40022 slogs up the bank towards Chinley with an Oakleigh to Tunstead ICI stone empties train on 20 October 1983. This was one of the few named Class 40s, receiving the name Laconia at Crewe Works in 1962. By the time this photo was taken it had long since lost its nameplates, but painted representations of the plates had been added by the early 1908s, as seen here. 40022 only had another 5 months left in traffic, and was broken up at Doncaster in late 1984. The 1930s built vacuum braked bogie hopper wagons seen here surprisingly lasted another fourteen years on this service.

In 1982 Gateshead depot specially prepared a pair of Class 40s for railtour duties, with a full repaint including red buffer beams and silver buffers. On 8 May 1982, 40057 & 40084 were used on the Class Forty Preservation Society's 'Cotswold Venturer' railtour from York to Paddington, via Worcester and Oxford. Unfortunately by the time the tour got to Moreton-in-Marsh the sun was head on, throwing both sides of the train into shade, however an opportunity was taken to picture the train between the signal box and Moreton's down home signal. Note the lack of health and safety concerns as photographers wander everywhere. There was a line of photographers where I am stood right across both running lines!

40057 & 40135 race through Pilning station on 28 May 1984 with the T & N Railtours 1Z26 06:30 Preston to Paignton 'Devonian' railtour. 40135's steam heat generator is obviously working well, but then it probably needs to be as seemingly every window in the front of the train is open! Although 40135 survived into preservation, 40057 was not so lucky, being withdrawn less than two months after this picture was taken. It was cut up at Crewe in 1988.

40086 is pictured passing Circourt Bridge, Denchworth in golden autumnal light on 3 November 1984 with the Lancashire Loco Society 1Z29 08:29 Bolton to Swindon 'Swindon Ambassador III' railtour. The tour was running very late at this point because 40086 had run out of fuel at Didcot and had been taken to Reading for fuel by 58017, borrowed off an MGR train. At least in those days these out of course events were dealt with relatively quickly. No doubt if the same thing happened today, the tour would have passed me after dark, or else been cancelled, such is today's railways inability to deal with the unexpected. 40086 was withdrawn in January 1985 and cut up the following month.

D306 Atlantic Conveyor passes Castor on the Nene Valley Railway in superb late afternoon light on 19 March 2000 with the 15:56 Peterborough to Wansford service, during the line's Diesel Gala. D306 gained some notoriety in BR days when as 40106 it survived into 1976 in very tatty green livery, and then surprisingly in the corporate blue era, emerged from a repaint in a fresh coat of green! It then became a celebrity machine, much requested for railtours, a role it handed over to D200 in 1983. 

40118 passes through Kemble station on 15 December 1984 with the Class 40 Preservation Society 1Z25 07:25 Bolton to Bristol Temple Meads 'Christmas Cracker III' railtour to the obvious delight of everyone in the first coach! I must apologize for the poor technical quality of this picture, but with only Kodachrome 64 available, and the light rapidly fading due to the tour being an hour late, I am actually surprised that it looks this good. What had been a sunny day when the tour should have come had detiorated into a dull misty afternoon. 40118 was withdrawn the following month, but was reinstated as departmental 97408, before finally being preserved.

D200 heads south along the Midland Mainline at Milton Ernest with the Traintours 1Z26 'Corby Cutler' railtour on 4 May 1987. D200 was the first Class 40 to enter service in the Spring of 1958, the first of 200 locos, which although ridiculously heavy for a loco producing only 2000hp, nevertheless proved to be reliable performers on both passenger and freight. The tour was a fairly straightforward Preston to London St. Pancras run via Toton. D200 was repainted into its original green livery in 1983, albeit with full yellow ends. This assured it celebrity status, and resulted in it outlasting all its classmates by over three years, as it was retaining for special workings such as this.

D200 is in unfamiliar territory as it negotiates the single track West of England line at West Hatch (between Salisbury and Gillingham) on 31 August 1987 with the Traintours 1Z37 (although of course it should really be 1Z40) Preston to Exeter St Davids 'Desert Songster' railtour. As the tour was running nearly an hour late the lighting was getting a little more head on than I would have liked, but of course as always in these cases you daren't move to a different location for fear of missing it!

D200 was withdrawn from service on 16 April 1988, almost exactly 30 years after first entering service with the Eastern Region. To mark the occasion, BR InterCity organised a special train from Liverpool Street, via Norwich to take the locomotive to its new home at the National Railway Museum at York. Sporting a large headboard, which was a subtle reworking of a headboard carried in 1958 to mark the launch of the diesel hauled service, D200 is pictured passing Eccles Heath (between Attleborough and Thetford). The weather was miserable all day, and at this point was raining heavily, but I think the Kodachrome 200 has done a nice job of capturing the atmospheric conditions!

D200 leaves Goathland station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway with the 13:45 Grosmont to Pickering service on Saturday 3 June 2006. This had been specially arranged to be hauled by D200 to connect with the Pathfinder Railtours 'Esk Invader' railtour, thus giving tour participants who didn't wish to carry on to Whitby the chance of some additional Class 40 haulage. After a brief period in the National Railway Museum, D200 now spends it retirement on the NYMR, and free from the restrictions of the national network, can no wear its original green livery, unspoilt by yellow ends.

Prior to its repainting into inauthentic large logo livery in 2007, 40145 had had already carried the livery, along with the even more optimistic number of 40445. For short while in 1992 it was in this livery whilst on the East Lancashire Railway. D335 is seen here at Burrs double heading with 40145 (40445) with an afternoon Bury Bolton Street to Rawtenstall service on 4 October 1992, during the line's Diesel Gala. Naturally this spectacular and colourful double header didn't correspond with one of the sunny spells!

The triumphant return of a Class 40 to the main line occurred on 30 November 2002 when D345 (40145) worked the Pathfinder Tours / Class Forty Preservation Society 1Z45 07:00 Crewe to Holyhead 'Christmas Cracker IV' railtour. The weather was very poor, but had brightened up a little when the train reached the North Wales coast. It is seen here running between the A55 road and Conwy Bay at  Penmaenmawr. With three headboards even a non railway enthusiast would recognise this as a railtour!

40145 passes through East Garforth station (near Leeds) with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 07:15 Rawtenstall to York 'East Lancs Envoy' railtour on 24 January 2004. Despite the perfect winter lighting, it was still freezing cold waiting on the footbridge! Unusually, the train traversed the full length of the East Lancashire Railway with classmate 40135 assisting at the rear, before joining the national network via the Castleton link.

The long stretch of straight track between Selby and Hull is emphasized by the use of a telephoto lens, as 40145 passes Hemingbrough with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z41 13:03 York to Scarborough 'East Lancs Envoy' railtour on 24 January 2004. Note the vintage cast iron milepost in the foreground. This railtour had started from Rawtenstall, and after traversing the East Lancs Railway, traveled via Hebden Bridge to York. A visit to Scarborough then followed, before heading back to the East Lancs Railway via Stalybridge.

After getting two decent pictures of the Pathfinder Tours 1Z41 13:03 York to Scarborough 'East Lancs Envoy' railtour on 24 January 2004, the third proved more difficult, with the line from Bridlington to Scarborough proving to be particularly difficult for photographic locations, and with the sun getting low on a January afternoon, the options were becoming even more limited. Eventually I found this spot at Cayton, just in time to catch 40145 before the sun finally disappeared. Although not normally a fan of low level trackside pictures, it certainly makes the loco look impressive in this case.

40145 traverses a typical Fenland landscape at Westry with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 07:41 York to Liverpool Street 'Silver Jubilee' railtour on 22 January 2005. The lack of overbridges on the Peterborough to March section of line resulted in most photographers congregating on this bridge (the A141 March to Wisbech road). Unfortunately, although the sun was out both before and after the train came, just at the critical time some squiffy cloud knocked the edge of the light.

40145 is pictured crossing Cow Common, just after passing through Manea station, with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 11:35 York to Kings Cross 'Silver Jubilee' railtour on Sunday 23 January 2005 (not Saturday, as this picture was captioned in Rail magazine!). In contrast to Saturday's picture of the same railtour, this location was blessed with full sun. It is not very often I do a 230 mile round trip to photograph the same railtour two days running, with the final locations only being a few miles apart! This location has the added advantage on a winter's day with a strong wind in that it could be taken from the car window while parked near the level crossing!

Dominated by a huge mountain of slate waste, 40145 passes the old station at Blaenau Ffestiniog in the pouring rain with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z51 05:36 Bristol Temple Meads to Blaenau Ffestiniog 'Whistling Slater' railtour on 4 June 2005. The new station is a little further on, next to the terminus of the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. Rhododendrons are at least adding a bit of colour to the overgrown goods yard in the foreground.

The horse in the shed takes no notice of 40145 as it approaches Dolwyddelan in the rain on the return form Blaenau Ffestiniog with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z52 13:26 Blaenau Ffestiniog to Holyhead 'Whistling Slater' railtour on 4 June 2005. I had seen the tour depart Blaenau Ffestiniog and was not sure I would get another picture along the branch. However, seeing photographers still waiting as I drove past Roman Bridge, prompted me to head to this spot, arriving just in time to see the 40 approaching.

40145 races past Meikle Cantly (between Huntly and Keith) with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 06:55 Birmingham New Street to Kyle of Lochalsh 'Whistling Scotsman' railtour on 27 August 2005. The train had stabled overnight in Aberdeen and was now making its way to Inverness via Dyce and Huntley. In contrast to the Highlands and even the Southern Uplands, the north east of Scotland does not posses any spectacular scenery, much of the line being through nondescript farmland such as this.

The landscape around Elgin is not particularly inspiring and after getting stuck in a horrendous traffic jam in the town, which for some reason doesn't have a bypass, I had no time to search for another location. 40145 passes Whitefield (approximately 3 miles west of Elgin) with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 06:55 Birmingham New Street to Kyle of Lochalsh 'Whistling Scotsman' railtour on 27 August 2005. The train had spent the night at Aberdeen, leaving the Granite City at 10:30.

As the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 06:55 Birmingham New Street to Kyle of Lochalsh 'Whistling Scotsman' railtour headed west onto the Kyle of Lochalsh line on 27 August 2005, the rain that had been threatening all morning started with a vengeance. The bushes in the foreground bend in the strong wind as 40145 crosses the bridge between Loch a' Chuilinn and Loch Achanalt. All to familiar Scottish weather, as the mountains in the background are veiled in slanting rain!

40145 arrives at a rain soaked Achnasheen station with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 06:55 Birmingham New Street to Kyle of Lochalsh 'Whistling Scotsman' railtour on 27 August 2005. A single engineer's siding remains at this remote crossing point, which like most of the intermediate stations on the Kyle line just serves a handful of roadside cottages.

With the mountains in the background shrouded in cloud 40145 accelerates away from the level crossing at Balnacra with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 06:55 Birmingham New Street to Kyle of Lochalsh 'Whistling Scotsman' railtour on 27 August 2005. This is an obvious spot to wait for the train when chasing by car towards Kyle of Lochalsh, as this picture is taken from the side of the road, so no walking involved!

40145 has just crossed the 29 arch 1898 built Culloden Viaduct with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 09:48 Inverness to Birmingham New Street 'Whistling Scotsman' railtour on 28 August 2005. The early morning rain had given way to still murky conditions, which meant the midges appeared, making the wait for the 'whistler' very unpleasant! Torrential rain and 40mph traffic on the A9 after this shot meant this was the only picture of the day.

Catching a lucky bit of autumnal sunshine, 40145 passes Husborne Crawley (near Ridgmont on the Bedford to Bletchley line) with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 06:30 Liverpool Lime Street to Euston 'Capital Crusader' railtour on 5 November 2005. The train has just passed under the A507 road. Unfortunately the recent modernisation of this line has swept away many picturesque locations featuring manually operated crossing gates and semaphore signals.

40145 passes Nunthorpe, on the single line between Middlesbrough to Whitby via Battersby Junction with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 'Esk Invader' railtour on 3 June 2006. With the frequent use of 40145 on railtours in the last few years, I have now got more decent pictures of this one locomotive than all other members of the class added together. A little more traveling in the early 1980s would have been a good idea with hindsight! On a botanical note, as a consequence of being 200 miles further north, the Hawthorn blossom is out at its peak here, whereas in my native Oxfordshire, it was already past its best.

40145 causes mass panic in the lambs at Northway on 3 March 2007. They sprint off to find mum, as 2,000 hp of English Electric power roars past with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z47 05:44 Crewe to Llandrindod Wells 'Welsh Central Liner II' railtour. I had decided to try for a different location for this tour, and so trekked across the fields between Northway and Bredon, a task made difficult by the fact that heavy overnight rain had caused the nearby brook to flood out into the fields.

The early morning sunshine that greeting 40145 as it headed for Wales with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z47 05:44 Crewe to Llandrindod Wells 'Welsh Central Liner II' railtour on 3 March 2007 did not last once the tour reached the Central Wales Line. Sunny spells were interrupted by very heavy showers, one of which has just finished soaking me here, as the 40 passes through the rolling Welsh hills between Llanwrtyd Wells and Llangammarch Wells. The dark clouds in the background indicate more rain to come in the next few minutes.

The late afternoon booked departure of the returning Pathfinder Tours 1Z45 16:45 Llandrindod Wells to Crewe 'Welsh Central Liner II' railtour on 3 March 2007, meant that opportunities were limited for daylight photography. The sound of 40145 thrashing up the bank through Penybont was fantastic and the loco was still under full power (note the exhaust) as it emerged from Penybont Tunnel. Shortly before it came there was an interesting lighting effect in the cutting, as a shower of rain was backlit by the setting sun. Typically by the time the train arrived it was nearly dark.

40145 darkens the sky as it pulls way from Barrhill station with the SRPS 1Z11 05:28 Darlington to Stranraer railtour on 9 June 2007. The noise was spectacular as the lumbering giant struggled to get to grips with the 1 in 67 gradient from a standing start in the station. Note Barrhill's up home signal on the wrong side of the line due to sighting problems caused by the sharp curve in the cutting. Apart from all the heads out of the windows this could well be a scene from the 1970s. Classic English Electric traction, semaphore signals, and bullhead track. Even the milepost has a bit more character than the standard ex BR item.

40145 passes Cample with the SRPS 1Z12 13:32 Stranraer to Darlington railtour on 9 June 2007. Considering this is one of the better locations on the Kilmarnock to Carlisle, I was surprised that I was the only person here to witness the railtour pass. Another photographer had been at the bottom of the field when I arrived, but he went home when the sun went in. Ironically it got considerably brighter just before the train came, and naturally the sun came out shortly afterwards!

Yet again the weather forecasters get it wrong! Saturday 8 September 2007 was supposed to be a warm sunny day, possibly with a little cloud early on. In reality there was a little sun early on, followed by totally cloudy skies. In the hope of a 'sun on the nose' picture I had gone to Langley Burrell to photograph 40145 East Lancashire Railway on the Pathfinder Tours 1Z55 06:39 Banbury to Kingswear 'Devonian' railtour, but unfortunately its appearance did not correspond with one of the diminishing sunny spells!

40145 East Lancashire Railway passes through Golspie station with the Railway Touring Company 1Z23 08:10 Inverness to Thurso 'Autumn Highlander' railtour on 7 October 2007. The train would shortly spend two hours sat on the main line at Dunrobin Castle station, while the passengers visited the nearby castle and gardens. Such is the lack of traffic on the far north line that it is able to do this. Note the remains of the long disused down platform on the right.

40145 East Lancashire Railway climbs the 1 in 100 bank towards the long closed and very remote station at Loth (between Brora and Helmsdale) with the Railway Touring Company 1Z23 08:10 Inverness to Thurso 'Autumn Highlander' railtour on 7 October 2007. This location required a very long walk, but was definitely worth it, as even without the sun the carpet of golden bracken in the foreground and the hills rising up behind make an excellent picture. It was also a very pleasant spot to wait an hour for the train, with fantastic views over the North Sea just to the left. There was plenty of warning of the train's approach, as it could be seen leaving Brora, four miles away!

I don't normally bother with going away shots, but this was too good to resist. 40145 East Lancashire Railway brings up the rear of the Railway Touring Company 1Z55 08:20 Inverness to Kings Cross 'Autumn Highlander' railtour on 8 October 2007, as 50049 Defiance leads the train into the gathering gloom near Crubenmore. I had initially planned to see the train at Drumochter Summit, but it was obvious as I was driving south along the A9 that the weather further south was a lot worse, and it certainly shows here as the train is illuminated by the final patch of sunshine. Once back in the car I was running parallel with the tour most of the way from Drumochter to Blair Atholl.

40145 worked the Pathfinder Tours 1Z40 05:15 Birmingham International to Lowestoft 'East Anglian' Railtour on 12 April 2008, to celebrate fifty years since the class was introduced onto passenger workings in East Anglia. As the I had already visited East Anglia when D200 celebrated the thirtieth anniversary (and coincidentally its final main line run), I felt disinclined to repeat the exercise, especially as two other tours could be seen by staying in my local area. Unfortunately this tour was routed down the relief line between Didcot and Reading, which is not very good photographically in the morning. However, the sun decided to go in at the crucial moment, so a quick dash over to the other side of the bridge at Goring resulted a slightly better picture.