156402 passes Wilsford (between Ancaster and Sleaford) with the 11:25 Grantham to Skegness Central Trains service on 1 September 2002. Interestingly, the Great Northern Railway never provided a station at Wilsford, despite the railway skirting the edge of the village. A signal box was provided at the level crossing with the main road, a short distance to the east of this location.

Central Trains 156403 was on hire to First ScotRail on 8 June 2007, when it was pictured leaving Annan with the 12:03 Glasgow Central to Carlisle service. Caught in a very lucky patch of sun, with the rear of the train only just clear of the advancing cloud!

While a flock of rooks scavenge for food in the stubble field, 156404 heads along the up relief line at Cossington on 28 January 2008 with the 10:36 Lincoln to Leicester East Midlands Trains service. Note that the former Central Trains logos and web address have been rather crudely painted out, and are beginning to show through in places.

A brief gap in the clouds allows some superb lighting at Elton & Orston station on 25 June 2008, as 156405 approaches the remote station with the 14:02 Skegness to Nottingham East Midlands Trains service. However, this was not one of the few trains to actually call at the station. The unit is wearing the striking new East Midlands livery. There is plenty of warning of approaching trains from both directions at this spot!

The first Class 156 Sprinter the I have photographed in One Railways livery, 156407 passes Haughley Green with the 09:43 Cambridge to Ipswich service on 10 March 2007. After being basically dead straight since Bury St Edmunds, the line will shortly swing to the right to join the electrified Norwich to London line at Haughley Junction.

The quaint station at Worstead, on the Norwich to Sheringham line could almost be on a preserved railway, such is its retention of period features and remarkable lack of modern fittings. During the middle of the day alternative trains stop at the station from the basically hourly service, this not being one of them. 156407 speeds through with the 2S19 14:46 Sheringham to Norwich National Express East Anglia service on 12 May 2008.

With Heckington Windmill on the extreme left, and Heckington church on the right, 156408 & 158813 pass Great Hale with the 09:50 Nottingham to Skegness Central Trains service on 29 August 2007. At least five coaches is a respectable length train, as in recent years severe overcrowding has resulted from the use of two coach units on what is even today a popular holiday line.

156409 leaves Acle station on 12 May 2008 with the 2P17 13:17 Great Yarmouth to Norwich National Express East Anglia service. This unit is wearing the former One Railway livery, with the branding removed. Acle station retains a lot of period charm, with hardly any signs of modernisation. Semaphore signalling still being controlled from the diminutive signal box on the platform. The section of platform in the foreground is now not used by passengers and seems to have been taken over by rabbits!

156432 heads south through the remote countryside near Barrhill with the 09:10 Kilmarnock to Stranraer First ScotRail service on 9 June 2007, running approximately 40 minutes late. I had gone to this location to photograph the Class 40 on the SRPS railtour, but as can be seen here the sun had not quite gone round far enough to be on the front of the train, so as soon as this unit had passed I made my way to the top of the cutting seen in the background for a better angle for the light.

156432 passes Powfoot on 6 May 2008 with the 13:09 Carlisle to Glasgow Central First ScotRail service. Powfoot is situated on the two and half mile straight section of track to the west of Annan. Note the two pieces of steam age railwayana either side of the leading coach. The 104¾ milepost (from Glasgow) on the left and the gradient post on the right. The train service on this line is principally composed of Carlisle to Glasgow services, such as this one, with a few additional Carlisle to Dumfries trains, and two daily Newcastle to Stranraer trains (one in the opposite direction).

The Strathclyde Partnership livery applied to numerous First ScotRail Class 156s is virtually a direct copy of the 1950s British Railways carmine and cream livery, and in my opinion suits them very well. It is particularly seen to advantage here, as 156434 heads north past Cample with the 17:13 Newcastle to Stranraer service on 8 June 2007.

156434 & 156510 pass Closeburn on 9 June 2007 with the 06:40 Girvan to Newcastle service, the first train of the day on this section of line. Although I also photographed a southbound coal train at this location, I find this picture of a pair of carmine and cream livery units which are unique to the area more interesting than the EWS Class 66 on HTAs which are commonplace in many parts of the country. A strange situation when a humble DMU is more noteworthy than a freight train!

156437 crosses the bridge over the River Speen on the approach to Tulloch station with the 12:42 Glasgow Queen Street to Mallaig ScotRail service on 11 April 2000. It was a generally cloudy day, but luckily just as the train approached the sun came out just enough to highlight the ex-works Strathclyde PTE carmine & cream livery.

156439 passes Powfoot (near Annan) with the 12:03 Glasgow Central to Carlisle First ScotRail service on 6 May 2008. Although a sunny day, in southern Scotland there was a layer of misty high cloud that not only reduced the distant visibility, but also completely flattened the lighting. Note the very weak shadows here.

156447 & 156492 emerge from the bushes and cross one of the many small bridges in Glen Falloch whilst working the 08:12 Glasgow Queen Street to Oban and Mallaig 'Lord of the Isles' service on 21 July 1997. A few miles from this location, at Crianlarich, the two units will split, with 156447 going on to Oban, and 156492 taking the longer route to Mallaig. At this time the ScotRail branding seems to have been confined to a discrete flash logo below the left hand window. Logos are not so subtle nowadays!

156453 arrives at Dalmally on 11 April 2000 with the 12:35 Oban to Glasgow Queen Street ScotRail service. A cold dull day with some snow visible on the mountains in the background. Note the tall road overbridge at the end of the loop and the sudden change of gradient as the line heads towards Loch Awe and Oban. The Oban line has just three trains in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays (this is the middle one) and only two on Sundays.

156454 leaves Hexham station on 14 September 1996 with the 10:35 Carlisle to Middlesbrough service. A fine North Eastern Railway footbridge and original station canopies are dominated by the ridiculously tall semaphore signal, which is made to look even more out of scale, when compared with the truncated version on the left! As with most stations on the Tyne Valley Line there is plenty of steam age character here, although I don't think the loading platform on the left has seen a train for many years!

156481 passes Kilnhurst with an Arriva Trains Northern service to Manchester Piccadilly on 27 December 2003. This area has seen considerable change in the passenger service operators during the last few years. Formerly Northern Spirit, then Arriva Trains Northern, followed by Northern Rail. At least they have a strong regional identity! Note the Class 158 with a Trans Pennine service waiting to leave Swinton station in the background.

156497 approaches the site of Newbiggin station, on the Settle & Carlisle line with the 12:00 Carlisle to Leeds service on 16 September 1995. Newbiggin station (or New Biggin as the Midland Railway erroneously called it) was closed along with several other of the smaller stations on the line in 1970. The amber signal is protecting Culgaith level crossing.

Arriva Trains liveried 156498 has just emerged from Rise Hill Tunnel on 6 September 2004 with the 11:51 Carlisle to Leeds service, and is about to stop at Dent station, the highest station on the national network. Note the conifer plantation behind the train which has completely transformed this location in the last few years.

156505 ambles past Cample with the late running 15:48 Glasgow Central to Newcastle service on 8 June 2007. During several hours spent at this location there were several southbound coal trains, but they all conspired to come when the sun was in! This seems to be one of the few locations on the line that is both reasonably free of vegetation and has an unrestricted view of the mountains in the background.

156508 passes Newbie (near Annan) with the 10:00 Stranraer to Newcastle First ScotRail service on 6 May 2008. This is the only through working of the day over this route. The inclusion of the road on the left (which leads to an agricultural contractors) neatly balances the photographic composition, although it's a pity those gorse bushes in the background weren't a bit closer to break up the monotony of a green landscape!

156511 approaches Annan with the 12:39 Newcastle to Stranraer service on 8 June 2007. Note the extensive earthworks in connection with the re-instatement of the double track. The section of single track between Gretna and Annan is a considerable operational bottleneck, especially with the increase in coal traffic from the Ayr district.