56038 Knighton 26 January 1980

A picture that is totally impossible to recreate now. 56038 passes the site of Knighton Crossing (between Didcot and Swindon) with a Didcot Power Station to Newport Docks empty MGR coal train on 26 January 1980. A visitor to this spot today would not recognise it, as it is totally grown up, and it is no longer possible to take pictures from the cut off road to the old crossing. The fairly recent underbridge that replaced the crossing can just be seen in this view, with the line of the new road marked by the recently planted trees on the left. Although empty coal trains from Didcot once again use this route (now to Avonmouth), neither Class 56s or HAA wagons will be seen on these trains.