Still wearing its faded yellow paintwork from its previous employment with the Tees & Hartlepool Dock Authority at Middlesbrough, D2024 stands in the sunshine at Rolvenden on the Kent & East Sussex Railway on 27 May 1991. It entered BR service in 1958 and was initially allocated to Lincoln, but it became one of numerous 03s withdrawn before the introduction of TOPS number, so never acquired the 03024 number that was theoretically left vacant for it. After nine years use as a dock shunter it passed into preservation, but little work has been done on it since.

I'm not sure who's doing all the work here! 03069 pilots Bagnall 0-6-0 No.2 Byfield with the 12:30 Toddington to Gretton service on 20 March 1993, seen here passing Hailes. This was during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Spring Gala. Note the recent burning of the cutting side, a traditional railway technique for keeping the lineside clear of vegetation. Sadly this is no longer done on the national network with the result that most locations are now very now overgrown.

03069 approaches Gretton with the 11:45 service from Toddington during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala on 14 November 1993. Pending the arrival of so many mainline diesel locomotives, this humble shunter was used for more passenger work than is the case now. Its 28 mph top speed is adequate for a preserved line and this three coach load is hardly going to tax its 204 hp either!

In dramatic lighting just after a heavy shower, 03079 leaves Murton station on the Derwent Valley Railway with the 15:30 departure on 29 June 2008. The railway only has a short section of track, and a round trip on the line only takes a few minutes, with trains working in top'n'tail mode due to the absence of any run round loops. The railway is situated adjacent to Murton Park, home of the excellent Yorkshire Museum of Farming, which is well worth a visit.

03084 stands amid the weeds in Whitemoor Yard, March on 16 August 1988 in the company of classmate 03158. Although their early careers were completely different, these two locos seem to have become inseparable since they were both withdrawn on the same day (5 July 1987). After spending a while together with all the other scarp locos at Whitemoor (mainly Class 45 'Peaks' as can be seen here), they both entered preservation with Peak Rail at Matlock, only to both move to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway!   

The star attraction at the Nene Valley Railway's Diesel Gala over the weekend of 1 & 2 March 2008 was 03179 Clive, which had been loaned to the railway by First Capital Connect. 03179 was the last 03 to operate over the national network. On Saturday 1 March it is pictured arriving at Yarwell Junction in superb lighting with the 1E46 10:30 Wansford to Peterborough service. I really thought that this picture was going to be ruined by the cloud that was building up rapidly, but luckily just as the train arrived the sun reappeared, leaving an impressive background of dark clouds. Definitely not your standard railway picture - a purple shunter on foreign coaching stock with a ridiculously inappropriate 'Santa Special' headboard!