A stranger on the Cotswold Line. Laira allocated P461 (51318, 59470, & 51303) rounds the curve on the approach to Shipton station on 18 September 1982 with the 15:53 Worcester Foregate Street to Oxford service, despite it saying Didcot on the destination blind! Class 118s were infrequent visitors to the Cotswold Line, with services normally being worked by the outwardly similar Pressed Steel Class 117s or the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Class 119s. Ascott-under-Wychwood's signal 200 is effectively the distant signal for Bruern Crossing.

P461 (51318, 59470, & 51303) is a long way from its Laira base as it passes Stoke Orchard on 21 July 1984 with the 16:25 Gloucester to Worcester Shrub Hill service. P461 was reduced to a two car set in 1987 and then withdrawn the following year. The two power cars were cut up at Vic Berry's at Leicester, while the centre car although withdrawn earlier managed to survive until 1991, when it was disposed of at Mayer Parry, Snailwell.

L579 (51319, 59424 & 51065) & L418 (51355, 59507 & 51397) arrive at Sharpness on a very dull 26 October 1985 with the Monmouthshire Railway Society 08:10 Cardiff Central to Portishead 'Sharpness Shunter' railtour. Whilst the rear unit is a complete Class 117 set, the leading Class 119 set has had the front vehicle replaced by a Class 118 DMS vehicle. The original coach (51093) was scrapped earlier in the year. The Class 118 vehicle (51319) comes from the disbanded set P462, the other driving car of which had also been scrapped earlier in the year.

Class 118s were not particularly common in the Oxford area, but on 25 September 1987 Bristol allocated set B464 (51321, 59473 & 51306) was used on the 08:10 Oxford to Reading service. It is pictured arriving at Oxford's platform one after making the short smoky trip from the up carriage sidings (visible in the background on the right). This train would run non-stop to Didcot, from where it would become an all stations service to Reading.

B465 (51307, 59474 & 51322) approaches Collins Lane level crossing, near Purton on 4 August 1980 with the 13:37 Cheltenham to Swindon service. A brief burst of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day was a welcome bonus. A short while later I pictured the same unit returning to Cheltenham from the bridge in the background.

One of the very few pictures that I have of a Western Region DMU in the rather drab all over blue livery that was applied during the late 1960s and early 1970s, after the green livery that the units were delivered in and before the ubiquitous blue and grey livery. B465 (51322, 59474 & 51307) approaches Purton on 4 August 1980 with the 15:00 Swindon to Cheltenham service. Collins Lane level crossing can be seen in the distance in a view that has changed considerably in subsequent years. The steam age telegraph poles have long gone and the inevitable growth of lineside trees and bushes has completely transformed this view.

C465 (51322, 59474 & 51307) leaves Oxford on 4 September 1987 with the 07:35 Oxford to Reading 'all stations' Network SouthEast service. The Valley Train branding and Welsh red dragon logo are hardly appropriate for a NSE train, and indeed Cardiff allocated Class 118s were distinctly thin on the ground in the Oxford area. Not even the destination blind is correct, showing Hereford and Llandaff. Presumably as the correct destination wasn't available, somebody just left it set between two inappropriate places!

B469 (51326, 59479 & 51311) passes Ponthir on 4 September 1986 with the 16:55 Newport to Hereford service. Presumably this set had previously worked the 15:10 Cardiff to Chepstow and 16:05 Chepstow to Newport, which would explain why the destination blind still reads Chepstow! This is one of a number of Class 118 sets of which I only have a single picture, and there certainly wouldn't have been much opportunity to get any further pictures, as the set was disbanded a few months later. The two powered vehicles were withdrawn and moved to Vic Berry's yard at Leicester for cutting up, but the centre car managed to stay in traffic for a further year before finally succumbing to the cutter's torch at Mayer Newman's at Snailwell.

C470 (51328 & 51313) pass Portskewett (between Newport and Chepstow) with the 10:54 Newport to Chepstow service on 4 September 1986. C470 had slightly less than a year left in traffic, and had already lost its centre car (59478) when this picture was taken. Both the vehicles seen here ended their days at Mayer Newman, Snailwell in 1988. At this time various Welsh allocated units were enlivened with the Welsh Dragon on the yellow front end, along with a thin red line recalling the original 'speed whiskers' of the 1960s.

B472 (51315, 59482, & 51330) emerges from Sapperton Tunnel on 28 June 1980 with the 17:22 Swindon to Cheltenham service. This unit is of course working down the gradient, but the sight of this tunnel portal was probably not welcome by the crews of steam hauled trains toiling up the bank. Although the gradient eases from a fearsome 1 in 60 to 1 in 90 near the entrance, any slight water ingress in the tunnel was certainly going to make life more difficult for up trains!

Making a change from the more usual Class 117 or 119 units on the route, B472 (51315, 59482, & 51330) passes Oxford North Junction on 13 May 1987 with the 2A85 08:08 Hereford to Oxford service. Although I have fewer pictures of Class 118 units than the other Western Region allocated classes, this particular unit was the one that seemed to appear all the time, and was a more common visitor to the Cotswold Line than its classmates.

B473 (51316, 59483, & 51331) approaches Standish Junction on 7 July 1984 with the 08:48 Swindon to Worcester Foregate Street service. The Swindon lines (left) and the Bristol lines (right) are at the same level at this point being just a few yards from the actual junction, but as the lines curve round to the left in the distance the difference in level becomes marked, until the Swindon line peels off to the left towards Stonehouse at a considerably higher level.

B473 (51316, 59483, & 51331) accelerates away from Kingham station on 20 May 1987 with the 17:30 Oxford to Moreton-in-Marsh all stations local service. Never as common on the Cotswold Line as the Class 117 and 119 units, B473 was however a more frequent visitor than most, by virtue of its Bristol allocation. B473 was withdrawn in July 1993, and was scrapped almost immediately at M C Metal Processing, Glasgow.