50021 Rodney heads along the down main line at South Moreton with the1F38 15:15 Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast service on 6 August 1988. It will shortly have to weave across the relief lines to gain the east curve at Didcot, as this particular service was not booked to call at Didcot. The hourly NSE loco hauled trains only called at Reading, leaving the Class 117 DMUs to serve the intermediate stations. A DMU Reading to Oxford local took approximately an hour, almost exactly the same time this 50 took from Paddington to Oxford.

50022 Anson emerges from the fog at Great Bedwyn on 23 September 1986 with the 3A27 06:25 Plymouth to Paddington empty vans. Luckily the fog was just starting to clear, and gives an autumnal look to the picture rather than being so dense that you would just see the loco and no train, as it had been a short while before!

50023 Howe is pictured passing through typical Cotswold countryside, with flooded fields by the River Evenlode in the middle distance and the village of Stonesfield on the top of the hill. The train is the 1A25 08:05 Hereford to Paddington service on 25 January 1986. Technically not a very good picture, for despite being taken on a Pentax 6x7 rollfilm camera this was on the early version of Fujichrome 400 film, which was very poor with excessive grain. This particular film stock improved out of all recognition during the following decade. Oddly I have never ventured back to this location, but assume that it would be completely useless now due to uncontrolled lineside bush growth.

50023 Howe approaches Ufton Crossing at speed with the 1F14 10:47 Paddington to Newbury Network SouthEast service on 3 March 1990. Although in earlier years Class 50s had dominated this line on through services to the West Country, by 1990 they only worked the NSE services to Newbury or Westbury. Howe only had a few more months in traffic. After a short spell in the NWXC West of England pool, the loco spent its final days as a DCWA loco, finally being withdrawn on 15 October 1990.

With less than two months to go before the class would be ousted from passenger trains in the Thames Valley and Oxford area, 50023 Howe passes through Heyford station with the 1F87 18:39 Banbury to Paddington Network SouthEast service on 24 May 1990. 50023 made the transition from the NWRA (Thames) to NWXC (Waterloo reserve) pool on 12 July. Its use on the West of England route was minimal (if at all), as a month later it was transferred to the DCWA departmental pool, and then withdrawn shortly afterwards.

The sun has virtually disappeared into thin high cloud (probably not helped by the local farmers burning fields of straw, which was then still legal) as 50024 Vanguard passes Cassington with the 17:07 Paddington to Hereford service on 30 August 1983. Although it is still possible to take pictures at this location, increasing lineside vegetation has resulted in the view now being much more head on.

50024 Vanguard is pictured between Combe and Handborough on 14 May 1986 with the 1A10 06:00 Hereford to Paddington service. This high vantage point shows off the newly painted black roof, which did so much to improve the appearance of the large logo livery on the Class 50s. The four exhaust ports on the roof were hardly conducive to keeping the roof white, and it is a surprise that given the success of this particular livery variant that the whole class was not repainted. In the event only a few locos carried this version.

Snowplough fitted 50024 Vanguard passes Uffington loops with a Swindon to Old Oak Common ECS comprising various test coaches on 14 March 1989. It was a very dull day, so I was taking the opportunity to use this location which as can be seen from the small copse of Scots Pine trees on the south of the line, is totally useless if the sun is out. At the time 50024 was allocated to the NWRA sector, and was therefore obviously taking a break from working its more normal Paddington to Oxford Network SouthEast passengers services.

50025 Invincible is well away from home territory on 15 March 1986, as it passes through Stonegate station with the Southern Electric Group 1Z25 07:55 Paddington to Folkestone Harbour 'Vulcan Van Train' railtour. This was the first standard loading gauge train to traverse the Tonbridge to Hastings line. The former restricted loading gauge had been eased by singling the line through the tunnels, and consequently the slimline 'Hastings' DEMUs that had used the route since the 1950s were about to be replaced by conventional EMUs (note the newly laid but still unused and rusty conductor rails). Also note the abrupt change of gradient under the bridge.