In the last of the light on 22 October 1985, 58002 pulls out of the bi-directional loop at Hinksey (near Oxford) with the 7V65 11:56 Desford Colliery to Didcot Power Station MGR coal train. Prior to the 1984 miners strike most of these coal trains were worked by Class 56s, so it is ironic that the reason that this train was looped here was to let 56048 pass by light engine! In addition to southbound freights using this loop, some down DMUs terminating at Oxford would cross over from main line using the crossover in the foreground and use the loop in the opposite direction.

I doubt if you will see many pictures taken at this location. 58002 Daw Mill Colliery passes the derelict remains of Shipton-on-Cherwell Cement Works with the 7M28 19:00 Hinksey to Bescot departmental working on 30 July 1999. It was one of those balmy summer evenings when the sun gets progressively weaker as it merges into high cloud, and although there is still a trace of light on the old silos, the light had virtually gone by the time the 58 came into view. Note that the locos still carries the '1Z58 The Worksop Aberdonian' wording on the front from the railtour that took place over two years before!

58002 Daw Mill Colliery passes Breaston (between Derby and Northampton) with the Pathfinder Tours 06:26 Preston to Deepcar 'Calder Revolver' railtour on 23 September 2000. At this point in its itinerary it is running as 1Z58 (between Derby and Bradford Interchange), so the painted headcode on the front of the loco is correct, although the 'Worksop Aberdonian' wording from three years previously is not! 66008 is hiding in the bushes on the rear of the train.

58004 passes Hinksey Yard on 19 January 1991 with the 7V65 08:25 Rufford to Didcot Power Station MGR coal train. At this time Hinksey Yard was in a hiatus, with virtually all traffic lost and only the odd rake of condemned wagons or suchlike in evidence. It has since be reinvented as a civil engineer's yard. The brick built hut in the middle distance has since been removed.

58006 passes Thrupp (between Banbury and Oxford) with the 7V44 09:34 Three Spires Junction to Didcot Power Station MGR coal train on 25 April 1986. Although difficult to tell from this picture, the cement works at Shipton-on-Cherwell was still in use at this time, but closed shortly afterwards and has lain derelict for many years, although most of the buildings and the landmark chimney still stands. The bushes on the right have grown considerably, making this view impossible today. Rather than coal from British pits being hauled by a British built loco to Didcot Power Station, nowadays imported coal is transported from Avonmouth Docks by foreign built locos!

58008 passes through the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre's station at Quainton Road on 12 December 1997 with the 6Z25 March to Calvert spoil train. 58008 was withdrawn two years later after a scandalously short working life of just sixteen years. This location certainly has an unusual combination of an operational freight line passing through the centre of a preservation centre!

58009 passes Cossington with the 6M46 15:35 Fletton to Ratcliffe Power Station flyash empties on 1 June 1985. The disposal of power station ash from both Ratcliffe and West Burton to the former brick pits at Fletton, near Peterborough, for many years used these rakes of CSA Presfo wagons. This was the first picture taken with my newly purchased Pentax 6x7 roll film camera, bought from Jessops in Leicester a few hours previously!

58011 Worksop Depot finds the last of the day's light as it passes Farington Junction, near Preston on 14 September 1996 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z58 13:45 Newcastle to Bristol Temple Meads 'Geordie Choppers' railtour. Observant viewers will have noticed that this is not Geordie Land, nor is 58011 a chopper! 20304 & 20305 were the main traction event (or possibly 08633 on the mini tour around Newcastle), and 58011 was 'merely' the loco used to get the tour to and from the south.

58013 works wrong line through Harbury cutting on 28 March 1992 with the Branch Line Society 'Kineton Pullman' railtour. 47597 is on the rear of the train. After a reversal at Banbury, the tour would hand over to Army locos 273 & 265 at Fenny Compton, for the short trip to Kineton Army Depot. Note how rusty the out of use up line is.

58013 leaves High Marnham Power Station with a rake of MGR empties on a very dull 6 February 1999. The power station closed in 2003 and has since been partially demolished. It is situated at the end of a long branch line from the Shirebrook area. 58013 is wearing Mainline blue livery but devoid of any brandings.

58016 passes Somercotes on 9 April 1992 with a southbound loaded MGR. Happily the loco has been preserved, but very little else in this scene survives. HAA wagons have been superceded by higher capacity bogie vehicles, and this view has disappeared behind the inevitable screen of lineside bushes and trees.

The miner's strike of 1984 resulted in the then nearly new Class 58s suddenly finding there intended role of hauling heavy coal trains had suddenly stopped. Therefore the class were used on other freight services, such as Speedlink and freightliners. On 4 May 1985, shortly after the strike had ended, 58018 passes under the partially completed Hennef Way Banbury bypass with the 4M60 12:20 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner.

A panoramic view of Toton Yard, with 58020 Doncaster Works leaving with a southbound MGR on 16 October 1986. A shadow of its former self, and with the huge hump marshaling yard closed, Toton was still used extensively for staging MGR coal services such as this during the 1980s. Several Class 20s can be seen in the yard, along with withdrawn DMU vehicles and vacuum braked hoppers in the background.

Class 58s were obviously a common sight on freight trains, but not usually like this! 58020 Doncaster Works & 58002 Daw Mill Colliery pass Galmpton on the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway under a threatening sky on 19 June 1993 with the 13:35 Paignton to Kingswear freight train consisting of a motley collection of preserved goods wagons. Needless to say this was in connection with the line's Diesel Gala.

Unusual traction for the 4V22 16:03 Longbridge to Swindon Rover car body panel empties on 30 April 1999. 58020 Doncaster Works is pictured passing Spetchley, deputising for the more usual Class 66. Around this time there were other instances of different classes appearing on this train, including pairs of 37s. I do not remember much variety before the coming of the 66s, when Class 47s had a virtual monopoly. You can draw your own conclusion about what that means!

58020 Doncaster Works passes Overthorpe (near Banbury) on 16 June 1999 with the 6S65 15:19 Eastleigh to Mossend Enterprise service. Unusual to see one of the 'Silver Bullet' china clay tanks actually still looking silver by this date. Although quite difficult to get to, someone has obviously visited the location and removed the bush in the foreground, and no, it wasn't me!

A very tight location for photography, but it was just possible at Appleford (between Oxford and Didcot) to get a picture of southbound trains passing the signal box. On 12 September 1985, 58022 heads for Didcot Power Station with another load of coal from the Midlands. Unfortunately it is no longer possible to replicate this picture, as not only are there no Class 58s on the national network, but the signal box has been demolished as well.

58022 crosses over the River Avon at Eckington on 28 February 1998 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z88 05:50 Reading to Crewe 'Rex Ham' railtour. This section of the railtour was supposed to have featured a Class 58 & 56 combination, but the rostered Class 56 was overdue an A exam, and its replacement wouldn't work in multiple with 58022! All these problems meant that the tour was nearly an hour late when it passed me. It was lucky that the delay wasn't any greater, as the clouds were starting to build up considerably.

58023 climbs the gradient past Harbury on 10 May 1989 with the 7V09 08:41 Markham Colliery to Didcot Power Station MGR. All is now history. 58023 is no longer in service, and neither are the vintage HAA wagons it is hauling. Not only has the train gone, so has the view. A wall of trees and bushes now blocks out this once iconic viewpoint.

An unusual duty for a Class 58 on 22 July 2002. 58024 passes Bletchingdon (between Banbury and Oxford) with the 5Z10 16:57 Oxley to Didcot ECS move conveying ex Virgin Mk2 coaches 1204, 1208, 5900, 5975, 5999, 6059, 6061, 6120, 6172, 6184, 9507 & 9522 made redundant with the recent introduction of Class 220 Voyager units. Unusually for such empty stock moves, this was running exactly to time. An industrial estate now occupies Bletchingdon station site and the site of the former yard is now used for storage.

On 1 September 2002 Hertfordshire Railtours ran a railtour to mark the end of Class 58 operations in this country. 58024 is pictured passing Wilsford (between Ancaster and Sleaford) with the 1Z58 10:33 Kings Cross to Skegness 'Bone Idol' with a complete rake of Southern Region green liveried stock. As 58024 only entered traffic in January 1985, its less than eighteen years in traffic does seem rather a waste of resources.

Anglers on the prosaically named South Forty Foot Drain at Hubbert's Bridge take no notice of the historic train that passes them on 1 September 2002. 58024 heads the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z59 15:30 Skegness to Kings Cross 'Bone Idol' railtour - the final Class 58 passenger train, on what was the penultimate day in traffic for the class. Unfortunately the perfect reflection I had hoped for was slightly spoiled by the wind causing ripples just at the wrong moment! Strangely in view of the important nature of the working and the ideal location for a picture, I didn't notice any other photographers in the vicinity. Note the local landmark of St Botolph's Church tower at Boston (the Boston Stump) in the background behind the rear coaches.

58027 ambles along the relief line at Millbrook (between Bedford and Flitwick) with an overhead electrification train on 29 May 1988. Intensive use of the class on power station coal traffic during the week often gave way to easier duties such as this at the weekend. Note the brickworks chimneys in the background.

With the 'dreaming spires' of Oxford just visible at the rear of the train, 58028 passes Wolvercote with the 6M06 Didcot Power Station to Daw Mill Colliery MGR empties on 10 July 1987. This really dramatic lighting didn't last long of course, as the rain which was falling over the city of Oxford, soon reached this point. This photo was taken from the public footpath crossing on Wolvercote Common, which has subsequently been closed and the whole area is now fenced off.

58029 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham on 23 June 1995 with stone empties returning from Brentford to Tytherington Quarry. This was a short term flow from the then recently reopened quarry utilising HGA Gunnel wagons, which had been converted from PGA stone hoppers, once the mainstay of stone traffic both from Tytherington and the Mendip quarries.

With the farm buildings of Portway in the background, 58030 heads south with the 7V85 13:58 Toton to Didcot Power Station MGR coal on 15 March 1989. This location just to the north of Tamworth has unrestricted views in both directions, but it also allows for a more adventurous side shot like this by walking down Willow Bottom Lane away from the farm occupation bridge. 

Under leaden skies, 58032 & 58037 round the sharp curve between Retford High Level and Whisker Hill Junctions with the Hertfordshire Railtours Kings Cross to Worksop 'Worksop Coalman' railtour on 5 September 1993, one of a number of railtours heading to the Worksop Open day. Note traces of the former red Railfreight livery showing through on the solebars of both locos.

It is hardly surprising that 58033 looks in pristine condition here, as it's only its third day in traffic. On 22 October 1985 it is pictured passing Somerton (between Banbury and Oxford) with the 7V44 09:34 Three Spires (Coventry) to Didcot Power Station MGR coal train. Pictures of class 58s in clean condition are fairly uncommon, as not only was cleaning of a purely freight only locomotive a low priority, but the recessed bodysides of these machines meant that automated washing plants were less than effective.

58034 Bassetlaw passes Bletchingdon on 17 August 1988 with the 7V06 13:54 Mantle Lane to Didcot Power Station MGR. Not much sign of the forthcoming foreign invasion here, as a train load of British mined coal is hauled south by a British built loco, while in the domestic coal yard on the left (on the site of Bletchingdon station), all the vehicles are British built, and presumably the various grades of coal in the foreground are also from this country.

58039 Rugeley Power Station passes Great Paxton on 20 September 1986 with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1G20 Kings Cross to Cleethorpes 'Lincolnshire Coast Pullman' railtour. In addition to Cleethorpes, the train also visited the bracing delights of Skegness. Note the difference in cant between the front and rear of the train as it negotiates the curve. In 1986 this location was easily accessible down a short section of farm track from the main road. However, a gate has subsequently appeared, although the obligatory lineside fencing that has also sprouted up along this section of the East Coast Mainline presumably means that this shot is now either impossible or very difficult.

58043 rounds Didcot West Curve (between Foxhall and Didcot North Junctions) with the 6E11 10:15 Didcot Power Station to Barrow Hill MGR coal empties on 2 May 1992. These returning coal empties were the main users of this curve at the time and the liberal additional coal 'ballast' shows that the hopper doors of the supposedly empty wagons obviously didn't fit too well!

58044 Oxcroft Opencast passes the rusting lines leading into the closed Castle Donington Power Station on a sunny and warm 18 August 1992, with a loaded MGR coal train from Toton. This scene has subsequently changed completely. The lines in the foreground were removed when the power station was demolished, and a new road bridge now crosses the line approximately where the loco is! And of course, Class 58s are no longer in use on the national network.

58045 approaches the remote station at Shippea Hill with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z43 03:58 Crewe to Lowestoft 'Freightliner Phoenix' railtour on 12 May 2001. The tour did not quite live up to its name, as due to traction problems no Freightliner locos were employed! However, in addition to this 58, Class 56, 60, 66, 59 & 92 locos were employed at various points during the day.

58047 Manton Colliery heads north up the Midland Mainline near Ampthill with the 6A62 18:36 Cricklewood to Forders Shanks & McEwan binliner on 17 July 1996. It will shortly be running round its train at Bedford before heading down the Bletchley line to Forders, where it is due to arrive at 20:15. This traffic has now ceased, as after many years of taking London's rubbish, the former brick pit is now full. Note the 17th century Ampthill Park House just visible in the background on the left.

58049 Littleton Colliery pulls out of the loop at Bristol East Depot and approaches North Somerset Junction on 10 April 1997 with the 4B05 17:47 Bath Oldfield Park to Westerleigh Avon Binliner, conveying both loaded containers from Bath and empties for Westerleigh. The loco had previously taken the third portion to Bristol Barrow Road, while the Bath containers were being loaded. The line in the foreground is the North Somerset Junction to Bristol West Junction loop line that avoids Temple Meads station and gives access to St Philips Marsh depot.

The very last of the evening sunshine illuminates 58049 Littleton Colliery with a golden glow as it passes Kempston Hardwick on 4 June 1997 with the 6A62 18:36 Cricklewood to Forders Sidings binliner. It was only really possible to get a decent shot of this train on what has now become known as the Marston Vale line in mid summer, as it did not leave Bedford after its run round until 20:20. The chimneys in the background forming part of the Kempston Hardwick Brickworks have subsequently been demolished.