A first out and last back trip, up to Edinurgh via Worksop, Retford and York, then travelling around scoring units and of course capturing freight at the usual locations before heading to Glagow Central for peak hour, and back to Doncaster on the 1800 departure finally getting back at Nottingham 00:44. Cheers to Jackie Lad for the good company and laughs. Enjoy!

The mission was simple really, just score as many units as you possibly can! From the brand new 185's to the bouncy 142's there was plenty of haulage to be had around the Greater Manchester area. Enjoy!

Added to this gallery is firstly the last day of March when i travelled to London for the Buffer Puffer 4.1 with 37401 and 37410. Photo's include class 319 units at Blackfriars and the 37's passing London Bridge, sat in Cannon Street and en-route to Hayes. The First day of April was up at Toton, and some photo's of active loco's and also stores loco's are included. Later that week i spent a couple of evenings at Tamworth and Nuneaton with a surprise of 87022 being on 1S96. Up to Doncaster next for the passing of the Edinburgh bound Blue Pullman with 47805 in charge, and also plenty of freight action as well. The Saturday after headed to the Isle of Wight (see seperate gallery) and photo's of trains on route are shown. Finally i went out for a Green Express Charter from Spondon to Sellafield, the tour is photographed at Spondon and at Langley Mill. Also at Langley Mill was 37116 in the nearby Heanor Haulage yard.

Went up to Scotland via Retford for a change and picked up the only service direct to Edinburgh from the station a day. However when i passed Morpeth there was a failed HST in the loop, and 43099 had failed with a speedometer fault. 67016 to the rescue and i picked the train up at Berwick 1 hour and 9 minutes down and it was the Aberdeen service running as far as Edinburgh only. Out to Haymarket to get some Scotrail units and surprisingly the two ex- South West Trains 158's were both on Bathgate services. After an hour there i headed out east to Dalmeny and North Queensferry for some Forth Bridge Bashing. Back to Edinburgh and a power car swap takes place on the Highland Chieftain with 43119 being replaced by 43113. Up to Falkirk and just in time to see not only ex - wessex 158782 heading for Glasgow but the Tesco train itself with 66411 affectionatly known as 'Eddie'. Then to Stirling for some socialising with the family but still popping out for the sleeper at midnight hauled by 67012.
The next two days i headed for Coatbridge and scored a few 86's and 66's, interesting of note was 66121 on a rake of 'saltire blue' liveried MGR wagons and a pair of skips on the Mossend - Grangemouth vice the usual booked shed.
Travelling back home i went to Motherwell then Edinburgh via Carstairs then down the ECML breaking the journey at Newcastle, Darlington and Doncaster. Enjoy the fots!

God blesseth the AC loco group! After many hours of dedication and hard work, 86101 is finally back on the mainline. As many people may know i am a dedicated 'can' crank so an all nighter at Carlisle to get her arriving was to be had, very cold but not so bad with 5 layers of clothes on! Photo's show her arriving with the stock, running round, and stabling overnight in platform 3. Other photo's included at Carlisle include freight and passenger trains with the surprise of the night being 37422 DIT behind 92026. Just my luck to be on the other platform! As the night became day around 6am when the Sun started to come up it was time to position myself by the front window, where i could be found bellowing all the way to Crewe, where the 86 came off for 47812 and 47815 to take over for the rest of the journey to Holyhead. A spirited run into the gloriously sunny port was had and plenty photo's taken of the loco's. Cue clag leaving Holyhead for the ECS to the sidings, hellfire! After a few hours of Ale it was time to head back, doing the 47's to Crewe and then the 86 once again as far North as Preston. A tiring but extremely enjoyable venture and for the price as well its probably the best tour i have been on yet. Lets hope 86101 will return again in the near future, Enjoy!

I started this Tuesday by firstly photographing my first ex - Trans Pennine 158 in Nottingham. 158812 was the unit. I took a journey to London on the 11:30 Nottingham - St Pancras which was vice HST arriving at 13:15 in the Capital. I went spinning a few 313's on the First Capital Connect lines out of Kings Cross as far as Alexandra Palace and then back to Highbury and Islington. Then a Silverlink 313 to Willesden, spotting the Euro Scout on the DC lines terminating platform on the low level in a blizzard! Weather being all over the shop, it was sunny a mere 5 minutes later! Up to Harrow on one of the 508's then back into Euston on a 321. The 16:51 Euston - Birmingham is again loco hauled in the guise of Class 90018 with mk3 rake WB64. Haulage to Birmingham was very fast arriving at Rugby 4 early (17:45) then 2 early at Coventry (18:00) and Birmingham International 3 early (18:09) arriving into the Street at 18:29. Also of note before heading home was 150010 in new Transport West Midlands livery. Enjoy the photo's!

It appears to me that the weather forecast is totally all over the shop! One day its bright sunshine, the next its torrential rainfall and chances are the days that its miserable are the days im off. Anyway down to buisness, starting the month on the 1st with a trip to Sileby for some gypsum and stone traffic, then heading to the WCML covering Birmingham, Bescot, Stafford and Crewe, then back down to Coventry and Rugby a few days later. Weekend of the 10th and 11th was had in Scotland copping more Scotrail and SPT units around Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively. A lot of Waverley - Haymarket trips as well as Glasgow Central - Argyle Street trips made the bash list look busy! Travelling back down the ECML to Peterborough on the 'Highland Chieftain' i copped the new GBRf sheds all time. Keep checking back for more updates!

Travelling on the ever popular 0530 Nottingham - London St Pancras HST service, i travelled across London to Paddington and straight to Didcot Parkway on the 0815 Cardiff service, which still has a proper pair of power cars on, none of this fire festooned MTU rubbish! The reason for visiting Didcot was to see 37411 and 425 before storage, photographed at the station and on departure: cue clag 37425! Also spotted was 37422 and an attempt of catching it leaving was flawed due to it being 'knackered'. Back to London and Evening peak at Ilford with lots of Great Eastern units going ten to the dozen in and out of the street. Not a bad day at all really, enjoy!

A quick visit whilst in the area to see the loco works at Tyseley. Quite a few decent loco's and stock here including an ex - One Anglia mk3 TRUK, hoovers 50021 and 50017, 37264, 87031 and the main reason for visit 86259. Thanks to the guys at Tyseley for letting us round, and many thanks to the man Les Ross himself! Enjoy!

Surprise traction for this Class 37 hauled tour saw 2 celebrity beasties ressurected from their graves at Margam to haul this Bristol Temple Meads to Stratford - Upon - Avon tour. Locomotives involved were of course BR Green 37411 and Large Logo Blue 37425. The tour was photted at Water Orton, Kingsbury Junction, Kingsbury Link, Birch Coppice freight terminal, a road bridge near Kingsbury oil terminal and Leamington Spa. Pity the two 'tractors' are going back to store so soon, i wonder if i will see them again before they reach Margam? Watch this space!

Departing Glasgow Central as 1Z37 at 0726 it was an unlikely place to be on a cold February morning, but it was the start of an all day tour taking me around the Glasgow subburbs with traction provided than no other than 37410 and 37406. We visited in order: Milngavie, Dumbarton Central (where 37248 was stabled), Helensburgh Central, Springburn and Glasgow Queen Street. The tour then became 1Z74 and after a storming run out of Queen Street Tunnel we called at Gourock, East Kilbride, Lanark, Wemyss Bay and finally arriving back into Glasgow Central via Cathcart at 2046. A great day with new line scored and timing to perfection, Well done Pathfinder!

Ah February, the month of valentines, and am i loving this month! A good start on the 3rd was the 'riviera' Blue Pullman passing Loughborough en-route from Kings Cross to Buxton. In the opposite direction less than 5 minutes later, and totally unexpected, was 59202 and euro-shed 66038 en route to Wembley. On Sunday the fourth, with thanks to Driver Craig, i managed to be taxied around Crewe to various different places in the area. First off was The Railway age, then Crewe IEMD (EWS), followed by Basford Hall Yard (Freightliner) and finally Gresty Lane (DRS). 222005 has been named 'City of Nottingham' and there are a few photo's of the unit in Nottingham itself. My next outing was to Scotland for a certain railtour, check seperate gallery, and whilst i was up north i managed to score 90026 on the sleeper from Euston, numerous SPT units including 156, 158, 170, 314, 318, 320 and 334's. Most noticeable were the 158's as both 158782 and 158863 visited Stirling on the 11th as well as 158791 on a Dunblane service! Also whilst at Stirling it appears that the semaphore signalling could be on its way out as part of the Alloa restructuring, and so a few photo's of the semaphores were taken with Stirling East box in the background.
To end this month a few freightliners were diverted via Nottingham and i had chance to phot 2 of them. 57004 and 66575 were the loco's on the liners and also 60052 was on the usual Lindsey - Kinsbury to give Nottingham 3 freight in 10 minutes. Enjoy Feb!

I went along to Nuneaton to see the Pendolino diversions between Nuneaton and Birmingham and see if i could get any Class 57's for haulage. Glorious sunshine and all in all something a bit different. Enjoy.

Popular as always and heaving with tractor neds, the Buffer Puffer was again a success, but only just! Problematic 37410 nearly had to be taken off at one point , and the train was running approx 80 mins down. Time was made up between Victoria and Blackfriars due to a 'shortcut' so after that and with darkness falling i headed home. Locations at Paddington, Royal Oak, Kensington Olympia, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Road and London Victoria. Roll on 4.1!!

This gallery shows the last day of booked diagrams for the Class 442 Wessex EMU's working for South West Trains. 442410 was out on a Brockenhurst - Wareham diagram vice Class 450, 442407 and 442417 were forming the only 10-wes set of the day on Waterloo - Weymouth diagrams in which 442407 was bashed to the not so sunny seaside location! Finally 442412 was on a Poole - Waterloo diagram and this was the last booked diagram of a 5-wes into the London Terminus. However with a shortage of units the following Saturday, 442's were stilll to be seen on Poole diagrams under a 'power by the hour' scheme. On the 20th 442410 and 442413 were on the 1205 to Poole. On the 29th 442419 and 442412 were both on Poole diagrams and the latter 'Wes' was hauled between Winchester and Southampton Airport. Also on the 29th i took a wander round the old Eastleigh works to see the stored 442's along with 158's and 153's also stabled here. Lets hope the class can at least see use for another operator in the near future, Southern or Gatwick Express perhaps?

As always as the new year begins, its the time to start all over again trying to get loco's and units for the year in that one giant effort, so what better place to start than Tamworth. A day here produced a 31, 47 and even an 87 as well as the usual plastic and tin. A day at Bedford was had to get Class 319 units scored but also a 31 again to boot! Photo's from pieces in London have been added, locations being Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Road, Blackfriars and Farringdon. A weekend in Scotland provided hellfire traction on the North Berwick Line with 37406 turning out on the daily Powderhall - Oxwellmains binliner trip. A trip across the Forth Rail Bridge on a HST was also not to be missed!
Not too long after coming back south i ventured into third rail territory again to see 73136 at Eastleigh as well as scoring a few new Desiro's. At the end of the month I went to Market Harborough for a change to get some photo's of our Midland stuff, however as i was en-route 47828 was reversing out of Loughborough Brush Works and so i couldn't resist a phot! The NMT at Market Harborough was a nice surprise as well. There we go folks till next month, i hear snow is predicted?

I picked up the train from Birmingham New street. 66210 took us to Bescot yard where DRS 37194 and 37229 took over and took us to Hooton via Oxley, Shrewsbury and Wrexham. 66551 was awaiting our arrival and took us to West Kirby via Wigan Wallgate. Reversing there the 37's took charge again and took us to Wigan North Western where 66551 led the way to Preston. After a leg stretch 60030 then attached and took us to Crewe via Bolton, Manchester Victoria, Stockport and Wilmslow. Then, for me, the best part of the tour was when 86614, a freightliner grey machine, was attached at Crewe for the final leg back to Birmingham New Street via Alsager, Stoke on Trent and Stafford. Front window bellowing all the way was done and how good it felt to have an 86 back on West coast territory. Great tour all in all, just wish the weather could have been a little better! Enjoy!

I start the month with a Sunday bus trip to London, taking full advantage of the situation i head for Waterloo to get some units and hopefully some Wessex 442's. Little did i know that class 66's would be in sight! Between Waterloo and Clapham alone there were 9 sheds all on engineers duty. After going round the tube for goodness knows how long we decided to surface at Stratford to see some Great Eastern units, then back to Marble Arch for the return north. Next day i was Tamworth bound and then into Brum for the 87. With that said the Plymouth - York HST diagram is back in force and so it was a proper train out of New Street as far as Derby. A nice surprise was 73212 sat in the slums. On the Thursday of the same week i returned to B'ham International (after some mishaps a few days earlier) and intended to get a photo of 87002 on the Mk3 stock, this was achieved as can be seen. On the Saturday i headed south to Stonebridge Park to get the 87's due for export and then even further south to Reading and Didcot to see some new MTU power cars in action. I returned home to Notts via the ECML and the traction was provided by 91131 'County of Northumberland'.
Friday and Saturday 8th and 9th December was the weekend for the annual Nottingham - Lincoln loco hauled specials and this year it was in the hands of 47245 and 47826. Photo's include haulage en-route and at Lincoln where other charters were turning up.
A day off on 21st of December meant it was time for a mega Christmas jaunt! Catching the 04:56 to Norwich and then straight into anglia territory with the 08:30 to Ipswich it was the start of a long day. With class 90's hauled and freight photted, i moved to Colchester to score the (endangered?) Blue Pullman on route to Norwich. Some nice signalman in the area also gave us the gen on a Stowmarket - Willesden DRS move, nice bonus! After this i headed to London and then did some station hopping on the wessex electrics until i reached Eastleigh as i was on a mission to get the 4 class 73's stabled there. That done, and still heading south at 6pm, i travelled to Southampton and Brockenhurst before turning back and going Direct to Woking. Getting the connecting service to Clapham i photographed 73107 stabled there and then headed to Victoria to await the steam charter from Winchester. 73107 then did the draw-back and took the stock to Alton. After all this i popped to kings cross to get the 67 stabled and then travelled home on the 23:15 service getting into Nottingham at 02:05am due to being diverted via Harringworth viaduct! Just over 21 hours on the system, Jack Bauer would be proud! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Nowadays if i ever go for a day out on 3rd rail territory i have to go to Brockenhurst. Not because i love Desiro's of course, oh no, but because of the 3-CIG Class 421 'slammer' that is used on the Lymington Pier branch on a daily basis. There is a possibility of catching one of two units on the line, the first is BR blue/grey liveried 1497 'Freshwater' and the other is BR Green liveried 1498 'Farringford'. I have had both of the units on my all line rover earlier this year (see gallery) and i also managed to get 1498 on my recent jaunt down here at the end of October however weather was poor so a return in better weather was made. This time it was 1498 again and photo locations are at Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier as well as on board the 'slammer' itself. May they live long and prosper! Enjoy!

With temperatures now dropping quite rapidly as we get towards that time of year when wallets are empty, its still buisness as usual for me on the jaunting. I start November with a trip to Derby for 47832 and 47145 moving the new KAA intermodal flats and then up to Sheffield for the Class 20's on RHTT. A few days later i go down south for some more Class 442's before scoring Basingstoke - Reading on a voyager, HST to Cardiff and then 37410 on the 17:01 Cardiff Central - Rhymney as far as Caerphilly, Hellfire! Next up just two photo's from Midland railway's firework night. Then a day out to Warrington Bank Quay to get some class 60 action, i wasn't disappointed as i even scored 60054 in petroleum sector on a rake of national power hoppers bound for Fiddlers Ferry!
A few fading light photo's at Old Dalby test track as the last booked train traverses the line. Next up is Rugby and Cathiron, many thanks to the personal taxi driver who got me to the latter location, you know who you are sir! Plenty action with 31's, a 56 and a 47 as well as an 87 for haulage, all in all job well done! A trip to Barnetby was in order the following Monday in not what would be called T-shirt weather i might add, many class 60's were seen as well as some sheds actually learning to clag! Then of course on the way home it was only right and proper to see the choppers on RHTT.
Final jaunt for the month was to Grendon, north of Atherstone, and then back home via the Battlefield line and Coalville to see the beast that is 86228 :) enjoy folks!

Catching the first train from Nottingham to London at 05:30 arriving at 07:36 the day begins with some good HST haulage and a bacon roll! Once into London i went over to Euston to get the 90 on the sleeper then up to Willesden and over to Kensington for some Class 66 and 92 action. That done i went down to Clapham Junction and then straight to Eastleigh to get some freight and of course the soon to finish Class 442 'Wessex' units. Also while at Eastleigh i took advantage of walking round to the yard to see some of the Class 58's that had been brought back from France. That done, then i headed to Brockenhurst via Southampton Central to get another few 442's in for haulage before having the old dinosaur itself 3-CIG 1498 on the Lymington Flyer. Pity the weather was almost monsoon conditions and not great fot photo's, but fear not as i shall be returning to this branch very soon! After travelling on the slammer a few times i headed back up to Waterloo to photograph 455 918 as it had derailed at Waterloo blocking platforms 1-4 and causing chaos at peak time the night before and emergency engineering work was being carried out. After this i headed back to St Pancras to get the 22:00 service home arriving at 00:13, hardcore or what! enjoy!

I started day one with the morning rush hour on London Bridge, plenty units scored and also a nice surprise to see the newly painted Class 456 units in service. The next mission was to get to Alexandra Palace so we headed there via East Croydon, Clapham Junction and caught the tube from Vauxhall to Kings Cross then up. Disappointingly the fm rail stock move that i intended to see never came but still got the chance to see some Class 365's in new neon livery. Then we went to Higbury to get onto the North London line where i travelled on some 'soon to be preserved' line from Custom House to North Woolwich. Then after a short stint on the DLR i went to Stratford to bash 90012 to Liverpool Street. Into Paddington then bashed a few 165's out to Ealing Broadway before having my first Heathrow Connect Class 360 for haulage to Hayes and Harlington. To end the day i went back into London and went to Marlyebone for the first time. All in all good day out, enjoy!

Top marks to Arriva trains Wales for coming up with the plan to bring back an old dinosaur of the railway world and stick it on a 1.2 mile branch line from Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay. 121032 is the candidate here and it provides a very frequent, and pleasing, service on its short trip to and from the bay. As well as the enthusiasts enjoying the ride, it is also popular with the guards in the area as well, as it brings popularity to the line and gives them a change to their regular digest of pacers and sprinters. All i can say is may the bubble live long and prosper in its new lease of life. Enjoy.

Hearing that 37425 was meant to being going into store imminantly i intended to go down to South Wales to see if i could haul it on the 1701 Cardiff Central - Rhymney. Instead 37406 turns up! Ah well no complaints! Plenty of units and HST's scored, also photo's from Newport including the local shunter trips and the Blue Pullman on tour from Lydney. Enjoy!

I start the month with a trip to Derby, Tamworth, Sheffield and Worksop. The weather was too poor for photo's early on but by the time i reached Sheffield it was only right to go get those choppers, and so a visit to get them at Worksop as well before heading home was on the cards! Down to Nene Valley railway to sample not 1 but 2 grids on the one train! Hellfire! A rare beast of a move from Wansford to Syston by a 'classified' method of transport meant i was able to get to Chesterfield in time for the DRS 20's on water cannons. On the Saturday i went on a railtour to Brighton from Grantham with Sophie and Pillsbury and was hauled by 47826 down and 47851 on the return. Good chiff and fips on the pier! Later in the week i went to Tamworth and then for two nights consecutive i chased the water cannons at Chesterfield and Worksop repectively. After a few days out on the bash in London (check out seperate galleries) i ended the month with a trip to Tamworth for the grid then Peterborough for 87028 on a dvt move. Enjoy!

Well it was a long time coming, but sooner or later there was going be a tour with one of these mighty machines on. In this case it was the former 56124 in its new guise of fastline livery as 56302. Its only taken 3 and a half years to get a 56 back on a charter but as im sure many will agree, it was well worth the wait. The tour started with 60022 bringing the charter from Crewe to Toton via Birmingham where a GBRf class 66 was meant to take over, however 60028 replaced and was captured passing Barton Lane crossing at Attenborough. The tour then visited knottingley before reaching Doncaster where the grid took over. I captured the class 56 pounding away from Barnetby at Melton Ross just around the corner. Alas i tried to get the tour again at Worksop but to no avail as it managed to make up time in the Immingham Area. Lets just hope that the 56's will soldier on to do more railtours in the near future. Enjoy!

As well as visiting the usual local areas like Long Eaton and Tamworth and an all nighter at Stafford, this month was ACoRP's rail festival in Darlington and a few days up in the North East were well spent. Travelling up on the friday night after work with 2 Midland Mainline HST's and a 225 for haulage the journey was pretty good and ran well to time. On Saturday i took a gander round the various stalls and also the loco's available for viewing in and around the station, before having 31452 and 31128 on the spin to Redmire on the Wensleydale Railway. Bailing out at Northallerton on the return meant i was able to photograph the 87's on the blue pullman. On the Sunday the 87's returned to York with a tribute special for a former manager of GBRf and 66717 was dedicated the name 'Good Old Boy'. Returning to Nottingham i travelled to Leicester via toton and Derby and also had the chance to phot a rather bling looking 86233 sat outside the RTC. Also a trip to Barnetby at the end of the month for a certain type of loco, please look at the seperate gallery for photo's of this memorable charter. As for the rest of September, enjoy!

I started the month with a trip to Long Eaton to photograph 37405 on a Derby - Toton Engineers trip, trust the sun to go in just as the train comes into sight! On the Monday i went down to photograph a pair of 153's under the refurbished footbridge at Basford Crossings. A few days in East Anglia were on the cards as i visited relatives in the area and also got chance to photograph the endangered sizewell flask trip with DRS 20's at the helm. Midweek i headed to Derby to get 56302 on the Doncaster - Grain. Finally saving the biggest jaunt till last, i went to London to photograph the first Intercity Merrymaker to Skegness with fm rail 47's on, then caught the tube to Paddington to head down to Reading for 37405 on charter work. It was still a bit early by the time the 37 had left Reading so i decided to chase it all the way to its terminus, the land of old biddys itself, Eastbourne! Enjoy folks!

My first ever all line rover. What a cracking adventure it was too! Here was the route for the week: (Day 1) Nottingham - St Pancras - Kings X Thameslink - London Bridge - Dover Priory - Ashford - Hastings - Eastbourne - Brighton - Portsmouth Harbour - Southampton Central - Brockenhurst - Lymington Pier - Brockenhurst - Woking - Clapham Junction - Harrow and Wealdstone - Euston (sleeper to Day 2) - Carstairs - Edinburgh - North Berwick - Prestonpans - Edinburgh - Haymarket - Edinburgh - Stirling - Glasgow Queen St - Glasgow Central - Argyle Street - Glasgow Central - Carlisle (all nighter into Day 3) - Carstairs - Edinburgh - Haymarket - Edinburgh - North Berwick - Drem - North Berwick - Edinburgh - Glasgow Queen St - High Street - Bellgrove - Springburn - Glasgow Queen St - Argyle Street - Bridgeton - Glasgow Central - Whifflet - Coatbridge Central - Motherwell - Cumbernauld - Falkirk Grahamston - Stirling (sleeper to Day 4) - Euston - Farringdon - Blackfriars - London Bridge - Victoria - Gatwick Airport - Brighton - Haywards Heath - Clapham Junction - Brockenhurst - Lymington Pier - Brockenhurst - Waterloo - Waterloo East - London Bridge - Kings X Thameslink - St Pancras - Nottingham (Day 5) - Grantham - Peterborough - Kings X - Paddington - Reading - Penzance (sleeper to Day 6) - Plymouth - Paddington - Slough - Reading - Cardiff Central - Llanelli - Swansea - Hereford - Nottingham (Day 7 = Rest) End of Rover. Enjoy!

A well documented Barrow Hill Gala could only be classed as a success, especially with trains escaping from the demonstration line and going mainline up to Deepcar. Plenty of haulage available and of course plenty photo's taken from this popular annual event, check it out!

Starting the month with a visit to Rugby to see 87012 in action for the final time as well as a range of other freight and then later on hauling 87026 to Birmingham. A day off work later on in the month resulted in what can be said as a perfect day for photography as i went to get some freight and sample the new 185's to Barnetby and Doncaster. A trip to Burton for the grid and then a spin to Chesterfield was successful before bashing 87002 later that week. A few photo's of the old St Pancras before moving over to the other side were in order. Finally a great month ended with 56303 on training runs to Hams Hall, 47714 on Laira - Loughborough with power cars in tow and to top off that day, 37401 worked the Bescot - Burton steel trip, which was one of its last workings before store. Also check out seperate galleries for events within the month, enjoy!

Well from the usual visits to the almighty Tamworth and Nuneaton, i have been focusing on some different places to go for a change and also using the trusty steed called the push bike! A few trips around Newark and also Stenson Junction proved to be worthwhile with 47s and 60s photted, but unusual for me, is to spend days out for units and loco's in London and this happened on a few occasions, with also a trip to east anglia for good measure. A day trip to Skegness with the missus got some 153 haulage, but better still was the return of class 87s to the west coast main line n the 1621 Euston - Birmingham and 1900 return. Then of course there was a trip to yorkshire to get 37s at Church Fenton then spend the afternoon at Barnetby. To end the month a serco test train went through Notts 47 hauled but the rear loco 47355 caught a generator problem and was held outside the station. Then an afternoon jaunt to Chesterfield via Derby to see 86233 and the month is done!

A very good month again with a lot of decent loco's back on the main line. A good start to the month was to catch the B1 kettle on its way from Lincoln and i caught this loco on the Nottingham - Newark line at Fiskerton. A jaunt to Newport to catch all the additional specials from London and Liverpool for the FA cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Over 20 extra's ran with traction from 37's, 47's, 50's, 67's, HST's and coupled sets of multiple units. Also bashed the 37's and 50's between Newport and Cardiff.
The fastline 56 has been quite popular for phot's this month and i have captured it from a few locations, perhaps maybe i could get it a little more loaded though! Also freightliner 86's seemed to be a little more southbound than usual this month, with every trip to the west coast i was able to see at least one 86, particularly 86501 which turned up almost on a daily basis!
Another highlight of the month would be the class 87 driver training runs between Euston and Birmingham International, the loco rostered was 87006 and it ran with a full mk3 set and DVT 82101. Other escapades in the month include trips to Tammers, Nuneaton, Rugby, Loughborough and parts of Derbyshire.
Next month look forward to Metronet sheds, more EWS 37's and class 87 haulage once again! Woohoo!

What a great month! With DRS 66's on hire to workFreightliner trains, 4L46 Ditton - Purfleet uses a pair of class 37's until the leasing period is over, the picture i have took depicts the first day of 'tractors' on the service.
Also copped 56302 through Long Eaton on 4Z57 Derby - Doncaster via Toton, certainly a welcome return there! There are a few days worth of fots at Tamworth and also an afternoon at Burton. Also in the month, a hellfire day to phot 37/4's at Hinckley and a visit around the West Midlands with 31602 a bonus! I heard that 87006 was on blue pullman duties and so on Monday when it returned from Edinburgh i went to Newark to phot that. One day after work it was too nice to stay in so popped over to Derby to see if the grid was running, but instead i copped 33202 on an inspection saloon running quite late, and after that i went to Barnetby for the rest of the afternoon seeing the rare sight of a class 60 on HTA's! On the next weekend i went to Newark again to get some more charters, and on the Sunday i went to Derby and managed to get 45112 on the ecs return. With Virgin 87's to return soon i guess you know what to expect next month...

Travelled down to the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire railway, with thanks to ed, to sample some of the diesel traction at the event. Top day out with everything available being hauled and also a big thanks to the guys driving the Class 24 for letting me cab it! Ended off the day by going for some scenic shots from a local bridge, enjoy!

I went to Newark North gate and caught the 12:50 to Newacastle changing there to catch the Highland Cheiftain to Stirling travelling first class for a change. The plan was to travel to Coatbridge Central to get some freight action and then go through Mossend yard to Motherwell and return. Quite successful as you may see.. but even better was when i found out that 47 703 was on a stock move, so off to Drem to photograph that and then 47 802 was doing the Grangemouth-Carlisle wagon trip, so back to Coatbridge to get that! Plenty of sheds around as always, and of course even better to see pairs of 86's on freightliner trains... just bliss!

A good start to the month with some snow and a visit to CF Booths of Rotherham to get some scrappers photted in the crisp morning sunshine. Also visited Barrow Hill to phot a shed charter and 31 407. Then up to York to get 86 901 and 902 along with the Blue Pullman.
Later i went around Toton to see some freight including the scenic location of Lock Lane where plenty of 66's to be seen. Finally that day went to Loughborough to phot 56 301. Other highlights of the month being class 33's from Peterborough-Aberystwyth at Attenborough and Nottingham and finally a circular trip from Nottingham-Tyseley via Tamworth and Bescot. Also check out the additional Scotland gallery! Keep the action coming!

After January was over i thought that the next month wouldn't be so bad, but oh how wrong i was! With constant trips out to locations like Toton and Tamworth, this collection shows the best of February, and if the next 10 months are to keep throwing great stuff on the mainline then the galleries will keep getting bigger! Enjoy Feb!

After a long time waiting, this much anticipated service has finally come back to the rails thanks to FM Rail. Comprising of two dedicated class 47's this train certainly does look the part as it makes its way around the country at weekends covering all parts of the country, and with many more tours planned in the future, this gallery will surely keep expanding...

Managed to grab myself a decent camera in the 'January Flog' for some better pictures this year. I now own a Fuji S9500 and it is a beast for photography. Anyway to the point.. here is January in its entirity with all the best photo's put on the site from all different places, and with plenty variation. Photo's will now be updated as and when during the months coming but for now.. enjoy!

Thought i would take a quick trip to one of my favourite locations, Barton Lane crossing, and get some photo's of units and a HST in the snow. Lets hope next year gets better! Happy New Year Everyone!

Here are a few odds and sods of stuff that i went out to photo for that extra special reason, or on some occasions it was a surprise, however enjoy the shots of 2005!

In this collection are some photo's that show the freight only line that runs between Trent Sheet Stores Junction and Stenson Junction. The pics are taken at a location near Lock Lane signal box, where the line just leaves Sheet Stores Junction. It can be painful waiting for trains here, at times there can be one every hour, but the shots are quite impressive... enjoy!

This collection is made for anyone who ever travelled behind a tractor on the 24 mile line from Cardiff to Rhymney. In this collection i have shown some memories of when i visited the line, including the final Saturday services along the branch. Hopefully the 37's will keep going strong elsewhere in the UK but for now another era of loco hauled passenger trains has come to an end...

Heard there was a tour with 'tractor' haulage heading up to Preston, so on a freezing cold November day the jaunt was on to phot 37 416 and its partner in crime 60 042, here were the results! (mega thrash from 416 leaving Preston!)

Took a trip to York to see the 'Cab it' stuff at the open weekend and managed to get haulage from 47715 and 47813, Brill!! After that i went to the station and then down to Colton junction for half an hour.

I had seen that a lot of ex-EWS stock had been sold to this well known scrapyard in Rotherham and so i decided to pay a visit, i especially needed to get some phots of the recently delivered 86's from Freightliner.

Another great gala and top marks to the drivers of the loco's, they definetly know how to thrash (especially the 26, mylords!) Nice to see the 20's in action as well....

I took a trip to this delightful little station in East Anglia to photograph a charter, here are the results....

Well.. it had to happen sooner or later, after two previous farewells for the class this was finally the last goodbye. We will miss the good old 'cans' as another era comes to an end.