L400 (51332, 59484 & 51374) emerges from the west portal of Brunel's Box Tunnel on 11 April 1982. Quite what it is doing traveling between London and Bristol is a mystery, as its usual area of operation would be London and the Thames Valley. Possibly a short term transfer to Bristol? This impressive view of the ornate tunnel entrance is not so easy now as the amount of vegetation on the right hand cutting side has increased considerably.

The doyen of Class 117 Pressed Steel units, L400 (51332, 59484 & 51374) passes Evenlode with the 2B60 16:33 Reading to Moreton-in-Marsh service on 25 April 1984. This and a similar service in the morning were the only trains to call at the smaller Cotswold Line stations: Combe, Finstock, Ascott-under-Wychwood & Shipton. Note that there is some slight inattention to detail here, as the destination blind displays Oxford, through which the unit had already passed nearly an hour previously!

Despite this being a picture of a humble DMU, this is one of my favourite Cotswold Line pictures. From a vantage point seldom used by other photographers, and with an uninterrupted view of Charlbury station in the background, L400 (51332, 59484 & 51374) pulls slowly away from the station with the 07:45 Moreton-in-Marsh to Reading (or Reading General according to the 1960s destination blind) service on 16 May 1986. This was one of two early morning up local services calling at all stations.

Islip station, on the Bicester to Oxford line was reopened by Network SouthEast on 13 May 1989. L400 (51374, 59484 & 51332) & Class 101 L207 (51221 & 54396) are pictured departing from the station with the first up service - the 12:27 Bicester Town to Oxford. The station has probably never been as busy since, with numerous local people gathering on the platform to witness the event, which included several stalls and a group of Morris dancers! The station was originally opened by the LNWR, but closed on 30 December 1967, when all passenger trains on the route were withdrawn. Network SouthEast had reinstated the Oxford to Bicester service in 1987, but Islip had to wait a further two years before their station was reopened.

After being replaced on Thames Valley services by Class 165 & 166 Turbo units in 1992, L400 (51374, 59484 & 51332) found further employment working on the Bedford to Bletchley route. For this purpose it lost its centre car and was renumbered as L700. In this condition it is seen passing under the A421 Bedford by-pass at Kempston with 51374 leading on the 09:40 Bedford to Bletchley service on Christmas Eve 1996. Luckily the impending holiday ensured there wasn't the usual procession of lorries crossing the bridge! The redundant centre trailer car was scrapped at Gwent Demolition at Margam in 1995, and the two remaining vehicles pictured here were both withdrawn in April 1999 and almost immediately cut up at MC Metals, Glasgow.

It wasn't much use taking any notice of DMU destination blinds in the Oxford area in the 1980s! However this was probably understandable here as L401 (51333, 59485, & 51375) is forming a hastily organised Oxford to Reading relief service due to the late running of 47515 on an inter regional service. Even in normal circumstances it was quite common to see units displaying a destination that they had either just come from or was at least in the opposite direction!

Oxford is justifiably world renowned for its fine architecture, but until the 1990s rail travelers from London were greeted with this as their first view of the city as their train arrived at Oxford station. A Hillman Avenger, Morris Marina, Mini and other 1970s cars meet their end in the scrapyard on the site of the old goods yard, as L401 (51333, 59485, & 51375) leaves the station with the 11:00 Oxford to Didcot Network SouthEast service on 20 August 1989. The cars at this location nowadays are hopefully in better condition, as it is now the station car park.

L401 (51333, 59485 & 51375) & L423 (51361, 59513 & 51399) approach Bicester Town station with the Oxon & Bucks Rail Action Committee 07:00 Oxford to Spalding (via Fenny Stratford and Bedford) special on 2 May 1992. In addition to a day out which took a pair of Class 117s well away from their home territory, this train was run to highlight the possibility of reopening the Oxford to Milton Keynes line for through passenger services. Finding a clear viewpoint that shows the whole train at 07:20 in the morning on the Oxford to Bicester line is not as easy as it would seem, and although this location from the then newly completed A41 Bicester southern bypass does provide an excellent position, it does unfortunately include Bicester sewage works in the background!

In the last rays of the setting sun, 117724 (51333 & 51375) arrives at Ridgmont with the 18:40 Bedford to Bletchley service on 4 June 1997. Formerly Thames Valley set L401, it was ousted from its Paddington duties by the arrival of the Class 165 Turbos in 1992. AT this point it lost its centre trailer and was renumbered 724. At the very end of its career, it was obviously decided to incorporate the class designation in the number, in a similar way to the units that had moved to the Provincial sector, therefore becoming 117724.

A scene that is now history. Chinnor cement works in the background has now been demolished, and the former Chinnor station has been rebuilt near the passing loop in the middle distance, as the route is now a preserved line operated by the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway. On 11 June 1988, when the branch was still open for coal traffic to the cement works, L403 (51336, 59488 & 51378) & Class 121 trailer L289 (54289) leave the site with the RCTS 'Chinnor Railtour', which also visited the Brentford GLC Refuse Transfer branch and the Morris Cowley line at Oxford. Strangely, the two unpowered vehicles here (the Class 117 centre car and the Class 121 trailer) have survived, whilst both DMU power cars have been scrapped.

Class 117s had effectively been ousted from the Cotswold Line in 1988 by the arrival of the Class 155 Sprinters. It was therefore a surprise to see L404 (51379, 59489 & 51337) back on its old stamping ground on 18 June 1989. There was obviously a problem with the rostered 155, as L404 was noted working the 15:20 Great Malvern to Oxford service, running an hour late. It had managed to half that late running by the time it arrived back at Kingham with the 17:30 Oxford to Great Malvern return working, but obviously in the hurry to regain some lost time, changing the destination blind had been forgotten!

L405 (51381, 59491 & 51340) passes Handborough station, on the Cotswold line on 30 August 1987. These units were a regular sight on local trains on the line at this time, but here it is strangely working one of the few normally loco-hauled trains - the 16:10 Paddington to Hereford service. Note that the disused down platform makes an excellent vantage point for photography. This view would now be dominated by the Oxford Bus Museum which took over the former yard area, behind the train.

Although nearing the end of its long career working local services along the Thames Valley, L405 (51381, 59491 & 51340) has had a repaint into Network South East livery and positively gleams as it passes Lower Basildon on 17 May 1992 with the 2C66 18:00 Reading to Didcot Parkway service. Within a few months it would be replaced by Class 165 & 166 Turbo units. The lead vehicle has found a new life in preservation at Mangapps Farm Railway Museum, but the other two vehicles were not so lucky, both being cut up in the late 1990s. Strangely, as if to emphasise they had finally fled the Western Region, one was broken up in Scotland, the other in Wales!

L406 (51383, 59493 & 51341) slows down for the Finstock stop whilst working the 16:35 Reading to Moreton-in-Marsh service on 22 August 1985. This was the only down train to call at the station on a weekday at the time, a service pattern that remains much the same today. Although it still just about possible to take pictures from this bridge, you can no longer stand in this exact spot for a nice wide view. During the intervening years those little bushes on the right of the picture have grown considerably, and now the angle of view is much more restricted.

Viewed from the footpath leading to the Trap Ground allotments, L406 (51383, 59493 & 51341) passes under the Aristotle Lane footbridge and approaches Oxford North Junction as it works the 2C70 19:23 Oxford to Banbury all stations local Network SouthEast service on 20 July 1990. It will be calling at Tackley, Heyford and Kings Sutton en-route. The Aristotle Lane footbridge gives access from the Oxford suburbs to Port Meadow.

Even during their final months in the Thames Valley someone obviously cared enough to authorize the repainting of a number of Class 117 units. L406 (51383, 59493 & 51341) ambles along the relief line at Shottesbrooke with the 10:12 Reading to Paddington Network SouthEast service on 5 September 1992. By this date Class 165 Turbo units were rapidly being introduced to replace these elderly Pressed Steel units which had held sway on the route since the early 1960s.

L408 (51343, 59495 & 51385) waits for passengers at Moreton-in-Marsh on Sunday 7 August 1988 prior to working a revised shuttle service to Oxford, the line to the north of Moreton-in-Marsh being closed for engineering work. Someone obviously is a keen gardener here. The well stocked flower border and the GWR seat in the background adds to the nostalgic scene, although the Network SouthEast livery of the DMU brings the scene back to the 1980s!

L409 (51386, 59496 & 51344) slowly moves off from platform 2 at Oxford on 24 July 1990 with the 2C66 17:35 Reading to Bicester Town Network SouthEast service. All three vehicles of this set are no more, although each met its end at a different location. 51386 was initially preserved, but was cut up at Dereham in 2002, likewise 59496 was at first saved, but then was cut at Rotherham as late as 2008. 51344 was disposed off at MC Metals, Glasgow in 1999. Note the newly completed station building and footbridge (which replaced the original subway).

The former Western Region set L411, minus the centre trailer composite coach is seen here in use on the North Norfolk Railway on 2 May 1998 with DMS 51388 leading and DMBS 51346 at the rear. It is passing Sheringham Golf Course with the 16:00 Sheringham to Holt service. Subsequently the unit moved to the Swanage Railway. It is pictured here repainted into late 1960s condition with a small yellow warning panel replacing the original 'speed whiskers' and the roof all over black instead of the original white ends.

On a bitterly cold 8 February 1986, L412 (51347, 59499 & 51389) passes the site of Hinksey North signal box at the north end of Hinksey Yard, near Oxford with the 09:01 Paddington to Oxford 'all stations' service, while in the background L416 (51353, 59505 & 51395) heads towards the capital with the 10:15 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington service, also an 'all stations' train. It is worth noting that despite the atrocious weather both these trains were running exactly to time, something which is very unlikely to happen on today's railway in such conditions! Note the crudely applied spot welded panel on the former headcode box on the front of L412.

The Nene Valley Railway's Class 117 DMU is formed from vehicles from two different former Western Region sets. DMBS 51347 (seen leading here) came from set L412, and DMS 51401 came from set L421. Whereas the other two vehicles from set L412 have been scrapped, all three vehicles of set L421 are still in existence, although not likely to work together again, as in addition to the Nene Valley Railway, they are at the Northampton & Lamport Railway and the Strathspey Railway! 51347 & 51401 are pictured passing milepost 42 near Castor with the 10:40 Wansford to Peterborough service on 19 March 2000.

L413 (51349, 59501 & 51391) comes off the double track section of the Cotswold Line at Ascott-under-Wychwood on 2 January 1983 with the 2A75 09:32 Worcester Shrub Hill to Reading service. At this time the Cotswold Line was a relative backwater, with low passengers numbers and the sparse train service principally operated by these DMUs. Few could have foreseen the dramatic increases in passengers numbers in the following decades. 

L415 (51351, 59503 & 51393) accelerates away from Charlbury station on 26 April 1984 with the 13:30 Great Malvern to Oxford service. This viewpoint is from the road that leads to Cornbury Park, a large 17th century country house in extensive parkland on the edge of Wychwood Forest. Charlbury church can be seen on the horizon, and yes it does appear to have a slight lean to the right when viewed from this spot! Note the recently relaid track.

L416 (51395, 59505 & 51353) approaches Honeybourne with the 14:28 Oxford to Hereford service on 25 April 1987. At this time there were only five trains in each direction on this line on a Saturday, something the single track railway could easily cope with. However, traffic levels increased over the years to the extent that in 2009 work was started to reinstate the double track at this point, although the scheme is bizarrely leaving sections of single track at either end of the route.

L417 (51354, 59506 & 51396) calls at Ascott-under-Wychwood in dramatic lighting on 17 September 1983. It is working the 16:33 Reading to Moreton-in-Marsh local service, one of only two down trains to call at the station at that time. With such a complete covering of dark clouds I was fortunate that the unit's arrival corresponded with the sun dropping out of the cloud into a small gap just above the horizon. An excellent piece of timing, which given the infrequency of trains on the Cotswold Line (certainly in the 1980s) was very lucky indeed!

L418 (51397, 59507, & 51355) pulls away from Ascott-under-Wychwood station on 30 June 1987 with the 07:45 Moreton-in-Marsh to Reading local service. Presumably the unit later worked on to Paddington which would make the destination blind correct, and yet the timetable shows it as a Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford service, with a separate working onwards to Reading. The prominent 75mph restriction sign applies to the double track section which commences near the signal box in the background. The single line from here to Oxford is cleared for 90mph running.

L418 (51355, 59507, & 51397) prepares to stop at Radley station with the 13:15 Banbury to Reading Network SouthEast service on 11 December 1991. At this time the station still retained its original GWR footbridge, although minus its canopy. In December 2007 a new footbridge was installed in a slightly different position, after an intervening period when an ugly temporary footbridge was in use

L419 (51398, 59508 & 51356) pulls away from Moreton-in-Marsh station on Sunday 16 June 1985 with the 2A81 15:55 Worcester Shrub Hill to Oxford service. Surprisingly, a quarter of a century later not much has changed here, and although no longer working on the national network, all three vehicles of this DMU survive in preservation. Apart from the bushes in the background growing taller, the only significant changes are the replacement of the footbridge and the signal box windows. Even all this vintage bullhead track has survived!

After its displacement from Thames Valley services in the early 1990s, L419 (51356, 59508 & 51398) had its centre car removed and acquired the set number L702. In this form it is seen accelerating away from Woburn Sands station with DMBS 51356 leading on 29 August 1998. It is working the 09:50 Bletchley to Bedford service. This picture demonstrates one of the main problems with the Pentax 6x7 camera when used with a 200mm lens. The unit is absolutely pin sharp, but the level crossing in the background isn't due to the very limited depth of field.