Class 27

27001 & 27005 Kinneil 3 September 2000

27001 & 27005 pass Kinneil on 3 September 2000 with the 2T44 12:45 Birkhill to Bo'ness service, during the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway's Diesel Gala. These are the two oldest surviving Class 27s, entering service in June and August 1961, as D5347 & D5351. Both were withdrawn in July 1987. 27001 was initially preserved at the Caledonian Railway at Brechin, moving to join 27005 at Bo'ness in 1991.

27001 Bo'ness 3 September 2000

27001 arrives at Bo'ness on 3 September 2000 with the 2T46 14:25 Birkhill to Bo'ness service, during the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway's Diesel Gala. This fine panoramic view not only includes the impressive signal gantry, but also the abandoned mud filled eighteenth century dock on the right. On the other side of the River Forth, the 600ft tall chimney of Longannet Power Station dominates the scene. Longannet was built in the mid 1960s, and was the last coal fired power station in Scotland when it closed in 2016.

27021 Killiecrankie 12 July 1983

27021 ambles past the site of Killiecrankie station with a short engineers train returning to Perth on 12 July 1983. Luckily the train wasn't any longer in view of the restricted viewpoint! Unfortunately this is the only decent picture I have of a Class 27 in their native Scotland, and it just happened to be taken from the drive to our holiday cottage!

27021 Killiecrankie 15 July 1983

27021 heads north past Killiecrankie with a single van on 15 July 1983. The loco, which was new (as D5367) to Glasgow Eastfield depot in January 1962, was withdrawn with fire damage in June 1985. A couple of new houses now occupy the flat area of ground on the left. The 240 yard long Killiecrankie Tunnel is just out of sight among the trees in the background.

27024 Bridge of Dun 4 May 2008

27024 arrives at Bridge of Dun on 4 May 2008 with the 12:00 service from Brechin during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala. The pile of track panels on the left stand on the course of the old line to Forfar, via Guthrie Junction. There was also originally a connection to Arbroath, via a curve at Friockheim.

27024 Bridge of Dun 4 May 2008

27024 makes a spirited departure from Bridge of Dun with the 12:30 service to Brechin during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala on 4 May 2008. 37097 can just be seen parked in the middle of a line of coaches in the background. Bridge of Dun station is in a very rural location a few miles to the west of Montrose, but was formerly a junction where the Brechin and Edzell route diverged from the line to Guthrie.

27024 Brechin 5 May 2008

27024 stands in the former goods yard at Brechin on 5 May 2008, during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala. As well as the old goods shed, this view also shows Brechin Cathedral (on the left), the Gardner Memorial Church (centre), and the tall tower of Brechin Mechanics Institute (background).

27024 Brechin 5 May 2008

27024 leaves Brechin with the 12:00 train to Bridge of Dun, during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala on 5 May 2008. The banks of cloud in the background give a misleading impression of the weather, as virtually everywhere else was completely clear blue skies. Obviously further inland conditions were not so good, but luckily the position of the clouds hardly altered all day.

27024 Kincraig 5 May 2008

27024 passes Kincraig on the Caledonian Railway with the 12:30 Bridge of Dun to Brechin service on 5 May 2008. This was during the line's Diesel Gala. 27024 was withdrawn from BR service in 1987, but spent some time as a departmental training loco numbered ADB968028, before entering preservation, initially at the Northampton and Lamport Railway.

27024 Balwyllo 5 May 2008

27024 nears journey's end, as it passes Balwyllo on 5 May 2008 with the 15:15 Brechin to Bridge of Dunn service, during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala. The loco could certainly do with a front end repaint!

27024 Balwyllo 5 May 2008

27024 makes a fine site as it leaves Bridge of Dun and passes Balwyllo with the 15:45 train to Brechin, during the Caledonian Railway's Diesel Gala on 5 May 2008. Note the completely clear blue sky in this picture which is looking towards the sea, in contrast to the clouds that can be seen in the background of pictures taking looking in the other direction.

27049, 27053 & 27037 Vic Berry's, Leicester 26 September 1987

The famous locomotive stack at Vic Berry's scrapyard, Leicester, pictured on 26 September 1987. The bodies of 27049, 27053 & 27037 form the end of a huge pile of Class 27s and Class 25s waiting for scrapping, following the mass withdrawal of the classes by BR. Being easily viewed from nearby footpaths, this amazing spectacle became a minor tourist attraction in the late 1980s!

D5401 Rothley 25 March 1994

The secondman gets ready to hand over the single line token, as D5401 arrives at a rather damp Rothley station on 25 March 1994, whilst en-route from Leicester North to Loughborough, during the Great Central Railway's Diesel Gala.

D5401 Woodthorpe 12 September 2009

The shadows are lengthening as D5401 passes Woodthorpe with the 2D32 16:20 Rothley to Loughborough service on 12 September 2009, during the Great Central Railway's Diesel Gala. The English equivalent of the 'MacRat' on the front is the Class 25, an example of which (D5185) can just be seen on the rear of the train.

D5401 Harmans Cross 13 May 2012

D5401 makes a typically noisy departure from Harmans Cross on 13 May 2012 with the 10:45 Norden to Swanage service, during the Swanage Railway's Diesel Gala. Note the strengthening of base of the cutting, after the recent landslip.

D5401 Harmans Cross (Quarr Farm) 13 May 2012

D5401 passes Quarr Farm (near Harmans Cross) on 13 May 2012 with the 13:00 Norden to Swanage service, during the Swanage Railway's Diesel Gala. The signal post may be upright, but the same cannot be said for either the PW hut, or the telegraph pole!

D5401 Woodyhyde 13 May 2012

D5401 rounds the curve at Woodyhyde on 13 May 2012 with the 14:30 Swanage to Norden service, during the line's Diesel Gala. D5401 is not the only classic traction in the picture, note the VW camper van in the background!

D5401 Corfe Castle 13 May 2012

D5401 crosses the four arch viaduct over the B3351 at Corfe Castle on 13 May 2012, as it nears journey's end with the 16:45 Swanage to Norden service, during the Swanage Railway's Diesel Gala. Although it looks the business, this is just about as far as the loco could get from its original Scottish stomping ground!

27059 Basingstoke 27 September 1987

27059, pictured at the Basingstoke Rail Show on 27 September 1987. The loco had been withdrawn in July, but was briefly reinstated for movement to the show, and then was withdrawn again in October. After asbestos removal, it was moved to the Severn Valley Railway.

27066 Lydney 19 August 2006

27066 is pictured at Lydney, on the Dean Forest Railway, on 19 August 2006. The loco was one of the last of the class to be withdrawn, being one of the large group that was taken out of service in July 1987. It's first home in preservation was on the North Norfolk Railway.

27066 Yarwell 1 March 2008

27066 pulls away from the recently completed station at Yarwell Junction on the Nene Valley Railway with the 2E45 09:50 Wansford to Peterborough service on 1 March 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala. 24081 which had brought the train in from Wansford can be seen on the rear of the train. This station is remote from any road, being approached either by footpaths or a rough track that serves a nearby fishing lake.

27066 & 24081 Castor 1 March 2008

27066 & 24081 pass Castor on the Nene Valley Railway with the 2E51 14:21 Wansford to Peterborough service on 1 March 2008, during the line's Diesel Gala, towing Pressed Steel Class 117 DMU 51367, 59508, & 51401. Another lucky shot for the sun, with the cloud clearing moments before the train arrived.