ankles!
	Trains conveying infrastructure materials are not especially common these days on the GWR line from Birmingham to Leamington Spa so when a friend telephoned to say that 66011 was working a 6X43 from Rotherham to Eastleigh Yard consisting of bogie bolsters loaded with continuously welded rail, I thought it worth a photograph. The time of the call was 10.10 on 18 July 2008 and the train was booked to pass Hatton at 10.30 so given a following wind and no milk tankers I felt there was just enough time. In the event, 6X43 was swallowed by the Birmingham black hole and ran some 45 minutes late as here seen passing Hatton South Junction. Just in front of it was 960014, the blue & grey "bubble" recently used to train Arriva Voyager drivers on the Chiltern Line ready for the summer diversions occasioned by the weekend engineering works on the West Coast Main Line.
	I spent a short time on Hatton station during the morning of 22 August 2008 with the intention of photographing a couple of freights from the platform to show the bright new colours being applied to the metalwork of the bridge and passenger shelters. The first train to appear was 4O54, the Leeds to Southampton freightliner which was chargong down the bank in the hands of 66576. The sun was obscured behind clouds for most of the time I was there but was in luck both for this train and for 66166 hauling 4O04, the Washwood Heath to Eastleigh intermodal which came a short time later.
	There was considerable disruption to trains along the Birmingham to Coventry corridor on Saturday 8 March 2008. Some reports suggested that a cable theft had taken place while another said that some trouble had been caused by a rail-grinder, but whatever the cause it was undeniable that problems were in evidence, exacerbated by the need to run all WCML services along the line because of engineering work on the Trent Valley. My main reason for going out was to try and get a photograph of 90021 on the empty stock of the up sleeper, 5M16, whose passengers had been detrained at Crewe and sent forward by bus. In the event, due to crewing problems this was dumped in Bescot Yard. However, various freights did run in daylight after being delayed and held at Bescot and these are always welcome on this line, which normally doesn't see much in the way of locomotive movements in the daytime. The first to come along was 66550 with a 6Y33 ballast, photographed passing near Wootton Green on the outskirts of Balsall Common.
	The next freight to appear at Wootton Green was 4M30, the 19.53 Grangemouth to Daventry intermodal running in the region of 8 hours late in the hands of 66407. The weather on 8 March 2008 wasn't particularly good, but I thought it worth the trip out to record a few of these normally unphotographable trains. It's a pity that no real variety in the shots is possible at this location which results in the pictures all looking remarkably similar!
	This freightliner train, hauled by 66570 is 4L90, the 08.43 Lawley Street to Felixstowe running only about 2 hours late, one of the more-on-time freights on 8 March 2008. The sun had only just been obscured when the train went by, but the dark sky sort of compensates for the lack of direct light. Thanks to Ron Kosys for this one's ID.
	I am confident that this train, hauled by 66406, is 4M62, the 22.22(Friday) Coatbridge to Daventry intermodal. This should have passed Rugby at 07.50 but didn't appear at Wootton Green until 12.33, thanks to the disruption around Stechford. Crewing must become something of a problem when trains are running so late, and I was told that some services had had to left at Bescot because of the drivers' allowable hours being exceeded.
	The number of trains conveying steel slab between the north-east of England and South Wales have greatly diminished in recent times, but one survivor is 6V36 which tends to run on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays, with the balancing working, 6E09, working the following day. Here is 66146 with the Lackenby to Margam train passing Lea Marston on 18 September with the loaded wagons. There were, as usual, no advance reports because a class 66 was on ther front.
	This is the view at Whitacre Junction looking towards Water Orton and Hams Hall Freight Terminal. The train is 6P20, the 08.05 Crewe Virtual Quarry to Mountsorrel headed by Freightliner's 66514, which will head towards Nuneaton at the junction rather than turn left and go towards Burton-upon-Trent and Derby. It's been a long time since the sign suggesting that the locomotive passing by is a class 25 could be considered accurate...
	This picture is in almost complete contrast to the one of 66514 shown above. This time it shows EWS' 66130 with a loaded ballast train from Mountsorrel en-route to Westbury. The train is coded 6V59 and will layover in Washwood Heath Yard for several hours before continuing on its journey to the south-west. I had to take the photograph rather earlier than I intended because a large chunk of cloud had begun to obscure the sun in the foreground and I wanted to keep the locomotive in at least partial sun.
	After spending a couple of hours at Lea Marston during the morning of 18 September 2007, I moved around the corner to Whitacre Junction once the flow of freight at the former had dried up. I had been there a few minutes when 66083 appeared from the Nuneaton Junction with 6E11, the 09.30 Rugby Up Yard to Immingham train of empty MBAs, the wagons having conveyed coal to the cement works. 6E11 was running some 80 minutes early on the booked times. This location isn't what it used to be; a proliferation of pallisade fencing and a large casting-shadow tree have conspired to make it less attractive as the years have passed.
	Adding to the green effect around Lea Marston is 66617 with its train of FLHH hoppers forming 4E42, the 09:30 Rugeley to Barrow Hill. This passed me at 10.50, making it just about 30 minutes early on the booked time. Compared to some 20 years ago, there is a distinct paucity of coal traffic over this line. The loss of regular trains to and from Didcot Power Station really cut down the amount of trains; in fact, this might just be a case where the correct use of the word "decimated", i.e.reduced by a factor of 10, is probably justifiable.
	The weather forecast for Tuesday 18 September 2007 promised a sunny morning with clear blue skies. I went over to Lea Marston for a session just to photograph anything that turned up, with no specific target in mind. The first train to turn up was 6E08, the 07.18 Wolverhampton to Doncaster train of empty covered steel vans. The motive power was 66063 and it is here seen about to the pass under the road watched by a small gallery taking advantage of the favourable light.
	Another steel train was next to turn up at Lea Marston, this one being the 6D37 Bescot to Burton-upon-Trent working with a different type of covered vans. The locomotive in charge of this train was 66030, the red livery contrasting nicely with the mostly green background.
	The final train I photographed at Hatton South Junction on 24 October 2007 was 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. This came around the curve in the region of 35 minutes late and nearly caught me off-guard as I was in the process of phonong a friend to find out where it was. It was been known to run early and I had wondered if it had passed before I arrived. I had to take a quick grab shot, but as so often happens it came out fine. The Autumnal colours are really beginning to show now, along with the accompanying intrusive shadows from the trees on the site of the goods yard in the triangular junction.
	From Hatton South Junction I made the 10 minute walk to North Junction. While passing the entrance to the station I noticed that a car parked on the approach road, recently adorned with double yellow lines, was being dragged onto a low loader as it blocking access for a lorry delivering materials for the weekend engineering work. That commuter would have had a shock later in the day! My main target for North Junction was 4O21, the 12.19 Washwood Heath to Southampton intermodal, but as I was halfway along the nettle festooned footpath, an EWS 66 went south with what I took to be this train running some 70 minutes early. I carried on as there were a few other shots to be had and was surprised but pleased when at 12.52 66193 appeared under the Shrewley Road bridge with another intermodal. It turned out that the train I had missed was a very late 4O53 04.30 Wakefield Europort to Southampton intermodal. There was a permanent way gang working on the points from the up main line to the Stratford branch and given the rusty state of the branch tracks, something had been wrong for a few days as there is a daily early morning movement from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon over this line.
	A northbound Virgin Voyager went past me at 11.58 and then I heard a class 66 working hard as 66084 came around the curve from Hatton station with 4M33, the 08.10 Southampton to Burton on Trent intermodal. This train had obviously been looped just south of the station and was making an uncharacteristic amount of exhaust as it got the heavy trailing load on the move again.
	66194 was the next to appear with what I took to be a slightly early 4O21 Washwood Heath to Southampton intermodal. In fact though, I was later told that it was actually a very late 4O53 05.40 Wakefield Europort to Southampton which should have passed here not much after 08.00. There are several EWS container trains on this line at the moment and their 66s do make a change from the many Freightliner locomotives seen here. The Autumnal colours are really beginning to show now as are the longer shadows and quite a long lens is needed here to get beyond the worst of them.
	My final shot from Hatton North Junction on 29 September 2007 was of 66517 on 4M55, the 08.58 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner running spot on time. This was exceptionally well loaded and came very slowly to the summit of Hatton Bank despite having had a clear run without being looped. The bright green grass in the right foreground has only recently been planted, the whole of this area being given over to the production of turf. As a regular visitor here I am amazed at the amount of work necessary to produce good quality turf with several specialist agricultural vehicles being in use.
	Engineering work between Rugby and Northampton caused some freight services to be diverted from the WCML to the line through Hatton on Saturday 3 November 2007. This train, 4O27 the 05.29 Garston to Southampton freightliner was not diverted, but with the perfect Autumn sun showing off the colours around Hatton South Junction there was no way I was not going to press the shutter release. A lot of cloud was coming from the north-west and the sun was obscured just a matter of seconds after the picture was taken, but the dark sky adds to the attraction of the scene.
	The first diverted freight I saw at Hatton on 3 November 2007 was 4M21, the 03.05 Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal. This arrived in Hatton Down Goods Loop just before 10.00 and was booked to remain there until 11.50. However, as soon as a Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill train had cleared the section at 10.10, the points were switched and 66723 took its fully loaded train through the platforms and on towards Hams Hall. I'm fully aware that I was in the wrong place for a northbound train and that the light was simply dreadful, but I took the shot because the routing of this service when diverted is unpredictable, so I made the best of a bad job to get a picture of a "Barbie Shed" on my patch. The rear of the train is in the final few feet of the loop but the crossover leading to the down main line is hidden behind the station footbridge.
	This train is 4O69, the 09.19 Hams Hall to Dollands Moor intermodal, another which normally runs up the WCML. This was due to pass Hatton South Junction at 10.01 but was 67 minutes leaving Hams Hall, the lateness having extended to 90 minutes by the time it reached me on 3 November 2007. I have no idea from where the patch of sun appeared as the sky was a mass of cloud only seconds before the train headed by 66044 came around the corner from Hatton North Junction. The Autumn colours here are just about at their peak and the first windy day will see an end to them.
	It was unfortunate that arguably the most interesting of the post-Christmas class 325 drags took place in simply dreadful light. Metronet 66722 was rostered for 1F31, the Wembley to Warrington train on 3 January 2008 in place of the usual class 47. It was an absolutely freezing cold day with a strong wind so I certainly wasn't going to travel far and wanted somewhere with a least a modicum of shelter. As there was no sun I decided to have a shot from the north side of Berkswell station, just about the closest reasonable location to my home. The train was running a little under an hour late due to a problem with the units at Wembley and passed me at speed just before 10.55. The ground signal visible in front of the locomotive controls the entrance to a siding used occasionally for on-track plant during posessions. It once was the start (or end!) of the branch which ran to Kenilworth Junction. If reinstated, it would be a useful diversionary route for freight as it would completely avoid Coventry. There were proposals to re-lay it in the 1980s when a plan was launched for an opencast coal mine in the area, but sadly, nothing came of it.
	Here is 66151 going south away from Worcester after its run-round in the yard there with a short MOD train for the MOD depot at Ashchurch. These trains, from Didcot, have to go to Worcester on order to run-round as no access to the MOD sidings is available from the south. Even though the light was quite poor I have decided to include this shot in view of the train itself, a collection of water tanks, containers, a generator and a field ambulance.
	Here is a picture from Stoke Prior dated 29 March 2008 showing a freight diverted from the North & West route. Headed by a dirty 66213, 6M60, the 08.18 Tavistock Junction to Bescot train of loaded china clay hoppers was crawling along under yellow signals ready to enter the loop at Bromsgrove prior to being banked up the Lickey Incline by another class 66. Even in the few minutes since 55022 had passed by, the light had further deteriorated to the point where I wondered if a shot was worthwhile. Common sense prevailed though, so I at least I managed a "sort-of" shot but with the hope that there will be a sunny morning to improve on this photograph before the diversions end. If there isn't a better morning then at least I have a record of the diversion.
	I hadn't intended to go out for any photographs on Monday 31 March 2008, but the cancellation of a lunchtime concert in Birmingham Town Hall (although not known about until I reached the venue!) gave the opportunity to pop up to Hatton North. I originally thought that 6E48 with 60030 and 6E55 with 60012 were due to come, although it later transpired that the former was booked to run via the GWML and MM Lines, although no-one in the know bothered to post this useful piece of information. As I approached Hatton I saw a Freightliner class 66 in the Down Goods Loop and thought I might have a chance of getting to North Junction in time. It's a walk of about 12 minutes from the village of Shrewley, where I parked, to the photo-spot and as it happened I had plenty of time before 66530 appeared with 6M01, the Hinksey to Stud Farm empties. The locomotive was making a lot of smoke for a train of empty wagons, but this adds a little to the picture.
	Trains of stone have recently started running from Croft Quarry, in Leicestershire, to Brierley Hill. This seems to happen every now and again, the last contract being several years when stone from Mountsorrel was delivered for a few months. The train, 6Z42, the 1105 from Croft runs to Worcester Yard to allow the locomotive to run-round before returning north along the line from Droitwich to Stourbridge Junction where it turns left onto the line to Brierley Hill and Round Oak. 66148 is here seen crawling towards an adverse signal which will be cleared as the train approaches, a "feather" aspect being shown for the junction onto the single line to Droitwich.
	Just a few minutes behind 6Z42 was another special working, this time with a DRS class 66 on the front. This train was 6Z70, the 08.57 Heywood GF to Westerleigh RTS conveying a Stoneblower, DR 77002 which managed to come in the thickest piece of cloud in the area and just as a local farmer had lit a huge bonfire in an adjacent field. This accounts for the rather misty and dull appearance of the photograph...
	Whilst returning home with my wife from an afternoon stroll on Sunday 6 April 2008, I noticed a class 66 standing just outside Stratford-upon-Avon. Locomotives here are quite rare so I went home, picked up my camera and went back for a closer look. 66152 was standing on the rear of a train of redundant track panels. The crew had just arrived and were checking over the train prior to departure. Here is another view of 6P01 taken from a slightly different angle and as a snowstorm rapidly approached. The following saw the train, minus locomotive, standing in platform 2 of the station. I had hoped to see something coming from Bescot to pick up the wagons but nothing appeared in between the usual DMU traffic.
	One of the regular 6Z28 workings from Stapleford to West Ealing ran on Friday 4 April 2008. I have been meaning to go out and get a picture of this for a while and as the weather was reasonable at lunchtime, I took the opportunity to go over to Hatton. Unfortunately, things don't always run entirely smoothly and my shot of 66561 with the train isn't quite sharp. A Chiltern Trains' class 168 was just pulling north out of Hatton station as 6Z28 came slowly around the bend under adverse signals caused by a Stratford branch train having just gone south and I had to take the picture much earlier than I had planned. Due to a lack of concentration on my part, the focusing point was too far forward rendering the image a little "soft".
	It is sometimes good to go out with the intention of photographing some entirely routine trains as I did on 8 April 2008. I do tend to do this only if the light is spot on as I can't really see the point in obtaining a photograph of something that is is less satisfactory than a picture I have previously taken. Here is 66589 rounding the bend at Hatton some 25 minutes early in charge of 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. The sky was rapidly becoming cloudy by this time and without the likelihood of any further southbound activity I went home.
	This shot at Hatton station wouldn't have been possible until the recent resignalling work undertaken in the area. The train is the northbound West Ealing to Stapleford move of the High Output Ballast Cleaner which was looped in the Down Goods Loop to allow the passage of a down passenger train, and which was released through the Stratford-upon-Avon branch platform to rejoin the main line. Before the recent work, freights could not use this platform as trains had to fit between the signals in order for the track circuits to allow the setting of the road and signal aspects. In fact, this short train fitted quite nicely and probably would have previously been able to make the move, but standing orders prohibited it unless in an emergency. 66549 is here seen after being released from the loop and making its way north. Here it is again on the spur to the down main that has been very rarely used until recent weeks.
	This picture looks quite ordinary but in fact there are relatively few infrastructure trains of the GWR line from Birmingham to Didcot. This one is 6T94, the 08.54 Bescot to Didcot, running in the region of 90 minutes late, in the capable hands of a very grubby 66165 during the morning of 25 January 2008. The locomotive was working hard at this point despite running under clear signals; it was loaded to 31 full wagons with 12 empties tagged onto the back, so I guess there was a considerable weight to be pulled along. The light was rapidly deteriorating when the shot was taken but the sun just managed to poke out of a bank of cloud as 6T94 came around the bend towards me.
	I always like to obtain one or two pictures of 4M21, the 03.26 Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal during the winter, when it is frequently diverted via Oxford and Hatton. There aren't too many decent locations north of Leamington Spa but I do quite like this spot on Hatton Bank, even though the back of the train is lost in undergrowth, and the shot is also just about possible if the train uses the down goods loop in the foreground. I saw 66725 coming very slowly up the bank and thought for a moment that it was to go, as booked, into the loop. However, the slow speed was more a function of a very long and heavily loaded train, a strong headwind and finally, the 1/110 gradient from Warwick.
	Here is 66585 at Budbrooke on 6M01, the Hinksey to Stud Farm empty ballast train. This usually conveys 2 or 3 different wagon types and today was no exception with several varieties being visible in the consist. This location near Warwick is really only usuable during the winter and spring period as the undergrowth on the embankment tends to grow up and cover the train wheels during the summer months. Maybe Network Rail will clear it one day if falling leaves from the bushes cause problems in the Autumn...
	It was while standing on the footbridge at Hatton North Junction on 6 February 2008 that I message reminded me that there had been severe disruption around Derby after a power cable was accidentally severed by contractors. The train I had planned on photographing earlier, the Leeds to Southampton freightliner, had just reported at Landor Street in Birmingham and I reckoned should be with me in around 45 minutes time. Here is 66589 leading 4O54 through Hatton North Junction at 12.48 some 2 hours late. The shadows here are still problematical and the use of a long lens is necessary to avoid the worst of them.
	After waiting for an obviously late 4O54 at the roadbridge at Hatton Station, I decided to move down the line to North Junction. I knew that D1015 was running light engine from Tyseley to Reading and that 66027 was just in front of it with 4O53, a Wakefield to Southampton intermodal. In view of the perfect lighting I decided to go for a broadside shot of the 66 as its red livery would contrast nicely with the green background; hoping of course that there would be some containers immediately behind the locomotive!
	During the week of 10 February 2008, all trains had to be diverted away from the GWR line from Birmingham to Leamington Spa because of extensive engineering works. The majority of Freightliner's services ran from Nuneaton to Coventry, but 4O54, the morning Leeds to Southampton was booked to use the line from Stechford to Coventry, before turning right for Kenilworth and Leamington Spa. Here is 66501 with 4O54 passing Wootton Green at 10.59 on the sunny morning of 12 February. It was fortunate that the front couple of flats were loaded or the picture would have looked slightly less attractive, although the filthy state of the locomotive doesn't help. The early mist fuelled partially by pollution from the Birmingham conurbation has almost burned off although the remnants can be seen in the background.
	I went to Norton Junction, near Worcester, on 3 March 2008 with the intention of photographing 6V05, the morning Round Oak to Margam empty steel train. I had just arrived when the signal dropped and 66108 came around the curve under the M5 motorway with a short rake of flats from Didcot to Ashchurch MOD. This train has to run to Worcester so that the locomotive can run-round the stock, as Ashchurch's exchange sidings cannot be entered except from the north.
	There were several interesting and unusual movements on the Gloucester to Birmingham line during the morning of 4 March 2008. The forecast was for good sunny spells so I decided to go a bridge near Badgeworth, south of Cheltenham where the light would be spot-on for a northbound train. The first freight to appear was 6M96, the loaded steel coils from Margam to Corby in the capable hands of 66187. Here is the train on the approaches to Cheltenham under a virtually cloudless blue sky.
	I wasn't expecting to see a train of loaded HTAs at Badgeworth on 4 March 2008. This one, headed by 66199 is 6M38, the 05.00 Portbury to Radcliffe train running a good 3 hours late. A bit of cloud was by now building, and to my eyes, this makes an attractive addition to the sky as I feel that clouds, obviously in the right place, are a distinct advantage from a photographic point of view.
	After photographing a special working to Cheltenham Races on 13 March 2007 I decided to hang on at Norton Junction as the 6V05 Round Oak to Margam is generally not far away by 10.45. A pair of class 158s, 158760 + 158766, in   Trans-Pennine livery went south, then a Adelante came north from the Cotswold line and whilst this was negotiating the pointworks 66205 with 6V05 crept into view around the corner to stop at the bracket signal. As soon as the Adelante had gone beyond the outer starter the points were changed and 66205 moved off and is here seen approaching the junction and accompanying GWR signalbox.
	I had sort of hoped that 6V05, the 09.35 Round Oak to Margam empty steel service would be in the charge of a class 60 on 16 March 2007; not because I don't like 66s, but more that I had already photographed one of the class here on this train earlier in the week. It was not to be, as this shot of 66250 shows, with the train about to pass Norton Junction, near Worcester. The outer starter signal is "off" for an up train and this was actually under the road bridge as I pressed the shutter...
	My plan for the sunny morning of 21 March 2007 was, if a class 60 was booked on the 6V05 Round Oak to Margam empty steel, to go Norton Junction to photograph this working under the semaphore signals as I had seen a class 66 on the train on two occasions the previous week. The best laid plans and all that; no 60 was shown as being anywhere near Round Oak so I decided to go over to Hatton Bank and get a few workaday bits on my local patch, there not being much of any interest to me elsewhere in the Midlands. I arrived at Hatton at about 10.45 to find about 75% cloud cover and with the prospect of a short stay and no shots in decent light. The first train to appear, at 12.10, was 4E44, the 05.25 Southampton to Leeds freightliner, with 66575 in charge. I saw this coming for some time with the sun trying to exit a large black cloud. Fortunately, the train was moving sufficiently slowly up the 1/110 gradient to allow the shadows to go just in time.
	The train of scrap from Brierley Hill, on the truncated former freight line from Stourbridge Junction to Walsall, was shown as running om 16 August 2007. 6Z86, the Tuesday and Thursday only 14:34 Brierley Hill to Cardiff Tidal was in the hands of 66024 and it arrived, in slightly better light than 6V07, at 15.35. This is a heavy train and the locomotive was working hard to keep the load on the move towards Norton and Abbotswood Junctions.
	While waiting at Norton Junction earlier in the day I had noticed a plum tree laden with ripe fruit in the hedge close to the signal box so went back to collect a few. I had just left the car when I received a text message from a friend at Evesham saying that 66153 had just left the station hauling a single TDA from Long Marston. After a few minutes the signaller left his box, shouted up to me saying that it was coming and prepared himself for the token exchange. One doesn't see much of this these days so I was pleased to get a picture of the exact moment when it changed hands.
	The final train to appear during a short session at Defford on 24 August 2007 was 6V07 from Round Oak to Margam. This is another service that is watched by some enthusiasts because it often produces a class 60 but today 66162 was provided. The unit en-route to Worcester, 158813, is in just the right position for a crossing shot and to my eyes at least, enhances the scene.
	While I was at Defford during the afternoon of 24 August news of a stock move from Stewarts Lane to Tyseley came to my BlackBerry. The train was to be formed of WCRC's 47245 with 37248 DIT along with some coaching stock which required tyre-turning. News of progress was fortunately available and I decided, in view of the weather, to have a pop at the train in just about the only location where the sun would be favourable until at least 19.30, Hatton North Junction. The first non-passenger train to appear was 6M58, the 14.10 Southampton Western Docks to Bescot behind 66056. This is a long train run for the Ford Motor Company and tonight consisted of 3 types of car carriers. Unfortunately, because of the line's curvature, the more modern red wagons are out of sight behind the covered variety. This picture was taken at 19.05 which is pretty much the right time for this service.
	One of the 2 class 60s in the obsolete Loadhaul livery was in charge of the Lindsey Oil Refinery to Didcot Power Station oil train on Wednesday 29 August 2007. Before returning to Lindsey as 6E48 it was failed with a TPWS fault but was expected to run the following day with the 2nd empty oil train of the week included in the consist as a double load. It did, but with 66150 leading as here seen passing Hatton about 45 minutes late at 17.00. I assume that 66150 was the train engine for the southbound run with the loaded tanks in the early morning. This wouldn't have been my first choice of location but time was limited when I received news of the train's movement, and this is just about the closest location to my home.
	Here is 66518 with 6M01 Hinksey Yard to Stud Farm heading north alongside the M40 near Rowington as a Marylebone-bound class 168 recedes into the distance. This is one of the freights one can usually rely on seeing on 3 or afternoons during an average week. This time there is quite a mix of types and colours amongst the wagons; the train is quite formed just of the lower-sided JNA variety.
	While waiting for a by now terminally late 6E48 Didcot Power Station to Lindsey during the evening of 5 September 2007, 66240 came north on a well loaded 6M58 Southampton to Bescot conveying another load of white Ford Transits to annoy the country's motorists. The train passed at 19.02 just a couple of minutes after the sun had dropped out of a piece of that annoyingly dense cloud often seen at last knockings. I do love the light at this time of day; it's so much more attractive than the flat mid-day light during the summer. Just after 66240 had passed Hatton North Junction I learned that 60095 on 6E48 was just passing Radley, south of Oxford, so not having the O. Winston Link gear in my camera bag went home still without the photograph I should have had 3 hours earlier. Next week, maybe...
	During the early afternoon on 5 September 2007 the sky began to clear and, knowing that grey-liveried 60095 was due to haul 6E48 from Didcot Power Station to Lindsey oil refinery, I decided to have another trip to Hatton North Junction in an attempt to get a decent photograph of the working, the one which had eluded me the previous week. The empty oil tanks are due there at around 16.15 but by 17.00 nothing had appeared, so I phoned a friend who can get sometimes get hold of running updates. He told me that 6E48 was still at Didcot but an imminent departure was expected. This being so and with the light being perfect, I phoned home and obtained a late pass! At 17.17, 66002 tried to sneak by, the noise from the nearby M40 couple with frequent aircraft movements to and from Birmingham International and Coventry airports meaning that one sometimes can't hear quiet freights coming. It turned out that this intermodal was 4M36 from Southamton to Birch Coppice runnning in the region of 3 hours late. I was quite pleased about this as when the train runs to time it is heavily backlit so a "light on the nose" shot was welcome.
	6V07, the 13.21 Round Oak to Margam empty steel train is often watched by enthusiasts because it sometimes produces a member of the currently in-vogue class 60. On Tuesday 11 September however, 66068 was provided, but to me it the whole train that is of interest and not just the motive power. I was pleased that the red EWS wagons were at the front of the train as these don't seem to appear as often as the covered vans, known colloquially as "pig sheds". The location is the (too) well known Croome Perry wood near Pershore in Worcestershire.
	The Corby to Margam empty steel train, 6V92, is quite popular with enthusiasts because it regularly produces class 60 motive power. On Friday 24 August 2007, a class 66 was rostered for the job meaning that fewer than the usual number of email reports of the train's progress were sent. Here is 66115 passing the site of the station at Defford in Worcestershire with 6V92 in some lovely late summer sunshine.
	One of the freights I was expecting to see on 21 March 2007 was 4M36, the WThO 08.10 Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal with an EWS 66 on the front. This didn't appear at all and my next shot was of 66542 with an early-running 4M55 09.28 Southampton to Crewe freightliner. This arrived some 55 minutes early at 12.32 and was turned into the down goods loop despite there being nothing to pass it for at least 20 minutes; plenty of time for it to have run to Dorridge loop or even on to Small Heath. Once again the sun co-operated for me, this time with a satisfyingly dark sky. There has been some engineering work going on at Hatton, the up line having been relaid at this point together with some new AWS units being installed on both the down main line and goods loop.
	My original plan had been to move a few miles north after photographing 4M55 but I was loath to go in case 4M36 was running and I missed it whilst on the road. This being the case, I decided to stay put and spent a pleasant couple of hours in the warm sun watching some buzzards performing their courtship displays over the adjacent fields together with a few shots of the regular Chiltern and Virgin units on scheduled passenger workings. I knew that 60019 was on the way north with an empty oil train from Theale, but in front of this would be 6M01, the 14.08 Hinksey Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty ballast train. This arrived pretty much at the right time with 66529 on the front, yet again in a more than lucky patch of sun with a decently cloudy sky in the background.
	An empty rake of HTAs is diagrammed to run from Washwood Heath to Portbury in the early afternoon and on 2 April, 6V16 was in the hands of 66040, the same locomotive as I photographed on the train at Defford last week. The train had clearly had a clear run past Abbotswood Junction as it was going a quite a lick when I photographed it at Croome Perry at 14.31`.
	The weather forecasts have been pretty accurate so far during the week before Easter 2007. On Wednesday 4 April, the day started grey and misty in Stratford-upon-Avon, but by lunchtime the cloud was beginning to break. A message arrived on my BlackBerry saying that Freightliner's new 66584 had just left Hinksey Yard, Oxford with 6M01 to Stud Farm. I had plenty of time to drive over to Shrewley and walk to Hatton North Junction. The sun was trying to break through as the train passed, but didn't quite manage it until about 10 minutes later....
	Earlier in the week, I had photographed 66233 on the southbound working of the Daw Mill to Didcot Power Station coal train and was thus keen to get a decent shot of the return, 6M53. I was already at Hatton North Junction during the afternoon of 4 April 2007 and as the sun was shining from a perfectly blue sky I decided it would be silly to go before it had come. Here is 66100 accelerating slowly around the curve, having been held in the down goods loop to allow the passage of a Chiltern Trains class 168 on a stopping train to Birmingham Snow Hill.
	Coal from Daw Mill colliery, near Coleshill, has again been running to Didcot Power Station. I saw, although didn't photograph, a return working one evening last week and was keen to get a shot of the loaded southbound run. Monday 2 April 2007 was the ideal day, with wall-to-wall sun promised throughout the day, so I presented myself on the roadbridge adjacent to Hatton station about 30 minutes before what I guessed to be the right time for 6V32, the 08.57 from Daw Mill. Things don't always work out perfectly and the train hadn't made an appearance by 10.30. Fearing that it might have been cancelled, I made a 'phone call to a friend in the know, to be told that it was, at 10.50, just passing Dorridge behind a Virgin Voyager. The long train of 29 HTAs passed me in lovely Spring light at 11.01.
	I like to visit certain locations perhaps once or twice each just to keep an up-to-date record of how traffic, the background and vegetation growth changes. One of these is Lea Marston, on the fast lines between Water Orton and Kingsbury Junction, and I paid a visit on Thursday 8 August 2007. No sooner had I arrived on the bridge at about 09.00 than 66505 came into view with a not very well loaded 4O54 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. I'm ambivalent about the southbound shot here; I think it is just about acceptable with a longish train but the expanse of bare ballast on the left and the somewhat anonymous and green background don't do the picture any favours.
	Here is another picture from Lea Marston taken on 8 August 2007. This time it shows 66174 in charge of 4E69, the 05.15 Southampton to Wakefield Europort enterprise service; on this occasion yet another poorly loaded container train. The background has dramatically changed since the demolition of Hams Hall Power Station, the cooling towers of which once dominated and enhanced the view. The first container is about to cross the River Tame - from "Tamworth", near where is its source, and which further downstream used to be just about the most polluted water course in the Midlands. These days. the water quality has improved although the amount of ammonia contained in the water, as a result of it being used to carry the effluent from Minworth sewage works, is still a cause for concern. However, further upstream the water quality is excellent and the river supports a variety of aquatic life.
	This train, or at least its locomotive, was the subject of some anticipation and confusion on 6 April 2007. The working is 6V32, the 08.57 Daw Mill to Didcot Power Station and TRUST was showing 60063 to be allocated to it. I heard it approach the signal at Hatton North Junction where a short wait was necessary as a southbound passenger train was in front of it, and then heard it move away a couple of minutes later. The unmistakeable sound of a 66 getting a heavy train on the move was not exactly what I wanted to hear when the much rarer 60 on a power station coal train was expected, but at least the older HAA hoppers were used; hence my inclusion of this photograph to give a comparison with the one a little way below taken earlier in the week.
	The return working of 6V32, the Daw Mill to Didcot coal train as shown above is 6M53, and it is here seen passing Warwick Parkway at 16.30 on the afternoon of 6 April 2007. This shot won't be available for more than a few days now the trees and bushes are in their season of rapid growth. As it was I needed to use a 180mm lens (270mm in 35mm terms) to find a big enough clear spot on the embankment. This embankment comes to end just a few yards to the north, and this was the site of Budbrooke signal box, which used to control the entrance to the goods loop that now starts much further north at the beginning of Hatton cutting.
	It was just before 3pm at Abbotswood Junction when a really dirty class 66 turned up at the head of 6V07, the 13.21 Round Oak to Margam empty steel service. The locomotive is particularly dirty, almost as if it has had to run through a flood - note the mud on the "cow-catcher" and the bogies. The train is leaving the Worcester line by means of the single track lead and about to join the main Birmingham to Gloucester line. It was, unusually, quite a short train; 6V07 is often the best loaded of the daily services from Round Oak and is generally twice the length of this one.
	A relatively new train was the next to come south, this being the 6Z89 08.15 Lindsey to Westerleigh loaded bogie oil tanks. This showed up at 15.27 behind 66164 and was routed along the main line, the "Old Road", rather than via the Worcester branch. This is a pleasant location and it is to be hoped that the mindless vandals in charge of installing totally unnecessary pallisade fencing across the countryside don't have this field in their sights.
	This is a fairly new addition to the freight working timetable; 6Z46, the 10.52 Halewood to Southampton loaded car train. Once again, it is the train itself and the load that are of interest rather than the motive power. 66225 was in charge on Saturday 21 April 2007 and the ensemble is here seen passing the car park at Berkswell en-route to Southampton via Coventry, Leamington Spa and Oxford. After Didcot, the train will be running via Chippenham due to engineering work on what would be be its normal route via Basingstoke.
	I started off the morning of 30 April 2007 at Norton Junction, near Worcester, with the intention of photographing 6V05, the 09.38 Round Oak to Margam empty steel carriers. However, the first train to appear was 6B36, the TX-Q 07:09 Didcot Yard to Ashchurch train of MOD supplies headed by 66111. At 10.18, the light was still a little straight with not really enough illumination on the sides of the locomotive and vehicles, but I took it the shot largely because of the clear signals under which the train was running. In the event, 6V05 was cancelled but a small bonus appeared in the form of  47839 running light engine to Worcester Yard prior to going to Long Marston where a short rake of KAA flats was due to be taken to Crewe. I don't normally bother with light engine photographs but thought that this one was worthwhile in view of the semaphore signals and the human interest in the form of the lookout protecting a gang working on the track near the bridge.
	I have had several attempts to get a good picture of 4M36, the 11.15 Southampton to Birch Coppice intermodal service but have usually been thwarted by either bad weather or a poor load on the train. On 1 June 2007 the weather was good but the front of the train was not well loaded as it passed Hatton North Junction after coming out out of the down loop where it had been recessed to allow a Virgin Voyager, a Chiltern Turbo and 67013 on an ECS to pass. At least the curvature of the track here allows some of the containers to come into view, and in fact, I quite like the effect of the empty flats followed by the loaded.
	The weather was again warm and sunny on Thursday 5 April 2007 and with a few freights running on the Leamington Spa to Birmingham line I had another trip to Hatton. The first of the trains in which I was interested was 6M31, the Banbury to Mountsorrel Laharge self-discharger. This is scheduled to pass Hatton just after 10.00, but on this day was running a little over one hour late. Still, the light gets better here as time passes and a wait in the pleasantly warm sunshine was no chore. Here is 66148 having just passed the entrance to the down goods loop on Hatton Bank at 11.21.
	The weather on Friday 27 April 2007 ran close to the forecast; a dull start with sun appearing later in the day. Once the sun had burned through the mist and cloud I went over to Bentley Heath, near Dorridge, to photograph 60068 on the 6E55 Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks. I was also expecting to see 6M01, the empty ballast working from Hinksey Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm and sure enough 66548 rounded the curve from Dorridge station at 15.25 with a train of HQA hoppers. This is an unusual consist for this train as the usual wagons are the much smaller JNA variety. Still, with variety being the spice of life and all that, I wasn't complaining.
	Part of the West Coast Main Line was closed on Good Friday, 6 April 2007 and some of the freight was diverted via Birmingham and Oxford. The only one I bothered with was 6M76 Mossend to Wembley which I hoped might have had a class 92 DIT, as was the case with a much earlier train the same morning. Sadly, only 66133 was provided for the run south and the train is here seen passing Hatton South Jnction, just about spot on time at 09.02.
	This is a train that I have been meaning to go out and photograph for a while now; the 4M36 Southamton to Birch Coppice intermodal. Sadly, on 5 April 2007, there wasn't much of a load as it climbed Hatton Bank behind 66139. It makes a change to see an EWS locomotive in charge of containers on this line, as most of the trains are run by Freightliner.
	Brierley Hill, on the former freight line from Stourbridge Junction to Bescot, has recently seen a small number of trains conveying scrap metal. There was the first of what will hopefully become a regular flow today, 14 February 2007 when 66187 took a train of   containerised scrap to Southampton for export. This working is here seen leaving the Worcester line and about to join the main Birmingham to Cheltenham line at Abbotswood Junction, from where it will run via Gloucester and Swindon to Reading, Basingstoke and Southampton.
	Coal from Daw Mill colliery, near Coleshill, does sometimes run to Didcot Power Station. I saw, although didn't photograph, a return working one evening last week and was keen to get a shot of the loaded southbound run. Monday 2 April 2007 was the ideal day, with wall-to-wall sun promised throughout the day, so I presented myself on the roadbridge adjacent to Hatton station about 30 minutes before what I guessed to be the right time for 6V32, the 08.57 from Daw Mill. Things don't always work out perfectly and the train hadn't made an appearance by 10.30. Fearing that it might have been cancelled, I made a 'phone call to a friend in the know, to be told that it was, at 10.50, just passing Dorridge behind a Virgin Voyager. The long train of 29 HTAs passed me in lovely Spring light at 11.01.
	Earlier in the week, I had photographed 66233 on the southbound working of the Daw Mill to Didcot Power Station coal train and was thus keen to get a decent shot of the return, 6M53. I was already at Hatton North Junction during the afternoon of 4 April 2007 and as the sun was shining from a perfectly blue sky I decided it would be silly to go before it had come. Here is 66100 accelerating slowly around the curve, having been held in the down goods loop to allow the passage of a Chiltern Trains class 168 on a stopping train to Birmingham Snow Hill.
	The weather was again warm and sunny on Thursday 5 April 2007 and with a few freights running on the Leamington Spa to Birmingham line I had another trip to Hatton. The first of the trains in which I was interested ws 6M31, the Banbury to Mountsorrel Laharge self-discharger. This is scheduled to pass Hatton just after 10.00, but on this day was running a little over one hour late. Still, the light gets better here as time passes and a wait in the pleasantly warm sunshine was no chore. Here is 66148 having just passed the entrance to the down goods loop on Hatton Bank at 11.21.
	This is a train that I have been to go out and photograph for a while now; the 4M36 Southamton to Birch Coppice intermodal. Sadly, on 5 April 2007, there wasn't much of a load as it climbed Hatton Bank behind 66139. It makes a change to see an EWS locomotive in charge of containers on this line, as most of the trains are run by Freightliner.
	The weather forecasts have been pretty accurate so far during the week before Easter 2007. On Wednesday 4 April, the day started grey and misty in Stratford-upon-Avon, but by lunchtime the cloud was beginning to break. A message arrived on my BlackBerry saying that Freightliner's new 66584 had just left Hinksey Yard, Oxford with 6M01 to Stud Farm. I had plenty of time to drive over to Shrewley and walk to Hatton North Junction. The sun was trying to break through as the train passed, but didn't quite manage it until about 10 minutes later....
	An empty rake of HTAs is diagrammed to run from Washwood Heath to Portbury in the early afternoon and on 2 April, 6V16 was in the hands of 66040, the same locomotive as I photographed on the train at Defford last week. The train had clearly had a clear run past Abbotswood Junction as it was going a quite a lick when I photographed it at Croome Perry at 14.31`.
	Here is the train referred to above, albeit with HAAs rather than HTA hoppers, with 66040 quietly and efficiently slipped under the roadbridge at Defford with the 6V16 coal empties from Washwood Heath to Portbury. I decided, for this shot, to put on a slightly longer lens to cut out some of the distracting background and to bring up the tree with its blossom just bursting into flower.
	The 05.48 Margam to Corby train of steel coils, 6M96, os generally class 60-hauled, but on 6 March 2007 66205 was provided. Here is the train near Stoke Works Junction travelling very slowly as it prepares to enter Bromsgrove loop to pick up another class 66 as the banker for the grind up the Lickey Incline. There are not that many freights up the Lickey in daylight hours, but most of the loaded trains of steel and coal are banked. Just before I left, 60028 with 6E41 Westerleigh to Lindsey went north and this was also looped to await the banking engine despite being a train of empty tanks. Sadly, the light for this move was dire and I didn't bother...
	The morning of 7 September 2006 dawned bright and sunny and I decided to have a trip to Ashchurch in order to try out my new 300mm Nikkor prime lens. As this is designed for 35mm cameras, the equivalent focal length on my D200 is in the order of 450mm, slightly more powerful than the 8x binoculars I also carry. The first freight to appear was 6V35 Lackenby to Llanwern and here it is passing over the road crossing just north of Northway. The locomotive was working extremely hard with around 2000 tonnes on the drawbar, and the telephoto lens really accentuates the exhaust haze.
	This must have been one of the "workings of the year" in 2006. On 6 September 2006, the Bridgwater to Crewe nuclear flask working, 6M67, was allocated DRS locomotives 20307 + 37605, but the class 20 failed before departure. As these trains' safety case states that 2 operational locomotives must be on the train Freightliner Heavy Haul's 66620 was summoned, presumably from Bristol Barton Hill. Here is the train, just some 45 minutesd late, at Defford in Worcestershire, having just passed over the River Avon.
	Saturday 7 October started out with a clear blue sky so I drove to Hatton with the aim of photographing 4M21, the Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal and 4054, the Leeds to Southampton freightliner near the station. Whilst waiting for 4M21 in a one-way location, 4O54 went south and when 4M21 came I let it run too far towards me, with the result that the loco's cab was in shadow. I knew that 66165 was coming north on a 6M69 Portbury to Rugeley coal train and decided to move to Hatton North Junction for this, and a little later, 4O02, the Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. 6M69 would clearly be well backlit at this time of day so I planned to take a wide shot to minimise the dark loco front which would result. The heavy train passed me near the summit of Hatton Bank at 11.35, having taken 2 hours for the journey from Culham, near Didcot.
	I spent an hour or so near Hatton during the afternoon of 23 November 2006 with the intention of photographing 60069 on 6E48, the 13.35 Didcot Power Station to Lindsey empty oil tanks. I placed myself in a location with not much potential for anything heading south so had to make the best of a bad job when 66055 turned up with an early running 6Z50 Mountsorrel to Westbury ballast. Still, the combination of bright sunshine, some Autumnal colours and a colourful train made for a reasonably atractive photograph and gives a good view of the wagons used on this service.
	The use of two of GBRF's new 66s on an Old Oak Common to Derby move predictably caused a great deal of interest on Saturday 13 January 2007. 66727 and 66726 running as 5Z81 topped and tailed a pair of barrier wagons before taking 3 MkIII coaches from Derby to Laira. The short ensemble is here seen passing Hatton station in extremely dull conditions at 10.31, some 30 minutes early on the schedule despite a late start from London. The train was booked to sit in Hatton Goods Loop but in the event was routed down the main line a few minutes behind a Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill class 168 unit.
	4O02, the Saturday morning Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner, can usually be relied upon to run pretty much on time, being booked to pass Hatton at 12.13. Today, 7 October, it passed Hatton North Junction at 12.14 with 66568 taking 57009 DIT to its destination. The junction visible is that for the branch to Stratford-upon-Avon via Claverdon and Bearley. There is only one train booked over the pointwork and curve to Hatton West Junction - an ECS to Stratford first thing in the morning.
	Here is 66118 hauling 4V09, the 13:36 Washwood Heath-Portbury empty HTAs came south past Defford on 2 November 2006. It is noticeable that these class 4 trains really take advantge of their higher permitted speed of 75mph. This train certainly wasn't hanging about and was running easily as fast as some of the passenger trains on the route.
	My first sighting of a GBRF Metronet class 66 took place today, 31 August 2006. 66718 was allocated to work a 5Z98 08.40 Laira to Derby Litchurch Lane train of HST stock for refurbishment. Interestingly, the locomotive was taken to Plymouth on the rear of the down Paddington sleeper rather than work down light engine. 5Z98, complete with "Vulture Squadron" headboard is here seen near Defford in Worcestershire some 20 minutes early at 12.57 in somewhat poor light. Still, it would have been difficult to have photographed this working with a clear sky on the Cheltenham line at this time of day as the sun would be pretty much straight down the lens.
	Here is 66089 hauling 4V09, the Washwood Heath to Portbury empty HTAs at Defford in Worcestershire. This was really moving and can't have been doing much less than its permitted 75mph. I had hoped to get a picture featuring the tractor and baler in the adjacent field, and this was to be the only one as not much straw was left to be collected. The tractor finished its job soon after this image was taken.
	The line through Cheltenham was closed at weekends in Septemebr 2006 and whilst most freights, if running at all, are diverted via Hereford, one or two are scheduled to run via Swindon and Oxford to Birmingham. On Saturday 23 September 2006, 6M04 the 10:00 Portbury-Washwood Heath coal train was reported as passing Kings Sutton at 14.38. This just gave me time to get to Hatton - and it was "just" - as I could hear the train hauled by 66159 coming as I parked my car in the station at 15.12. Fortunately, the train was moving quite slowly at this point thanks to the 1/110 ruling gradient of Hatton Bank. I chose this location to ensure that the background was identifiable, something I like to do for diversions.
	There is, to my eyes, something particularly unsatisfying about a poorly loaded intermodal train. I have never seen such a light load on 4M21, the 03:26 Felixstowe to Hams Hall service as there was on Saturday 9 December 2006, although it wasn't quite as bad as it looked with a few containers being conveyed on the rear of the train, out of sight beyond the footbridge. The attraction was, of course, the use of GBRF's Metronet 66718 and this was my first sighting of the sub-class on the line through Hatton.
	One of my fairly rare Sunday outings took place on 19 November in order to photograph 66416 + 66418 topping and tailing a RHTT move from Crewe to Willesden. The train, running as 6Z70, gave an unusual opportunity to record this formation along the Birmingham to Coventry line. It is here seen approaching Tile Hill, west of Coventry, at 13.14, just a couple of minutes down on the schedule.
	The line to Stratford-upon-Avon has seen major engineering work over the past 2 weekends. On Sunday 5 November, one of the work sites was at Bishopton where the up line was relaid overnight with CWR on steel sleepers. Train number 6P17 from Bescot headed by 66059 is here seen standing on the down line with a long rake of ballast wagons, which are being unloaded by a pair of rail-mounted machines, currently out of sight beyond the Bishopton Lane bridge. Any locomotive is a rare sight on this line these days, so the chance to photograph an engineering train is not one to miss.
	A relatively new train to run over the Birmingham to Didcot line is 6Z50, the 11.45 from Mountsorrel Quarry to Westbury, conveying ballast. The reason for this apparently strange move is that Southampton Docks is no longer used for unloading ballast to allow for more intermodal trains to run. I had previously taken a couple of shots of this train, but one was in dreadful light and the second was simply not sharp so when a message came through on 26 October saying that 66048 had passed Whitacre Junction at 13.05 I decided to take advantage of the sunny afternoon to redress the balance. I also planned to move south after photographing 6Z50 in order to get a shot of 60051 on a 6E48 Didcot Power Station to Lindsey working, but in the event, this came north whilst I was still waiting in a "one direction" location for 6Z50, which eventually passed Hatton South Junction at 16.02, by which time shadows were beginning to encroach on the scene.
	The morning of Saturday 4 November was sunny and crisp and armed with the knowledge that at least northbound freights were due to climb Hatton Bank within the next hour or so I went across to a favourite location just south of the cutting. The first train I was expecting was a Portbury to Rugeley train of HTAs but a photone call from Kenilworth saying that this was running via Coventry put paid to this. At 10.18 66078 appeared with what appeared to be the Banbury to Mountsorrel SDT but with loaded hoppers. This turned out instead to be 6M31 Hinksey VQ to Mountsorrel - the train had run to Banbury as normal, but a problem there resulted in it being diverted to Hinksey and then returned from whence it came. The gradient at this point is 1/100 and with a heavy load in tow, 66078 was working hard to keep the train moving.
	4M21, the 03.26 Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal is booked to run via Oxford and Solihull during the winter months, so giving an opportunity to photograph a GBRF 66 at Hatton. This train is scheduled to use Hatton's Down Goods Loop, but in my experience at least, rarely does so. This picture shows 66712 easing its train off the main line and into the loop at 10.35. I chose this location as it is just about the only spot where a picture of a train in the loop is possible in the winter - just in case... After taking this picture, I went to the farm shop at Hatton and when leaving there saw that 4M21 was still static just south of Hatton station. It eventually moved off northwards at 11.11 after 3 trains had passed it.
	One of the most reliable trains on a Saturday at Hatton is 4O02, the 11.14 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. It is normally double-headed, often by a 66 + 57 combination, in order to get a locomotive to Southampton after an unbalanced working. There was no 57 today as this picture of 66538 + 66533 about to pass Hatton station demonstrates. Still, I think a pair of 66s has a particularly powerful appearance and as this is not especially commonplace was pleased to get this shot in clear winter light. The fuel tank on the leading 66 has the words, "Pastry Express" and "Dirty Leeds" drawn in the grime - I wonder what that's all about?
	The North Warwickshire line through Henley-in Arden sees little in the way of locomotive-hauled workings, so when I heard that major track replacement was taking place on Sunday 8 October I went over to have a look. I had been told that a 7P12 from Bescot was on the way south at about 13.00 so when I arrived at Henley at about 13.20 I expected to find an empty station with the prospect of photographing a class 66 hauled ballast passing through. Instead of this, I found 66159 standing in the up platform with a huge train of recovered track panels together with a road-rail vehicle on the down line from which the crew were sawing off some excess lengths of track. There was little other than this photograph to be obtained so I decided to have a walk along a public footpath running north from the station to see if a photograph of the front of this train, 6P11, was possible.
	As it happened, the leading locomotive of 6P11 was not in a good position so I walked further along the path to the next overbridge. Here, 66186 was standing in just the right place for a photograph with 7P12, the driver being given instructions by the PIC of Operations. It was a piece of luck that the stop boards protecting the possession had been placed some 15 yards from the bridge; they all too easily have been put somewhere less convenient.
	7P12 soon obtained permission to proceed and is here seen moving away towards the station. It stopped at the outer home signal which gave me the chance to walk back to the station for another crack at it, but not before this taking this image of the brake van number 993914 at the back of the train. This is a Shark brakevan and would have been used to spread the ballast dropped from the Seacows. It may have also been included in the consist because local regulations state that any train left without a locomotive i.e. for run-round purposes, must have a brake in the consist because of the falling gradient from Henley-in Arden to Bearley. Thanks for Dave Ashworth for this information.
	I had plenty of time to reach the station before the down line was cleared and 66186 allowed to proceed into Henley-in-Arden station. The train was under manual control and no signals were pulled off as the train passed the signal box and moved towards the possession. There is quite a contrast between this shot and the last I took here on 19 August when the Blue Pullman ran this way to Stratford -upon-Avon. By now, 6P11 with 66159 on the rear and 66185 on the front has pulled clear of the station, and I expected to see this train disappear towards Birmingham. In the event, something far more unusual was to happen...
	I was more than mildly surprised to see 66159 detached from the train and to see the points switched over to allow it to enter platform 3, or "the bay" as it is locally known. This piece of line is used just once each week day when an early morning train to Birmingham starts its journey here. I have never seen a locomotive make this move before and it gave me some degree of satisfaction to record it in the only sunny spell of the afternoon.
	The driver of 66159 pulled his locomotive sufficiently clear of the footbridge to enable me to obtain this shot of it it the bay with 66186 waiting to head south with its train of seacows. It probably won't mean much to non-locals, but this sight is pretty well unprecedented and is one of those are events that make the session really notable.
	66071 is here seen is passing fields of potatoes and asparagus with a rake of loaded HTAs from Portbury. This was 6M71 11:45 SX Avonmouth No. 5 Wharf EWS - Ironbridge Power Station, which judging by the exhaust and the low speed at which it was travelling had been looped at Eckington, a mile or so to the south.
	On 28 July 2006 there were only 2 class 60s active on the Cheltenham line. One of the trains often 60-hauled is 6V36, the 08.17 Lackenby-Margam loaded steel slabs, but today was in the hands of 66246. I wasn't at all bothered by this, as I have far more pictures of these steel trains with 60s than 66s...
	Saturday 7 October started out with a clear blue sky so I drove to Hatton with the aim of photographing 4M21, the Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal and 4054, the Leeds to Southampton freightliner near the station. Whilst waiting for 4M21 in a one-way location, 4O54 went south and when 4M21 came I let it run too far towards me, with the result that the loco's cab was in shadow. I knew that 66165 was coming north on a 6M69 Portbury to Rugeley coal train and decided to move to Hatton North Junction for this, and a little later, 4O02, the Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. 6M69 would clearly be well backlit at this time of day so I planned to take a wide shot to minimise the dark loco front which would result. The heavy train passed me near the summit of Hatton Bank at 11.35, having taken 2 hours for the journey from Culham, near Didcot.
	This is 4Z55, the 10:00 Southampton-Leeds; a relatively new working over the Oxford and Solihull line, hauled on this occasion by 66574. It is seen approaching Dorridge against a background of trees beginning to change to their Autumnal colours. Some freights are routed over the down loop, but I was glad that this was not the case with 4Z55 as the shot would have been head-on and shadowed.
	One of the trains I have been keen to photograph over the past few weeks has been the 6X52 TWFO 16:30 Portbury-Washwood Heath loaded cartics. The shot across the field near Abbotswood Junction is one I particularly like so on Tuesday 18 July I decided to brave the almost tropical weather and went across, more in hope than expectation. I say this because last week I tried for the train on Wednesday and had to give up at 20.40, and after planning to go again on Friday, found out it was running very early and would not have had time to get there. So... I arrived at Abbotswood at 17.40, just in time to see a class 66 heading south on the 6V36 Lackenby to Llanwern steel slabs. Not a portent for all-round late running, I hoped. At 17.55, the train pictured here appeared. It looks like 6X52 except that all the wagons appear to be empty, so I'm not 100% sure. Still, it's a photo in the right spot at the right time, so I'm not too concerned.
	Freightliner and intermodal traffic is the mainstay of photographic interest at Whitacre Junction, neat Coleshill. This is 66517 with 4L93, the 10.08 Lawley Street to Felixstowe passing the exit from the Hams Hall complex at 10.38 on 25 July 2006.
	During the Spring and Summer of 2006, Freightliner HeavyHaul hired 2 DRS class 66s to cover a motive power shortage. 66407 is seen passing Whitacre Junction at 123.18 on 25 July 2006 with 6P27, the 10.50 Stud Farm to Crewe Virtual Quarry.
	I was working in my garden on the morning of 22 June when a message appeared on my BlackBerry to the effect that 66606 had just passed Evesham station en-route to Long Marston, no doubt to collect some stock. I was waiting for a parcel containing my new Nikon D200 camera body to be delivered so was twitching with impatience. Fortunately, UPS did their bit, my parcel arrived as did some more messages about the timing and destination of the train. It turned out to be 6Z71 11.29 Long Marston to Hitchin. As it was already 11.35 I decided to head for the nearest location with easy access, which is Lower Moor on the Cotswold line. The train consisting of 66606 and 18 of the JNAs stored at Long Marston passed me at 12.08. I like this shot as it shows the 1st 66/6 to use this line, and could almost be a "proper" freight service. Incidentally, this is being uploaded to my hosting server at 13.07, just within an hour of the picture being taken.
	During the morning of Saturday 15 July, a message came through that blue 60044 was working 6V36 Lackenby to Llanwern steel slabs. This is due in the Ashchurch area at around 17.15 so I planned to go over later. At about 14.00 another message came from Whitacre Junction saying that 60044 had just passed. This meant that the train was almost certainly 6V40, booked some 2 hours earlier than 6V36. There was plenty of time to get to Northway so I made the 35 minute journey from Stratford-upom-Avon. The first freight to appear, at 15.30, was this, 6Z97 Beeston to Cardiff Tidal loaded scrap behind 66531. This was a a bit of a surprise as I thought it had returned to its booked route via the Welsh Marches line.
	A welcome addition to the sparse freight traffic on the Leamington Spa to Birmingham line is the 6Z23(Q) 13:10 Southampton W.Docks-Bescot train, conveying Ford vans. As the evening of 11 July was particularly pleasant and sunny, I made the short drive (and quite long subsequent walk!) to Hatton North Junction, where I knew the sun would be spot on at around 19.00. At around the expected time, a Virgin Vogager followed by a Chiltern Trains class 165 went north. Seven minutes later 66049 came slowly around the bend demonstrating that 6Z23 had been routed into Hatton's down goods loop to allow the passenger trains to pass. This picture is timed at 19.05. The line leading off to the right is the rarely used connection to Hatton West Junction and thence the Leamington Spa to Stratford-upon-Avon line. The only timetabled train to use the curve is an ECS to Stratford in the morning, although the steam runs to Tyseley on summer Sundays return from Stratford this way.
	The second freight I photographed at Hatton North Junction on 11 July was the 6M65 Didcot to Carlisle. A message from further south had said that this was, as usual, quite a short train so I decided on a location to make it look more balanced. This picture was taken at 19.57 as the shadows really began to lengthen.
	I was expecting the 6V07 Round Oak to Margam allocated to 60016 to appear when this train came under the bridge at Croome Perry at 15.13 on 4 July 2006. I was surprised when what appeared to be this working appeared in the hands of 66012 + 66064. In fact, it later transpired to be a 6V54 1440 Worcester-Llanwern consisting of wagons that should have gone on 6V05 last Friday. Thanks to Mike Hollick for this gen.
	Here is 66089 hauling 4V09, the Washwood Heath to Portbury empty HTAs through Defford on 28 July 2006. This train was really moving and can't have been doing much less than its permitted 75mph. I had hoped to get a picture featuring the tractor and baler in the adjacent field, and this was to be the only one as not much straw was left to be collected. The tractor finished its job soon after this image was taken.
	66071 is seen here passing fields of potatoes and asparagus at Defford with a rake of loaded HTAs from Portbury. This was 6M71 11:45 SX Avonmouth No. 5 Wharf EWS - Ironbridge Power Station, which judging by the exhaust and the low speed at which it was travelling had been looped at Eckington, a mile or so to the south.
	There were only 2 class 60s active on the Cheltenham line on 28 July 2006 and one of the trains often 60-hauled is 6V36, the 08.17 Lackenby-Margam loaded steel slabs. Today, however, it was in the hands of 66246. I wasn't at all bothered by this, as I have far more pictures of these steel trains with 60s than 66s...
	I had a choice of trains to photograph on the afternoon of Saturday 1 July. There was 37417 with a rake of scrap wagons and a dead 66 from Northampton, 60099 on the 6Z41 Theale to Lindsey tanks, or 66555 with the diverted Beeston to Cardiff scrap. Not a difficult decision; I have hundreds of pictures of 37s around Birmingham, I already have a very decent shot of 6Z41 so the rare chance to get a Freightliner class 66 on the Cheltenham line was really my only option. The timing was fortuitous as it enabled me to be out in the warm sun and avoiding the histrionics associated with the World Cup football. There was a surprsingly large amount of cloud coverage at Croome Perry and I wasn't too surprised that the sun was obscured when 6Z97 came slowly under the bridge.
	Say what you will about class 66 locomotives, but there is no denying that they were ready to run "straight out of the box". This picture shows 66096 on an Ironbridge Power Station to Margam empty MGR working on Thursday 29 April 1999. Not that unusual, but it was only unloaded on Tuesday 27th! 645
	The lines to Stratford-upon-Avon either from Leamington Spa or Birmingham do not see much in the way of locomotives, other than occasional steam specials. It was therefore with some anticipation that I awaited this train, 6P06 from Bescot to Bearley Junction in connection with major track replacement on the North Warwickshire line. 66098 is seen here passing through Claverdon station on Sunday 19 March 2006. The train was slightly delayed, no doubt because the engineers weren't quite ready for it, but that delay meant that it came in a fortuitous patch of sun at 13.04. Worthy of note is the old BR double arrow sign at the entrance to the station. There are not too many of these around so click here for a closer look . There is another of these on the A3400 at the entrance to Bearley station. The bus shelter-syle station building here is a fairly recent replacement for the older GWR style construction.
	Sunday 26 March saw more engineering work on the North Warwickshire line south of Henley-in-Arden. There were fewer trains booked than the previous week, but I knew of 2, 6P06 and 6P05 which were timed to be at Hatton North Junction at 09.15 and 10.30 respectively. There was nothing in sight as I drove past Bearley Junction and assume that I missed the first, having arrived at Claverdon station at around 09.20 but thought a wait of around an hour not too bad. A friend arrived after a while and he said that a rake of yellow ballast wagons were on the line when he had gone by Bearley. Right then, it can't be far away. By 11.30 we were ready to give up and Steve cracked first, promising to 'phone if there was a sign of life at Bearley. Eight minutes later, my 'phone rang and Steve said that he was on his way back as the train was now moving. It took an age to reach Claverdon, but here is the result - 66089 on 6P05 to Bescot, a rare sight on this normally DMU-only line.
	66098 has obviously switched stock as it is now on a different rake as it prepares to join the Leamington Spa to Birmingham main line at Hatton North Junction with 6P04 from Bearley to Bescot. It is exceptionally rare to see a diesel locomotive on this piece of track; indeed, the only train other than the steam specials on summer Sundays to use the line to the Stratford-upon-Avon branch is a morning ECS move from Tyseley. There have, in the past, been occasional moves of the Royal Scotsman train returning north, and indeed one of these is my only such shot here, but this has not happened for quite a while.
	The working timetable shows that 6B36, the 07:09 Didcot Yard to Ashchurch MOD trains runs as a "Q", Tuesday excepted. It ran on Tuesday 6 June however and is here seen approaching its destination behind 66130. This train used to use the loop on the right-hand side of the picture to await its path into the exchange sidings - a propelling move blocking the main line - but as can be seen from the rust, these tracks are currently out of use. 6B36, with a load of armoured vehicles, passed me at 10.40 and duly entered the sidings. It appeared to have some difficulty getting onto the branch, and the locomotive could be heard slipping, even from some distance away. Following the passage of a Virgin Voyager, the 66 pulled the train back out onto the main line and had another go. This time, with much noise from the locomotive, the train was finally propelled down the branch at 11.11.
	The morning on Saturday 6 May 2006 dawned bright and sunny with the news that Metronet 66722 was working the 4M21 Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal. Off to Hatton then, I thought; that would be nicely as a broadside shot from the footpath across the field. Unfortunately, 4M21 ran very early and down the WCML but I didn't find this out until about 10.45. After a visit to the farm shop at Hatton for provisions, I decided to go the roadbridge by the station for 4O02, the Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner, as this is often double-headed. True to form, it was, by numerically similar 66534 + 66543.
	One of the workings class 66 took over until class 67 became more widely available was the SERCO train. Here, 66027 is topping the train as it passes Evesham signal box and the remains of the inner home bracket signal on 1 April 2005. 66030 was on the rear of the train. This was the only patch of sun that appeared all day, the return working from Oxford being witnessed in extremely dull weather. I suppose it has turn to out that way on occasions...
	The next 2 photographs show 66027 on another non-freight working. On 10 June 2000 the locomotive was used in top and tail mode with 66096 on railtour duties. Hertfordford's "The Sword and Pen", running as 1Z41 Finsbury Park to Stratford-upon-Avon and 1Z42 return came to my home town via the MOD facility at Fenny Compton. The train is here seen arriving at Stratford, pictured from the station footbridge.
	The same train as seen in the picture above is seen while shunting from platform 1 to platform 2 at Stratford-upon-Avon. Several young Network Rail "Suits" were in attendance for this exercise and their complete lack of experience and ineptitude was well demonstrated. As mentioned above, the train was run in TnT mode so one would have thought that a simple move such as this would have caused no problems. Wrong. First, 66027 was shutdown. Second, it was restarted and detached from the train. Third, and after a delay of some minutes during which the driver was consulted, the loco was re-attached and the shunting move carried out. There was, needless to say, considerable delay caused both to a local train from Birmingham and a Chiltern service from London.
	Class 66 is the standard motive power for EWS's intermodal traffic on non-electrified lines. When diversions are required for trains normally hauled by class 92 it is usual for the 92 to be removed but on 30 November 2002 the electric locomotive was left behind the 66 on 4M64 Wembley to Daventry. The somewhat rare sight of an electric loco on Hatton Bank is seen in this picture with 66149 hauling 92009 and its train towards Birmingham. The weather was, as one would expect for a working like this, extremely dull, hence the black & white image. The train was fortunately following a unit going to Stratford-upon-Avon so was travelling at walking pace towards an adverse signal, meaning that a fast shutter speed was not required.
	In the middle months of 2005, many class 60s were stored and their workings taken over by 66s. Previously solid 60 turns, such as the heavy steel trains from Margam to Round Oak in the Black Country were handed over to 66s, as witnessed by this shot of 6V07 Round Oak to Margam hauled by 66109 on 12 July 2005. The train is seen passing the well-known but nonetheless attractive location of Croome Perry wood near Pershore in Worcestershire.
	In my opinion, the most attractive livery currently carried by class 66 is the blue of GBRf. These variants, 66/7s, do not regularly appear on the GWR line from Birmingham to Banbury but diversions necessitated by engineering work elsewhere mean that some intermodal traffic traverses the line on occasions. This is 66717 with the 4L21 Hams Hall to Felixstowe approaching Banbury on 12 March 2005.
	Here is another view of the same working as shown above, coincidentally hauled by the same locomotive as it passes Hatton South Junction just as the sun began to appear after early morning mist on 21 January 2005.
	The autumn and winter of 2005 saw the 4M21 Felixstowe to Hams Hall diverted to run via Oxford and Hatton. There was a path shown too for the southbound 4L21 but it did not run, although even if it had, it would have before daybreak. Fortunately, 4M21 runs at a suitable time for photography and the train is seen here climbing through Hatton station behind 66714 on 24 September 2005. I had not intended to photograph this train here, but through early running was not able to get to my chosen location in time. In retrospect, I'm glad that I stayed here, because it does show a train in a clearly indentifiable spot, and I think that this is valuable with something diverted from its normal route. Hatton Bank still presents quite a formidable obstacle to heavy northbound trains with its several miles averaging 1/110 and even the normally quiet class 66 can be heard for some time before coming into sight.
	This photograph is dated 19 February 2005 and shows 66717 climbing Hatton bank with the diverted 4M21 Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal. I was a little later arriving than I intended because of icy lanes between where I live and the car park at Hatton, which meant that I was only halfway along the footpath to my chosen spot when the train came. Still, it's quite a decent close-up of the locomotive against a nice clear sky...This was the shot I was aiming for, taken a few minutes later of   67005 on a northbound railtour.
	In the spring of 2005 a short-term trial of MGR traffic took place from Daw Mill colliery near Coleshill to the cement works at Westbury. This train, given the headcode 7Z57, ran only for a few weeks, and I managed just 2 shots of it. This one was by far the better, being taken in reasonable light on 18 March 2005. The location is just to the south of Hatton cutting, and the locomotive is 66134. It seems a long time since regular rakes of HAAs were seen on this route, and it was so long ago that 66s had not been imported when the last regular trains to Didcot Power Station ran this way.
	The Bristol to Birmingham line has recently seen a resurgence in coal traffic from Avonmouth Bulk Handling Terminal to various power stations in the Midlands and further north. This picture shows 66246 passing Ashchurch station on 9 August 2005 with a train of loaded HTAs. Due to the coupling arrangements, only class 66 locomotives can haul these large hoppers, and should the 66 fail and need to be rescued by another class, it needs to be left in the consist for compatibility. This photograph was taken at 11.45 which accounts for the heavy backlighting in evidence.
	Taken from the same footbridge as the photograph above, this one shows 66233 heading south then minutes later with a rake of empty HAAs en-route to Avonmouth from Ironbridge Power Station for reloading. This train was running under the headcode 6Z72, whereas if it had formed of roller bearing fitted HTAs would have been a class 4, allowed to run at up to 75mph. One of the odder features of class 66 is the fitting of side mirrors to make shunting slightly easier for the driver. These are clearly visible in this picture.
	Class 66 does not have any booked passenger turns but can be seen on certain workings of the VSOE. The branch from Hatton to Stratford-upon-Avon is not cleared for class 67 locomotives so when the VSOE is scheduled to run to the town, class 66 has normally been diagrammed since the demise of the Royal class 47s. 660033 is seen here about to descend the 1/75 gradient from Wilmcote station, just visible in the background, with the attractive luxury train on 13 August 2003.645
	Some 6 weeks later, the train again ran in glorious light and this time I photographed it, behind 66150, a little closer to Stratford from the Bishopton Road bridge. I was glad that the EWS luggage had been marshalled at the back of the train. This always looks a little incongruous when compared to the chocolate and cream of the passenger stock. The train was running some 20 minutes early after having been given the road from Leamington Spa in front of a Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill service. This would not have delayed the Chiltern Trains' unit as it would have been booked to call at Warwick Parkway, just a couple of miles from the junction with the Stratford branch. 645
	A final VSOE shot for now is this one taken on 15 September 2004. I wasn't able to get out for the inward working to Stratford-upon-Avon at lunchtime, but did get out of work in time to grab a camera and walk up the towpath of local canal to this spot adjacent to the flight of locks leading to Wilmcote. The locomotive on this occasion was 66122.
	Another of the class 66 variants is seen here at Hatton South Junction. This time it is 66407 in the stylish house colours of Direct Rail Services. Freightliner were experiencing some motive power shortages at the time and 66407 was on hire to them when I pictured it hauling 4O17, the 15.52 Lawley Street to Southampton service. 645
	Some trains understandably run under a cloak of semi-secrecy. One of these is the train conveying nuclear material from the Royal Navy's premises at Devonport, to Sellafield in Cumbria. Nevertheless, with the availability of modern technology it is not very often that news of such a working passes unnoticed. This was the case on 11 June 2003 when 66199 was rostered for 6X40. It is seen here passing Stoke Works near Bromsgrove, the train consisting of 2 special nuclear flasks and 2 escort vehicles complete with armed personnel to counter any possible terrorist threat. 645
	On Tuesday 19 July a move of redundant LPG tanks was planned from Avonmouth LPG Terminal to Stoke-on-Trent. In the event this actually ran to Didcot because of train crew difficulties so it seemed likely that a northward move would take place over the next few days. This happened on Wednesday 20 July, the tanks being added to the consist of 6M65. It was timed to leave Didcot at 18.30 and I recorded it passing Bentley Heath crossing behind 66011 at 20.07 in a fortuitous bit of weak late evening sun. Without the tanks, 6M65 would have been a very short train, consisting of just one ferrywagon, as the tank behind this and the one at rear of the train are barriers.
	Following the shot of the LPG tanks shown above, I decided to return to Bentley Heath on 21 July to get a shot of MTho 6M23 Fawley to Bromford Bridge bitumen tanks. The light was was excellent all the way from home with just a few bits of wispy cloud around. I found out that the train, hauled by 66198, had passed Wolvercote Junction around 35 minutes late but wasn't too bothered as it was likely to pass me at around 19.20-19.25 and the sun would be plenty strong enough at that time. Just as I had had that thought, I looked north and saw a large bank of very dark cloud racing towards the sun. To curtail a long story, the train crossed the crossing no more than 15 seconds before the sun was suddenly and totally obscured.
	The fourth colour variant of class 66 is shown here with 66583 hauling 4M55 Southampton to Lawley Street up Hatton Bank on 15 July 2005. This spot is getting very overgrown during the summer months and there is a strong possibility that photography here will be impossible before too many years are out. Young trees have been planted all around the area but my environmentally-friendly views preclude me from doing a hatchet job on them.
	To finish off the colour schemes currently applied to class 66 (except the GBRf loco with the Union Flag, which I've never seen...), here is 66709 in it's fetching black paintwork. The train is 4M21 Felixstowe coming off the slow lines at Whitacre Junction on 15 August 2003 as it nears the end of its journey.
	Here's another shot of 66709, this time on a diverted 4M21 Felixstowe to Hams Hall intermodal on 26 October 2002, complete with "Bluebirds on Tour" headboard. No prizes are offered for guessing the location...
	I had the sunny afternoon of 2 September away from from the office and one of the trains I expected to see at Abbotswood Junction was 6V70 the 10:55 Cliff Vale-Cardiff Tidal empty china clay working. This arrived in the loop where it was held to allow a Voyager and a class 170 to pass. 66150 was finally released at 16.13 and it is seen here drawing the unusually long train back out onto the main line. Class 66 seems to photograph well with a strong lens. Maybe the compressed perspective gives it a more powerful aspect compared with a shot with a wider angle lens which accentuates the long body of the locomotive.
	Round Oak steel terminal in the Black Country takes considerable tonnages of metal from South Wales. The train pictured here is 6M41 from Margam in the hands of 66227 on the afternoon of 2 September 2005. It was photographed at 16.43 moving away from a dead stand at the signal adjacent to the road bridge visible in my shot of 47826. The stop was necessitated by a unit from the Worcester line heading south and thereby blocking the single lead from the Cotswold line. I've included this picture because of the impressive amount of smoke emanating from the locomotive whilst getting its heavy load on the move. The train will turn left at the junction just visible and run via Worcester, Kidderminster and Stourbridge Junction to its destination on the truncated line, which once ran through to Bescot and Walsall.
	My last shot of the day just south of Abbotswood Junction on 2 September 2005 was this of 66068 on the 6X52 14:11 Portbury-Washwood Heath loaded cartics taken at 17.39. I must admit to a fondness for this late afternoon shot showing, as it does, the beautiful Worcestershire scenery at its best.
	Due to engineering work on the Bicester to Oxford line in September 2003, the MOD train from Didcot to Bicester was retimed and diverted. It ran via the Hanwell Loop, Princes Risborough, Aylesbury and Claydon LN&E loop. I pictured it passing Quainton Road station top and tailed by 66060 and 66054 on 4 September. The top and tailed consist was in place in order to avoid runs-round at Claydon Loop. 645
	A rumour ran around the West Midlands on Saturday 13 September that 37709 was to appear on 6B61 Bescot to Hams Hall. This was true, but the real story was that it was booked DIT inside the allocated train locomotive, 66005. The opportunity thus presented itself itself to photograph a tractor inside a shed... The ensemble is seen passing the foot crossing at Coleshill. 645
	Here is a photograph guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of a shed hater. 66061 meets an unidentified sister locomotive at Whitacre Junction on 10 April 2004 while both are working MGRs on the Daw Mill circuit. Note the contrast between the HTAs and HAAs on the two trains.
	The short branch from Ashchurch exchange sidings to the MOD facility is the remnant of the line to Evesham and thence to Redditch. The former down line has been partially lifted and the bit that hasn't gone is mostly hidden by bramble bushes. The up line isn't really that much better as can be seen here as 66233 propels its train across one of the 2 foot crossings. It is not an easy branch for photography and in my opinion, this shot from the station footbridge is the about the best.
	Here is an earlier shot at Ashchurch, with a lot more undergrowth than in the picture above, showing 66158 propelling down the branch on 12 June 2000 with 6B30 from Didcot. The footpath mentioned in the caption above was in use today by the runners just visible. They had quite a wait for a clear road as the lengthy train backed very slowly along the branch. 645
	6M31 Banbury to Mountsorrel has been running quite regularly on Saturdays in November and December 2005 and here it is at Hatton South Junction on 19 November behind 66134. I wouldn't normally have put a going-away shot like this online, but it does give a decent view of the Lafarge wagons used on this service.
	One of my favourite areas for railway photography is that around Calvert in Buckinghamshire. This picture shows 66546 on the "Avon Binliner" from Bath & Bristol under the unloading crane at Calvert on 25 June 2004. The box wagons on the adjacent road being unloaded by mechanical grab contained contaminated soil from Baglan Bay in South Wales and formed a short-term flow at this time. 645
	This train is yet another that has ceased to run since this photograph was taken on 14 March 2003. It is the 6E99 Baglan Bay to Humber empty pressure tanks pictured at Whitacre Junction, near Coleshill. 645