This page is intended to display any odds and ends that do not clearly fit into any other sections.

	As I have mentioned before, railtours and charters don't have much of an attraction for me these days but from time to time one come along that, if the weather is right, simply screams out to be photographed. Such a train ran on Saturday 15 May 2010 when D1015 (running as D1012 Western Firebrand) + 404145 double-headed a tour to Penzance, the Western having been added as pilot engine from Birmingham International. The weather looked to be set fair so I headed to Banbury so that the location was easily identifiable rather than just a nondescript piece of track such as can be found in several places a few miles further north. By the by 1Z40 was due, a lot of fluffy cloud was building up causing a certain amount of angst among the small gallery on the bridge adjacent to the Banbury Reservoir stone terminal. The charter was only 3 minutes beind a Chiltern Railways class 165 and was crawling along against adverse signals to its booked stop at Banbury station. Cloud was rapidly approaching the sun but in the event all was well and a nice sunny shot of this probably unique working was had by all. Who would have thought, just a few years ago, that it would have been possible to see such a sight on the GWR main line to Paddington.
	The second of 2 private charters I photogtaphed on 14 September was, judging by the headboard on Western Champion, to celebrate a 50th Birthday. The train was 1Z82, the 08.45 Victoria to Kidderminster VSOE which ran behind Clan Line to Salisbury from where D1015 took over for the run to Kidderminster, from where it ran over SVR metals to Bewdley South Junction, hauled by 67012 which was at the rear of the formation. The train is here seen thrashing away from Norton Junction towards Worcester Shrub Hill in some more poor light, having just missed a small sunny patch. It was great to hear a Wizzo in full cry again - I used to sit at Hatton Station in my spotting days and listen to them bringing heavy trains up the bank - today's train didn't have quite the same atmosphere without the accompaniment of creaking wires and clanking semaphore signals, but it was pretty good. I hesitate to think how much it must have cost to organise this charter, I have dropped hints to my wife; in vain I suspect!
	As I have mentioned before, railtours hold little interest for me these days and I photograph one only if it runs within a short drive of my home and if the locomotive is something out of the ordinary. Even then I'll only go for one shot and unlike some won't waste time or petrol charging like a thing possessed around the countryside for yet another shot of the same train in whatever location, however poor, is close to the road. A Deltic on the Gloucester to Birmingham line fitted with all my criteria on Saturday 29 March 2008 and with the promise of some reasonable light coupled with sensible timings I went to Stoke Prior near Bromsgrove. Needless to say, the weather caved as soon as I arrived and stayed poor when the distinctive nose of 55022 appeared leaving the single track from Droitwich and onto the main line at Stoke Works Junction. The sound effects were excellent as 1Z47 accelerated towards Bromsgrove and the 1/37 of the Lickey Incline although the smoke effects had subsided a little by the train reached me. I much prefer this shot to one of vantage points on the Lickey itself as there is an identifiable background rather just a row of trees as at Pike's Pool. The crossing at Vigo would have been an option, but I suspect that this would have been heaving with enthusiasts and it would have been difficult to have parked without causing an obstruction in the very narrow lane.
	Here is a much earlier shot of a Deltic, in fact it was the first mainline run of a class member in the preservation era. 55001 is seen some 9 minutes late leaving the wood at Croome Perry on 18 April 1997 with 1Z56, the 11.30 London Euston to London Paddington via Birmingham and Bristol Temple Meads. I have never seen so many photographers at this location; I guess that there were around 40 in the gallery. Before this run it was unusual to see more than a couple of locals here, but following the publication of a photograph taken here of 55001 it became much more popular and resulted in the removal of much vegetation from the roadside. The occasion was marred for many enthusiasts by the late arrival of a bunch of loud-mouthed individuals just a few minutes before the train. These characters barged their way into the assembled ranks and spoiled the shots of several photographers who had been patiently waiting for some time. The same group became well known for their loutish behaviour over the following years and were the cause of much ill-feeling around the country, particularly in South Wales. It is these people that put me off photographing railtours as they seemed to turn up everywhere en-masse, always at the last minute and always with the arrogant attitude that their photographs were more important than anybody else's as theirs would doubtless be published. Great... 645
	A Deltic in a much more unusual colour scheme was seen on the network in 2002. 55016 was painted in the house colours of Porterbrook Ltd and ran around for a while, no doubt attracting approbation and approval in equal measures. On 6 April 2002 the purple locomotive ran at the head of a railtour from Crewe to York, from where 37521 + 37682 took over for the run to Scarborough. The train, 1Z40 is here seen at Lea Marston on a nicely lit bright morning. I totally messed up the shot as I was on the other side of the road when the train appeared and managed to skew the verticals by some 5 degrees, meaning that heavy cropping was necessary to straighten things up with the concomitant loss of composition. Still, it's the only photograph I am ever likely to get of 55016 so it will have to do.
	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.