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I had just arrrived at Leamington Spa station on Friday 3 February 2012 when the signal for the up main line was cleared to green. Within a few minutes 70001 appeared coming around the curve from the Coventry
branch with 4O27, the 05.40 Garston to Southampton Freightliner service, running in the region of ten minutes early. The driver opened the regulator to bring the heavy train onto the main line and the resulting
exhaust smoke is clearly evident, although the accompanying sound, sadly, isn't; these new diesel locomotives are quite noisy when under power.
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A derailment on Friday 3 February 2012 involving a class 90 electric locomotive at Bletchley, on the West Coast Main Line, had one or two interesting repercussions. The most significant of these was the running of a set of Caledonian Sleeper coaches
from Crewe to Wembley via Nuneaton, Coventry, Leamington Spa and High Wycombe. I had never before photographed such stock in the area so headed off to the nearest location where the sun would be favourable at around 13.00; Leamington Spa
station. I like an identifiable location for something really unusual rather than just an open spot which doesn't always give much of a clue to its whereabouts. The train, 5M11, was hauled by 67017 and was about six minutes early at this point
and certainly made an unusual sight with the First Group sleeper livery on the coaches. I didn't count how many there were but it seemed to go on for ages as the train accelerated
off the Coventry branch on the up main line. Bertram Wooster - Phillips, to whom I am indebted, later told me that there were sixteen coaches thus making it one of the longest rakes of passenger stock seen on this line.
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COLAS Rail have been operating loaded timber trains from Teigngrace, on the Heathfield branch near Newton Abbot, to the Chronospan factory at Chirk for the past few weeks. For various reasons I didn't make it over to the Cheltenham line for the run of the empty wagons, 6Z50, before
Thursday 2 February 2012. In the past, I've had no luck with COLAS class 66s, having missed a few shots by turning up late or not finding out about a working until the following day but felt confident that I would nail this train, hopefully in good light. It nearly went all wrong when
I missed a turning in the lanes around Wadborough and ended up having a long walk through Croome Perry wood before 'phoning a friend and getting fresh directions. I arrived at this foot crossing with no more than 10 seconds to spare and with the train accelerating away from Abbotswood Loop.
The locomotive is 66850 and someone has clearly had a go at cleaning the number on the otherwise work-stained cabside.
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After photographing 66850 near Wadborough on 2 February 2012 I moved to another foot crossing a few hundred years to the south
to take a shot of 66527 on the late running 4V06 Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford empty coal train. I hadn't been there long when the barriers protecting the road crossing
were lowered and 66527 and its train came charging south. The long train caused a surprising amount of turbulence in the still air, reminiscent of that found on stations on the London Underground, albeit
less warm and smelly!
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One of the most reliable trains on the Birmingham to Gloucester line is 6V92, the 10.18 Corby to Margam empty steel wagons. On 2 February 2012 66141 was in charge of the shorter than usual formation
which is here seen passing a foot crossing just south of Abbotswood Junction where it had beenlooped to allow a CrossCountry Voyager to pass. The sun was just about to go into a chunk of cloud but managed to hold
on just long enough and the shot also came within a couple of seconds of being obscured by a northbound Voyager.
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That part of the North Cotswold Line east of Evesham was closed on Sunday 29 January 2012 while engineering work to replace wooden sleepers with steel took place at Moreton-in-Marsh. Passengers were able to travel on a rail shuttle between Worcester and Evesham with coaches
provided for other journeys. A COLAS Rail operated train ran from Bescot to the start of the possession just east of Evesham station and this, 6W01, ran with 47727 + 47749 topping and tailing five autoballasters. Somewhat surprisingly for a ballast train it ran exactly to time throughout
and is here seen coming to a halt at Evesham before gaining permission to enter the possession. The weather was dreadful with quite thick fog being present for most of the journey from Stratford-upon-Avon so the only option was for a station shot
where 1) there was some background for the picture and 2) where the train would be going nice and slowly.
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As soon as 47727 with 6W01 had come to halt in Evesham station I walked round to the road overbridge at the east end to take a second picture as the train pulled away. The fog wasn't quite so thick in the station area as it had been further out in the countryside
so at least some identifiable background helps with the composition. Just visible in the backgound beyond the roadbridge is a red signal which allows up trains in platform 1 to turn back towards Worcester. This new signal is invisible to drivers and it has been necessary
to provide an "Off" light on the platform for the train man so that he can give the right-away to the driver. I wonder why the signal wasn't placed on the tsation side of the bridge so that it could be clearly seen? No doubt some Network Rail dogma...
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Occasional test trains run to Stratford-upon-Avon and this one, 2Q08 from Tyseley to Derby, should have run a couple of weeks ago. At that time 950001, the Network Rail sprinter, wasn't operational due to an equipment failure and DRS 37s opertaing in top-and-tail mode were used on the previous day of the diagram. For reasons outwith my knowledge the
train didn't run on the day it should have come to Stratford and so ran on 26 January 2011. The yellow sprinter was back in service by then and is here seen arriving at platform 2 of the terminus of the second of its two visits. It didn't stay long and before I had packed away my camera 172218 with another of the same type was arriving from Stourbridge Junction
ready to form the 14.27 departure back to the West Midlands.
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Monday 16 January 2012 was the third clear and sunny day in a row. I knew that 66419 was due to take 4V11, the 10.49 Washwood Heath to Fairwater Yard train of sleepers, through Hatton and as this was a working that I had yet to photograph went over for a short session. In the event I didn't see 4V11 as was
some three hours late after loading issues, but did see this pair of 66s, 66504 + 66589, on 4O54 from Leeds to Southampton, as they rounded the curve from Hatton North Junction to the station.
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Now that Chiltern Railways operate some locomotive hauled trains from Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone, there is usually something other than a class 66 to photograph at Hatton on a sunny weekday. The 10.55 from Moor Street with 67013 on the point is here seen about to pass Hatton station on 16 January 2012 in a small patch of
line just about clear of shadows from the lineside trees on the curve round to the Stratford-upon-Avon branch. I like trees as a rule but I do wish that the small group casting these shadows were restricting the view of signals for a Stratford-bound train!
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I quite like taking the odd picture of Chiltern Railways' units if the location and the sun are favourable. Here is 168005 about to leave the Stratford-upon-Avon branch at Hatton on 16 January 2012 forming the 11.40 departure from the terminus to either London Marylebone or Leamington Spa; I can't recall at the moment if this
is one of the services that goes all the way or just forms a local making a connection for the capital and can't be bothered to look it up at the moment. The trees to the left of the train are a bit of a nuisance in the winter as they cast shadows over the main lines. Don't they restrict sighting for branch trains and need a good trim?!
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A Freightliner working seen at Hatton only on Mondays is 4O49, the 10.13 from Birch Coppice to Southampton. On Monday 16 January 2012 this was powered by 66570 as it comes round from Hatton North Junction just about spot on time. The shadows here at this time of year are a bit of a pain
but now that the shortest day is behind us the situation can only improve in the following weeks.
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One of the regular test trains from Derby to Eastleigh ran on 16 January 2012. On this occasion it ran as 3Z15, indicating that it was just a transit move and also as usual the locomotive, 31465, was marshalled on the back of the formation with
a DBSO providing the driver's accomodation. I wasn't going to wait at Hatton for this but it passed Tyseley some 35 earlier than scheduled so I thought that a short wait in the cold would be OK. Unfortunately, it was held to right time in Dorridge
up loop... The light was really past its best when the train appeared but as I was there I took a record shot.
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It struck me on Sunday 15 January 2012, another completely sunny day, that I hadn't yet taken a photograph in good light of a class 172 DMU at Stratford-upon-Avon station. I therefore wandered down to the station to record the arrival of
172217 just after 14.00 when I knew that the light would be in just the right place. Here then is the train about to come to a stand in platform 1; a view that will change within a couple of years when a second bridge is constructed to accomodate
a lift to facilitate the movement of disabled (and no doubt some lazy!) passengers to platforms 2 & 3. At the moment, anyone unable to used the stairs of the existing footbridge has to be escorted by station staff to the crossing seen at the end of the platforms
where the gates need to unlocked. If the station is unmanned at the time, tough... These were the equivalent views on 27 November 2011 and 28 March 1990.
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Friday 13 January 2012 wasn't especially unlucky as it turned out to be the first properly sunny day of the year. With this in mind I had a trip across to a spot near Eckington on the Birmingham to Cheltenham line with a view to photographing anything that came along. The first train to appear, just a few minutes after I had arrived, was 150102 which had recently been acquired by First Great Western after many years of working around the West Midlands
on local services from Birmingham's stations. The train here seen heading south towards Ashchurch was going to Weymouth although I very much doubt that any passengers would be so indiscriminating as to travel for such a long journey in such an unsuitable mode of transport. These DMUs are just about all right for a short run of perhaps thirty minutes or so and I'm sure that most passengers from Great Malvern or Worcester use this service for just that purpose rather
than the whole of the scheduled trip.
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The first locomotive hauled train that I saw at Eckington on 13 January 2012 was a 6Z56 12.30 Newport Alexandra Dock Junction to Bescot with 66161 in charge. The northbound view here isn't particularly inspiring at the best of times but I hadn't previously photographed anything entering the down goods loop so took a shot for the record.
Strangely, 6Z56 sat in the loop for about five minutes before heading off again without another train having passed by. I assume that the pause was simply a pathing stop to allow a clear run further north where the line is a little busier.
Just before 66161 came along a Network Rail contractor arrived on the other side of the crossing where a ballast drop took place in preparation for some forthcoming work.
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One of the regular freight services along the Birmingham to Gloucester line is 6V92, the 10.18 Corby to Margam train of empty steel coil carriers. It is generally a class 66 turn but on Friday 13 January 2012 60071 was unusually allocated and it is shown here about to pass a farm crossing near Eckington, between Abbotswood Junction and Ashchurch. I photographed the same locomotive on this train at Whitacre
Junction in September 2007 but imagine that this particular would have been too heavily shadowed for a decent shot in January.
The village can be seen in the background with the tower of All Saints Church poking out over a development of much more recently constructed properties. The down goods loop is the nearest line to the camera which until a few minutes before had been partly occupied by 66161 on a 6Z56 infrastructure train from Newport ADJ to Bescot.
I'm glad that that this train had gone before 6V92 appeared...
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The winter of 2011/2012 has seen quite a number of Freightliner Heavy Haul trains of imported coal working from the Bristol area to the power station at Rugeley. This picture taken on 13 January 2012 shows 66558 working 4V47, the 11.15 from Rugeley to Stoke Gifford yard, past the village of Eckington on the main line from Birmingham to Gloucester. The train was running in the region of twenty minutes late
at this point and was only a couple of minutes behind 60071 working the Corby to Margam empty steel train.
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This photograph represents the worst conditions in which I have ever tried to record a special working. The train was a 5Z25 Eastleigh to Kilmarnock move of FGW buffet cars and accompanying barrier vehicles hauled by COLAS Rail's 47739 + 47749 and is seen passing Old Milverton on the branch from Leamington Spa to Coventry. The weather was dreadful, with driving rain going straight into the camera lens and such poor light
that it was impossible to obtain an acceptable histogram with a test shot. I really don't know why I bothered to go out in such conditions but at least I wasn't the only desperate character on this particular occupation bridge. I went to this location because I knew that the heavy train wouldn't be moving too quickly as it had had to come around the speed-restricted curve from Leamington Spa station.
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A test train powered by Network Rail's rather grubby 97301 visited Stratford-upon-Avon during the late evening on 14 December 2011. The train, 1Q13 from Old Oak Common to Derby had run via Banbury, High Wycombe, Banbury, Leamington Spa, Tyseley, Birmingham Moor Street and Henley-in Arden before arriving at Stratford just before 22.30, a little over ten minutes late. It was booked into platform 2 rather than the usual arrival platform, No. 1, and arrived with the DBSO leading so that 97301 was on the northern end
for the return to Birmingham. This helped with the composition of the photograph as a train in platform 2 is easier to cope with because platform 1, from where the picture was taken, is longer than 2 so that there would have been a bit more room had the locomotive been on the south end. The lighting here is much brighter than it used to be: I used to reckon that an exposure of 15 seconds @f5.6 using 100 ASA film was about right. This picture, again with the caemra set on ISO 100, was taken with the shutter
open for five seconds and with the lens set at f7.1.
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A DRS operated Cruise Saver train ran from Southampton to Edinburgh on Saturday 3 December 2012. Unlike previous northbound runs which went via the East Coast Main Line it was routed via Oxford and Solihull so as it was a reasonably sunny day I went up to Hatton North Junction about ten minutes before the
due time there, 13.00. I hadn't seen any progress reports since Worting Junction, near Basingstoke and it was about six minutes after 1pm when 1Z72 came round the curve from Hatton station. The sun had been clear of clouds for quite a while and stayed out as the pair of class 47s, 47810 + 47501, passed by
but before the end of train with 37604 DIT came by, it had gone into some cloud. I had parked at Hatton station where the inadequate car park has recently been increased in size by some twenty spaces.
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A long rake of TEA tank wagons was moved from Immingham to Long Marston on 30 November 2011. The train, 6Z57, was hauled by 66115 and was due to pass Evesham at 09.39. I arrived at Honeybourne just before 09.30 and within a couple of minutes it came into view as
it left the main up line at Honeybourne West Junction and headed along the new trackwork forming the start of the Long Marston branch. Just before leaving home I had a feeling that shadows cast by the new station footbridge might cause a problem so picked up
a long lens just in case. This was lucky as the nearest spot clear of shadow was by the new branch signal protecting the main line.
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As soon as 66155 had passed Honeybourne station I headed off to Long Marston for an arrival shot. The new arrangements involving the branch token have speeded up proceedings and I arrived with no more than ten seconds to spare. It's not a great winter location
for a shot of anything arriving but as the roadbridge here is on my way home from Honeybourne it seemed worth a single frame. I assume that the tanks, formerly used to carry bitumen, are going into Long Marston for storage.
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Class 150 DMUs in the West Midlands have been largely replaced with new class 172 units but a few sets have been retained. While returning from an early morning walk on Sunday 27 November 2011 I saw 150001 arriving at Stratford-upon-Avon and was told that it should return on the service arriving at the terminus shortly after 14.00. The light was perfect at that time so I went down to the station for a quick shot and here is 150001 arriving in platform 1 before its reversal and return to Stourbridge
Junction. There was recently a "Class 150 Farewell" railtour which, for some reason, generated a lot of interest despite these trains being uncomfortable and more than a little grubby inside after years of having passengers' feet on the seats and various sorts of food and drink spilled on the floors. I didn't photograph that tour as 1) it spent an inordinately long time on the Severn Valley Railway and 2) wasn't scheduled to come to Stratford until after dark. The thought of several hundred enthusiasts
fighting for a clear picture didn't appeal so it was probably just as well that I was on holiday at the time...
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Long Marston has been a little quiet of late although I did miss a DRS move whilst on holiday in mid-November, so when a friend told me that 66119 was on the way there light engine from Didcot on 24 November 2011 I thought that a quick drive across to see what was to come out would be worthwhile. The scheduled arrival time for 0A17 was 11.53 but when I arrived at about 11.35, 6Z17, the 12.53 to Didcot, was already
ready for departure. It pulled onto the branch to Honeybourne almost exactly one hour early and just about managed to catch a little light as it did so. The Autumnal colours are showing quite nicely at the moment including a good crop of hawthorn berries which the local blackbirds and thrushes along with migrant fieldfares and redwings are feasting on, at least when a train isn't disturbing the peace.
I'm not sure, but this may the the rake of ferrywagons although minus a tank wagon, that was brought here by 67016 at the beginning of September.
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After leaving Long Marston and clearing the yard's pointwork, 66119 with 6Z17 had to wait for a few minutes while the branch token was collected from the groundframe and returned to the cab. It then made its way to Honeybourne where there was another short pause to allow the token to be returned to the box a couple of hundred yards before the road bridge. Once that
had been done the train moved along the new trackwork which replaced the former spur across to the then single track of the North Cotswold Line. This was the first train that I had seen making a move in this direction so was happy enough to get a reasonable photograph even though the sun wasn't really
making much effort to shine.
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The last of the class 508 units stored at Donnington RFT, 508202, was scheduled to be moved to Eastleigh on Wednesday 23 November 2011 with 66709 providing the power. The weather forecast was for good sunny spells across the Midlands and I had planned to go to Bentley Heath, near Dorridge, for my photograph. In the event the sun was notable mostly by its absence and a friend in Solihull told me that
it was cloudy there. I therefore wasted as little petrol as possible and just went for a record shot from the road bridge at Hatton station where the sun was just about poking through some lightish cloud as 5O08 came around the curve from Hatton North Junction. I am these days less and less and inclined to go out for routine movements if the sun isn't shining as the results are almost always disappointing
but this train just about counts as one worth making a little bit of effort to picture.
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A railtour utilising WCRC motive power ran from the South-West to the North of the country and back on Saturday 5 November 2011. The stock, instead of running empty, was used on the following day to give enthusiasts a chance to sample some class 37 traction from Exeter St. Davids to Preston. The interesting bit for me was that it was routed over the North Cotswold Line from Oxford to Worcester
and gave a chance for a rare shot of a locomotive-hauled train over the section of the line that has recently been redoubled. I went to a location just east of Honeybourne as I didn't think that I really wanted yet another shot at Lower Moor on the other side of Evesham, and anyway that part of the line is still single track and does see a reasonable number of locomotives running to and from Long Marston.
It was one of those afternoons when the sun was in and out and so it was a bit of a lottery as to whether a decently lit shot was on the cards. The train, 1Z27, was headed by 37676 + 37685 with 57001 dead in tow at the rear of the consist and was running about seven minutes early from Moreton-in-Marsh. This meant that the jackpot prize of a full sun shot eluded me, although maybe the photograph here just about represents five plus the bonus ball!
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The afternoon of Sunday 30 October 2011 saw an unusual train at Hatton North Junction when a First Great Western HST set led by power car 43163 worked as 5E43 the 12.30 Old Oak Common to Ferme Park transfer, the set being hired by East Coast to fill a gap. Although the two depots are probably fewer than five miles apart as the crow flies HSTs are not permitted to work over certain London lines resulting in this move involving perhaps a couple of hundred
of miles of travel. I had not previously seen a FGW train on this line, other than a pair of back-to-back power cars a few years ago so thought the trip worthwhile. The sun was behind thick cloud until 43163 passed Hatton North's favourite landmark, the rusty white shed, when it popped out. This meant a frantic effort on my part involving changing the zoom setting, focus and exposure in order to avoid having the leading power car and coach in shade whilst
the rest of the set would have been in the sun. The shadow just in front of the train comes from a large nearby oak tree and the edge of the cloud was just in front of that. This explains to some degree the slight lack of sharpness evident in the picture. Running a few minutes ahead of 5E43 was the daily RHTT, formed on this occasion of DR98909. This is the first RHTT I have seen this year, as the other local lines
are covered in the middle of the night.
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A 1Z30 09.57 private charter from Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone was planned for Saturday 29 September 2011. I had no idea what traction was scheduled for the train but with no water stops showing in the timings I assumed that a diesel, possibly 47773, would be in charge. Curiosity led me to Hatton and on arrival the presence of several other photographers
made me suspect that steam might be involved and sure enough I soon learned that 5043 Earl of Mount Edgecumbe was on its way south. The lack of a water stop was explained by the fact that the first coach was a GUV with a water tank built in giving extra water capacity for the run to London. The roadbridge at Hatton station isn't the ideal spot for steam as it is quite likely that
the train will be coasting down Hatton Bank and this was the case with just a wisp of steam coming from the safety valve bonnet to show that the locomotive was "live". To aid with shunting and turning ready for the return, class 47 47773 was on the back of the train. Running just in front of 1Z39 and on exactly the same route was the modern equivalent, on this occasion
168216.
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At the time of writing, 25 October 2011, the best bet for a photograph of a class 70 running north on the Leamington Spa to Birmingham line is on the occasions that one is diagrammed for 4M28, the 09.32 to Southampton to Ditton Freightliner. The weather was much better than had been forecast for early afternoon
so I went across to the south end of Hatton cutting in the hope of getting a decently lit record shot as 70007 climbed the bank. I had seen no reports of the train's progress but heard it coming something like ten minutes early on the booked time. Class 70s are quite noisy
but the sound seemed to be taking quite a long time to reach me and it wasn't hard to deduce that 4M28 had been routed into the Down Goods Loop to allow a Chiltern Railways class 168 to pass it. The sun was just coming out of some cloud as the train went by on just about the only piece that a picture of something in the loop is possible.
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This picture shows 150019 arriving at Stratford-upon-Avon from Stourbridge Junction at 17.20 on Saturday 22 October 2011 whilst an unidentified (which means I couldn't be bothered to have a look at the number!) class 168 waiting to leave in twenty minutes or so for London Marylebone. I thought that it
was worth recording this everyday scene because the class 150 DMUs won't be working around for much longer as new class 172s gradually come on stream giving North Warwickshire Line passengers some much needed relief from the grubby and uncomfortable older units. Incidentally, I suppose that some will be dubbing the
150s "Heritage Units" before much longer in the way that everything more than 10 years old on the railway seems to be called that these days.
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The 11.56 Eastleigh Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty ballast wagons has been hauled by 66623 for at least the last seven days. On the afternoon of Friday 21 October 2011 the weather was dreadful with leaden skies being the order of the day
but with 60099 in charge of the Theale to Lindsey empty tanks I went across to Hatton North for a record shot. I wouldn't normally have seen 6M40 as 1) I didn't arrive until 15.35 and 2) don't usually bother with day-to -day traffic in such poor light, but it was running close to an hour late
and passed me at just after 16.00 at very slow speed having been looped to allow a couple of passenger trains precede it.
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On Friday 21 October 2011, 60099 worked the loaded tanks from Lindsey Oil Refinery to Theale and the 6E55 return. I noticed a few days ago that I hadn't set eyes on a class 60 since April and as 60099 is in a one-off colour scheme went across to Hatton North Junction for a record shot. The light was awful
but 60s don't often work this train and this will probably be the last chance for a picture of one on this line before the clocks change at the end of October and it's too dark by mid-afternoon. There is also, of course, a strong possibility
that the locomotive will follow many of its stablemates and destroy itself before another opportunity for a photograph comes along. The scheduled time for 6E55 at Hatton is about 16.15
and it was just before this that I heard it coming slowly around the bend, following a couple of sections behind 66623, the first time that I have seen two
freights follow one another along here for quite some time. The weather just seven days ago was quite different with clear skies and warm temperatures making for a very pleasant session here, when 66095 was on the same train.
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Ever since the latest resignalling work on the GWR Leamington Spa to Birmingham line it has been possible for down freights using Hatton Goods Loop to be routed through the Stratford-upon-Avon branch platform at Hatton station before rejoining the down main line
via a spur just beyond the adjacent roadbridge. Not all looped trains do this and I have seen only one other take this route, at least when I have had a camera handy. On Wednesday 19 October 2011, a late running 4M55 Southampton to Lawley
Street headed by 66541 was "put inside" to allow 168109 to pass.
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A third train of redundant class 508 units was scheduled to be dragged from Donnington RFT, on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line, to Eastleigh on 19 October 2011. It transpired that there was some problem or other with the two barrier/translator vehicles which meant that they had to be returned
to Eastleigh for rectification work before the 508s could be moved. I had originally planned, depending on the weather, to go either somewhere around Solihull or south of Banbury for a photograph but didn't feel inclined to waste time or petrol on such a short train. I did though want to try for a sunny
photograph of 66705 as my only previous shot of it was taken in dull conditions. One can never be sure how long one-off liveries may last in these days of corporate identity so I felt that it was worth a go. It was sunny when I left home but on arriving at Hatton station roadbridge, the ideal spot for a small train, found some thick cloud over most of the sky. Luckily, some of this blew away just before 5O08 appeared and a reasonable picture
ensued. In fact, I was a bit lucky as when 66705 rounded the curve I was on the other side of the road taking an image of 66541 in the branch platform. I was fortunate
that a friend was also on the bridge and he called me across with a split second to spare.
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The afternoon of Friday 14 October 2011 turned out to be unexpectedly bright and sunny but I had no intention of going out until I saw a message saying that partly blue 66623 was working 6M40, the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empties.
I had previously taken only one photograph of this locomotive and that was from the middle of June 2010 when the sun was much too high for a decent image. As the sun is more favourable in October I had a quick trip to Hatton North Junction and was happy enough when 66623
came along just about at the right time. It seems to me that the paint job on this locomotive is a bit of a cheapskate effort; couldn't Freightliner afford enough paint to do the roof?
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There are just two northbound freights to be seen at Hatton on a Friday afternoon, the first being 6M40 at around 15.15 and the other, about an hour later, 6E55, the Theale to Lindsey Oil Refinery empty oil tanks.
The second of these was in the hands of 66095 on 14 October 2011 and was running slightly early having been pathed before the Chiltern Railways unit that forms an all-station stopper between Leamington Spa and Birmingham Snow Hill. It felt quite strange
to be standing around in light trousers and shirtsleeves in the middle of October; long may it last...
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A new flow of biomass for combustion in Drax Power Station started on 11 October 2011 when GBRf ran its first train from Avonmouth in Bristol. This train should have run on the previous day but problems with loading the covered IIA hoppers
meant that a twenty four hour delay was encountered. I found out that 6E32 was running on 11 October at just about the last minute and went over to Defford in Worcestershire which is probably the nearest half-decent northbound shot for me on the Gloucester to Birmingham line.
After a wait of about ten minutes a friend 'phoned to say that 66731 + 66726 had just passed Ashchurch and were therefore due with me in about a further seven or eight minutes. The sun was in and out of the edge of a large black cloud
and when the train came gave me just about the worst possible lighting conditions with sun shining on Bredon Hill in the background and the subject of my photograph in shade. Still, it's always worth getting a shot of an early run of anything
as one never knows for how long these things will run, and in any case it will be too dark before many weeks are out at just after 15.30. I understand that double-headed locomotives are necessary as 6E32 is routed via the Lickey incline
and GBRf do not have any facilities at Bromsgrove for a banking locomotive.
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The second Edinburgh to Southampton Cruise Saver train of the past week or so ran on Thursday 6 October 2011. Once again a pair of DRS class 47s, this time 47818 + 47802, were rostered and 1Z62 ran in the same path as on previous occasions. The weather was better than forecast
and I decided upon a picture at Hatton North Junction, one that really needed clear sun to bring off successfully. There were roughly equal amounts of clear sky and rapidly moving cloud when I arrived about ten minutes before the train was due and as the leading locomotive appeared
under the Shrewley Road bridge the sun was in a clear patch of sky. Unfortunately, 1Z62 was running under adverse signals, presumably because a train from the Stratford-upon-Avon branch was given priority, and the strong wind blew the leading edge of a cloud across the sun at
just the wrong moment.
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This picture just about sums up how things can go wrong when I photograph a charter. First, while waiting on Tile Hill station for 1Z33, a Manchester to Kensington Olympia Northern Belle, a Tile Hill station-sized and shaped cloud seemingly formed mostly of aircraft contrails did its best
to cover the sun after four days of unbroken perfect light, and second, the hoped-for Northern Belle liveried 47790 (and no, I still don't like going-away shots!) was on the back of the formation with 47802 leading. By some coincidence, I photographed
the same locomotive a little way from here, from a lineside field, just about four years ago on 29 September 2007 when it was working a Stobart Pullman The best
thing that I can say is that it's a very pleasant drive between Stratford-upon-Avon and Tile Hill on a quiet Saturday morning. I think that I would have been better employed
at home taking a few more pictures of spiders and their webs in my front garden.
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The glorious weather that has been enjoyed at the end of September 2011 continued on Friday 30th. Once again I had a couple of hours at Hatton in the afternoon with the intention of photographing the two regular northbound
freight trains that appear there. First along was 66615 with 6M40, the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empties; the same locomotive as had worked the train for the past few days. This isn't the greatest location because
of the restricted view but I had spent the previous ninety minutes driving and walking around a bit further south trying to find a different spot but unchecked growth had made the search completely fruitless. Nonetheless, the light here in the
mid afternoon in late September is as good as it gets anywhere so I was more than happy to spend a little time perched on a Corona drinks crate and leaning on the fence between the footpath and the railway.
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Most of the passenger trains on the GWR route from Leamington Spa to Birmingham are formed of Chiltern Railways' class 168 units but examples of class 165 do turn up, especially on the shuttles between Leamington and
Stratford-upon-Avon. This unit, 165016, is heading for Stratford on 30 September 2011 and will have just received some adverse signals telling the driver that he is be turned off the down main line and into the branch platform at Hatton station.
Arriva CrossCountry trains also use this route and here is 221132 on its way to Manchester. I was expecting a four coach unit, hence the back of the train being partly hidden in the adjacent
undergrowth.
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My final shot from Hatton cutting on 30 September 2011 is of 66130 hauling 6E55, the 13.35 empty oil tanks from Theale to Lindsey. This train had been checked as it approached my position and was travelling so slowly that I thought
it was going to put inside and have to run along the loop. Fortunately, it stayed on the down main and is here seen beginning to accelerate as the driver sighted a clear signal on the gantry a little way to the north. Some exhaust smoke
is just visible in the clear blue sky as the locomotive was opened up for the final stretch of the 1/110 of Hatton Bank.
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Wednesday 28 September 2011 was another perfect late September day so with a couple of hours to spare during the afternoon I had a trip to Hatton North Junction with the intention of taking a few photographs of whatever came along. With trains likely from both directions I stayed on the
footbridge and just a few minutes after I arrived 1R34, the 13.37 London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, came around the curve from Hatton station. I know that it's unfashionable to take pictures of a DVT leading the train but 1) I don't much like going-away shots and 2) I rest comfortably in the knowledge that there are far fewer
shots of DVTs than class 67s. DVT 82303 is leading the rebranded Chiltern coaches with 67012 providing the power from the rear of the formation.
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The 10.18 Trafford Park to Southampton Freightliner service, 4O09, is routed to run via Solihull and Hatton rather than Nuneaton, Coventry and Leamington Spa. On Wednesday 28 September 2011 66563 was in charge of the train
and was spot on time when it approached Hatton North Junction. The shadows here can be a bit of a problem once the summer has passed but with the right lens a reasonable shot can be obtained. I actually quite like the interplay
of light and shade in the cutting between the footbridge at Hatton North and the roadbridge at Shrewley, the scene being enhanced by the variety of colours in the background trees and bushes.
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One of the regular afternoon freights on the GWR line from Leamington Spa to Birmingham is 6M40, the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empty ballast wagons. This is usually allocated to a Freightliner class 66/6 and on September
28 2011 66615 was on the pointed end as the train came slowly up the last few yards of Hatton Bank, having been checked by adverse signals as it was following a Chiltern Railways service booked to call at Hatton station.
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One of the few trains on the Hatton line to convey something other than shipping containers is 6E55, the 13.35 Theale to Lindsey Oil Refinery empty tanks. I like to take a picture of this from time to time and as the afternoon
of 28 September 2011 was perfectly lit it seemed to be the right time for a shot, particularly as the trees around Hatton North Junction have begun to change colour as Autumn approaches. On this occasion 66169 was hauling the rake of around twenty two
bogie tanks.
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The weather forecast for the last week of September 2011 promised a real Indian summer and on Tuesday 27th was spot on. It seemed silly not to go out for a few photographs so I went to a footbridge near Shrewley in Warwickshire, arriving just in time to have a shot of 67015 with 1H32, the 10.55 Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone train. The autumnal colours were just beginning to show
and although the sun here is perhaps a tad too straight at around 11.15 the picture seemed to be fine. The light had quite a golden quality which was, I think, down to a very thin layer of wispy cloud very high in the atmosphere and the resulting slight diffusion of the sunlight.
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There isn't much of a shot for down trains from the bridge at Shrewley but when the sun is shining I'm happy enough to take pictures of whatever comes along. This shot is of 66558 with 4M55, the 08.55 Southampton to Lawley Street Freightliner, taken on 27 September 2011 and shortly after the summit of Hatton Bank had been reached. The train was fully loaded on this
occasion and the weight had taken its toll on the speed that 66558 was able to achieve; it was probably doing no more than 30mph at this point. This photograph was taken only a few seconds after
168111 had sped south with one of the regular Birmingham to London Marylebone Chiltern Trains services.
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Another of the Cruise Saver trains to Southampton operated by DRS ran on 27 September 2011, this time running from Edinburgh via York, Derby, Birmingham and Solihull. I much prefer this routing of the train to the alternative version which starts from Glasgow and runs up the WCML to Nuneaton and then through Coventry to Leamington Spa; a less attractive and convenient route, at least for me!
The locomotives allocated to 1Z61 were 47841 + 47802 and here they are with their decent length train about to commence the descent of Hatton Bank, passing under the footbridge near the village of Shrewley. The light here is spot on at around 12.15 and at this time of year no shadows from lineside trees intrude onto the track. The vegetation here has just started to change colour
after a dry end to the summer and that, along with some slightly unusual coloured sunlight caused by very thin and high cloud, has given some interesting tints to the Warwickshire countryside.
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London Midland's new class 172 DMUs have been running from Stourbridge Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon for a couple of weeks so I thought it high time that I went out and took a shot or two when a sunny afternoon came along. The sky was reasonably clear at 14.45 on Friday 23 September 2011 so I drove over to Henley-in-Arden to photograph the 13.55 from Stourbridge. Just before the train was due a cloud blew across the sun
and hung around as 172337 drew to a stop in the platform. Fortunately, it largely cleared just as the train moved away towards Stratford and although this shot isn't quite what I had planned the light was perfectly acceptable.
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The first steam charter over the newly redoubled North Cotswold Line, after a ban on the previously single line lasting several years, ran on Saturday 17 September 2011. The train, 1Z79, started from Tyseley and ran via Birmingham Snow Hill, Galton Junction, Kidderminster, Worcester Shrub Hill and Norton Junction where it joined the North Cotswold Line. I very rarely photograph steam (or any other) charters but thought that a shot of a GWR Castle on this line would be worthwhile
to increase my portfolio of shots in this area so headed off to the west of Evesham, where the train picked up passengers, knowing that the locomotive would be working hard to climb the ruling gradient of around 1/200 to Honeybourne before tackling the much steeper climb up Campden Bank. I had first thought of taking my photograph from the bridge over the cutting near Aldington but saw from the Evesham bypass that there were already several people waiting there and
it also entered my head that it might be a bit gloomy in the cutting on such a dull and damp morning. The next choice was the bridge on the Offenham road where I was a little surprised to be alone, although after thinking about it, I suppose that the majority of photographers would probably have flocked to Moreton-in-Marsh where some lower quadrant semaphores are still extant. I heard 5043 Earl of Mount Edgecumbe open up shortly after leaving Evesham station and although not a great steam enthusiast
must admit that she sounded magnificent as she passed by with plenty of steam to spare.
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A couple of messages appeared on my BlackBerry during the afternoon of Friday 16 September 2011 suggesting that there was a COLAS Rail operated train of side emptying ballast wagons running from Bescot to Hinksey Yard at Oxford. This is unusual, to say the least, so when details of the working came to light I had a quick trip over to Hatton for a photograph. The train, 6Z47, was hauled by 47749 and whilst scheduled to leave Bescot at 15.00 actually left there about forty minutes late thus giving a
passing time at Hatton, I reckoned, of about 17.15. I arrived just before 17.00 and after a short period of very poor light was happy when the sun began to appear just after the Chiltern Railways stopping service had passed. The backlighting wasn't as severe as I had thought it might be and given the time of day wasn't
unhappy with the resulting picture. Just a couple of minutes later, 66572 followed 6Z47 south with 4O55, the 12.15 Leeds to Southampton freightliner.
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The first test train to run over the redoubled North Cotswold Line was scheduled for Monday 12 September 2011 and was booked for class 31 power along with a couple of coaches and a DBSO. It's seems quite often that the DBSO leads southbound trains of this sort from Derby but today rail blue 31106 was in charge and was on the front as 3Z13 headed from Worcester towards Oxford where it was to reverse, retrace its steps and then go south from Worcester yard to Bristol.
This suited me quite well as the light at Honeybourne, if the sun co-operated, would be in the perfect place (unless you happen to be an unfulfilled and obsessive pseudo-artist, of course...). The train was reported some thirteen minutes late at Norton Junction but this tardiness increased to the point that it seemed possible that it had gone off-route at Norton and worked straight to Bristol. Just as I was giving up hope, the yellow front end of 31106 came into sight and ran slowly into
the new platform 2 where it was booked to stop for one minute. Unseen but not unheard was a down HST, 1W02, heading for Worcester which was right under my feet as I pressed the shutter. As can clearly be seen, the sun didn't make it to the station quite in time, being just visible in the background; but this bad fortune was soon to be reversed.
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The booked stop at Honeybourne of 31106 with 3Z13 to Bristol via Worcester, Oxford and Worcester took a bit longer than the one minute allowed in the schedule. The driver, after stretching his legs on the platform, returned to his locomotive and seemed to wait for the down HST to leave before
moving off towards Moreton-in-Marsh and Oxford. If this was deliberate then I am grateful; thank you, especially as the very strong winds had blown some clouds away in the last few moments! Some photographers would no doubt winge about a photograph like this because another train is in the shot but I really like the HST being there as it shows that the North Cotswold Line
is a revitalised route with the potential for improved time keeping and greater capacity. I think that this may be first locomotive-hauled train over the new up line, other than engineering trains which ran before the line was fully open, and it is certainly the first rail blue class 31
to have used the track. A lot of work in and around the station is still going on with the bulk of it concentrated on the new and very substantial footbridge, the source of quite a variety of new photographic opportunities.
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Another train of wagons for storage at Long Marston ran from Didcot on Wednesday 7 September 2011. This one wasn't quite as impressive as that which run the previous week when 67016 took in a very long train and neither was the weather quite
so favourable. The train, 6Z36 again, was just two tank wagons hauled by 66108 and was sufficiently mundane to ensure that no-one else was at Honeybourne which meant that I was able to take
this shot from the road bridge overlooking the station without a number of other photographers being in the picture. When I arrived, the points just beyond the red signal were set for the small yard in the background but within a few minutes they were switched back to allow a train to run along the Long Marston branch; a bit of a clue that
6Z36 wasn't far away. Once through the station, trains on the branch have to stop at a board, from where the driver must contact the Evesham signaller who will then release the single line token necessary to proceed and also to unlock the ground frame inside the Long Marston site.
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After leaving Honeybourne and picking up the branch token, 66108 headed along the branch to its destination at Long Marston. I was on my home and stopped at the road bridge just outside Long Marston village to see if any traffic was in the yard for
66108 to take out. There was nothing in sight but 6Z36 was just appraoching the site so I took a single photograph as the train came up to the footpath across the line. I later heard that there was indded no return load and that 66108 went out light engine
and ended up in Hinksey Yard although I don't know by route it reached Oxford. I can't see any reason why it shouldn't have run straight up the North Cotswold Line now that there is double track for most of the way and going via this route would have saved a lot of time.
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Honeybourne station has recently seen the most radical changes to its track layout since the North Cotswold Line was singled. A new up platform has been constructed along with, obviously, a newly relaid up line. I have been waiting for a decently sunny day to photograph a train using the new facilites since the platform opened on 22 August 2011
and an opportunity presented itself on Friday 2 September. Here is FGW's 166210 standing in platform 2 with a train bound for London Paddington while a single passenger makes his way to the new and very substantially built footbridge which has been designed both with steps and ramps to allow access by able bodied and disabled or infirm passengers.
This picture isn't quite as sharp as I should have liked as, much to my embarrassment, there was a large set of greasy fingerprints on the lens filter which I must have touched at some point over the past few days. A gentle rub with a lens tissue sorted that out...
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The arrangements at Honeybourne for traffic heading to Long Marston were dramatically changed during the work to double the North Cotswold Line. A new Honeybourne West Junction has been constructed along with a new line running around the back of the reinstated island platform. The first train other than ballast workings to use the line was a 6Z36 from Didcot to Long Marston
which ran on Friday 2 September 2011. Adding to the novelty was the fact that 67016 was the locomotive allocated to the train, the first of its type to set wheels on the Long Marston branch. There was no way that I was going to miss this double first and decided not to bother with the day's other working of interest, a pair or DRS 37s on the Cruise Saver passenger train from Glasgow to Southampton which
was running on the Leamington Spa line. The Didcot to Long Marston train set out close to two hours late due to a problem with 67016 but all was well in the end and it arrived at Honeybourne at about 12.10 and is here seen working quite hard onto the branch with its very long train of a single tank wagon and ferrywagons which had run from Dollands Moor to Wembley and then Didcot earlier in the week. A lot of work
was still in progress in the station area which accounts for the rather messy background. The line and partly completed platform in the foreground may one day form the terminus for trains arriving on the preserved line from Cheltenham and Toddington
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Once 67016 with 6Z36 had joined the Long Marston branch the small gallery headed for the other end of the line and were in plenty of time to witness the train arriving. The light at 12.30 is dreadful for a shot of a train arriving here and if 67016 hadn't been the first of its class
to run over the line I wouldn't have bothered with a photograph. The view towards the yard is better although the sun is really a little too straight at this time of day but once again the novelty value made a picture wothwhile as the train waited for a few minutes at the gate for the ground crew to arrive and let them in. Once in the yard
6Z36 more than filled the straight section of the line and 67016 disappeared around the curve in the background. The shunter was attached to the back of the consist and pulled the whole lot forward so that the main line locomotive was able to be uncoupled before the wagons were pushed back in order for the points to be clear for the 67 to rejoin the branch to Honeybourne.
There was no return traffic and within a short time 67016, now running as 0A36, was on its way back to Didcot.
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The regular Mountsorrel to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry train of loaded ballast ran on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 30th and 31st of August 2011, following the August Bank Holiday; on both occasions being hauled by black liveried 66709. The weather on the other time, a few months ago, that this locomotive had worked 6O96 was dreadful and although it wasn't too good on 31 August there did appear to be a small chance of some sun. I was already having a drive around the
Warwickshire lanes in my Morris Minor and timed things so as to be near Hatton just before 13.00. If the sun had more likely to appear I would have gone to a location further north but with a fairly solid cloudbase I didn't bother to go too far. The southbound CrossCountry Voyager due here just before 13.00 was running late and this had a knock-on effect both to the following Chiltern Trains service and to 6O96 which was doubtless looped at Small Heath until a clear path was available making
it some fifteen minutes late. I now have photographs of most GBRf colour schemes on this train, but should quite like 66705 with its Union flag to make an appearance...
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The first run of a class 172 DMU to Stratford-upon-Avon with passengers on board took place on Tuesday 30 August 2011 when London Midland gave its staff, friends and families the chance for a run from Birmingham Snow Hill before the new trains enter service from 5 September. Here is 172345 arriving at the terminus's platform 1 spot on time at 10.30
with the first run of the day which didn't seem to have generated a lot of enthusiasm amongst those eligible to travel; I doubt that there were more than a dozen or so passengers on board although there was a second run at lunchtime with a much longer layover at Stratford which may have been more interesting to potential passengers
. The view from this footbridge has changed a little in the last twenty-odd years; here is a picture
of a class 114 unit taken in 1990.
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The first passenger carrying class 172 to visit Stratford-upon-Avon had a break of around twenty minutes before returning to Birmingham Snow Hill. This gave the passengers the chance to visit the coffee shop and other facilities on the platform and for the crew to record the event. The driver of 172345 poses for a photograph beside his cab before returning north
on 30 August 2011. There have been almost daily mileage accumulation runs of these units to Stratford for some time now and it is is good to be able to take a few photographs while they still are clean and shiny. My final picture of 172345 was taken as it left the station, passing the new London Midland station sign and running-in board.
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As I mentioned above, there have been many mileage accumulation runs of class 172 DMUs to Stratford-upon-Avon. Just after the first passenger carrying train had left the station two twin coach sets, 172211 + 172213, ran in
on a such a duty. All the other units of the type that I have seen have been three coach sets and having differing capacities will enhance the flexibility of the type in commuter and outer suburban use as they can be couple into
various formations. This train stayed in platform 1 for about fifteen minutes and is seen again just prior to departure along the North Warwickshire Line to Tyseley.
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There was another opportunity to photograph 66720 on the GWR Birmingham to Leamington Spa line on 24 August 2011. This time the locomotive worked a 6Z96 wagon move from Bletchley to Eastleigh, running via Rugby, Nuneaton, Water Orton and Landor Street. I originally intended to go somewhere around Dorridge but while driving up the A3400 it looked as if cloud was rapidly building up towards the
Birmingham direction so I diverted to the south end of Hatton cutting. This was a bad move as when 6Z96 came, running about 20 minutes late, the sun hadn't quite escaped from some cloud and could really have done within being about ten seconds later. I have found that one has to quite careful with the post processing of images of GBRf class 66s as the yellow front end can all too easily disappear
into the darker shade of cab if any additional colour saturation is added once the RAW (NEF) file has been processed. I generally never use any extra saturation at all unless an image has been taken under extremely dull conditions when a tiny amount may be beneficial.
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One of GBRf's class 66s, 66720, was fairly recently painted into a graffiti-style livery designed by a six year old girl and looks, in my opinion, rather better than some of the professionally designed schemes to be seen on passenger units on the network. I do like to have a photograph of these one-off colour schemes and so was hoping that the locomotive would turn up on one of the GBRf turns in my area before either it was repainted or suffered a mishap. The first chance came on Monday 23 August 2011 when it worked 6O96, the 10.25 Mountsorrel to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry train. I was unable to get out then
but hoped that it would follow the usual pattern and do the same trip on the following day. It did, and even though the weather forecast for the late morning and lunchtime was poor I decided to go out. The weather was actually nothing like as bad as forecast and 6O96 had an evens chance of being in the sun. It was around fifteen minutes late and managed to avoid a couple of clear patches of sky above Hatton but I was happy enough to get a decent record shop - much better than not having one at all. I hope now that
it will make another appearance on a sunny day. For the record, this is how 66720 looked on 26 November 2010 when it passed Evesham signalbox; a scene also radically changed over the past weeks following the removal of the semaphore signals and some sidings.
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The second train taking class 508 EMUs from Donnington to Eastleigh ran on Friday 19 August 2011. The weather, in complete contrast to the first run, was just the job with a good clear patch exposing the sun at the right time as 66723 with 5O08 formed of 508210 + 508201 with barrier/translator vans came south out of Hatton cutting.
I thought that this location would be about right for an eight coach train and it did fit in the gap, but only just... The first run was marked not only by poor weather but also late running, about two days, caused by sticking brakes on one of the units. There were no problems this time and 5O08 was a couple of minutes early at this point. The vandals have been at 508201 at some point since its withdrawal from service but whether this was at Donnington or a previous storage site I don't know.
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A GBRf class 66 paid a visit to the North Cotswold Line possession on Thursday 11 August, 2011. It was due to arrive at Moreton-in-Marsh, the southern end of the possession, at around 16.20 in the afternoon although I had no knowledge of any times further down the line. In the hope that it would continue to run towards Evesham I went to Honeybourne where, after about ten minutes I heard a class 66
horn coming from the wrong direction. This turned out to be 66005 with the same train that I had seen at Evesham the previous day and it came slowly around the curve beyond the platforms and stopped before a digger starting loading spent ballast into the wagons towards the rear. This put paid to any chance of seeing 66713! Still, as I was there it would have been rude not to have taken a few shots
showing the enormous amount of work that was being carried out. This picture shows the new through road on the right that forms the new end of the Long Marston branch and the hyperlink another
new line leading to a three road exchange/run-round siding. along with the supports for the new approach ramps and footbridge spanning the east end of the station. For completeness, this is the view from the other side of the road bridge showing that the old spur from the Long Marston branch and the token hut
have been removed.
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Network Rail test trains seem to have been all around my area in recent times and one was scheduled to visit Stratford-upon-Avon twice during the evening of 10 August 2011. The first visit, running from Tyseley to Birmingham Moor Street and via the North Warwickshire Line to Stratford, was due to arrive at 20.42
and was a couple of minutes before this that 1Q13, with 37601 + 37604, rolled into platform 1. The train, conducting a radio survey, was due to stand here for ten minutes before going to Hatton West and North Junctions, Dorridge for a reversal and then back to Hatton and Stratford before going back to the Birmingham area via Henley-in-Arden.
Evening locomotive hauled trains at Stratford are quite rare so I found and dusted off my tripod and set up on platform 2. It wasn't really all that dark and this shot was taken using an exposure of 4 seconds at f14 on ISO 100. The trees in the car park look fuzzy and this is the result of a strong wind blowing, the same wind that blew
37601's exhaust smoke over the rear half of the locomotive and the first coach of the train, giving a slightly murky appearance to the picture.
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The North Cotswold Line between Worcester and Moreton-in-Marsh is, at the time of writing, under an engineering possession to allow the final stages of re-doubling to take place. A train from Bescot to the area of Clayfield Lane crossing was scheduled for the morning of
10 August 2011 with the actual work to take place on the newly laid line. I wasn't sure if the new line over the nearby level crossing at Blackminster had been put in place to allow trains to run over it so went to have a look. As I suspected, the road itself was closed
to all traffic and as this view shows, the road surface has been completely removed and the second line yet to be laid. The use of a very long lens has exaggerated the perspective but it can be seen that a lot of work is still to be done before double track working can be instituted, including
a major slewing of the existing single track which will form the down line.
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As it was clear that the engineering train from Bescot ES would not be able to run to Clayfield Lane crossing over the new down line, there wouldn't be much point in staying where I was and repeating, in much worse light a shot that I had taken only recently.
I therefore retraced my steps to end of Evesham bypass and made my way to the road bridge just on the down side of Evesham station. A lot of recent work was in evidence, including two new signals and some new track panels being made ready for installation. I had been only for
a couple of minutes when 6W81 headed by 66005 came slowly into view and the yellow front of the locomotive can just be made out underneath and to the right of the sole remaining semaphore signal which has very recently lost its finial. The train from Bescot ES did not stop either here or in the station but carried
straight on towards the worksite.
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A test train, 1Q13 from Tyseley, has been running around the West Midlands for a few days with a schedule seemingly made up as it went along. On Friday 5 August 2011 it was apparently to make a couple of trips between Worcester and Hereford but on returning home during the late morning I found a couple of text messages saying that it had gone up the North Cotswold Line to Oxford
with a return a few hours later, exactly as it had earlier in the week. As the time was 11.30 and 37038 + 37604 were due to leave Evesham for the south at 11.25 it was too late to doing anything about it but after lunch I decided to go to Evesham to take a final photograph of the semaphore signals
on the up side of the station as they were due for removal over the coming weekend. This isn't a brilliant photographic spot and the centre-pivot signal is just a bit too close to the bridge for decent composition but in the circumstances the location and railway infrastructure took precedence over other considerations. Here then are 37038 + 37604 approaching Evesham some 25 minutes
late, the lateness being due to the preceding FGW class 166 running behind schedule.
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I wasn't exactly sure about the timings of 1Q13 but there were some passengers on Evesham station waiting for an up train so I made a very slow dash behind a caravan to the nearest easily accessible spot, Lower Moor, in the hope of another shot. In the event, even though the service train from Great Malvern was running about one hour late, 37038 + 37604 with their four Network Rail coaches did not make an immediate escape from Evesham
but were held to their booked departure time which a friend had since told me was 14.30. About five minutes later, and in a very welcome patch of clear sky, they came into view and passed the two photographers waiting for them at speed and with a reasonable amount of exhaust smoke. I imagine that they were going back to Derby RTC but after a week with some actual routes different to those planned, who knows...
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I was just about to make a pot of coffee at around 10.15 on 3 August 2011 when I received a text message from a friend in the Birmingham area saying that a pair of class 172 DMUs were heading towards Stratford-upon-Avon on a mileage accumuculation run. I hadn't taken many photographs of these new units in the sun so as the weather
looked good I made the short journey to Edstone aqueduct. The train appeared about at the time expected formed of 172340 + 172339, both units now fitted with their seats. The new trains were introduced to the press a day or two earlier and I imagine that they made a better impression than the class 150s widely used in the area at the moment.
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I had just photographed 172340 + 172339 at Edstone on 3 August 2011 when my telephone rang with the news that 66030 was at Norton Junction, near Worcester, about to head south on the North Cotswold Line with a long train of loadd ballast wagons and that it would leave Evesham at 11.25. I reckoned that I should just
about have time to reach somewhere south of Evesham and headed for the bridge at Blackminster. After a bit of a slow journey through the villages I had just passed over the level crossing on the road at Blackminster when I saw, in my rear-view mirror, that the lights had just started flashing prior to the barriers being lowered. The bridge over the line is only
just around the corner and I arrived in time to hear a class 66's horn in the distance warning the many track workers in the area that a train was on the way. A minute or so later 6W56, the 09.10 Bescot Down Siding to Honeybourne, came into view with 66030 leading a variety of ballast wagons and 66183 dead on the back with the leading locomotive working very hard to get its heavy load up to line speed.
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The destination of 6W56 wasn't known to me when I photographed it at Blackminster but I couldn't see that it would be able to get any further than Honeybourne because a First Great Western passenger train wasn't all that far away. With that in mind I moved to Honeybourne to find the train about to move onto the Long Marston branch. The light is all wrong here
at this time of day but it was worth taking a record shot or two particularly as the track layout here will change over the next few weeks and the ground frame with its associated cabin housing the instruments will be removed. Here then is 66183 being taken across the spur to the branch and a few moments later as the crew are about to unclip the points
before the road can be reset for the main line once the train has fully reached the branch. I wasn't able to stay longer any but understand that the new line from the branch, running around the "back" of the refurbished island platform, was later ballasted.
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Another of the DRS operated Cruise Saver trains to Southampton ran on Monday 2 August 2011, this time from Edinburgh meaning that it was routed via Hatton to Leamington Spa rather than through Nuneaton and Coventry. When I looked at the sky before leaving home I guessed that there was a reasonable chance of some decent light
for the shot but after arrival at Hatton and a short wait a large black cloud blew across the sun and stayed there as the train passed, moving on only a minute or so later. Still, I took the shot as I hadn't previously seen 47790 in its new coat of paint and if it self-destructs in the near future I will at least have a record shot, albeit
with the locomotive being led by 47818. I think that the DRS colours are a much better match for the blue stock than the brown and cream of 47790 which is intended for use of the Northern Belle luxury dining train.
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The North Cotswold Line between Worcester and Moreton-in-Marsh is to be closed for an extended period from 5 August 2011 while the final work associated with the redoubling project is completed. It was therefore a bit of a surprise to hear that a 1Q13 test train from Derby to Oxford and return was planned to run
on Monday 2 August. There was some doubt about the train's running with reports of it being cancelled at Worcester Yard and then reinstated but running to a slightly different schedule involving a planned visit to Stourbridge Junction being dumped in favour of a route not involving the Old Hill line. The interesting
part was always going to be the section between Honeybourne and Moreton-in-Marsh which currently is still single track although with the new down line partlyin situ. I have been waiting for the opportunity to photograph a locomotive hauled train at this location near Mickleton ever since the new track was laid
so as to show the transitional period; a down train running on what will soon be the up main. It would have been easy to go to any number of locations further west where the sun would have been on the front of the train but this was an occasion when the location took preference to anything else. Unusually for me though,
I did take a going-away shot as 37059 trailed four Network Rail coaches and 37038 down Campden Bank towards Honeybourne.
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It was reported that on Monday 1 August 2011 Chiltern Railways would run one of their Moor Street to Marylebone services with a set of stock rebranded with "Chiltern Mainline" decals. The train, headed by 67014, went up to London first thing in the morning so I waited for the return, 1R34, before having a look. This train is booked to
pass Hatton at 14.55 but there must have a been a problem somewhere because it was some forty-five minutes after that when it appeared. At 15.15 there was clue that it still some way away or even cancelled when 66601 with 6M22, the Westbury to Stud Farm empty ballast boxes, came slowly around the bend after having
been recessed in Hatton's down goods loop so I checked the online live arrivals at Birmingham Moor Street to find that the expected arrival time was 15.57; two minutes after it was due to return to the capital. Anyway, it did turn up about as predicted with 67014 providing the power from the back with Driving Van Trailer 82305 leading. The changes to the stock
are subtle, to say the least, but I suppose that nothing too dramatic should have been expected as the vinyls were put in place when the stock was stabled in Stourbridge Yard over the weekend. I understand that neither the locomotives used by Chiltern nor the DVTs are to be rebranded.
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Chiltern Railways ran their first ever locomotive hauled train for paying passengers from Stratford-upon-Avon to London Marylebone on Sunday 31 July 2011. The weekend had seen the annual Global Gathering festival at Long Marston airfield and the train, 1Z23, was booked to leave Stratford at 08.10 to cater for the
first tranche of festival goers returning south. The stock used was that normally seen on the Banbury trains with 67013 on the town end and blue DVT 82302 on the country end. The whole lot ran ECS from Wembley during the previous evening and stabled in platform 3, the
least photogenic at the station. As I arrived to see if a photograph was possible the whole area was cordoned off by a number of BTP officers and security staff who were more than happy to move a couple of barriers so that I could use the car park and then access the platforms, albeit with a request to be quick as I could
so that they were able to start allowing the passengers, waiting in line in a barriered section of the car park to board the train in time for departure. After a couple of quick shots I headed off to Wilmcote because I wanted a photograph of this first Chiltern
move in somewhere completely recognisable. The sun was only just high enough at that time of day but I would much rather have this dappled view than
something elsewhere that was more anonymous.
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An early morning message on 28 July 2011 annnounced that a former Rail Express Systems class 47 was to be taken to Carnforth from Long Marston for a new spell of work with WCRC. I don't often bother with light engine moves but I think that 57601 was to make the first appearance of a WCRC
locomotive on the branch although not the first for a class 57. Another attraction was that blue 47237 was accompanying 57601 which, on the return, would offer the chance of three differently coloured locomotives, albeit without a train, at the same time.
I arrived at Long Marston just as the gates were opened and within a few minutes 0Z46 came into view and stopped in order to take instructions before going further.
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The two locomotives forming 0Z46 were separated and 47237 ran into road 2 at Long Marston while 57601, which had arrived dead in tow, was started. Once running, 57601 went into road 1 and was coupled to 47746 ready to pull it forward onto the branch so that 47237
was able to join the ensemble. I didn't see any through brake piping attached so assume that 47746 did not have operational brakes and thus needed the additional brake force from the class 47 to allow for safe movement.
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Everything ran remarkably smoothly and 47237 was soon coupled to 47746, the whole forming 0Z47 to Carnforth. The RES paintwork on 47746 was rather tatty after several years
in the Warwickshire weather and I imagine that a lot of work will be needed before it returns to the network. It will probably be painted into the dreary WCRC livery but wouldn't
it nice if it were to be refurbished and painted into a version of the RES colours?
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The departure time from Long Marston for 0Z47 was just before 13.00 but it was some forty minutes before this that 57601 led the other two locomotives onto the branch
to Honeybourne. There are almost no worthwhile photographic locations on the branch especially if one wants to show more than the leading locomotive but this
spot looking over a gate on the Broad Marston road at least allows for a reasonable view as long as a bit of vegetation over the wheels isn't too much of a problem
for the viewer. Both active locomotives were under power with a driver in 47237, presumably to use the brakes as and when necessary. A broadside view
of 47746 gives another chance to see the state of its bodywork.
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I was driving towards Hatton on Thursday 21 July 2011 when my 'phone beeped with a message. As I was nearly at the station I didn't stop to read it then but carried on, parked, picked up my camera bag and read the message from a friend at Solihull as I walked towards the bridge.
The message said that a double headed Freightliner service had just passed with an EWS liveried locomotive leading a Freightliner example. I had been in position only for a few moments when the train, 4O09, the 10.17 Trafford Park to Southampton, rounded the curve. I understand that
a class 70 had failed on a northbound service during the previous evening and 66221 was needed to take the train to its destination and thus ran south on 4O09 to save on a light engine move.
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The primary reason for my visit to Hatton on 21 July 2011 was to take a photograph of 66731 hauling two class 508 EMUs, 508211 + 508208, from Donnington to Eastleigh where they were to be put into secure storage. Donnington, on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line, has no cover
and the units had been standing out in the elements for some time. This is probably for the reason for the train being cancelled a couple of days earlier when the brakes on the EMUs were found to be seized and wouldn't move. Hardly surprising, and one would have thought that someone
in authority would have realised this in advance. Anyway, 5O08 was rescheduled for Thursday and managed to reach Albrighton before the units' brakes stuck on, the train eventually making it to Oxley loop where some rectification work was carried out. To cut a long story short, the train eventually passed Hatton
something like 150 minutes late but under an attractively dark sky and with the Arlington Fleet Services translator van giving an extra splash of colour.
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The flexibility offered by the southermost part of the North Cotswold Line having received double track was demonstrated for the first time on Monday 19 July 2011. A transit move of eleven scrap carrying wagons was moved from Long Marston to Dagenham and the train, 6Z66 was routed from Honeybourne to Worcester for a run-round
and then back up the Cotswold Line to Oxford via Moreton-in-Marsh, making it the first revenue earning freight along the line since, I think, 10 March 2007 when 66527 led a northbound train of PGA hoppers towards Honeybourne and Long Marston. The more recent move left Long Marston
just over one hour early and had gone when I drove over the bridge across the line so I carried on to Honeybourne where the train was just drawing to a halt under a very moody sky.
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There is a huge amount of civil engineering work in progress at Honeybourne station prior to the double tracking being completed by the third week of August 2011. With just one month to go, this picture shows a little of what is going on. In the background a three road exchange siding and run round loop is in the process of being installed.
This will be of benefit for trains to and from Long Marston in that anything arriving from the south, much easier with double track virutally throughout, will be able to reverse clear of the main line and access the branch via the lines to the right of the island platform. The new arrangements shouod be better from a photographic point of view
as a greater variety of pictures will be available.
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As I mentioned above, 6Z66 from Long Marston to Dagenham Yard left just over one hour early. This was of no benefit as it still had to wait for the booked departure time from Honeybourne because of the still single track between Moreton-in-Marsh being occupied by scheduled FGW passenger trains. With this being the case I went home for lunch before turning out again
at 15.30 and heading to a spot just outside Mickleton for a shot of 66547 climbing Campden bank. The reason for coming here was to obtain a rare picture of a revenue earning freight south of Honeybourne, but on a section of line still operating as single track. The new down line has been laid but as can be seen in my first photograph of 6Z66, stops short of Honeybourne
station to allow for the considerable remodelling of the junction that will be necessary over the coming weeks. There was a certain amount of doubt about the pathing of 66547 and its train because
of a late running down FGW service; the lateness having been caused by a woman leaving her children on the platform at Slough station and the concomitant faffing around necessary for her to retrieve them. Anyway, some good regulation by the signallers involved saw the freight leave Evesham not far off booked time
and it is here seen climbing towards Chipping Campden tunnel through an increasingly dense patch of new vegetation. That bodes well for the leaf fall season then...
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Chiltern Railways occasionally need to hire a DBS class 67 to cover a temporarily unavailable locomotive from their own fleet. The favourite replacement seems to be 67018 and this has been running around throughout the early summer of 2011 mostly on the diagram that takes it no further north than Banbury.
On 14 July it was scheduled to work 1H33, the 1055 Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone and as it was a sunny morning I went to Hatton to hopefully
obtain, at long last, a well lit photograph of the brightly coloured locomotive. There was a certain amount of thin cloud floating around which caused a certain amount of angst amongst those waiting for the train but it did manage to arrive in a good clear patch, running maybe some seven or eight minutes late.
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One of the rarely used class 56s normally kept at Washwood Heath in Birmingham ran light engine to Hither Green during the week commencing 3 July 2011 in order to collect some scrap carrying wagons. These were taken to Grimsby and on Tuesday 12 July were scheduled to run loaded with scrap metal to Cardiff. There
was originally a long layover booked at Derby which meant that the train wouldn't have reached anywhere south of Birmingham until probably 6 or 7pm which meant that I had sort of written off a shot as being a bit inconvenient. As things turned though, the Derby stop was abandoned and 6Z56, with 56311 in charge,
was timed to sit in Abbotswood loop for a few minutes just after 16.00. This was much better as far as I was concerned so went across to Croome Perry where, in the past, I had taken a few shots of 56s when they were in normal service. It wasn't difficult to hear 56311 run south from its stop in the loop and although
the sun didn't co-operate the light had quite a pleasant almost luminescent quality as the train ran past with its 1000 tonne load.
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I had an early trip to Hatton North Junction on Monday 11 July 2011 because there was a test train scheduled to run over the rarely used North to West Junction track. At the booked time, 07.20, the sun would be just right so as the skies were largely clear I felt that the short journey would be well worthwhile in order
to finally obtain a decently lit photograph there. After a thorough soaking from the long and damp grass, not to mention nettles, along the footpaths from Hatton station I arrived just after 07.00 and in time to see a couple of northbound engineering train pass by from a possession on the Chiltern Line, including
66184 tailing 66120 and 6P11 from Saunderton to Bescot. Next along was a class 168 from Birmingham Snow Hill to Marylebone after which I expected the points leading to Hatton Junction to be shifted across but first was a slightly late running 4O20, the 05.00 Bescot to Southampton loaded car carriers
hauled by 66024. This isn't a train I had seen before so was happy enough to score a well lit shot of it powering hard amongst the Rosebay Willowherb before dropping downhill towards Warwick and Leamington Spa.
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The only train booked to use the curve between Hatton North and West Junctions is an early morning ECS from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon and although there are steam specials and the odd charter over there on occasions these usually run too late in the day for a properly lit shot from the eastern side of the line.
On Monday 11 July 2011 a test train, 2Q88, from Tyseley to Derby via Solihull, Hatton, Birmingham, Stourbridge Junction, Round Oak, Snow Hill, Henley-in-Arden, Stratford-upon-Avon, Hatton, Stratford-upon-Avon, Henley-in-Arden, Washwood Heath and Burton-upon-Trent was scheduled to run. This should have been the NR sprinter but
the unit was in Scotland so a DRS powered substitute was formed with 37610 + 37604 providing the power. The train is here seen at Hatton North having crossed from the up main line and about to take the curve to Hatton West Junction where reversal was due to take place. The train
was about twelve minutes late at this point which from a photographic point of view was a piece of luck as some wispy cloud had taken the edge off the light at the booked time.
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After a short delay during which the crew changed ends of their short train, 2Q88 then ran back along the spur between Hatton West and North Junctions to the signal protecting the junction onto the down main line. As soon as it was given the road 37604 + 37610 moved off giving me the chance to take a shot, albeit slightly backlit, from the
lineside public footpath leading to the footbridge over the tracks. Once clear of the pointwork both locomotives were opened up and filled the still dark cutting through Shrewley with a dense cloud of exhaust smoke.
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The clear skies so evident in my early morning shots of 2Q88 didn't last for the run along the North Warwickshire Line to Stratford-upon-Avon and although there were clear patches later in the day the light was generally quite disappointing, although being mid July the sun was anyway too high for decent pictures when the train returned to my part of the world at lunchtime. Here it is about to
pass under Edstone Aqueduct, south of Henley-in-Arden, just as the sun was coming out from a patch of cloud and I suppose that the only decent things are the attractive sky and the fact that at least the leading locomotive was well lit.
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After its first trip of the day to Stratford-upon-Avon 2Q88, now with 37604 leading, ran along the single line from Bearley Junction to Hatton for a reversal and another run to Stratford. This line isn't the best for taking photographs
and I just settled for a head on shot with a long lens at one of the several occupation crossings to be found along there.
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The next stage of 2Q88's schedule on 11 July 2011 saw it running back to Stratford-upon-Avon for the final time before returning to Derby. I went to a road bridge near Bishopton arriving just in time to see
172338 head away from the terminus on a mileage accumulation run to Tyseley. It wasn't long before 37610 + 37604 appeared rolling down the bank but the light suddenly deteriorated to such an extent
that I didn't bother with a photograph.
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Once 2Q88 with 37604 + 37610 had arrived in to platform 2 at Stratford-upon-Avon the crew, with just over an hour's break, went off for lunch somewhere. As a local I couldn't resist a record
shot of the train standing under the station's newly refurbished and painted footbridge. As a Great Western station wouldn't it have been much nicer if some chocolate and cream paints
had been dug out of a storeroom instead of the odd shade of pink which seems to bear no relationship to any other colour used by London Midland?
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One of the preserved class 55 Deltic locomotives, 55022, was scheduled to haul a railtour from Doncaster to Paignton on Saturday 9 July 2011. I don't very often photograph charters unless they are very local but I thought that this one would be worth a trip to the Worcester avoiding line, "The Old Road", because it ran
at the right of time of day and not far behind it was an empty coal train from Ratcliffe Power Station to Avonmouth. There isn't usually any freight on the southbound line here in the morning so with a reasonably clear sky at home I made the journey here with a view to photographing a couple of locomotive hauled trains
within around ten minutes of each other. Whilst there were a few clear patches in the sky over Worcestershire the sun completely failed to find one when 1Z32 appeared. I suppose that it is lucky that 55022 isn't in the awful colour scheme of the WCRC, as is 47804 on the back of the train, because that would
have made for an even worse image in the poor light. It was though lucky that the 47 was attached because 55022 failed later on the trip and was stopped in Tiverton loop while it was run around to the front of the stock and dragged the whole lot forward to Paignton.
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There are very few southbound morning freight trains over the Birmingham to Gloucester main line so when I was told that a 4Z32 from Ratcliffe power Station to Avonmouth was booked for the morning of Saturday 9 July 2011 I felt that a trip across
to Worcestershire would be worthwhile. This train was booked a few minutes a charter involving 55022 and missed being in the sun by about five minutes. With a friendly wave from the driver, 66058 is seen heading
south along the Worcester avoider line with its load of HTA hoppers which will no doubt be reloaded with power station coal ready to return north within the next few days.
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An extra ballast train from Stud Farm to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry has been running for a few days, the loaded run being overnight but with the return, 6Z22, timed to pass Hatton just after noon. On 7 July 2011 the locomotive allocated was 66522 which has an odd livery marking the association between Freightliner and Shanks & McEwan,
the landfill owning and operating company. My philosophy with these one-off liveries is that I can't be bothered to chase around after them but trust to luck that something will bring them close enough to enable me to obtain a picture without expending too much time or effort. It's taken a while with this one, but a ten minute drive and a short walk
each way made it worthwhile to go to the nearest location for me, a footpath adjacent to the line at Hatton cutting. Here then is 66522 adding to the other green tints around the line as it climbs Hatton Bank a few minutes after a torrential shower had passed, but not without giving me a good soaking, and just as the sun began to come out again.
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I arrived home after my daily swim on 4 July 2011 to find on my 'phone a message from a friend saying that 66713 was just about to arrive at Long Marston to pick up something which would go to Doncaster in the usual lunchtime departure slot, 13.11. I had plenty of time and went across to Long Marston
where I arrived at about 12.45 to find 66713 coupled onto a long rake of Fastline branded coal hoppers. I was glad when it began to move some twenty minutes early because the air was absolutely alive with thunderbugs, aka Thrips or Thysanoptera, which were crawling all over me within moments of setting
foot on the bridge. The sun just managed to poke out from the patchy cloud as the train, 6E53, pulled onto the branch to Honeybourne, although I think that the light is too harsh in the middle of the day at this time of the year for good photography.
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It doesn't take long to drive from Long Marston to Honeybourne where I arrived about ten minutes before 66713 came into view around the curve towards the station. The train had to stand here for a while to allow a down class 165/166 to go towards Worcester so I was able to wait for the sun to strengthen abit before taking this shot. There is plenty of evidence here of the considerable amount of work being done to double this section
of the North Cotswold Line and the new up line is gradually approaching the roadbridge across the line. This bridge is now a lot more comfortable and safe for photography as the County Council have introduced "single line working" across it controlled by traffic lights
which does mean that there is a bit more room to stand without the danger of being squashed by one of the many HGVs using the road. The view towards Worcester shows the progress being
made at Honeybourne station where the new up platform is rapidly taking shape. Use this hyperlink for the equivalent view in August 2010.
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After photographing 66713 with 6E53 to Doncaster at Honeybourne I went a couple of miles further west to a bridge on the Offenham road where the line passes Aldington village. I had only a few minutes to wait before the bright headlight appeared
and the train came rapidly towards me on the currently bi-directional single line. The new down line is in place along the whole section with the exception of the level crossing at Blackminster and I have been waiting for the chance to photograph something here
before a major possession takes place in August 2011 after which trains to Worcester and beyond will use the new track. The view will be a lot tighter unless some quite radical and probably uneccessary (apart from a photographic viewpoint) tree clearance takes place.
I thought about going for another shot to the west of Evesham but the high sun put me off so I went home via the nearby fruit farm where this season's fresh cherries are available. Brownie points time again...
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The second charter in two days to hit Stratford-upon-Avon ran from Carlisle on Friday 1 July 2011. This one was a 1Z22 operated by Compass Tours with class 47 motive power supplied by WCRC. The weather went back to the norm for charters to Stratford
and at the booked time there was a heavy pall of cloud over Wilmcote. I decided against going for yet another shot featuring the GWR footbridge and walked to an occupation bridge a few hundred yards further south. The train, with 47851 leading, was a few minutes early
when it passed me and the locomotive was still accelerating hard from the speed restriction at Bearley Junction. The WCRC livery never looks at its best in poor light and looked especially muddy on this occasion.
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Compass Trains' charter from Carlisle to Stratford-upon-Avon was booked to return from the terminus shortly before 17.00 and ran over the North Warwickshire Line via Henley-in-Arden. The weather had picked up a little during the afternoon so I hoped that I might achieve a reasonably
well lit photograph. Locations for northbound trains over this line are few and far between when the sun shines but there are a couple around Henley so I headed in that direction. The first I had in mind was just about impossible to reach because of thick brambles which I didn't feel like
tackling wearing a short sleeved shirt. The alternative was from the Stratford end of Henley station's platform and although the sun wasn't quite as far round as I had thought it would be I had little choice bearing that the train was only about five minutes away when I arrived. The line
here is on a gradient of about 1/150 and a long train with a dead locomotive just out of sight on the back was making 47804 work quite hard as it passed by.
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The last day of June 2011 was notable in railway terms for the running of a charter train from Stratford-upon-Avon to Edinburgh. Inward charters are relatively frequent but it is unusual for one to commence at the terminus and even with a departure time of before 06.00 I was keen to obtain a photograph
if the weather was half decent. It was more than half decent so I drove to Wilmcote and then had a very pleasant fifteen minute walk along the canal towing path to a foot crossing over the railway about half way to Bearley Junction. First along was a pair of Chiltern Railways units, led by 168005, heading for Stratford.
I can't remember whether this runs as an advertised service or ECS but I do know that it is the only scheduled train that runs from Birminhgam via Hatton North and West Junctions and is here seen accelerating away from Bearley Junction.
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Charter trains originating from Stratford-upon-Avon are quite unusual these days so when I saw one advertised to run on 30 June 2011 I made a mental note to go out for a shot if the weather was even reasonable. The train was a 1Z90 05.53 to Edinburgh and during the previous evening everything
on the weather front looked promising. I got up at 05.00 and saw a clear sky so drove to Wilmcote and then walked for about fifteen minutes along the canal towing path towards Bearley Junction. There are three foot crossings along this stretch of line and I knew that the middle one of these would be just the ticket a couple of minutes before 06.00
on a sunny morning at this time of the year; possibly the only location on the line to be clear of shadows. There was no chance of having the shot obscured by another train as 1Z90 was scheduled to cross to the single track "Up and Down Bearley" line at Bearley Junction thus temporarily blocking the North Warwickshire Line to and from Birmingham. The locomotive was 67001 with a set of twelve coaches and spot on time I heard it climbing Wilmcote bank
before it came into view around the curve from Wilmcote station. I had considered travelling on this charter but 1) I don't really like travelling by train all that much and 2) five hours each way on the same day is a bit too much. Edinburgh needs more than a day trip to appreciate its wonderful character in my opinion. Happily though, the train was well loaded and with further
stops arranged would, I imagine, have been close to full.
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Class 70 locomotives have recently become quite frequent visitors to the Leamington Spa area on either early morning runs to Southampton or evening trains coming north, the latter being routed via Coventry along the largely unphotogenic line from Leamington. On Friday 24 June I received a text message saying that 70008 was working 4M28, the 09.32 Southampton to Ditton Freightliner which runs via Hatton
where it is due at around 13.15. I didn't read the message until 12.55 thanks to being in my garden without my 'phone but soon established that 4M28 was running late. This gave me time for a fast drive followed by a quick walk/jog to Hatton North Junction, hopefully to arrive before the train. In the event I made it with nearly twenty minutes to spare; 4M28 following a couple of sections behind a down Chiltern Railways
class 168 unit. Unfortunately, the train was very poorly loaded on this occasion and I really don't find empty Freightliner flats at all satisfying to photograph, but I think that this was the first northbound run of a class 70, in daylight at least, along this section of line. I always consider these early workings to be worth a shot in case diagrams change and the locomotives end up on different duties in other parts of the network.Thanks to David Weake for the information on 4M28.
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The annual Glastonbury Festival saw a train running from Preston to Frome to cater for those unable or unwilling to go there by road. The locomotive involved was 67001 hauling seven blue and grey coaches, the ensemble being routed via Birmingham New Street, St Andrew's Junction, Tyseley and Leamington Spa before heading south towards Didcot and beyond. The sky looked to be clearing a bit at 13.45 after a largely cloudy morning and with 1Z25 being due at Hatton at 14.30
I decided it might just be worth the short trip for a photograph. There was a brief shower of rain a few minutes before the train was due but this cleared away just in time and some weak sun managed to poke through the thick clouds as 67001 appeared on the curve from Hatton North Junction. A few moments later
165021 arrived in the Stratford branch platform from Leamington Spa and is here seen about to leave for the terminus.
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A train operated by DRS was scheduled to run from Carlisle to Long Marston on Monday 20 June 2011. Running with the headcode 4Z20 and with the former Fastline Freight locomotive 66301 in charge, it consisted of a long rake of Fastline coal hoppers going for storage; quite possibly a set that was refurbished at Long Marston only fairly recently.
I hadn't previously photographed a Fastline locomotive on either the Cotswold Line or Long Marston branch so went for a photograph or two as there may not be too many more chances as these class 66s will probably end up being repainted in DRS's own colour scheme. My first shot was at Evesham so as to have a picture in a thoroughly recognisable Cotswold LIne
location and here is 4Z20 passing the signal box and the soon to be removed lower quadrant semaphores. The sky was clouding up quite rapidly and 66301 managed to arrive a little bit too early, or late when the sun was partially obscured.
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After crossing a down passenger service at Evesham, 66301 with 4Z20 was soon on its way to Long Marston over the section of line that will soon be operating as double track. I thought that the sun might just appear at Blackminster before the train arrived and it nearly worked out. I don't really like
"spotlight" illumination but if it is going to happen then I much prefer it this way round rather than with the locomotive being in cloud and the back of the train in sun! I'm sure that a lot of people thought that this working would be in the hands of a couple of DRS's older locomotives but someone
within the company obviously saw the attraction of sending out a complete Fastline set.
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As I hadn't previously photographed a Fastline liveried locomotive on the Long Marston branch I made my was home via the village, arriving about ten minutes before the train was due. The photograph here at midday is never going to be especially good particularly close to the
longest day of year when the sun is far too high to obtain a decent image. Luckily, some cloud appeared at the right moment which reduced the contrast a little just as 4Z20 crawled up the last few yards of the branch towards the gate, alongside which some new pallisade fencing was being installed.
This shouldn't too instrusive in a picture of something leaving the site, although the green painted fencing would be easier on the eye.
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There was a return working from Long Marston to Worcester Yard on 20 June 2011 with a scheduled departure time of some time after 15.00. I had hoped for the usual
earlier departure but it soon became clear that a fair amount of shunting around was going to be necessary. Here is the local shunter bringing the stock of 4Z20
forward from road no. 2 so that 66301 could be released ready to couple onto whatever was meant to be going out. I had no intention of hanging around for the thick
end of two hours so went home before seeing what was really happening.
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The annual June races at Royal Ascot used to produce two or three charter trains on each day of the festival but in 2011 just one ran. This was on Thursday 16 June when the Northern Belle ran from Manchester Victoria to Ascot with DRS's class 47s 47810 + 47501 providing the power. The sky was beginning to clear nicely
at home by 09.30 so with fingers crossed I went to Whitnash, just south of Leamington Spa, hoping for a sunny shot in the cutting. On arrival, the sun was in and out but a large cloud appeared at 10.00, some ten or twelve minutes before the 1Z63 was due, and managed to hang around until a few minutes after I left the bridge.
This location, along with many others in the area, is becoming a bit bland for my tastes because of the largely unchecked tree growth but at least being on quite a severe gradient here the locomotives have to work hard. The result of this work can ben seen hanging in the still air of the cutting. This line is closed for part of the coming weekend
and it looks as if some major track renewal will be taking place.
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The last day of May 2011 was largely sunny and I quite fancied a shot of "Barbie" liveried 66730 on the Mountsorrel to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry loaded ballast train, 6O96, rounding the curve at Hatton station roadbridge. The train was running about ten minutes late north of Birmingham but was
around fifteen early by the time that it arrived in front of my camera. The locomotive was still under power with its heavy train as it started the descent of Hatton Bank but despite the sound of the exhaust, the nearby M40 drowned out the noise until 66730 appeared on the curve from Hatton North Junction
meaning that this was almost a last-second grab shot.
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I have been taking photographs at this location adjacent to Hatton station for quite a few years now but cannot recall having had a shot of an up train obscured by one going north. That changed on 31 May 2011 when a Derby RTC to Oxford test train, 1Q12, ran south at lunchtime with 37604 and 37059 sandwiching
a single Network Rail coach. The train was running a few minutes early and was crawling along towards a red aspect on the signal on the southern end of Hatton's up platform when a Freightliner class 66 hauling 4M28, the 09.28 Southampton to Ditton service, came north. A few seconds would have made all the difference
but it wasn't to be and this was the result. I can't say that I was too bothered because, as the following couple of pictures show, there was ample opportunity for another shot or two.
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As I mentioned above, 1Q12 led by 37604 and tailed by 37059 was stopped in Hatton station. This was because a Chiltern Railways service from Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa was due to join the main line and also because, I assume, 1Q12
was in track recording mode and would have been required to travel at low speed thus delaying the scheduled passenger train. My assumption is based on the fact that 1Q12 was allowed, and took, nearly ninety minutes between Water Orton and Hatton. The starting signal for the Stratford branch
is showing a green aspect ready for the class 165 which had not arrived in the station. The rear locomotive appears to have been parked under a tree favoured by some of our larger bird species...
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I don't often take multiple shots of a single train but when the sun is in just the perfect place it's hard not to to press the shutter a few times. This was my favourite of about six static shots although the temptation to remove the lamp posts
appearing to grow out of 37604's roof was almost overwhelming. Still, this was the scene at the time and I don't think that they are too intrusive so they must remain where they are. Just after the Stratford train had crossed to the up main line, the signal
holding up 1Q12's progress cleared to yellow and off it went to Oxford, just before 66053 came north with an unknown working, perhaps from Hinksey Yard to Bescot, consisting of a couple of rail carriers and a long load
of low ballast wagons.
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Class 70s don't seem to have worked much in recent weekends but on Saturday 28 May 2011 70008 was allocated to work 4O27, the 05.26 Garston to Southampton liner. This train passes Hatton at around 09.10 and thus fitted in nicely with my plan for an early walk around some of the footpaths between Hatton, Budbrooke
and Warwick. One never knows how long the new locomotives will work these trains before moving on to a different set of diagrams so it's worth making time to obtain a shot or two. I reached the footbridge at the south end of Hatton cutting just after 09.00 and heard 70008 powering down Hatton Bank a few minutes later. The light was dreadful and certainly a lot less favourable
than when I photographed the same locomotive a couple of weeks earlier.
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I had an earlier than usual visit to my health club's swimming pool on Wednesday 25 May 2011 which left me with just enough time to drive to Hatton for a few photographs. Only a few seconds after I arrived, a bit like the previous day, 4O54, the Leeds to Southampton Freightliner
came around the curve from Hatton North Junction towards the station behind 66543. Unlike yesterday's train hauled by 66504 today's run was fully loaded apart from the third flat, making for a
much more satisfactory picture.
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Next along at Hatton on 25 May 2011, apart from a class 168 Chiltern Railways unit and an Arriva Cross Country Voyager, was 66090 on the Daw Mill to Didcot Power Station loaded coal, 6V37. The weather forecast had changed overnight from clear skies and sun to one promising
mostly cloud, thickening during the late morning. The sky here was quite well covered with that thin but irritating white cloud which doesn't exactly veil the sun but certainly take the edge off the light's quality. There were a few gaps, one of which had just passed when 66090
came south...
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The 10.55 Chiltern Railways train from Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone, 1H33, just about managed to find a small clear patch in the
increasing cloud cover as it approached Hatton station on 25 May 2011. The locomotives on these Chiltern services all are currently on the London
end of their trains but I dare say that one or two will be switched around at some point if a diversion takes place, maybe while the sets are running
to and from Wembley depot. I wonder how long it will be before some Chiltern Railways branding appears on these sets to advertise their new operator?
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Coal trains have run from Daw Mill colliery to Didcot Power Station for quite a while over the past weeks but I wasn't sure if the contract had finished when I went to Hatton cutting on 24 May 2011. The first train to come along, literally as I reached the footbridge, was 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton Freightliner service hauled by
66504. I don't recall seeing this train quite so poorly loaded before, just two containers forming the entire payload. Not long after this had passed, another heavy rumbling became audible as 66090 rolled south with with 6V37, the 08.50 from Daw Mill, just missing the sun on a morning for which
unbroken sunshine and blue skies had been forecast.
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As I mentioned last week, Chiltern Railways now operate locomotive-hauled services between Birmingham and London. The most convenient of the southbound trains, at least for me to photograph, is 1H33, the 10.55 from Moor Street. This is due to pass Hatton around 15 minutes later assuming that a clear run
is managed through Small Heath and Tyseley. On the second day of operations, 1H33 was in the hands of 67013 and the unbranded ensemble is here seen
exiting the cutting by the footbridge leading to Hatton Locks. The reflections in the carriage windows spoil the shot for me as they give the whole scene an untidy appearance; freight seems to work better in this location... This service train was
followed three minutes later by a training run led by 67014, three coaches and a DVT. Unfortunately, I was quick off the mark to get home to the coffee pot and was already away the bridge by the time it appeared.
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Chiltern Railways is to operate more trains with class 67 locomotives and stock from the week commencing 29 May 2011. In connection with this there have been a couple of what I took to be timing runs
from Wembley depot or London Marylebone to Hatton and return. On 18 May, 67013, DVT 82301 and a five coach silver rake of stock worked 5Z67, booked to arrive at Hatton at just after 13.32, just after the class 165 on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa
shuttle had left the station. The relatively rare sight of locomotive-hauled stock away from the main line at Hatton is here seen
crawling up to the signal at the country end of the Stratford branch platform after coming north along the down goods loop.
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The train shown in the picture above was due to leave Hatton station for Marylebone at 13.58, this time running as 5H45. This photograph shows it running on the up line down Hatton Bank just after regaining
the main line and putting up, for a class 67, quite a decent exhaust. This is probably my least favourite location around Hatton but is the closest to the station where the train reversed so I went there
in case of early running. As it happened, the train was spot on time so with hindsight I would have had time to have gone elsewhere.
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The afternoon of Monday 16 May 2011 saw the skies clearing after a cloudy morning so I went over to the south end of Hatton end of Hatton cutting and only a minute or two after arrival I saw 66020 coming slowly north with 4M66, the 11.11 Southampton to Birch Coppice. There was a strong
westerly wind blowing and there was no audible notice of the train's arrival at all so it was a good job that it was routed into the loop as this just gave me time to jump up onto the plastic crate I use to see over some of the lower fences and which I find more comfortable and stable
than a step ladder. A few minutes later there was a southbound rumble as 66429, hired by Freightliner, came along with 4O09 from Trafford Park to Southampton. This train was carrying only two containers, both at the front so a conventional
front three-quarter view would have been even less satisfying than this going-away shot...
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One of the freights that I expected to see at Hatton on Monday 16 May 2011 was 6M22, the 11.56 Westbury to Stud Farm empty ballast train. Through a combination of unchecked lineside vegetation and a very strong wind blowing towards Warwick
there was no warning of a train approaching so I had to stay perched on a plastic crate so as not to miss anything coming north. Here is 66607 coming quite slowly up the gradient running a few minutes early at just before 15.10.
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Crew training and familiarisation runs with former WSMR stock and locomotives continue before next week's start of regular locomotive hauled trains from Chiltern Railways.
On 16 May 2010 DVT 82301 and its coaches were being propelled up Hatton Bank by 67014, all wearing the livery of their previous operator, just fitting into what is just about the only remaining gap in the undergrowth large enough in which to fit a train.
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Chiltern Railways are planning to operate some of their inner suburban services with new class 172/1 multiple units. In connection with this, 172104 ran from Derby to Marylebone (via St Albans) and back on Monday 16 May 2010. The train, 5Z74, the front end of which bears more than a passing resemblance
to one of the company's class 168 units, is here seen climbing Hatton Bank spot on time and no more than a minute or so before the rapidly increasing cloud cover became a nuisance.
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Friday 13 May 2011 started off with clear blue skies so it seemed like a good idea to have a trip to a bridge near Knightcote, just north of Fenny Compton, to photograph a couple of container trains and anything else that happened along. The first train to appear was 4O53, the 04.33 Wakefield Europort to Southampton, hauled by 66111 which is here seen
dropping down the gradient towards Fenny Compton, the junction for the truncated stump of the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway line which serves Kineton COD. At the time of this picture, just after 08.30, the shadows close to the bridge were still intruding on the track so a slightly more distant view with a longer lens was necessary.
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The view looking south from the occupation bridge at Knightcote towards Fenny Compton is seen much less frequently than that from the other side, probably because the sun is
"off the front", as some say, not much after 08.30 in the morning. To redress the balance a little here is Chilern Railways' 168111 heading north towards Leamington Spa with a Marylebone to Birmingham service on the morning of Friday 13 May 2011. The train to Kineton COD, 6M19, obviously followed the DMU as it was
audible, althougb hidden by the background trees, as it ran along the branch towards its destination.
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By the time that 168107 came south from Birminhgam towards Fenny Compton on 13 May 2011, the shadows across the track had virtually cleared with just a few vestiges left on the wheels of the DMU. This is a very pleasant rural location with little noise other than a distant rumble from the M40 if the wind
is in the wrong direction. It's not the sort of place I tend to visit very often because it is a little anonymous but now and again it does make for a nice change, especially for up trains, in the earlier part of the morning.
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Freightliner's new class 70 locomotives are currently seen on the GWR line between Birmingham, Leamington Spa and Reading on a daily basis. On Friday 13 May 2011, 70008 was allocated to the 07.00 Birch Coppice to Southampton train which is here seen approaching Fenny Compton. There is not much point in being north
of Leamington Spa for this working on a sunny morning as the sun is completely wrong for it hence my making the short trip here for it, unlike last week when it was sufficiently cloudy for a shot of it at Hatton. I had considered the bridge at
Whitnash, just south of Leamington Spa, but thought that the deep cutting there would not have allowed the sun onto the track at the time that the train was due. Given that the shadows had only just cleared the track here I made the right choice, I think. The early morning sun didn't last long and some ominous looking wisps
of cloud were beginning to appear by 09.00 so I left. By the time I had reached my health club in Stratford-upon-Avon for a swim some 30 minutes later the cloud cover was almost complete.
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A relatively rare steam move over the North Warwickshire Line, that is with the locomotive working the correct way round unlike the summer Shakespeare Express trains, took place on Thursday 12 May 2011. The train, 1Z78 York to Stratford-upon-Avon, was hauled
by A4 60019 Bittern, for some reason masquerading as something else, making what is probably the first run for a locomotive of its type over the line for quite some time.
The ensemble complete with the extra tender to increase water capacity is seen about to pass under Edstone Aqueduct shortly after a family of appropriately named mallard ducklings, not pretending to be tufted ducks, swam along the canal making marginally more
noise and in much better light than the train underneath.
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The second of the DRS operated "Cruise Saver" trains ran to Southampton on 9 May 2011. Unlike the first which started at Glasgow and ran via the more convenient (for me) and certainly more photogenic line through Hatton and
Warwick, this one came from Edinburgh and used the West Coast Main Line as far as Nuneaton from whence it went through Bedworth and Coventry before joining
the GWR line at Leamington Spa. I don't often do station shots these days and certainly wouldn't want to make it the norm but as the line at Leamington runs roughly from east to west through the platforms the sun is in the
right place at the appropriate time of day. Here are 47810 + 47510 at the head of 1Z49 being opened up under clear signals just before turning south over the viaduct just beyond the station.
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Freightliner and intermodal trains to and from Southampton form the majority of freight traffic through Leamington Spa and one of the latter, operated by DBS, is here seen as 66116 takes 4O23, the 11.13 Hams Hall to Southampton on 9 May 2011.
This train runs via Coventry and its locomotive was being worked hard to get the heavy load away and up the steep bank faced from here as far as Harbury tunnel. Another train from Hams Hall, this time a Freightliner service running via Hatton,
had been held to the west of Leamington Spa and came along a few minutes later. This one, 4O49 hauled by 70009 was poorly loaded towards the front which always makes for a less than satisfactory picture
despite the quite dramatic lighting.
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Freightliner switched around some of their locomotive diagrams during the week commencing 1 May 2011 and one of the results was that 4O14, the 07.00 Birch Coppice to Southampton, was turned over to class 70 operation. My plan for Friday
6 May was, if the weather followed the forecast, to head towards Banbury for a nicely lit sunny shot of 70009. As it happened, the day dawned cloudy but reasonably bright and as I am less and less inclined to go far for photographs
in poor light just went to the bridge adjacent to Hatton station for my first shot of a class 70 on this line. The train arrived a few minutes early and even though the up line is on a falling gradient the exhaust note of 70009 could be heard for some
time and above the racket from the nearby M40.
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The spell of warm and sunny weather continued on 3 May 2011 so, with a few freights scheduled to appear on the GWR Birmingham to Leamington Spa line, I went to a location just north of Hatton North Junction. It's a pleasant spot which rarely sees
any other people unless a kettle is around but I still don't visit it very often as it doesn't have enough identity for my taste. Still, on a sunny day it makes for an attractive picture and first along was
Chiltern Railway's 168110 heading towards Leamington Spa and London Marylebone. I quite like these units and their predominantly white colour scheme shows up well against almost any background, snow excepted.
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The first freight that I expected to see at Shrewley on 3 May 2011 was 6O96, the 10.25 Mountsorrel to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry loaded ballast. This is timed to pass here just after 13.00 but it was running about 15 minutes
late when it came into view behind GBRf's 66703. The scene is enhanced by the seasonal blossom on the lineside bushes but it isn't quite as peaceful here as the picture suggests. The M40 motorway is only a short distance to the left
of the line and the constant drone of heavy traffic becomes wearisome after quite a short time.
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After photographing 6O96 as shown above, I was expecting to see two other southbound freights pass Shrewley on 3 May 2011. They were noted as passing Whitacre Junction no more than ten minutes apart and I hoped that they would make it down
the line to me without too much delay around Birmingham. However, a late-running CrossCountry service formed of 222005 put paid to that idea and it was over an hour before
66529 rounded the curve with 6Z98, the 12.57 Daw Mill to Didcot Power Station loaded coal train, what would have called an MGR in times gone by. The current contract for coal from Daw Mill seems to have lasted for longer than in previous years
and involves not only Freightliner but also DBS who are running a couple of trains each day at the moment.
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The shot for northbound trains at Shrewley isn't espcially good because of the amount of lineside vegetation and I don't think that I would go there
with the sole intention of taking such a picture. However, when the sun has gone far enough around during mid-afternoon I suppose that the view is just about
"do-able" and here is 66617 with 6M22 from Westbury to Stud Farm taken a few minutes after 3pm on 3 May 2011.
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There was another long pause in the southbound freight activity at Shrewley on 3 May 2011 before the final train I wanted to photograph came along, during which time I photographed another
couple of passenger trains, including 165014 on a Birmingham to Marylebone service. Here is 66111 with 6V27 from Stud Farm to Hinksey Yard
about to hit the favourable gradient which rolls the train down Hatton Bank to Warwick.
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A Network Rail test train was scheduled to run from Bristol to Derby on Sunday 1 May 2011. Two class 31 locomotives, 31285 + 31465 were double-heading 3Z33 but problems with at least one of them caused the train to be held over at Banbury while things were sorted out. The original solution was to send a NR class 97 to top the train back to Derby on the following day
but in the event repairs were made which meant that the 31s didn't need any extra assistance. So, on the Monday morning, a new schedule was entered with the train booked to leave Banbury at 12.20 and run to Derby via Hatton and Birmingham. This time it ran to time and here seen making a quite leisurely climb of Hatton Bank with just 31285 providing the power
about 30 minutes before the light would have been in an ideal position. Still, the working was ususual enough for this not to matter too much...
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The "Cruise Saver" train which ran to Southampton on 19 April 2011 with 47810+ 47501 returned to Edinburgh on Saturday 30 April, this time with 47832 + 47510. The train, 1Z48, was again routed via Hatton and with a booked time there of 13.10
the light was never going to be in quite the right place. With this in mind I went to a location which I hadn't visited for many years with the intention of taking a broadside photograph to shown the colourful baggage car this time marshalled behind the locomotives. When I arrived, there was more lineside vegetation
than there used to be but with 1Z48 running about twenty minutes early there wasn't time for me to move. An Anglian liveried coach was tacked on the back to add to the colourful scene. The background is dominated by the bell tower of what used to be called Hatton lunatic asylum, now part of
a modern housing estate.
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A rake of 18 ex Fastline IIA hoppers was taken from Long Marston to Doncaster on Thursday 28 April 2011. The train, hauled by GBRf's 66732 and with the headcode 4E53, is here pictured passing Blackminster crossing a few miles to the east of Evesham amidst a mass of Hawthorn blossom.
The newly laid but still out-of-use down line is in place on either side of the road in the background and it is apparent that unless an awful lot of vegetation is cleared, and kept cleared, from the right had side of the tracks there won't be much of a photograph of a down train from
here when the double track is operational.
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Test trains along the North Cotswold Line seem to be quite frequent at the moment and Wednesday 27 April 2011 saw an out and back run by 31602 with a track recording coach, generator vehicle and DBS. The train, running as 1Z13 from Derby to Bristol via Worcester and Oxford, had run south in the
late morning but the weather was quite dull so I decided to wait for the afternoon run back to Worcester in the hope that the sun would come out as had been forecast. The section of the line has recently seen the reinstatement of double track although as is clearly visible the new down side
has not yet been commissioned, 31602 leading its short train along what will become the up line when the work is complete.
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Before going home on 27 April 2011 after photographing 31602 I decided to wait for a few minutes so as to photograph a FGW HST climbing away from Honeybourne and up towards Moreton-in-Marsh. In the fairly still Spring air the train, led by power car
43187 was audible for some time, although not quite as loud as a GWR Castle would have been some 40 years ago! The newly laid down track is now in place although not yet in use and the recently cleared undergrowth to the left
of the train is growing up again at quite a rate. I don't imagine that it will be long before the up photograph is once again obscured as it was for many years before the recent work took place.
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Saturday 23 May 2011 saw 70000 Britannia work from London Paddington to Stratford-upon-Avon. This made it exactly one year to the day since last I photographed a steam working so, as it was a nice day, I made the short journey to a convenient location on the single track between Hatton West and Bearley Junction.
This photograph was taken from the right side of the fence, unlike those of some people further south whom earlier I had seen walking down the track. The train, 1Z40, arrived here just about on time and was coasting on the falling gradient towards Bearley. I think that quite a few largely identical photographs may have have taken around Wilmcote
as when I drove home, the normally quiet road into the village was virtually blocked by several dozen cars...
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Good Friday, 22 April 2011, was marked on the GWR Birmingham to Leamington Spa with the running of several additional trains. I had intended to go to a footbridge near Dorridge station but inertia took over on the drive
along the A3400 and I turned right and ended up at Hatton. First along was 67012 hauling a 5R04 Stourbridge Junction to Banbury train here seen sweeping around the curve adjacent to Hatton station. It is noticeable that
the locomotive has had the WSMR branding removed, although the coaches have still to be so treated.
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The coal trains to Didcot Power Station that have been running for a few weeks continued on Friday 22 April 2011. Here is 6Z98, the 12.57 from Daw Mill, about to pass Hatton station behind
66545 pictured passing the banner repeater showing the aspect of the signal situated on the end of Hatton's up platform. A DBS operated coal train had run earlier in the day, before I went out,
and returned later, just after I had gone home.
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Easter weekend 2011 saw the usual blockades for engineering work across the railway network. In connection with this, there were several additional trains running through Hatton on 22 April and the first that
I saw was a 6Z22 1005 Doncaster Belmont to Hinksey Yard hauled by 66065, here seen passing Hatton North Junction. There aren't many "two-way" locations
on this line but this footbridge is one of the better although not one for those who want the sun on the nose of a southbound train in the afternoon.
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My main interest on afternoon of 22 April 2011 was 6V06, the 1514 Handsworth to Tidal Sidings train of scrap metal diverted from its usual route via
Cheltenham and Gloucester. Scrap trains are not common on the Hatton line so I pleased to get this image of 66187 passing the little used junction to Stratford-upon-Avon.
I don't recall photographing a similar working around here since 2005 when 60060 worked a 6V97
Beeston to Cardiff train also diverted because of engineering work.
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The return working from Banbury of 5R04 as seen earlier on 22 April 2011 was allocated the headcode 5J04 and departed at 15.41. The train is here seen
approaching Hatton North Junction with DVT 82303 leading five coaches and propelled by 67012 under a largely clear sky and some of the highest April temperatures I can remember.
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For the second time in five days 60015 was diagrammed to work the Lindsey Oil Refinery to Theale train and its return, 6E55. The train left Theale early and was unusually
allowed to keep going rather than having to wait for its correct path somewhere along the Thames Valley. I had photographed Monday's train from the footbridge
so chose to stay on the footpath for this one so as to vary the shot a little.
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Another of the trains runnng via Hatton on 22 April 2011 associated with Easter weekend engineering work was 6O01, the 1233 Toton North Yd to Hinksey Yard. This appeared to empty rail carriers presumably destined to be loaded
with redundant track panels. The motive power allocated to this train was 66207 and the ensemble is seen passing under the footbridge at Hatton North Junction. This was a bit of grab shot as I had just photographed a northbound working
as 6O01 was approaching so made a dash for the lineside fence by the stile leading to the footpath for this view.
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Making a change from loaded ballast trains working to Hinksey Yard on 22 April 2011 was 6M22, the 11.56 Westbury to Stud Farm empty wagons. This was running late due to a delayed start from Westbury and passed Hatton North Junction approximately
in the path normally used by 6E55, the Theale to Lindsey tanks which had already gone north.
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My final shot from Hatton on the busy afternoon of Friday 22 April 2011 was this of 66027 with 6V77, the 14.17 Bardon Hill to Hinksey Yard loaded ballast; another heavy train, the payload of which was destined for the approaching busy weekend of engineering work.
This was easily the busiest afternoon I have witnessed on this line for some years and without a single example of a container train, the line's usual staple fare, being seen. Another two northbound trains were not far away by the time that I left but I had had
enough and so went home.
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The New Measurement Train did a return run over the North Cotswold Line on Thursday 21 April 2011. Running as 1Z15 09.00 Derby to Derby via Oxford the train, topped and tailed by power cars 43013 + 43062, is here seen a few minutes after leaving Evesham and just before
crossing the Blackminster Road level crossing. The newly laid but still uncommissioned down track with its clean new ballast is in the foreground of the picture and the misty background is partly the result of the high pressure weather system over the most of the country and partly
because a smallholder had just lit a bonfire in an adjacent field. The new track has been laid on both sides of the crossing behind the camera but the major work needed to put it across the road itself has still to be done, as can just
be made out in this photograph of FGW 166219 heading towards Evesham, Worcester Foregate Street and Great Malvern.
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There haven't been many DBS hauled trains to Long Marston in recent times and none this far in 2011 as far as I can recall. However, on 21 April 2011, 66185 took a rake of JNA and KEA boxes from Milford Sidings for storage there. The usual headcode, 6V17, and lunchtime path was used which gives
an arrival at Evesham shortly after 13.00 and as I was already in the area having photographed the NMT I just went to Evesham station for a picture. This avoided the problem of a misty background caused by the current weather conditions
and gave a nice identifiable background to the shot. The train, the focus of attention for the passengers on the down platform, is here seen pulling to a halt in the up platform where a brief pause was necessary until a Great Malvern had cleared the single line section from Moreton-in-Marsh.
This pause was plenty long enough for me to wander up to the roadbridge for another picture taken as the driver of 6V17 took in a pleasant bit of sunshine. On the other side of the station the downside trackbed was in the process of being cleared
ready for double track to be extended in the region of one mile further towards Worcester.
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The GWR line between Birmingham and Leamington Spa sees regular passenger traffic from both Chiltern Railways and Arriva CrossCountry. An example of each is seen in this picture taken near Wawick on 19 April 2011 as
165021 heads towards Leamington with a Moor Street to London Marylebone service and a Voyager heads north with a Reading to Manchester train. The trees on the left are a bit intrusive but I have been to my usual haunts
around Hatton far too often recently so thought that a change was about due.
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The main reason for going out on 19 April 2011 was to photograph the first run of the DRS operated "Cruise Saver" train, 1Z47, from Edinburgh to Southampton. As the headcode suggests, this was powered by double-headed class 47s with 47810 (gleaming) and 47501 (not quite gleaming), the former having a
taped-over nameplate ready for unveiling at some point later in the day. The leading locomotive is carrying its third colour scheme for recent years as it was in Virgin Trains' red for some time followed by Cotswold Rail's attractive silver livery. The rear coach of the train was being used as the baggage car
and looked quite a sight with its "Cruise Saver" branding.
The train was running spot on time as it passed through the suburban outskirts of Warwick but something or other running late over the adjacent Leamington Spa to Coventry line caused it to be checked and it was held at a signal a few hundred yards beyond this spot. Consequently, it was going nice and slowly
when it passed me. The electrical cables to the right of the picture are a bit of a distraction and I especially dislike seeing unsupported wires in my pictures which is the reason for including part of the pylon in the picture.
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The ballast trains from Mountsorrel to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry seem to be running less frequently than in the recent past with Mondays and Tuesdays being the best bet for a photograph. On 19 April 2011, 66712 was in charge and is here seen in the suburbs of Warwick as it heads south some ten minutes
later than its scheduled time. The front wagons of 6O96 were empty with ballast being conveyed only in the back half-dozen or so; maybe this explains the reduced number of trains running at the moment.
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Despite the small number of class 60s currently operational an example does still occasionally turn up on the overnight train from Lindsey Oil Refinery to Theale and then the more photographable 6E55 13.35 return. Monday 18 April 2011 saw 60015 on this duty
and I was tempted to go out for a shot if the cloud that had built up since mid-morning looked as if it might clear. By 15.30 most of the sky was cloudy but with what looked like a clearer patch to the north of Stratford-upon-Avon. Having left it quite late before
making up my mind to go I went to just about the nearest spot for me, Hatton North Junction, and arrived just as the sun came out of a thick patch of cloud and into a small area of clear sky. This clear area looked like it might last for five or six minutes so I was
pleased when a friend telephoned from the Warwick Parkway area to say that 6E55 was on its way. The preceding class 165 on a stopping train passed by and then I heard the empty oil tanks rattling across the pointwork just to the south of Hatton station four or five minutes early on the booked time. The sun held for my picture
with a couple of minutes to spare before another large patch of cloud turned off the lights.
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A sunny day is the only time that I can be bothered to go out and photograph routine, everyday traffic these days but given the lovely light on the morning of 24 March 2011 it seemed rude not to take advantage of it. I didn't want to go far so went to Hatton where I knew that two freights would appear
in a fairly short space of time. The first was 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton Freightliner service hauled by 66575. This is seen passing the banner repeater signal just to the north of the station not far from its booked time. I'm surprised that this picture is sharp as at the precise moment I pressed
the shutter the driver of the class 66 blew a greeting on his locomotive's horn to the small gallery photographing him; this made me jump, as it does, and I expected a blurred or mis-composed image to be the result.
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As I mentioned in the caption of this picture, there are some coal trains running from Daw Mill Colliery to Didcot power Station at the moment. One of the loaded workings is 6V37, scheduled to pass Hatton at about 10.40, a few minutes after
the Freightliner train shown above. It was a short while later than this when it appeared on 24 March 2011 but it was none the worse for that. The same locomotive, 66192, as I had photographed on the northbound working on the previous day was still on the circuit and the train is here seen about to pass under the roadbridge at Hatton.
It doesn't seem all that long ago that it was possible to photograph quite a few loaded and empty MGRs on this line, usually hauled by classes 56 and 58 with the odd appearance of a 47 or pair of 37s. Such workings are unusual enough these days to warrant some attention, especially as the flow of coal is only for a few days in duration
and intended to top up Didcot's stockpile before the summer shutdown. It looks as if a bit of ivy trimming on the bridge might be in order or perhaps I should learn to look more carefully at the whole frame through my camera's viewfinder!
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A short set of ten PGA wagons was taken from the Marcroft works at Stoke on Trent to Long Marston on 24 March 2011. The train, 6Z47, was worked by COLAS Rail and the locomotive allocated was 47749, the one of the company's fleet that
I have photographed least often. The path used meant that the sun was beginning to move round towards the west and just about the most favourable place was on the approach to Evesham where 6Z47 was scheduled to appear at 13.09. There had been some slightly
late running in the Birmingham area which might have meant the train having to wait at Worcester or Norton Junction until the next down passenger service, the 13.17 from Evesham to Great Malvern, had cleared the single track. In the event, the driver didn't
hang around and 47749 came into view in plenty of time to avoid any delay to the class 165 unit going north. Here then is the short formation passing the inner home signal at Evesham, due for removal before too long, as it slowly approaches the station where
the token will be exchanged for the run to Honeybourne and Long Marston.
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Another spell of fine weather coupled with a fair variety of traffic tempted me over to Hatton North Junction on Wednesday 23 March 2011. The first train I had hoped to photograph, the GBRf ballast train from Mountsorrel to Eastleigh, didn't run so I had a bit of a wait before the first freight appeared.
This was 6Z98 Daw Mill Colliery to Didcot Power Station hauled by 66554 which passed me a couple of minutes late. Some stockpiling of coal at Didcot is currently taking place before the summer period when few trains run because the power station generally produces power only in the winter months. Freightliner
hauled coal trains are far from commonplace on this line so a sunny shot was welcome as the train passed under the Shrewley road bridge just to the north of Hatton.
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The Network Rail New Measurement Train runs along the Birmingham to Leamington Spa quite regularly but a southbound run in the early afternoon is unusual so I took the chance on 23 March 2011 to try for
a well lit photograph at hatton North Junction. The train, 1Q16 from Derby to Old Oak Common, was led by a newly repainted power car which was yet to receive any branding or, I think, numbers. There are
many lineside trees at this location and it is difficult to avoid a picture with shadows over part of the train but I still think that this is an atractive spot with refreshingly few passers-by enquiring
if a steam train is coming...
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There is a great deal of weekend engineering work on the former Southern Region at the moment and additional trains are running to provide the necessary ballast. One of these is 6Z27, the 11.56 Stud Farm to Hinksey Virtual Quarry, from where
the ballast is tripped further south as required. On 23 March 2010 the train was in the hands of 66030 and is here seen passing Hatton North Junction where the little used line to Hatton West Junction and Stratford-upon-Avon diverges from the
GWR Birmingham to Leamington Spa line.
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A regular ballast working at Hatton North Junction is 6M22, the 11.56 Westbury Virtual Quarry to Stud Farm empties. This is usually hauled by one of Freightliner's class 66/6 locomotives and there was no exception on 23 March when 66603 was provided.
The train is about to pass Hatton North Junction just about on time at 15.17 with its uniform rake of large boxes. Next along was a late running 4M66 with no visible load, although a few containers were towards the back of the train hauled, on this occasion,
by 66100. I know that it's a sign of the times and the financial difficulties the country is facing, but I think an empty intermodal train is just about the least satisfying sight on the network, especially in perfect light
when the splash of colour from a well loaded train can be quite attractive.
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I had hoped to photograph the empty oil tanks from Didcot Power Station to Lindsey on 23 March 2010, due at Hatton North Junction at around 16.15 but by 17.15 there had been no sign of it. I decided
to hang on for a few minutes more in case the returning empty coal train from Didcot to Daw Mill, 6M53 was on time. By 17.35 I had had enough and just after putting my camera back in its rucksac
and started to walk towards the bridge I heard a rumble in the distance. This turned oout to be 66192 with 6M53 which arrived just in time to avoid the worst of the shadows being cast by nearby trees and vegetation.
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The class 172 mileage accumulation runs continued on 16 and 17 March 2011 with 172332 working with GBRf crews between Tyseley and Stratford-upon-Avon. The sky began to clear at lunchtime on 17 March so I thought that a sunny shot of the new unit might be possible, unlike
the one that I had taken earlier in the day at Edstone, just north of Bearley Junction when the preceding class 150 was in perfect light but the 172 managed to come in a thick bank of low cloud blowing in from the west. My afternoon
shot was at Henley-in-Arden where the sun was perhaps a little too straight at that time but just about about acceptable, especially when compared with my earlier efforts.
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London Midland, who operate the suburban railway services throughout the West Midlands, are soon to replace their ageing and increasingly decrepit class 150 DMUs with new class 172/3 units. One of these, 172332 visited Stratford-upon-Avon for, I think, the first
time on 15 March 2011 on a mileage accumulation and test run. The train is here seen arriving into platform 2 at Stratford as the usual arrival platform for trains from Birmingham, No.1, was under possession by a gang carrying out refurbishment work on the canopy. It is only within the past few months that train have been able to
run directly into platforms 2 and 3, the required work having been carried out when the resignalling of the whole line took place late in 2010. It's a pity that the sun wasn't out at the time because it would have been in the perfect place for this move.
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There was a turnround time of about ten minutes at Stratford-upon-Avon for 172332 before it retraced its tracks over the North Warwickshire Line to Tyseley, the main London Midland depot for the area.
Here it is leaving the terminus with evidence of the work being carried out to the platform canopy and GWR footbridge, the latter having required the construction of a temporary footbridge so that passengers
can access platforms 2 and 3. The corridor connection to be used when units are coupled will make revenue protection easier for the on-train staff and will generally increase the flexibility of the trains when compared
to the existing class 150 DMUs.
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Once 172332, as shown in the two pictures above, had returned to Tyseley on 15 March 2011 it was sent on another trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. The new unit is here seen passing Wilmcote station
with its distinctive GWR footbridge and buildings before dropping down the 1/75 of Wilmcote Bank before having to wait outside the terminus for the 13.27 from Stratford to Stourbridge Junction
to clear the crossover. The return of 172332 happened in an unfortunate patch of bright sunshine; unfortunate because at this time of day it is in exactly the wrong place for photography so I didn't
bother with another picture. My thanks to David Weake for the timely message about 172332's working.
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The Cotswold Line, between Oxford and Worcester, is currently undergoing a lot of change as much of the single track is replaced with double in order to improve timekeeping. The secton of line between Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham is due to be doubled although there is, is mid-March 2011, little sign of much happening; the work currently being concentrated on
the more southerly area, south of Moreton. One of the level crossings that will have to be adapted for double track is that at Littleton and Badsey, visible in the background of this photograph taken on 14 March 2011 as 165111 heads towards Evesham, Worcester and Great Malvern. The GWR station here was on the far side of the Blackminster Road, although a
goods yard was situated where the scrapyard dealing with defunct cars is now to be found.
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This train from Didcot to Long Marston nearly escaped my attention on 14 March 2011. I don't always read all the locomotive allocation lists that are kindly posted and if it hadn't been for an intermediate sighting of 6B17 provided by a photographer on the Gloucester line I would have known nothing about it. I knew no times but it seemed likely that the usual lunchtime path from
Worcester to Honeybourne would be used, when the train leaves Evesham at around 13.17. I needed to go to a local farm shop at some point during the early part of the week so made use of this excuse for a shot of 66136 and its short rake of tanks going for storage. I expected that once the down train heading for Great Malvern had reached Evesham, 6B17 would be released and the barriers
protecting the road behind me would be lowered. Wrong again... The freight had obviously missed its path south so had to wait for the passenger service to reach Norton Junction before heading along the single line to Evesham and then on, after a token exchange, towards Honeybourne. This being the case, 66136 came into view just before 14.00 and passed this bridge at Blackminster
a few moments later.
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An unusual locomotive, 59201, was allocated to work 6B36, the Didcot to Ashchurch MOD train on 11 March 2011 meaning that I had to have my morning swim about an hour earlier than usual so that I could photograph it. I don't recall that a 59/1 has been on the Ashchurch branch before and don't think that many have been on the Birmingham to Cheltenham line either, although
the same 59 did work a railtour as far as Worcester in February 1999. Anyway, I arrived on the roadbridge just to the south of Ashchurch station only a couple of minutes before 6B36 came slowly into view, unusually, in my admittedly limited experience, not running into the down goods loop, largely because
66014 was already there with 6V05 Round Oak to Margam. It had been sunny for most of the drive over but a large piece of cloud appeared at just the wrong moment. Still, better to get a cloudy picture of a rare move than none at all...
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By the time that 59201 had propelled its train from the main line, through the exchange sidings, and onto the branch to the MOD, formerly the Midland Railway line to Evesham, the sun had reappeared which more than made up for the dull shot on the main line. I much prefer to get this sort of train on its destination line
so the sun was welcome for this picture. If I were to be picky I should have preferred a longer train but there again, this little formation does fit quite well into the available space. There was no traffic for Didcot so the return was just a light engine move which left as soon as
a path south as far as Standish Junction was available.
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While I was photographing 59201 on the Ashchurch branch during the morning of 11 March 2011, 66014 was sitting in the down goods loop with 6V05, the 09.23 Round Oak to Margam empty steel wagons. Just before sun disappeared, 6V05 left the loop and headed slowly south through Ashchurch station
and away towards its destination. The tree on the right-hand side of the picture has been a feature of this shot for as long as can remember and forms a very attractive and useful prop to aid the photograph's framing.
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The second ECS move involving 37682 + 37409 took place on Thursday 10 March 2011. After working to Eastleigh on 8 March, the DRS pair returned north with a twelve coach rake of Northern Belle and Virgin Trains liveried stock.
As I rarely photograph charters I decided to have a shot of this train which gave me a rare opportunity to take a picture of DRS locomotives on passenger stock. The train, 5Z47, was due to pass Hatton at around 13.15 and I arrived at Hatton North Junction where it was cloudy, drizzling and quite windy, in plenty of time
in case some time might be gained by missing out a booked stop in Fenny Compton loop. As is often the case this stop didn't take place and the train came into sight some thirteen minutes early and in a lucky patch of bright sunshine. There were a couple of video cameramen taking footage of the train but there wasn't a great
deal of noise from the locomotives; I suppose that somewhere just in excess of 400 tons isn't much of a load for two 37s in good condition. I recall hearing a single 37 take 1200 tons of freightliner up here a few years ago; that was much more entertaining!
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Tuesday 8 March 2011 was the second sunny day in a row for which I was free to take whatever photographs took my fancy. I knew that Chiltern Railways were running crew familiarisation trains using 67013, a five coach and DVT with the first run, 5Z50, scheduled to leave Birmingham Moor Street at 09.43. As the sun would be in just the right spot at Hatton Station Junction
at about 10.20 I went there, arriving just in time to take this shot of 168214 leaving the Stratford-upon-Avon branch as the 09.35 from the terminus to London Marylebone. Much as I like seeing trees around the countryside I do wish that Network Rail would decide that the one doing its best to hide the third coach were too close to the line and remove it.
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Since WSMR ceased trading there have been several scenarios bandied around about what will happen to the stock under the care of Chiltern Railways. I suspect that no-one outside the company knows for sure but they are certainly using one set for crew training. Here is 67013 passing Hatton with 5Z50, the 09.43 Birmingham Moor Street to Bicester North on 8 March 2011
in light just about as good as it gets. By a small coincidence, I photographed the last daylight (just!) working also with 67013 in the same location on 28 January 2011. What a difference a few weeks makes... Whatever, it is good that this valuable asset is almost certain to see further regular
use, maybe in a new livery, over the coming months.
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There was quite an interesting ECS move from Crewe to Eastleigh running on 8 March 2011, booked via the WCML, Nuneaton, Coventry and Leamington Spa. I knew that it was running almost two hours late
so had shelved my earlier plans to go to a location near Fenny Compton and went for a look at Whitnash. I arrived on the bridge there just in time to see 66541 coming up the gradient from Leamington Spa
with 4O54, the 06.13 Leeds to Southampton Freightliner service. That company certainly gets its moneys worth from these locomotives; I photographed it the previous afternoon while it was working
4O49 from Birch Coppice to Southampton, so it must have run from Southampton to Leeds overnight. The light was getting too straight
here for a decent picture so it was necessary to move elsewhere for the ECS move mentioned above.
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An ECS move from Crewe to Eastleigh was down to run on 8 March 2011, scheduled to leave the former at around 07.45. By the time the stock had been shunted around and joined together it was almost two hours
later before it actually left. This made a location for the picture difficult to some degree as the sun would have been a bit too head-on for my taste on the Coventry to Leamington Spa line and almost as bad
just about anywhere south of Leamington until it turned left onto the GWR main line at Didcot. The obvious choice for me was the station at Leamington where the line swings onto an east-west axis meaning that
the sun would be in what most would regard as the perfect place. I know that station locations are considered a little unfashionable by some photographers but when it means a well-lit picture as opposed to something
less well-lit, I'm not fussy, especially when there is a chance of some exhaust smoke as the locomotives are opened up. I hadn't been there for many minutes when the signal for up main line flicked onto green and as nothing else was due, this had to be 5Z47 with 37682 + 37409 in charge of a
colourful mish-mash of coaches. I was a bit concerned about having my shot obscured because the signal for the down main was also on green ready for 4M55, the Southampton to Lawley Street Freightliner but the ECS
had been gone for several minutes before the 'liner appeared.
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The Westerleighy to Lindsey Oil Refinery empty tank train, 6E41, still manages to run with class 60 power on most occasions. Most locations along the Gloucester to Birmingham will inevitably offer a heavily
backlit photograph unless the train runs unusually late and it was no exception on 8 March 2011. Here is 60015 passing the points leading to Eckington loop as it throbs its way north just about on time and with
a train just the right length to help me avoid the cardinal sin of cutting the rear tanks. Running only a few minutes behind 6E41 was the nuclear flask train from Berkeley to Crewe, 6M56, with its locomotives, 66431 + 66427
dwarfing the single flask being conveyed.
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I don't often bother with test trains because all too often they are very short formations which never seem to fit too well into many locations. Now and again though, one comes along that has a decent set of coaches and when the running
of these coincides with good light I will make the effort. Tuesday 8 March 2011 saw a 1Q12 11.33 Derby to Bristol Temple Meads running down the Birmingham to Gloucester line and with the sun being favourable almost anyhwere
on that line I went to a crossing near Bredon where one gets a good view from the right side of the fence. Here is 37069 at speed leading four coaches and 37059 alongside Eckington loop, fortunately without a temporary resident to get in the way!
Just in front of 1Q12 was the FGW passenger train from Great Malvern formed of hired-in 150257.
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The weather forecast for Monday 7 March 2011 was for blue skies and unbroken sunshine in the area south of Birmingham. With this in mind I went to Bentley Heath crossing, just north of Dorridge station, with the intention of taking whatever came along. I no longer go out for ordinary or scheduled traffic such as Freightlineers if the conditions aren't
close to perfect as I won't achieve anything that I haven't bettered on a previous occasion. However, when the light is as good as it was on this day I will happily take anything and just as I arrived on the footbridge
150005 with 153325 tagged on the back came south forming a train due to terminate at Dorridge. These DMUs won't be around for ever as London Midland are due to take on a fleet of much more comfortable class 172/3 units so
it does no harm to have a few record shots in the bag. The light was still a little too straight but the inclusion of the 153 in the formation made the shot worthwhile.
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I expected to see at least three southbound freights at Bentley Heath on 7 March 2011 and first of these was 4O49, the 10.32 Mondays only Birch Coppice to Southampton. It was running about 25 minutes late when it crawled past me, having been signalled into the up goods loop to allow a
Chiltern Railways class 168 to pass. As it happened, the other container train that I had expected to see, DBS's 4O53 from Wakefield, didn't materialise although it may have run early.
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The northbound photograph at Bentley Heath is not the most attractive in the area with a variety of intrusive poles and ground-level structures to
distract the eye, so this shot of 66563 hauling 4M55, the 08.55 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner is included only for completeness. This train was particularly well loaded
on 7 March 2011 with only one gap at the front and two at the rear of the consist. I don't much like pictures of mostly empty freightliners or intermodals as there is something
most unsatisfying about a set of small-wheeled flats being dragged around.
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Since the demise of the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company, the vehicles previously used by them haven't been entirely idle with quite regular appearances having been made
between London and Birmingham. On 7 March 2011, 67013 unexpectedly, to me anyway, propelled a five coach set and DVT north through Bentley Heath at about 11.45 although I didn't take a shot because of the very harsh
backlighting and also because I had an insufficiently wide angle lens on my camera at that time. Not to worry though, just under an hour later the train returned south, running as 5Z52 Birmingham Snow
Hill to Bicester North.
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The local trains to be found on the Brimingham Snow Hill to Dorridge line aften give the chance to photograph some colourful combinations, none more so than
this blue and green medley, with 150132 leading, on the approach to the crossover giving access to the local platform at Dorridge station on 7 March 2011. I'm generally not much
of a fan of ground level shots but I do quite like the picture here, taken from the fence alongside the road as the train passes under the footbridge from which the previous photograph was taken.
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The picture I was especially keen to take on 7 March 2011 was of 66706 hauling 6O96, the 10.27 Mountsorrel to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry loaded ballast train. It is due to pass Bentley Heath, near Dorridge,
at about 12.55 but it wasn't until 14.43, some 110 minutes late, that it finally appeared under the road bridge in the backgound going so slowly that it was clearly routed into the up goods loop, so increasing the lateness.
The train had passed Whitacre Junction only about 20 minutes late but this was obviously enough to cause it to lose its path through the black hole that is sometimes to be found in the Washwood Heath area.
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A long rake of IZA ferrywagons has been hanging around at the so-called "Daventry" railfreight terminal waiting to be transferred to Long Marston for storage. They should have been moved a couple of weeks ago but the DRS class 37 sent to do the job failed en-route before reaching
Rugby so the working was cancelled. Another more successful attempt took place on 28 February 2011 when a grubby 47712 ran light engine from Crewe to pick up the load. The weather was awful and if this hadn't been the first time that a DRS class 47 had run over the Cotwold Line and the Long Marston branch
I wouldn't have bothered. Here is 6Z80 arriving at Evesham under a uniformly dull and grey sky, passing the semaphore signals which I today learned are going to be abolished and replaced with colour lights operated from a new panel in the signal box. This work will be done during the final stages
of the line's redoubling and will, for me at least, be a sad event as I have always liked to see proper signals being lowered to allow the passage of a train.
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It's not much of a diversion for me to head home from Evesham via Long Marston and I thought that I might have time for an intermediate shot from the overbridge on the Evesham to Offenham road. As I drove along the Evesham bypass the light deteriorated even further and some quite heavy rain began to fall, but as the signal on the up side of the bridge cleared to green as I approached
the bridge I stopped off for a quick shot of 47712 and its load of ferrywagons. It wasn't really worth even the minimal effort involved but I suppose that it's possible that DRS won't send another of their class 47s this way again...
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There was plenty of time for a gentle drive around the lanes towards Honeybourne and Long Marston before 6Z80 arrived at the latter and indeed, I caught a glimpse of it standing on the branch at the former as I passed underneath the line near the
former ballast tip adjacent to the main North Cotswold Line. It was some ten minutes later that I saw 47712 appearing through the misty background on the approach to its destination, marking the first visit of the DRS class 47 to the branch. There was
no return load so I was back in my car and on the way home before the final wagon had passed under the roadbridge.
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On Sunday 27 February 2011, a Birmingham football team was playing a match in London and extra trains were arranged by Chiltern Railways to cater for the expected demand. Unusually, eight coach class 168 units formed
the specials and a couple of the timetabled services were operated by locomotive hauled coaching stock. The first of these was 1H35, the 11.13 Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone, was was formed of 67001, six Mk3 coaches
and Chiltern DVT 82302. The weather was absolutely dreadful, misty and wet with a cold wind blowing heavy rain into my lens as I stood on the roadbridge at Hatton as 67001 passed by in the region of seven minutes late; indeed, the conditions were so bad
that I wish I had stayed at home in the warm.
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A rake of VTG KEA box wagons should have left Long Marston for Beeston on Friday 18 February 2011 behind COLAS Rail's 47727 but problems with the stock caused the abandonment of the run. Another attempt, albeit operated by GBRf (but with a COLAS crew), took place on 23 February with the wagons this time being destined for Doncaster.
Newly painted 66729 was diagrammed for the job and is here seen waiting to enter Long Marston to pick up the train which was being shunted on the other side of the site as I arrived. It wasn't long before the locomotive and stock were united as can be seen in this view taken in a very short-lived patch
of weak sunshine. The wagons are to be used to convey coal from Maltby Colliery to Immingham where it is to be blended with coal from other sources before use.
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The scheduled departure time for 6Z98 was 15.30 and it was a few minutes before this time when the train moved out of the exchange sidings and onto the branch towards Honeybourne. The secondman from the locomotive has to retrieve the single line staff from the ground frame at Long Marston once the train has cleared the
pointwork at the end of the exchange sidings and, in this case, had quite a long walk back to the locomotive. This gave me time to drive around the corner and obtain this photograph as it rounded the bend towards Broad Marston and Honeybourne. The railings protecting the line are a bit intrusive
but they are at least proper wooden staves rather than the horrible pallisade fencing which infects ever increasing amounts of the railway. The light was such that I didn't bother to go any further and so returned home.
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A train conveying nuclear material ran from Crewe to Keyham on 21 February 2011 and on the following day the two escort coaches returned north behind DRS locomotives 47712 + 57009. Here is the latter train passing Defford in Worcestershire running some twenty four minutes. My original plan had been to take my photograph
just to the south of Abotswood Junction but suspecting that a booked stay in Alstom loop at Cheltenham might be omitted I diverted to a nearer location. This turned out to be a wise move as I arrived here only a couple of minutes before the train, 5Z50, appeared in the misty background. I wanted a fairly wide shot to show off the
coaches, the reason for the train running at all, rather than just the locomotives. Coincidentally, I took a picture of 47712 in this same spot on 2 November 2006 still carrying the "Blue Pullman" colour scheme that had been applied when it was used to haul
a set of coaches somehow intended to look similar to the 1960s train.
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The train conveying empty steel coil carriers from Corby to Margam, 6V92, used to receive a lot of attention from enthusiasts when a class 60 was diagrammed to haul it. These days, a class 66 is the usual motive power so it not often reported.
On 22 February 2011 66089 was in charge and is here seen passing the temporary permanent way yard at Defford, near Pershore. I have included this wide view to highlight the appalling state in which Network Rail leaves its worksites. This mass of sleepers
and pallets must surely be an invitation to those whose idea of fun it is to place objects on the line with the intention of killing or injuring travellers on the railway. Why on earth the debris cannot be dumped inside the compound quite escapes me.
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I don't often take photographs of nuclear flask trains but was keen to obtain a shot of this one, 6M56 from Bridgwater to Crewe, because I have thus far not seen the flasks with a pair of DRS class 66s in charge.
I fully appreciate the safety regulations that require these sensitive loads to be hauled by two locomotives but the whole thing does look a bit odd, especially when the train is approximately 1/3 the length
of the motive power! The location for this shot from 22 February 2010 is Defford and the locomotives are 66423 + 66421. I wasn't too displeased with this picture despite the extremely dull conditions and put this
down to careful exposure using the camera's histogram rather than the exposure meter. The RAW image needed virtually no manipulation to produce this image; all I really did was to slightly darken the misty Bredon
Hill in the background.
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The Floyd class 86 that was taken from Long Marston to Crewe last October returned on 17 February 2011. My plan had been to photograph the arrival from a nearby public footpath but the sun unexpectedly made an appearance just at the wrong moment and with its positiion
being right on top of and behind the train, the resulting image would have left a little to be desired. I therefore took this shot from the foot crossing as 47727 and the 86 waited at the gate. In contrast to today, the weather on the day that the locomotive originally left Long Marston was as close to perfect
as one can hope for as this picture of it demonstrates.
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There was a brief delay before the gate was opened so I had time to get back to the road bridge and take my usual picture as the train, 0Z86, stood at the end of the branch from Honeybourne while one the cats from Bridge Farm went on a hunting trip. It wasn't many minutes before the
local ground crew arrived, opened the gate and gave the right-away for 47727 to enter the exchange sidings and be detached from 86218. It then ran to the crossover at the far end of the yard before coming back on the other road
and going back onto the branch where driver John Price paused briefly to collect his crew mate who was in charge of the single line token protecting the line to Honeybourne. The class 47 then went light engine to Worcester Shrub Hill in readiness
for its next job on the following morning.
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It had been known for a few days that there was to be a COLAS move from Long Marston to Eastleigh on Tuesday 8 February 2011 but what wasn't known, to me at least, that eight of the FGW Motorail
vehicles, coded NVA, were forming the load. Because of a routine dental inspection I wasn't able to get across to the railway much before 11.30 and with a booked departure time from Long Marston of around 13.00
I thought that I wouldn't have much chance of seeing 5Z47 with 47727 there. I was right and my first view was a rather unsatisfactory one at Honeybourne,
where the crew were taking in the warm February sunshine while waiting for a path on the single line to Evesham. In the event the train was held to right time and is here seen passing Lower Moor, between Evesham and Pershore,
14.43, just about spot on the booked time. I don't think that the light at this time of year can be beaten for quality especially when the atmosphere is as clear as it was on this day.
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Once 47727 and 5Z47 had reached Worcester Yard on 8 February 2011 the locomotive was run-round the train of NVAs before it headed south to Eastleigh via Bristol Parkway, Bath Spa and Warminster. This routing gave the opportunity
for a well lit shot somewhere on the line south of Abbotswood Junction and I make no apology for showing yet another photograph taken at Croome Perry where I knew that the light for a southbound train would be perfect and the line completely
unshadowed. Here then is 5Z47 just after it had left the relative darkness of the wood where the attractive green and gold livery of the motorail coaches shows up to good effect behind the brightly coloured 47727, although the first two vehicles
do appear to have gained a think coat of algae while in store at Long Marston. Here is an earlier view of the stock behind 47145 taken at Evesham in November 2006. It will be interesting to see to what use the NVAs will be out in the future. Just before 5Z47
appeared, a late running 6E41 from Westerleigh to Lindsey Oil Refinery with 60099 came north and I decided on this going away view in preference to the heavily shadowed conventional view from the other side of the bridge.
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Trains conveying coke from Redcar to Margam have been running for quite a while but for various reasons, mostly revolving around my own inertia in times of poor weather, I hadn't photographed either the loaded or returning empties. Thursday 3 February 2011 started off dull in contravention of the weather forecast but
by mid-morning the skies had cleared well so I made the short journey to Croome Perry with the aim of getting a shot of 6V67, the loaded southbound working. It wasn't long before 66180 came slowly under the bridge, the down line being under a temporary speed restriction, with its long train of EWS branded HTA hoppers.
A few minutes later the corresponding empty working, 4E66, came north behind 66164. This isn't the best location at which to photograph northbound trains at any time of day, but I don't mind the occasional backlit shot as a change from the norm.
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First Great Western are currently hiring an Arriva class 150 on a day-by-day basis to cover one of their diagrams to Great Malvern. Here is 150242 passing Croome Perry at about 13.15 on 3 February 2011 with a train from Malvern heading south. I'm always happy to photograph DMUs especially when an example in an unusual colour scheme
for the area. The blue grids covering the lineside drains are a bit of a distraction here but at least, in this photograph, they nearly match the train's colour.
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The second batch of class 70s ordered by Freightliner arrived in the UK early in 2011 and some were immediately put to work on revenue earning trains while others seem to be doing very little. One of the regular trains in recent days entrusted to a brand new locomotive has been 6M12, the Portbury to Rugeley Power Station coal service,
which runs early in the morning, and the return, 4V06 to Stoke Gifford. As the light around lunchtime on 3 February 2011 was close to perfect after a dull start, and as the train was running late which helps with the angle of the sun at Croome Perry, I thought that it would be good to get a picture of the locomotive while it was still in a nice clean condition.
Here it is then coming under the occupation bridge in Croome Perry wood at 13.25 making it about 75 minutes late.
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One of the few trains that can often be relied upon early in 2011 to run with class 60 power is the oil train from Lindsey to Westerleigh and its empty balancing working, 6E41. On Thursday 3 February 2011 60040 in its unique colour scheme was rostered to the job and it is here seen approaching Croome Perry Wood. I hadn't intended to picture this working
here but a southbound train in which I was interested ran rather late and I didn't have time to move. This is the second time that I have photographed this locomotive during the past few days, the other being while it was
working the Theale to Lindsey empty tanks on 31 January.
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Arriva CrossCountry's HSTs still make welcome appearances on the NE - SW corridor, providing decent accomodation for passengers in stark contrast to their Voyager fleet with their noisy, cramped, vibrating environment and poorly positioned seating. On 3 February 2011 power car 43366 led the 06.32 Dundee to Plymouth service, 1V39, through Croome Perry wood a couple fo miles south
of Abbotswood Junction. This was the second such train I photographed during my short session here but the earlier one was not as well lit as this which ran about ninety minutes earlier when the sun's direction was less favourable.
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I don't follow locomotive classes and their allocations especially closely but think that it's been a while since a class 60 worked 6E55, the 13.35 Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks and 31 January 2011 was certainly the first time this year when a half-decent shot was on the cards north of Leamington Spa.
The timings fitted in well with a couple of other things that I had to do in the area so this shot just to the north of Warwick Parkway, where at least the line would be free of shadows just after 4pm if the pleasant winter sunshine held on, was my first choice.
A Chiltern Railways class 168 hadn't long pulled away from the station when I saw 60040 on the curve. It was clearly approaching an adverse signal but this cleared and the characteristic throbbing exhaust become audible as it begin to accelerate up Hatton Bank.
The light wasn't as good as it had been half an hour earlier but, as they say, you can see a shadow...
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Wednesday 26 January 2011 was notable because it was the day that WSMR announced that it was to cease running trains two days later. The speed of the action seems unusual, almost as if its mother company, DB which also has an interest in Chiltern Railways, has a currently hidden agenda which sees other uses for the valuable locomotives and stock
in the near future. The final up train, 1P23, ran with five coaches, presumably to cater for the expected enthusiast demand, led by 67013, and as I took my first photograph of one of the company's trains at Hatton it seemed appropriate to
attempt a shot of the final one in the same place. It's a shame that the low sun sank into some cloud just before the train became audible, but maybe a slightly gloomy shot
is a fitting finalé for these innovative and well-liked trains. I haven't taken all that many shots of WSMR trains but those I have can be found here.
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Following work to renew the station roof at Stratford-upon-Avon, attention has now switched to refurbishing the Great Western footbridge. So that this can be carried out without closing platforms 2 & 3, a temporary footbridge is in the process of being installed. On 18 January 2010 I wandered down for a look
and arrived just in time to photograph the arrival of 150010 as it was about to pass under the new bridge which was having the final touches applied.
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The original Great Western bridge, whilst still in use on 18 January 2010, was shrouded in plastic sheeting ready for, presumably, the metalwork to be shot-blasted before repainting. It isn't hard to see that the woodwork will need quite a bit of remedial work as much of it, particularly at ground level, has become
quite rotten. Here, 150010 is leaving the station as the 13.27 to Stourbridge Junction.
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The first train of 2011 to Long Marston ran on Friday 14 January when 37607 took a not very inspiring rake of 4 intermodal flats from Crewe. Running as 4Z80, the train was due to arrive at Evesham at 11.15 so I thought that if the weather picked up a little after a very dull start then I would go for a quick photograph. When I left my health club after
my daily swim the sky to the south-west looked quite clear so I went across in the hope that the cloud would stay away. It didn't, of course, and the light was dreadful as arrived on the roadbridge at 11.03 just as the scruffy and grimy locomotive's nose appeared coming over the river bridge just beyond the signalbox. It's a good job that there was a parking spot
closer than my usual one or I wouldn't have made it. I am becoming increasingly unwilling to go out in poor light, especially for routine traffic when nothing worthwile can be achieved and when I already have a similar but better shot taken in decent light. Careful exposure using the histogram and subtle work on the RAW image can produce an acceptable result with plenty of detail in the
shadowed areas such as the train's bogies, but you can't beat sunny conditions for a good image.
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Banbury station has recently seen a couple of very unusual new arrivals in the form of two new signals operating in the lower quadrant intended to faciliate the reversal of First Great Western HSTs diverted from their usual route because of major engineering work at Reading station.
Network Rail must have dug deep into their spares cupboard to find the necessary hardware, including the finials, and the result is pleasing for those, me included, who like semaphore signalling especially those following the Great Western pattern. I wanted a shot or two of the signals
and because of their position in relation to the sun's position, needed a cloudy day. January 1, 2011, was exceptionally dull with a nasty drizzle falling on the way up the M40, although it has cleared a little by the time that I had reached Banbury. The first train to appear
was 168219 on a Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill service and this is seen entering the station with the new equipment alongside.
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The first of the diverted FGW HSTs that I photographed on 1 January 2011 was led into Banbury by power car 43069 and is here seen about to enter the down loop prior to reversal amidst a lot of recently erected lineside clutter in the form of communication antennae. These trains, the details of which I couldn't be bothered to find out, ran in the down direction from Paddington to Banbury via the Chiltern Line and then
onwards via Oxford and Didcot West Curve to regain their normal route, up trains following the reverse procedure. To be quite honest, I probably wouldn't have made a lot of effort for these diversions had it not been for the new signalling arrangements at Banbury, especially in such awful light.Having said that, when another
possession takes place later in the year and in decent sun, a shot or two on the Chiltern Line itself, in particular in and around some of the stations, will be on my "to do" list.
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As I mentioned above, the diverted HSTs ran along the down loop at Banbury, where the crew changed ends before taking their train back towards Aynho Junction. The exit from this loop is protected by an earlier example of a lower quadrant signal from Western Region times, this having replaced the original Great Western structure at some point in the 1960s.
The light was truly dreadful as this train stood waiting for the Arrival CrossCountry Voyager to get out of the way but even so, I think that this wide-angle view was worth the effort. The conductor of the FGW train can just be made out ensuring that passengers, of which there were very few, neither joined or left the train here.
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When the trains were ready for departure from Banbury's down loop, the appropriate signal was pulled off to give it the road from there onto the up main line. The new signal replaced a disc used for shunting Chiltern terminating services and therefore has a long term future here even when the diversions for which it
was put into place have finished. Here, power car 43023 is seen at the rear of the train as it pulls forward on the down main line before crossing onto the up line and heading south either to the Chiltern Line or Oxford.
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Not all of the diverted HSTs used the loop at Banbury for reversal. Here is power car 43135 standing in platform 3 ready to head south as a member of staff gives the right-away after checking that no passengers have made
unauthorised entrances or exits from the train. This wrong-road procedure is facilitated by the new signals just off the plaform end, the right-hand of which is
pulled off in this shot of the train moving away. The picture is unfortunately a bit blurred as I sneezed at the precise moment that I pressed the shutter release...
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After seeing 66403 on the Mountsorrel to Eastleigh loaded ballast train on 8 December 2010 I thought that as the same locomotive was working the same diagram on the following day it would be worth having a trip out to get
a more satisfactory picture of it in a better spot. With this in mind and having seen that the sky was clearing I went to a footbridge north of Shrewley which, although not really one of my favourite locations because
it is a bit anonymous, would have a reasonably extensive area clear of shadows; always a problem in this area during the winter. The train, 6O96, was running in the region of 45 minutes late
and just missed the very best of the sun, a small area of light cloud having just developed and taken the edge off the light. All in all though, I was happy enough to get this shot of the somewhat grubby ex-DRS 66403, now leased to GBRf,
on its lengthy train of IOA wagons loaded with ballast along with a light coating of recent snow.
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After a cloudy start the afternoon of Wednesday 8 December 2010 was one of those when the light was perfect. The latest class 60 to cause widespread fuss is 60099 which has received the house colours of Tata, the Indian steel company that now seems to operate much of the world's steel industry. I should
quite like a picture of the locomotive before it expires and without having to make any real effort such as driving half-way across the country, so with it being scheduled to work 6E55, the Theale to Lindsey empty oil tanks which left Theale close to an hour early, I thought that a chance might present itself.
I reckoned without the seemingly dogmatic approach of Reading signalling panel whose determination not to allow any freight to run earlier than its booked path is legendary. It seemed particularly bloody-minded today when an available path caused by the non-running of 6M22, the Westbury to Stud Farm stone empties,
might easily have been used. The upshot was that this picture of 168218 leaving Warwick Parkway was the only northbound train to appear in the perfect light. My only other shot was of 66403 on a very late 6O96, the GBRf operated 10.25 Mountsorrel to Eastleigh Virtual Quarry loaded ballast
train. I wouln't normally take such a picture but a class 66 in the DRS livery of its former leaser is rare on this line.
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The third train of the week to go to or come from Long Marston ran on Friday 26 November 2010. This time it was a rake of KEA wagons from Doncaster running as 6C54 and due to arrive at Evesham at 11.12. I arrived on the bridge near the signalbox a couple of minutes before the train came into view in the distance, having left Norton Junction four minutes late but with that time made up
by the time it reached here. The light was as good as it ever gets and showed off the attractive Metronet livery of the locomotive to some advantage. I quite fancied another shot of 6C54 and went straight off to Aldington where the sun was just, but only just, on the track. Unfortunately I missed it due mostly to some very slow traffic around the Tesco store in Evesham. Still, just one shot will be the norm when the
North Cotswold Line is doubled to the east of Evesham as there will rarely, if ever, be a need to stop there once the token system for the currently single track is abolished.
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Another class 86 was scheduled to be taken from Long Marston to Crewe on Wednesday 24 November 2010. COLAS Rail were in charge of the move and 47727 ran light engine from Washwood Heath arriving just about on time at 11.45 a couple of minutes after I had heard the tell-tale horn as the locomotive approached one of the
level crossings on the branch from Honeybourne. I hadn't intended to
go over for this train unless one of COLAS' class 66s was used, none of which I had yet seen, but a message suggested that 47727 might be on its final mainline run before being restricted to shunting at Rugby Yard so I thought that the short trip
would be worthwhile. Here is the class 47 standing at the gate a couple of minutes after the site shunter had brought the former 86218 around the line from the yard area in the background and deposited it in road
1 ready for departure.
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The booked time for 0Z87 to leave Long Marston was around 13.30 but when I saw 47727 move straight onto the Floyd liveried class 86 at 11.50 thought that an early departure might be on the cards so went straight round to one of the footpaths crossing the line.
Sure enough, within a few minutes I heard the horn as 0Z87 pulled away and then came into view around the curve. The class 86 will now be taken to Crewe for electrical testing before being exported for further use.
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The WSMR company is cutting some services from early December 2010 and one of the losers is 1J82, the 11.20 London Marylebone to Wrexham train. Unfortunately, this is the only northbound of the company's offerings to run on the GWR Leamington Spa to Birmingham, all others going
via the much less photogenic route via Coventry. On 23 November 2010 I was at Hatton to photograph a southbound freight when 1J82 appeared running through the station and although I really don't like and rarely take these going-away shots just because the locomotive is on the back of the train, I did
take this one because 1) 67018 is always worth a frame and 2) this may well be the last chance that I have to photograph this train in decent light.
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I wasn't particularly happy with the first photograph that I took of this train, 6O96, the 10.25 Mountsorrel to Eastleigh East Yard loaded ballast train so when
it ran again on Tuesday 23 November 2010, a bright and sunny day, I decided to have another pop at it in the same location. This time the locomotive was 66701 and the train is rounding the curve just to the north of Hatton station
running a couple of minutes ahead of the booked time. This location gets more shadowy as each passes thanks to the ever-growing "island" of trees in the triangular junction which once was quite a large freight yard.
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Having spent a few minutes at Hatton over lunchtime on 23 November 2010 I returned home via Wilmcote and dropped into the station there just in time to take a photograph
of the daily Rail Head Treatment Train which runs down and up the North Warwickshire Line. I knew that shadows from trees in the garden of the old station house would be a problem
but thought that there might just be a clear enough patch of sun in the middle of the platform. There was, just, as DR 98958 led the formation south towards Stratford-upon-Avon and
I think that the spray of water from the middle of the train just catches enough light to be an effective highlight.
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Monday 22 November 2010 saw a light engine move by GBRf's 66705 from Peterborough to Long Marston in order to take a rake of 9 JNA box wagons to Doncaster. I was told about the train first thing in the morning but it took for me to remember that 66705 was
the class member that had had a Union Flag painted on the bodysides ready for its naming as "Silver Jubilee". This is one of the livery variations that I had in mind for a photograph but, as usual, I didn't intend to make any effort
until it came within easy reach. The locomotive ran early as far as Evesham but then had to wait for its booked path over the single track to Honeybourne and thence to Long Marston. I thought that a very early departure was on the cards as the headlights on a slightly grubby 66705 were switched on for a while
but the driver then switched them off again and headed off towards the control tower with the Motorail Logistics crew. I sat in my car for a while but got out for a quick look at 12.40, about 30 minutes before the booked time, to find the train just beginning to move and here is the shot
of 6E53 taken in very dull conditions; so dull in fact that I didn't go any further. Still, I have a shot of this locomotive complete with flag and look forward to getting a better lit one at some point.
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A new train ran for the second time on Thursday 18 November 2010. This was a GBRf working, 6O96, the 10.25 Mountsorrel to Eastleigh East Yard, and both for the inaugural run yesterday and today's, Metronet liveried 66721 was allocated. It's
always nice to get an early run of anything; in this game things sometimes change very quickly, so knowing that it was running in the region of an hour late and was recessed in Bordesley loop
I drove over to Hatton, arriving at 14.10, just as a southbound Arriva Voyager was passing. Just a few minutes later 66721 came around the bend from Hatton North Junction in a fortuitous and short-lived patch of sunlight.
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Given that Tuesday 16 November 2010 started with freezing temperatures and thick fog I didn't expect to see a lot of sun but the fog lifted well before lunchtime leaving a beautifully clear blue sky.
That being so, I wandered down to Stratford-upon-Avon station just as the 13.27 DMU to Stourbridge Junction was leaving, in the hope of getting a couple of shots of the day's RHTT arriving. It ran much earlier than the
previous day and sprayed its way into the platform just five minutes later at 13.32; a contrast to the day before when it didn't pass Edstone Aqueduct until 13.40. I was pleased to still see a bit of Autumnal colour
in the Silver Birch tree adjacent to platform 1 as was half expecting the leaves to have blown off before now.
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It is hard to resist a few shots of any train standing in perfect light so I just had to take another view of DR98909 as it stood under Stratford-upon-Avon's footbridge on 16 November 2010.
By now, the new LED signal at the other end of the platform had cleared and it was only a few seconds before the driver of the RHTT sounded its horn to warn a p-way gang that he was about to head their
way and then back to the Birmingham area via Henley-in-Arden and Shirley.
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Monday 15 November 2010 was another of those beautiful days with clear winter sunshine. Whilst I quite wanted to take a couple of pictures I couldn't be bothered to travel far so just went a few miles from home to the aqueduct at Edstone, on the North Warwickshire Line
with the aim of getting a shot of RHTT. Running in front of the MPV set was 150005 on a Stourbridge Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon train which is here seen having just passed a new signal put in place during the recent extensive engineering work on the line.
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This picture of the North Warwickshire Line RHTT is taken from exactly the same spot on the towing path at Edstone Aqueduct as that of 150005 shown above but with a much wider angle lens. The two MPVs with 98908 leading are on the run down to Bearley Junction and then Stratford-upon-Avon on 15 November 2010.
There are still some Autumnal colours around here although some very strong winds over the preceding weekend removed vast numbers of leaves from trees around here and thus marked an end to one of the most colourful seasons that I can remember.
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Following the radical changes of recent days to the scene around Henley-in-Arden I thought that I may as well wait for a day with some decent light before going back once to obtain a picture
of the area just north of the station where the signalbox and associated semaphores used to be. Wednesday 10 October 2010 was such a day so I planned to go and have a shot of the 13.05 arrival from Stourbridge Junction.
Here then is 150019 about to pass the patch of bare earth occupied by a the signalbox for over 100 years and no doubt even this patch will soon be indistinguishable from the rest of the surrounding vegetation.
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A Rail Head Treatment Train is booked to follow the DMU in the picture above down the North Warwickshire Line. Sure enough, about 25 minutes later I heard the hissing and rattling as DR98909 led the MPV formation towards Henley-in-Arden. Shadows from the
trees on the left of the station had begun to encroach on the tracks through the platform but the main part of the scene was in the beautiful sun that had followed a cloudy start on 11 November 2010.
While time has taken toll on the station, the scene in 1987 wasn't all that different as 47534 passed with a Carlisle to Stratford-upon-Avon charter. The main differences are that the island platform
building has been replaced with something resembling a bus shelter and the shed in the car park has gone.
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Another test train ran from Derby RTC to Long Marston during the week commencing 24 October 2010, the return, 1Z15, being scheduled for Monday 1 November with a departure time of 13.44. Having seen the skies turn cloudy during the late morning I had just about decided not to bother
but when the sun started to break through at about 1.30pm I changed my mind and made for a bridge near the village of Aldington with, I thought, about 15 minutes to wait. Within about 90 seconds the yellow end of
31465 with its 3 vehicles in tow came into view and is here seen passing the distant signal and the treadle operating the barriers at Clayfield Lane crossing, some distance to the east. I was fortunate that the sun was just coming out of some thin cloud which gave an almost spotlight
appearance to the illumination. Much engineering work is ongoung around here in connection with the imminent redoubling of the line and several track workers are visible, returning to the small makeshift yard on the right of the track.
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At about 07.30 on the morning of 28 October 2010 I was returning home after taking wy wife to work and when passing the station at Stratford-upon-Avon noticed that there were various engineering vehicles and at least one class 66 in the platforms.
I went home to collect a camera and tripod and returned just as it was getting light. Here is 66069 standing in platform one with 6X23 alongside a long ballast train, ufortunately unphotographable, headed by another of the same class. This shot was taken
with settings of 1/2 second at f6.3 with the camera set at ISO 100.
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The train standing in the adjacent platform to that headed by 66069 at Stratford-upon-Avon was 6P42, due to depart for Bescot at 11.00. As I haven't had a lot of luck with the engineering trains thus far in the possession I went over to Henley-in-Arden in the hope of
photographing 6P42 passing the station, but found that engineers were laying a temporary boarded crossing for use on the following day by the machinery
employed to demolish the by now stripped signalbox which, on the previous day, was having the last panes of glass knocked out of the frames. Note that several signal levers are just visible in the grass alongside the track.
It seemed unlikely that a train would be allowed over the line while this sort of activity was in progress so I headed back towards Stratford to see what was going on there.
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When I arrived at the station, 6P42 had disappeared but whether it had gone back to Bescot or just out of sight around the bend I have no idea. It did mean that another view of 66069 with 6X23 was possible so I took a couple of shots including this one with a wider lens, along with one of the
Kirow crane standing further along platform 1.
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After the perfect light I enjoyed on 25 October 2010, that on the 26th couldn't have been more different with thick cloud and heavy rain being the order of the day. This weather unfortunately coincided
with the appearance of 66124 at Stratford-upon-Avon with a 6X21 working of various rail carrying wagons. Here is half of the train in platform 1 with an unknown class 66 out of sight around the bend
with the other portion in platform 2. A little later, the first part had gone leaving a much shorter formation standing in the platform normally used only by the summer Sunday steam excursions from Birmingham,
as a work gang goes towards the car park for their lunch break. A new track section and up-to-date buffer replacing the wooden steam age version has been installed on the end of platform 3.
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Even though the weather was dreadful with accompanying low light levels I wandered down to the station at Stratford-upon-Avon to take a slightly closer view of 66124 and its train of rail carrying vehicles. It was pouring with rain so a brief spell under the platform
canopy was a welcome respite from the soaking I had earlier had. The hyperlink gives the view from the station footbridge showing the formation of 6X21 along with another wagon parked in platform 3, usually used by the Chiltern Railways'
trains to London Marylebone. New arrangements at Stratford will mean that trains will be able to access any of the three platforms directly from the main line rather than having to run into platform 1 and then shunt into one of the others.
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During the afternoon of 25 October 2010 I had a quick trip around the Wilmcote, Edstone, Wootton Wawen and Henley-in-Arden area to see if I could find any of the engineering trains on the North Warwickshire Line. All that was visible from public vantage points was
the back of a ballast train just to the south of Edstone Aqueduct so after not photographing that I went to Henley and found this road-rail vehicle loading some redundant material from the lineside adjacent to the signalbox. The inside of the 'box was being stripped
of anything either reusable or valuable before demolition. A large lorry with a skip and hydraulic crane was in the car park at the south end of the station and here is a picture
after the road-rail vehicle has unloaded its scrap, including the upper quadrant down outer home signal which was situated a few hundred yards to the north of the signalbox. Note that the new LED signal operated by from Landor Street is illuminated.
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Test trains from Derby RTC to Long Marston are running on a fairly regular basis at the moment and on 25 October 2010 there was a 1Q12 using 97304 + 97302 topping and tailing a single coach. Other than a couple of light engine moves this was the
first using this class of locomotive and certainly the first to run in perfect Autumnal light. The train is here seen spot on time passing the site of Fladbury station on the single track section between Norton Junction and Evesham; the part of the
line that is to remain single when most of it is redoubled over the coming months. Some recent cold weather has caused the trees around here to change colour and, as I had I hoped when setting out from home, there was a good selection of tints to be found here.
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As it was such a nice day I made the trip from Stratford-upon-Avon to Worcestershire in my 1969 Morris Minor and even in this there was plenty of time to get from Fladbury to the Offenham road near Aldington before 1Q12
was released onto the single track from Evesham to Honeybourne. Amidst some more Autumnal colours 97304 + 97302 amble along and exit the deep cutting on the other side of the two bridges in the background where, I guess,
shadows would have been cast across the track. I chose this location because 1) I knew that it would be clear of shadows where it counted and 2) because a short train would fit in reasonably well.
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I decided to go home from Aldington via Badsey and Long Marston and even in my elderly Morris made it to the road bridge by the site entrance about five minutes before 1Q12 with
97304 + 97302 came into view on the branch from Honeybourne. They waited for a short while as a crew member took the single line token to the ground
frame before the train ran into No.1 road before heading off around the internal system where it was due to remain until Wednesday 27 October.
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Sunday 24 October 2010 marked the first day of the major occupation of the North Warwickshire Line and during the morning I had a 'phone call from a friend saying that there were four engineering trains at various locations
between Wootton Wawen and Wilmcote. I had a quick drive around and found 66124 on the rear of 6X21 in the platform at Wilcote station. The photographic opportunities were limited and this shot is about the best that could be achieved.
The train had quite a mixed consist but there was quite a collection of these rail carrying wagons.
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The weekend commencing 24 October 2010 saw the closure of the North Warwickshire Line for the thick end of one week while the semaphore signalling was removed and some track remodelling took place.
I have long had a fondness for the line and its infrastructure despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that no locomotive hauled trains are scheduled to run along it. The sole remaining lower quadrant
signal between Bearley Junction and Tyseley was to be found just to the north of Henley-in-Arden station and here is a picture of 150011 passing it on Friday 21 October as it slows for the Henley stop with an afternoon train from Stourbridge
Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon. The shot I actually wanted would have been taken just before the unit passed the upper quadrant signal visible over the middle coach but the undergrowth was just too obtrusive; much worse
than that visible over the front of the class 150. Conventional stepladders wouldn't have been much help as the ground on this public footpath was too soft and uneven for them to be safely used.
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This is the view looking towards Henley-in-Arden using the lower quadrant advance starter as a photographic prop on 22 October 2010. The train is the Rail Head Treatment MPV set used to blast leaf debris from the line and apply a
layer of sandite material to give enhanced grip. It is fortunate that the ash tree just inside the fence had lost most of its leaves during the preceding few days of the shot would have had even more vegetation obscuring
DR98959 than was already the case. It's a shame that the signal's finial had been removed as semaphores with them just don't look right but sadly, there were very few left along this stretch of line. The RHTT had been standing in the
station for around 15 minutes waiting for a path back along the section of line to Shirley, the next block section, as 150005 forming the 14.27 Stratford-upon-Avon to Stourbridge Junction was occupying
the line. The MPV had previously run to Stratford-upon-Avon with DR98909 leading.
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This picture shows 150011 approaching the stop at Henley-in-Arden station on 22 October 2010 with the 15.27 from Stratford-upon-Avon. It is passing the
two semaphore signals at this end of the station and is kicking up quite a cloud of sandite material; being the first train to run over the up line since the
RHTT shown above had passed. The replacement LED signal on its heavily engineered gantry is also in view; functional no doubt, but not quite as photogenic.
The light picked up a little as 150011 pulled away from the station and ran past the two signals at the north end of the platforms.
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If anyone actually looks at my DMU pictures then they won't be surprised to see yet another version of this shot at Henley-in-Arden. My excuse this time is that this is last photograph with active semaphores and signalbox that I took as the 'box was due to be closed and signals taken down within
a few hours of this being taken on 22 October 2010. The advantage of the new signalling régime will much be the potential for more frequent services between Stratford-ipon-Avon and Birmingham although it is unclear at the time of writing if
anything of this sort is even in the planning stages of being planned... Here is the same unit, 150049 passing the much less frequently starting signal at the south end of the station.
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During the morning of 21 October 2010 I noticed that the Thursday train from Banbury Reservoir Sidings to Mountsorrel was in the hands of 60048, not a very common class of locomotive for this job. A couple of text messages brought the news that on the way south, 60048 had failed between Warwick and Leamington Spa
and Bescot had despatched 60039 to rescue the train and take it to its destination. I was lucky in that a friend was able to tell me when 6M31 was leaving Banbury which just, but only just, gave me time to drive over to Hatton and get along the nearby canal towing path and muddy footpath to North Junction.
The train, somewhat surprisingly, was only about ten minutes late on the booked time and I arrived no more than two minutes before it appeared. I was expecting 60039 to be leading but with 60048 having been left dead on the rear of the Lafarge Self Discharge formation, but was happy to find that the two locomotives
were at the front. I had hoped that the cloud which had been building up a while would have completely obscured the sun because it is in completely the wrong place at about 11.30, but there was quite a bit of backlighting hitting the train which both gave a rather odd hue to the locomotives and showed up the
very rough-looking state of their bodywork.
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One of the irregular trains conveying naval nuclear material from Keyham, near Plymouth to Carlisle ran on Thursday 21 October 2010. The working, 6X50, was hauled by DRS's 57010 and consisted of two large nuclear flasks and two escort coaches and is here seen passing a colourful field
of asparagus at Defford just after it had passed over the River Avon at Eckington. It was lucky for the small gathering on the roadbridge here that the train came by in sunshine as there was a lot of cloud around but a little bit of late running did the trick and both 6X50 and
the attractive Worcestershire countryside around Bredon Hill were nicely illuminated.
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For several weeks I have had it in mind to go out on a sunny Saturday morning to photograph a couple of northbound freights on the Cheltenham to Birmingham line. The morning of 16 October 2010 was clear and bright so I made up my mind to go over to Badgeworth where, as the line runs East to West for a short distance, the sun would be in the right
place at the right time. On the way over, I decided to stop off at Northway, near Ashchurch, for a few minutes to take a shot of 67026 on a 1Z29 Whitchurch to Kingswear charter. I didn't have to wait for long in the very cold wind before the train appeared in the distance and approached the footbridge formed of an almost complete rake of Virgin Railway
Mk 2 stock. The sun was just high enough to allow the shadows to clear the main line at the time that the train was booked here, 08.54.
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After photographing 67026 near Ashchurch on the morning on Saturday 16 October 2010, I carried on down the M5 towards Cheltenham with the
intention of obtaining a shot of 6M60, the 04.00 Exeter Riverside to Bescot train loaded with china clay, which will eventually make its way to Stoke-on-Trent for the pottery industries found there. Depite the
sunny start to the day and a good weather forecast, the skies rapidly became overcast and by the time I had reached my destination the cloud cover was heavy, although the sun was still shining a few miles to the
north-west. The first train I photographed was 6V40, the 04.25 Scunthorpe to Margam train of empty steel carriers with 66168, which managed to arive in the
worst light I had seen all morning. Fortunately, 6M60 was running about 30 minutes late and by the time it came into view, the sky had almost cleared and the only cloud was a wispy bit which cast a shadow on part
of the train. The locomotives were a numerically coincident 66149 + 66148 and the train a nicely uniform set of polybulks. I had originally intended to photograph 6E41, the Westerleigh to Lindsey empty oil tanks hauled
by 60073 but a friend told me that it was a good forty five to fifty minutes away and with the cloud beginning to build up again I went home.
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Monday 11 October 2010 was one of those days with mostly clear blue skies and lovely Autumnal light along with several trains that appeared to be of some interest. I started off at Long Marston from where where a pair of DRS 37s were due to take a set of ferrywagons to Sheerness for a new traffic flow.
Just after departure time the gates were closed and the crew climbed into the Sentinel shunter disappeared off towards the offices. This meant that the first available path would be about 13.20 from Honeybourne. As there was a class 5 move involving 97301 from Derby to Basingstoke due to pass Hatton at about
12.20 I travelled across to the bridge near Hatton station and took this shot of 66537 on 4O49, the Mondays only 09.59 Birch Coppice to Southampton service. It was then that I learned that not only was the train to Basingstoke running late, but was just the locomotive and a DBSO; not quite the consist
for which I had hoped, so for the second time in as many weeks I decided not to bother with a class 37 and single coach and headed for Honeybourne for something a bit more inspiring.
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After a frustratingly slow journey to Honeybourne, mostly behind a bus which was impossible to overtake on the narrow roads, I arrived at Honeybourne to find, as I had hoped, 37604 + 37603 standing on the headshunt beyond the points of the spur to the main line. This makes for a much better photograph and does away with the need to use a long telephoto lens. The HST to Great Malvern had just departed so I took this shot along with a few others, including this more head on view, showing the track layour to better advantage, from the road bridge. This
scene is set to change in the near future when the Cotswold Line is doubled and new arrangements for Long Marston traffic come effect.
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The newly scheduled time for 6Z80's departure from Honeybourne towards Evesham was 13.20 and it was about 5 minutes before this that I left and headed to Aldington, a couple of miles to the East of Evesham. I thought that the sun would still be on the track in this fairly deep cutting and luckily all was well. It wasn't long before I heard the leading locomotive's horn
as the train approached approached Clayfield Lane crossing and then it appeared under the roadbridge with the brakes on, ready for the stop at Evesham to exchange tokens for the next single track section to Norton Junction.
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A DRS move to Long Marston took place on Thursday 7 October 2010 when 37604 + 37603 took a short set of FEA flats there from Crewe, the vehicles having originally come from the sidings at Mantle Lane on the Coalville line. I was told about the train, 4Z80, first thing in the morning and on looking outside found the area around my home shrouded in thick fog. I had almost decided not to bother but, on an impulse,
grabbed a camera and drove across in time for the 08.15 arrival. As I went through Welford-on-Avon the fog was thinning and on arrival at Long Marston it was virtually clear with the sun beginning to poke through. The local p-way gang told me that the train was late due to a FGW service having met some delay which meant that
the sun would have a bit more chance to break through. In the meantime, the Sentinel shunter based at the site was shunting a full rake of ex-Fastline coal hoppers into road no. 1 alongside some stored stock giving off a lot of water vapour in the warmth and I began to wonder if this might be the consist for the return train, running to
Carlisle Kingmoor.
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It was quite a while before I heard a squeaky horn in the distance as 4Z80 moved away from Honeybourne but two DRS class 37s soon became audible in the still morning air. They soon came into sight
and came slowly along the final stretch of the branch among a lot of red Hawthorn berries and fair amount of dappled shade. Still, an early arrival here is quite rare and the sun was plenty strong enough
to give the sides of the locomotives some decent illumination. The train, empty flats, certainly wasn't the most interesting to ride on rails but it did give the chance for a nice enough portrait
as it stood awaiting permission to enter the site.
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The booked departure time for the train, which was actually running as class 4, was 11.00 but it was about 25 minutes before this that the train moved it's long rake of ex-Fastline coal hoppers out of Long Marston and onto the branch to Honeybourne.
It is really good to see a pair of DRS 37s on a proper length train. I can rarely be bothered with them, despite their supposed celebrity status, when they are pulling around nothing more taxing than one or two nuclear flasks.
A full set of hoppers is so much more satisfying to see and photograph. This stock is to be used on a cement flow operated by DRS in the Manchester area
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I was keen to obtain another picture of 37603 + 37604 with their full set of ex-Fastline hoppers and chose Lower Moor because it would be possible to see the whole train. I hadn't been there for a while and must say that the hydroponic
greenhouses in the background don't really add a lot to the scene. The train was running about 20 minutes late by the time it came into sight, having had to wait for another delayed FGW train, this time a class 165 going to Worcester.
The three of us standing at Lower Moor were lucky with the sun; a lot of cloud had built up and a thick chunk went over the sun only a few seconds after 4Z81 had passed. I had previously photographed this pair of locomotives
on 7 May 2007 at Hatton when they worked a Southampton to York railtour while still in their EPS guise.
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I have always had a soft spot for the single unit "bubble" cars that used to work branch lines; indeed my first ever train ride was in one of these when they worked the Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa shuttles. One of the remaining
class 121 units in still in regular service for Chiltern Railways and 121020 was booked to run from Aylesbury to Kidderminster (SVR) on Thursday 7 October 2010 where it is due to perform at a gala over the coming weekend. I think that
the blue colour scheme carried by this unit is most attractive so went to a bubble-sized spot on Hatton Bank where I knew that the sun would be in just the right direction at a little over 14.00. Just after I arrived, 66154
ran into the Down Goods Loop with 6M48, the 10.02 Southampton to Bescot loaded train of Ford cars. I took this to mean that 55020 was close behind and indeed, it appeared no more than two minutes later.
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I noticed on an early morning locomotive allocation list on Monday 4 October 2010 that 67018 was on the way from Wrexham to London Marylebone. I thought that the return train was 1J82, the 11.20 from the capital, one which which runs via Hatton rather than the branch to Coventry. I further knew that the locomotive had recently been on the north end of the formation although didn't
know if this had changed through weekend diversions and the possibility of a few reversals. With the weather looking good I made the trip over to Hatton Bank to find 1) that there was a lot of cloud floating around and 2) the wet summer had meant an awful lot of growth from lineside vegetation. Just a couple of minutes before the train was due the sun went behind a
thick cloud but it managed to poke through the edge just as I heard 67018 climbing the bank from Warwick. All in all, because of the undergrowth hiding the DVT this isn't really the shot I wanted but at least the side of the train is well-lit. The paint under the cab window looks almost artificially bright but I altered neither the colours or the saturation when processing the
RAW image or when doing the final post-production in Photoshop.
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This is a picture that at first glance looks quite ordinary but is actually quite unusual. It shows Chiltern Railway's 168108 on Saturday 2 October 2010 shortly after leaving Hatton station and heading for Birmingham, but having run via the Stratford branch platform and using the spur normally used only by freight trains which have been looped
and not turned out onto the down main line by the crossover just south of the station. I can only assume that 168108 was a stopper from Oxford, the Chiltern Line being under an engineering possession, booked to call at Hatton, but through late runnng was put into the branch platform to allow an Arriva CrossCountry service
to pass without meeting too much delay.
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Ballast trains hauled by DBS locomotives are not that common on the GWR line from Birmingham to Leamington Spa so when I was told about 6Z61 from Mountsorrel to Hinksey Yard, Oxford on 2 October 2010 I thought that a picture would be well worthwhile. Here then is 66014 passing the banner repeater signal at Hatton South Junction with about twenty five loaded MEA box wagons
running spot on time and a few minutes behind 168004 on a Birmingham Snow Hill to Oxford service, the Chiltern Line being shut for engineering work. The sun was just beginning to weaken after a fairly clear morning, but it just about held on long enough for this photograph. My thanks to David Weake for the information and updates.
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After a dull and foggy start, the morning of 30 September 2010 became clear and sunny and after reading that there was a 5Z37 10.22 Tyseley to Southall ECS I went across to the footbridge just south of Hatton cutting for a photograph of it. First along was
168214 on a Brimingham Snow Hill to London Marylebone service which, in perfect light, was well worth a shot. Unfortunately, the ECS was, according to a message posted from the Birmingham area, just a single coach hauled by WCRC's 37685 and I really cannot pretend to have a lot of interest in such short
formations, less interesting even than a nuclear flask train and this, taken in my garden shed at the weekend. I left before it arrived, just catching a glimpse from the field near to the Hatton Locks car park. A shame, as a full length set of coaches would have looked
good on such a nice day.
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The morning of Saturday 25 September 2010 was one of those absolutely clear and sunny occasions when it would be rude not to go out and take a photograph or two, given that the light at this time of the year is just about the best we ever get. Unfortunately, I had only about ninety minutes to spare so I went, just for a change, over to
Hatton. I been there only a couple of minutes when a Freighliner became clearly audible and around the bend came 66589 with a well loaded train. The time was about 10.15 and the scheduled times for 'liners here are 09.15 and 11.15 so this could be
either 4O27, the 05.29 Garston to Southampton service or 4O29, the 08.14 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton. To be honest, I'm not remotely bothered which it is; after a long spell of mostly dull weather it was just good to get a picture without continually glancing at the sky to see if the sun was about to be obscured.
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For the second Saturday running I have photographed a charter in this spot. This week, on 25 September 2010, it was 67027 on a 1Z56 Manchester Victoria to Oxford run of the Northern Belle dining train. The light here at 10.30 is just about perfect so Hatton station curve was really the obvious choice unless one has an obsession about
shooting backlit scenes for pseudo-artistic reasons! The train, with 67029 on the back, was running spot on time and a few minutes behind 168112 on a Birmingham Snow Hill to Oxford service, the Chiltern Line being under an engineering possession. It was due to stop at Leamington Spa
for a few minutes, presumably for pathing reasons, and at Banbury to allow those passengers who had chosen to go on a trip to Blenheim Palace to leave the train.
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