In 2003 Chiltern Railways refurbished 55020 (121020) and painted it into this smart blue livery with silver banding. The work also included the fitting of secondary door locking, which made it exempt from the mass withdrawal of Mk 1 stock at the end of 2005. This work was done to release a Class 165 for refurbishment. On 14 July 2003, it is pictured passing North Lee with the 18:55 Princes Risborough to Aylesbury service. The single car unit was ideally suited to this short distance shuttle service.

55021 (L121) heads past Hinksey Yard with the 13:40 Oxford to Didcot service on 22 October 1985. Surprisingly this short distance journey was a non-stop service, ignoring the intermediate stations of Radley, Culham & Appleford. The waste ground behind the corrugated iron fence is the site of Oxford gasworks, the lack of vegetation being the result of industrial contamination of the soil. The white lattice steel bridge visible directly above the DMU allowed the works railway lines to cross the River Thames. This view offers a panoramic view of Oxford, from the Ice Rink (the structure on the extreme left) to the Castle (centre) and the nearby spire of Nuffield College.

960014 (977873 or the former 55022) is pictured at Hatton North Junction with the 5T51 Bicester to Stourbridge Chiltern Railways route learner on 19 February 2008. The drivers under instruction can just be seen in the cab, highlighted by the low winter sun. In 2008 over half this class of 'bubble car' are in departmental service as route learners or sandite vehicles, albeit with a number of vehicle stored. They must therefore be considered as one of the most successful and useful of the first generation DMUs.

I don't normally take close up pictures of trains after taking the main picture, but this is such an interesting vehicle that I made an exception. Departmental 960014 (977873) passes Hatton North Junction with the 5T51 Bicester to Stourbridge Chiltern Railways route learner on 19 February 2008. This is the former 55022, and as can be seen has had very little cosmetic work done to it since its removal from passenger service. A real blast from the past with its faded blue and grey livery. The discrete Chiltern Railways logo and the radio pods on the cab roofs are the only give away that this is not a 1980s picture, and of course the two different departmental numbers carried on the front and the bodyside!

55023 (L123) heads away from the camera at Aristotle Lane, Oxford with the 10:07 Didcot to Banbury local service on 11 February 1985. This unit can still be seen today, not too far from this location, as it preserved at the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway. Directly behind the unit are the Trap Grounds allotments, which have been threatened with housing development for many years, the fact that they are on the wrong side of the railway with only a footbridge crossing has always being a stumbling block, along with the allotment holder's fierce resistance. In the distance is the snow covered expanse of Port Meadow.

55025 (L125) heads south from Shiplake, on the Henley-on-Thames branch with the 13:44 Henley to Twyford service on 5 March 1988. This is branch line operation in a barely updated form from GWR days, as the Class 121 'bubble cars' are a direct replacement for the Great Western's pioneering 1930s railcars. Unfortunately I took very few pictures of the branch before the arrival of the Turbo units in the early 1990s, but there was obviously so much happening on the railways in the 1980s that it had a low priority!

Hallen Marsh Junction, near Avonmouth is a location that has changed dramatically in the last few years. In 1987 the signal box controlled a forest of semaphore signals around the junction area, with well over a dozen signals in view here. Unfortunately all this steam age equipment has now been swept away. On 15 August 1987, 55026 (B126) passes the junction with the 17:36 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads service. The lines leading off to the right went to Commonwealth Smelting and ISC Chemicals, while the lines branching off right in the background head towards Filton, and still see freight traffic today. Between the Filton line and the line to Severn Beach can be seen the rail served Chittening Estate.

In 1994 the Network SouthEast liveried 55029 was smartened up with the addition of a white cab roof (which the class originally carried when they were in green livery), red buffer beams, and silver buffers and exhaust stacks. It is seen here leaving Ridgmont on 16 July 1994 with the 11:40 Bedford to Bletchley service. At the time the Bedford to Bletchley line was something of a time warp, not only with classic traction, but semaphore signalling and hand operated level crossing gates.

In addition to the 15 single car Class 121 DMBS vehicles, 10 additional unpowered DTS vehicles were also built. These were normally used with a Class 121 to form a two car unit, or as a spare vehicle for a Class 117 three car set. 54286 (L286) is seen here approaching Combe station on the Cotswold Line, being pushed by 55027 (L127) on 21 August 1982 whilst working the 06:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford local service. The very high occupation bridge in the background is Grintleyhill Bridge, while on the left the piles of timber are on the premises of the Blenheim Palace Estate timber mill and workshops.