Another visit to Barnetby, on a wet January day. For the second visit in a row I have managed to pick a day when the Immingham - Santon ore circuit is not running, meaning a sad lack of 60s. Generally, this was as quiet as I have seen Barnetby for freights, just a few DB (EWS) and Freightliner 66s were seen over a 5 hour period.

A cold bleak day at STJ, with very little freight running. Only one 60 was something of a disappointment, although we should be glad to have even seen this one example as DB stored 20 of the 37 in traffic just one week later, including 60024 seen here. Top 'n' tailed 67s and a handful of 66s added to the endless parade of HSTs and units.

A few hours at Crewe, my first visit for about nine years. On a cold damp morning with precious little sun, the usual Pendolinos, Voyagers, EMUs and DMUs provided the passenger services for a variety of operators. Four of Riviera Trains' Class 47s were stabled near the old Diesel Maintenance Depot.

More scans from my father's old slides. Another Swindon Works open day with various locos awaiting their fate. Pioneer Deltic 55022 is seen at York and other locations covered include Gloucester and Dawlish Warren.

Another load of scanned slides - all taken by my father David.

The shots from 1978 include NCB steam hard at work at Mountain Ash colliery, Deltic 'Crepello' and some classic blue type fours at Haresfield near Gloucester.

1979 sees more shots at Haresfield as well as a visit to BREL's Swindon Works for an Open Day. King George V was in steam. Several photos of steam locomotives, both stored and unrestored, on the Severn Valley Railway and at the Didcot Railway Centre. Preservation hopefuls are also seen awaiting salvation at Barry scrapyard.

Barnetby and Melton Ross, shots mainly taken on 4th and 5th June, with a few from the 6th. Unfortunately, the iron ore circuit was not in operation for most of the time, only recommencing late in the day on the 5th. This meant 60s were thin on the ground and it was mainly a procession of 66s on coal for EWS and Freightliner. At least the sun came out for a while.

A very gloomy break at Tebay, plenty of low, dark cloud and rain. A couple of light engine movements were the highlight of the 45 mins or so I spent overlooking the WCML and M6 on 3rd June.

The next day included a brief visit to Carnforth, including seeing the famous clock and refreshment room. A few of WCRC's stored locomotives were viewed from a public footpath.

Long Marston opened its gates on 7th July 2008 to allow viewing of the huge amount of locomotives and rolling stock stored there.

Former Kings of the WCML, the class 87 locomotives dominate, indeed the event was titled 'Farewell to the 87s' - as most of the class are due to be moved abroad to work in Bulgaria alongside the few that are already there. Recently preserved 87002 'Royal Sovereign', owned by the AC Locomotive Group, made its public debut - looking absolutely stunning.

Other sights included Class 86 AC electrics and decaying class 08, 20, 37 and 56 diesel locomotives.

An afternoon and evening spent at Carlisle Citadel station. Many types of DMU along with the ubiquitous Voyagers and Pendolinos make up the passenger services here.

Freight from the north may be routed across the Settle and Carlisle route or the WCML, amongst others, making Carlisle an important and fairly busy junction. In fact, the afternoon proved quiet but traffic picked up significantly in the evening onwards. Locos pausing for crew changes enabled me to have my first try at night photography.

Loco types seen included 20s, a 37, 57s, a 60, 66s and 92s.

These photos were taken by my father during the early 70s, they have been scanned from slides taken on an old Prinzmatic non-SLR camera.

Locations range around the Western Region, although Tiverton Junction and Severn Tunnel Junction are both prominent. A last look at Gloucester Eastgate station is also included. A lost part of the British landscape is the small colliery, and the photos of Cwm Colliery illustrate this once common scene.

Motive power includes Class 35 'Hymeks' and Class 52 'Westerns' as well as the longer lasting 47s/50s etc.

Unfortunately, most of the locos are not identified and precise date/location information may be lacking. Hopefully an enjoyable stroll down memory lane anyway.

Decided to add a bit of variety to the annual pilgrimage to Rugby by stopping off at Atherstone on the way. Also photographed 47769 stabled at Gloucester.

Highlight of the four freights seen at Atherstone was Jarvis' 56303. Was shocked to see the state of Rugby railway station, it seems the never-ending rebuilding continues. Several tracks have been removed, leaving just four through lines in current operation. As ever, the variety did not disappoint with plenty of freight activity in evidence.

The day was cut short when an OHL failure at Milton Keynes meant that the WCML was closed, the last Pendolino we saw was terminated at Rugby. 25 years ago an OHL failure would have meant photographer's paradise as a motley selection of diesels would have been pressed into action on 'drags' - sadly not the case these days.

A frosty Sunday morning visit to Gloucester Central in the hope of getting a shot of 47761 en-route to scrapping. The station was closed due to work on the permanent way, and a bustitution service was in place.

Sadly, 47761 was almost entirely obscured by a Sprinter, but Cotswold Advenza's ex-Freightliner class 57 no 57005 was also present - looking in need of the lick of Advenza paint which it is due to receive very shortly.

A number of rail shots taken during a 3 week holiday from 15 December 2007 to 5 January 2008.

TGVs and Thalys at Brussels, a few snaps at Cologne and Hamburg. A number of shots of suburban services at Stockholm, along with an X2000 and a couple of electric locos. A tram in Helsinki. Finally, a number of shots around Cologne and at Cologne Hauptbahnhof.

Sadly the proper winter weather stayed away so the shots are in the gloom rather than in the snow!

Collection of holiday snapshots taken in Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Malmo and Cologne in December 2007/January 2008.

Another visit to Barnetby, this time starting early on a Saturday morning. Hoped to capture the semaphores in the early winter sun, but alas there was none, and it was early winter rain instead!

Even on a Saturday, Barnetby sees a steady flow of freight - more than most locations get on a week day. EWS 60s and 66s along with Freightliner 66s provide the majority of the traction.

The details of the freight workings are added to give a bit of detail, but in some cases I cannot be sure which working was which, so an educated best-guess was made.

Part two of my trip to photograph some of the disappearing Train Operating Companies (see also the Chesterfield collection). The intention at Doncaster was to get some shots of the GNER liveried HSTs and IC225s (Class 91s).

The views from the car park overlooking the station and works were great, although we were swiftly, but politely, asked not to photograph there by a friendly security guard - apparently due to the nearby prison being visible.

A mixed bag of units, 91s, HSTs, 66s, 67s and a 60 were seen at the station.

I spent a couple of hours at Chesterfield, my first visit in over 20 years. The main aim was to capture some shots of the Midland Mainline HSTs and Meridian units as this TOC will be disappearing from the UK rail scene later this year. The same goes for the Virgin Cross Country franchise, shortly to be replaced by Arriva Cross Country, so these red and silver Voyagers should soon be reliveried.

Virgin Pendolino 390029 'City of Stoke On Trent' has been temporarily reliveried to mark the Manchester International Festival. It has been vinyl wrapped with Monkey: Journey to the West images - each carriage having its own design.

The Monkey: Journey to the West opera opened the Festival on the day these photos were taken (28 June). Blur lead singer Damon Albarn and Chen Shi-Zheng are behind the Monkey 'circus-opera', based on the Chinese Monkey legend.

Jamie Hewlett (the artist behind Gorillaz and Tank Girl), worked with graffiti artist Chu on the artwork for this project.

Spent a good day at Rugby on Thursday 28th June, about a year after my last visit. The DRS 37s on a Serco test train and the GBRf stock move were both pleasant surprises. Seeing 3 of Freightliner's latest batch of 66s was good too - 66588-590 were all only delivered in April.

This was also the day when it was announced that EWS had been bought by DB - could the EWS livery be in line for an update?

This is the first set of photos from that day, a second set will follow later in order to keep the collections a reasonable size.

Another collection of shots of Cotswold Rail's locomotives stabled around Gloucester Station and Horton Road depot. These were all taken on a frosty Sunday morning in February 2007.

Headed to Barnetby on a pleasant sunny winter's day. It's one of the busiest junctions in the UK for freight, with a pretty constant flow of 60s and 66s operated by EWS and Freightliner, mainly hauling coal and operating the iron ore circuit.

A huge bonus was the appearance of 40145 (together with 33029) with stock from a special train running for the Lincoln Christmas Market. Great to see a 'whistler' at Barnetby, and sincere thanks to the guy that told me it was due and saved me from missing out on seeing it.

A day at STJ which was wholly unsuited to photography! Howling winds, frequent heavy showers and precious few sunny spells. Amongst the HSTs and DMUs were several 60s and 66s on EWS freights.

Some shots taken at Minehead on the West Somerset Railway on the Friday of the 2006 Autumn Steam Gala.

Locos in steam included Pannier Tank 6412, GW Mogul 2-6-0 9351, LMS Black Five 45231 'The Sherwood Forester', GW 2-8-0 Tank 4247 and GW King 6024 'King Edward I'.

A few of the shots have also been converted to B&W in an attempt to capture some atmosphere.

Took a quick Bank Holiday trip down to Lydney Junction on the Dean Forest Railway to photograph the collection of stored and restored modern traction down there. A bonus was the sight of 0-6-0 PT 9681 on a service train.

An enjoyable afternoon was spent at Rugby, the variety of traction in use on the freights was refreshing to see, from 37s to 92s and with a decent mixture of liveries too.

Airbus' new A380 airliner made it's first visit to the UK on 18th May 2006. On it's way to land at Heathrow it made an overflight of Filton in Bristol, where the wings of this enormous plane are manufactured.

Having watched West Ham go down on penalties to Liverpool in the FA Cup Final on 13th May 2006, the perfect antidote was an evening at Severn Tunnel Junction to photograph a few of the FA Cup specials and the Cardiff to Gloucester 37s.

A couple of unexpected bonuses were seen in the shape of Mainline Blue 60078 and pioneer EWS 66 no.66001.

It's still somewhat sad to reflect on STJ in its current emasculated form, but such is progress; standing on the bridge overlooking the station brought back many memories of trips there in the early 1980s, watching hump shunting and the constant flow of freights in and out of the various yards.

Gloucester Horton Road depot has risen from the dead courtesy of Cotswold Rail - it's great to see mainline diesel locos on shed again. The first arrivals have been during April and May 2006 and some are pictured here.

It's some way from the depot's heyday as a GWR shed, but I never thought the depot would return to use since its closure to locos in the early 1990s.

Updated 21 JAN 2007 - 47365 and 31206 departed for scrap and preservation respectively later in 2006. In January 2007, 08936 has now been on site for some time, keeping 47033 company. 45112 has been stabled in the head shunt opposite the depot for a few days now.

For a look at the depot in the 80s see my older gallery - Gloucester May/June 1985.

I decided to change some of my Severn Valley Railway pics to greyscale, to try and capture the steam atmosphere better.

These photos were taken at the Autumn Gala in September 2005.

Photos taken during a trip to Toronto for a couple of weeks in late January 2006, with a side trip to Niagara Falls thrown in.

Some photos taken at Rugby, Crewe, Bescot and Didcot around the year 2000.

Rugby was about to lose its distinctive overall roof in favour of a much smaller modern roof. The 86s and 87s still operated the West Coast services, with some still in InterCity livery.

47s were still in charge of cross country services, but were soon to be ousted in favour of Voyagers.

A few photos taken in 1987, most of these sights had disappeared within a year or two, including Severn Tunnel Junction, which closed soon after; Tiverton Junction had already closed, being replaced by nearby Tiverton Parkway - and 50014 'Warspite' seen passing through became the 3rd 50 to be withdrawn a few months later.

Loco hauled Summer Saturday specials were a common site, but the class 45s would soon be gone.

The operating days of 31245 and 31261 were already over.

At least the push-pull 47/7s stayed in Scotland for a couple more years.

Perhaps most unlikely at the time would be the thought that last built 56135, which was only a couple of years old then, would be long withdrawn and cut-up by 2005.

Photos taken around BR, mainly in 1986. Depots visited on a 4 day school Railway Society trip included Thornaby, Eastfield and Haymarket and a few shots come from that trip. Others show the variety that existed 20 years ago, including a brand new 58, and one or two of the few surviving 25s still in traffic

Just a few shots of the Woodhead, Mid East UK and Thames Mersey Routes. Thanks to the creators of the routes and the uktrainsim website.

Photos that don't fit elsewhere, starting with a couple of shots taken in Jasper, Alberta during March 1997. Added on 17th December 2005 are some photos taken at Gloucester station today of 20905 and 20096 preparing to move 43158 and 43121 on the next leg of their journey from MoD Bicester to Long Marston.

Added on 22/12/05 - 3 Cotswold Rail 47s stabled at Gloucester, high ISO handheld shots.

A few photos taken on 2nd December at Manchester Airport, mainly from the excellent public viewing point that also contains the Concorde Exhibition.

Some shots taken at or near Barnetby during Autumn 1998 when Loadhaul liveried 56s were still the dominant traction. A dull day didn't help the quality of the pictures. One ringer - the picture of 37420 was taken at Crewe at around the same time.

Some photos from the second day of the Severn Valley Railway's Autumn Steam Gala.

Just a few shots taken with a Digital IXUS 500 at Dawlish and Gloucester, where Cotswold Rail's ONE liveried 47818 was stabled on 7th August 2005.

Most of these pictures were taken on 2 August 1994 at Doncaster, the same date as the three shots at Knottingley. The stored blue 08s were seen near Newport sometime during 1994.

A few shots showing the variety seen at Gloucester during the mid-1980s. 50s were daily visitors on the Paddington-Cheltenham and Glasgow-Swansea services, the latter known as 'The Principality'. A few 27s passed through to and from Swindon works, 20s were seen on freight and 25s still worked through on parcels trains, as well as freight.

A few shots taken around Crewe station on 30th May 1985; shortly afterwards the station was closed for several weeks whilst 'remodelling' took place, including major changes to the track layout.

The 97/4s (Class 40s) in some of these shots were reinstated for working engineering trains during the remodelling.

Photos taken in the early 1980s, including Gloucester, Severn Tunnel Junction and Dawlish Warren.

Credit for most of them goes to my father, not me.

Locomotives and units around the UK in the early 1990s. Details may be sketchy, and picture quality not the greatest, but hopefully an interesting look back to the last days of British Rail.