D5301 & D5314 leave a rain soaked Bridge of Dun station with the 13:30 service to Brechin on 4 May 2008, during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala. Note the amount of stored stock in this picture, with three steam locos and two diesel shunters awaiting restoration visible in the line of wagons on the right. This view also emphasis the rural nature of the location.

D5301 passes Leuchland on the Caledonian Railway with the late running 10:00 Brechin to Bridge of Dun service during the line's Diesel Gala on 5 May 2008. Obviously the unexpected late running of the first train from Bridge of Dun, which resulted in this train's late departure resulted in some forgetfulness at Brechin, with the tail lamp being left attached to the front! Note the young child and her mother enjoying the £5 supplemental cab ride

D5301 & D5314 pass Kincraig on the Caledonian Railway with the 13:30 Bridge of Dun to Brechin service on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. Good use was made of the dry stone wall in the foreground to add to the photographic composition, although it did prevent a fellow photographer standing near the footpath crossing in the background, and therefore being in the picture.

D5301 passes Kincraig on the Caledonian Railway with the 14:15 Brechin to Bridge of Dun service on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. D5301 was the first Class 26 to enter traffic, being delivered to Hornsey depot in September 1958. It was one of a pair of Class 26s repainted into green livery in 1991 to mark the final years of the class on the national network.

D5301 darkens the sky with its exhaust as it blasts up the gradient towards the occupation crossing at Arrat on the Caledonian Railway on 5 May 2008. It was working the 14:45 Bridge of Dun to Brechin service as part of the line's Diesel Gala. As was the case at a lot of the locations I visited on the line during the event, I was the only person at this spot to witness this spectacle. The train could easily be heard leaving Bridge of Dun well over a mile away.

26003 & 26005 pass Reedley on the Colne Branch with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z46 13:40 Preston to Preston (via Padiham and Colne) 'Lancastrian Mini Excursion' on 23 May 1993. 60084 is out of sight on the rear of the train. This was one of a number of mini railtours organised by Pathfinder over the weekend using (by today's standards) an amazing variety of traction. For once I was glad that the sun dipped slightly as the train approached, as this would have been a severely backlit shot otherwise.

26004 arrives at Carrog with the 12:00 train from Llangollen, during the Llangollen Railway's Diesel Gala on 18 April 1998. The locomotive was visiting from the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. The loco, owned by the 6LDA Group is in Trainload Coal livery, the final livery carried by the class when in mainline use in Scotland. Note the remains of the winter's snow on the mountains in the background and the extremely neat and tidy preserved station.

Although the sun shone all day on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May 2008 for the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala, the weather on the preceding two days was less good. However, D5314 is pictured here arriving at Bridge of Dun with the 11:00 train from Brechin in a brief patch of sunshine on 4 May. This is the site of the junction with the line to Guthrie, the area on the left now being used by the Caledonian Railway's engineering department. The headboard commemorates 50 years of the Class 26 locomotive (BRCW / Sulzer Type 2).

D5314 & D5301 arrive at Bridge of Dun in the drizzle with the 13:00 service from Brechin on 4 May 2008, during the Caledonian Railways Diesel Gala. Apart from the first and last trains needed to get the locos to and from Bridge of Dun, each of these locos plus 27024 worked two round trips each day of the gala. In addition there was this double header using the two green Class 26s.

A fine panoramic view of Brechin station on the Caledonian Railway on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. D5314 prepares to depart with the 11:00 service to Bridge of Dun, while 27024 waits in front of the former goods shed ready to take over on its return and work the 12:00 departure. Brechin lost its passenger service as early as 1952, although freight traffic continued until 1981. The preservation society started running trains in 1993 and perhaps because of its remoteness doesn't have the over commercialised feeling of some of the more famous preserved lines further south.

D5314 & D5301 pass Kincraig on the Caledonian Railway with the 13:00 Brechin to Bridge of Dun service on 5 May 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. A perfect rural Scottish 1960s scene, with green Sulzer Type 2s on vintage bullhead track. We'll pretend that the maroon Mk 2 coaches are in fact Mk 1s and then the illusion is complete! Note the clouds in the background over the mountains, while thankfully being near the sea for once kept the weather near the railway cloud free.