60002 Capability Brown passes through South Elmsall station with the Pathfinder Tours 'Donny Deviator' railtour on 10 July 1994, at this point running as the 1F52 16:05 Doncaster to Doncaster (via Milford). The tour had started from Derby at 09:05 as the 1Z42 to Doncaster with 58034, this was followed by 37694 & 37698 working top'n'tail with 56077 on the 1F50 11:42 Doncaster to Doncaster (via Silverwood). The next trip was the 1F51 13:48 via Drax. After all this excitement the tour headed back to Derby behind 31271 & 31276 as the 1Z42 1800 ex Doncaster!

60002 High Peak passes the site of Uffington loops with the 6B33 12:12 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties on 27 September 2008. The public footpath crossing here provides clear views in both directions, although a longer lens is now required for trains from this direction in order to clear a recently erected radio mast. Uffington station, the former junction for the Faringdon branch line, was situated just beyond the roadbridge in the background.

60003 Freight Transport Association passes Manningford Bruce on 17 February 2001 with the diverted 6C64 11:59 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth empty MGR. The train's normal route via Swindon being closed for engineering work. Ah, the good old days, with Class 60 haulage and four wheel HAA wagons!

60004 accelerates away from a signal check at Shrivenham with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 8 August 2006. All down trains were being stopped at the signal pictured here due to a signaling fault a mile further up the line at Bourton. An excellent excuse to use a slow shutter speed of 1/250sec to gain extra depth of field on a 200mm lens! During my three hour visit, one HST actually ran wrong line using the up line. The Great Western main line has been signaled for bi-directional working for many years, as can be seen from the two signals on the gantry in the background. However, it gets very little use.

60005 BP Gas Avonmouth passes Little Haresfield with the 6B47 16:10 Westerleigh to Robeston empty Murco oil tanks on 4 July 2008. It is slowing down on the approach to a red signal, just prior to being looped to allow a northbound Cross Country service to overtake it. Note the evidence of recent tree removal by Network Rail on the side of the cutting. Just visible in the background is the signal that controls Standish Junction, where the Swindon line diverges from the Bristol route.

Judging by the shadows in the foreground, I wasn't the only person on the Archers Road footbridge at Eastleigh on 14 September 2002 to witness the Pathfinder Tours 1Z96 17:10 Southampton Central to Derby 'Soton Vinegar' railtour pass through on its way back to the Midlands. The silver livery of 60006 Scunthorpe Ironmaster glistens in the evening sunlight as the train round the curve from Eastleigh station.

60007 passes Engine Common (near Yate) with the 6V70 10:00 Cliffe Vale to St Blazey china clay empties on 17 July 2002. At the time I was still lamenting the loss of 37s on these trains, but a Loadhaul Class 60 is certainly a more than adequate substitute!

60007 approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 2 November 2006. The original Loadhaul livery has been defaced by the crude application of the EWS "three beasties" logo on top of the "Load" part of the Loadhaul branding. As the train was on the relief line, and was obviously going to be stopped just up the line at Challow to allow the passage of at least one HST, I decided to try for a second picture further along the line.

After chasing it from Denchworth, and initially heading for the bridge at Baulking, which was unfortunately completely in the shade, I wasn't sure that I would make it in time to the footpath crossing at Uffington to see 60007 with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 2 November 2006. Leaving the car in the farmyard, and sprinting across the field, I was glad to see a HST coming from the east, which meant 60007 hadn't gone yet. A few minutes later after I was in position on the right side of the line, 60007 passed heading west in glorious autumnal light. This is the site of Uffington loops, lifted shortly after the installation of the Challow to Wantage Road relief lines.

60008 Gypsum Queen II approaches the site of Crosby Garrett station on the Settle to Carlisle line with the 6E13 13:00 Newbiggin to Knottingley empty gypsum containers on 30 October 2003. For once an appropriately named locomotive for the traffic carried! Even on a typical dull S&C day (note the clouds over the fells in the background) the autumn colours of the silver birch trees really stand out.

On a very gloomy 27 March 2007, 60009 passes Little Haresfield with the 6E41 11:22 Westerleigh to Lindsey oil empties. It's probably just as well that there is no sun here, as otherwise it would be exceedingly backlit, as unfortunately is the case for most locations on 6E41's route.

Over four decades after it closed to passengers, Charfield station building still survives, although virtually all other traces of the station have disappeared. 60009 passes the site on 2 March 2010 with the 6E41 11:41 Westerleigh to Lindsey oil empties. In 2010 this train is virtually the only working left that brings a Class 60 to the south of England. The ridge of the Cotswold Hills can be seen in the background, with the 1846 built Somerset Monument at Hawkesbury Upton just visible against the skyline on the left.

Not surprisingly still looking smart, as it was less than three months old at the time, 60010 Pumlumon / Plynlimon rounds the curve at Llangewydd with the 6V32 Albion to Waterston oil empties on 15 April 1991. The loco only worked off Cardiff for a further month before moving to Toton.

On 10 August 1991, 60010 Pumlumon / Plynlimon & 60041 High Willhays pass through Atherstone station with the 1T60 16:54 Derby to Crewe (via Nuneaton) stock positioning move in connection with the following day's Trainload Coal Motive Power Day on the North Wales Coast. Unusually, this wasn't an empty stock working, so that those in the know could get some extra Class 60 mileage. Admittedly the weather was poor, bit if I remember correctly I was the only person on the platform to witness this. Of course if this happened today I wouldn't attempt to go to this location, as the platform would be heaving with photographers, all getting in each other's way, such would be the attraction of a pair of Class 60s on a passenger train.

60010 manages to find a brief glimpse of weak autumnal sunshine as it approaches Tackley with the 6V70 02:20 Lindsey to Langley oil tanks on 13 November 1999. I was surprised to get any brightness at all here, as in addition to the thick cloud visible in the background, there were patches of fog drifting across from the nearby River Cherwell.

With Ashchurch station just visible in the background, 60010 powers past Natton with the 6V07 13:21 Round Oak to Margam steel empties on 3 November 2006. Admittedly emphasised by the long lens, but the appalling state of the track is clearly visible here. Considering this is a main line carrying passenger trains at high speed the switch-back nature of the track would not have been tolerated years ago. Hopefully the engineering work scheduled for the following day will see some improvement in track standards here.

Hardly the ideal photographic lighting conditions, with the sun virtually behind the train, but it does show off the recently cleared cutting at Lower Wick to advantage. 60010 heads north with the 6E41 10:42 Westerleigh to Lindsey oil empties on 12 October 2009. Note the change of gradient under the footbridge in the background.

60011 Cader Idris passes Finedon with the 6C31 08:37 Mountsorrel to Radlett Redland stone train on 1 August 1992. This is the site of Finedon station, which surprisingly closed to passengers as early as 1940, although it remained opened for freight until 1964. The spacious track formation here indicates the site of the former relief lines. 

60011 passes Up Hatherley with 60068 Charles Darwin dead in tow on 6 April 2009 with the 6E41 11:18 Westerleigh to Lindsey oil empties. 60068 had run into problems two days previously whilst working the 6V98 Lindsey to Westerleigh tanks and due to loss of power arrived very late. Because of this the tatty patch painted Mainline blue liveried 60011 was sent to assist with the return empties. In view of the very small number of Class 60s left in traffic, getting a picture of two locomotives on one train, neither of which is in EWS livery was not to missed. To emphasize the point I chose to go to Up Hatherley where I had seen 60068 on the same train a few weeks before. Unfortunately by the time the train came the lighting was very poor.

60011 passes Uffington on 13 October 2009 with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. Although obviously any Class 60 is infinitely preferable to a 'shed', the tatty patch painted former Mainline blue livery of 60011 contrasts especially well with the red tanks and makes a much more pleasing picture.

60012 passes through Ashchurch station with the 6V24 13:45 Saltley to Cardiff Tidal scrap train on a cloudless 25 June 1999. Note the weed covered lines leading into the Army depot on the right, largely disused at the time, but now with much more buoyant traffic levels.

60013 Robert Boyle passes Husborne Crawley (on the Bletchley to Bedford line) with the 6H55 10:44 Bletchley to Peak Forest RMC stone empties on 5 November 2005. A very dull day, but at least the sun came out (much to my surprise!) for 40145, which was the main reason for visiting this location.

In crisp early morning light, 60013 Robert Boyle approaches Heck with the 6N81 06:10 Scunthorpe to Redcar coke empties on 14 March 2008. The train is approaching the site of the horrific accident of 2001, which is now commemorated by a memorial garden at the foot of the embankment on which I was standing to take this picture.

Welcome back to some proper traction on the Theale oil tanks! 60013 Robert Boyle passes Denchworth with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 8 July 2010. After many months of double headed Class 66s, at last a return to something worth photographing, but for how long! Although it was sunny when I left home, it soon clouded up (and of course brightened up again once I got back home!), but at least the dull conditions enabled this shot to be taken from the north side, which allows a wider angle for trains on the relief line at this location.

Well you would do wouldn't you! After seeing 60013 Robert Boyle pass Denchworth with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 8 July 2010, a quick dash was made to Baulking for a second shot, while it sat in the loop at Challow waiting for a couple of HSTs to go pass. After months of Class 66 haulage, this marks a return to proper traction for this long running train, and in on this occasion a loco in a decent livery as well, rather than drab EWS red!

60013 Robert Boyle passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 31 August 2010. After several months of pairs of 66s on this service, summer 2010 has seen a return of the proper type of locomotive to this weight of train, at least temporarily. A bit of proper maintenance wouldn't go amiss for the 60s, rather than just starting one up from the line of stored locos and then using it until it fails!

The closure of the Severn Tunnel at weekends during the spring of 2000 resulted in the 6M68 08:45 Burngullow to Warrington Arpley china clay tanks being diverted via the Lickey Incline. Due the load being in excess of the Class 66's meagre haulage capacity, a banker was provided. On 8 April 2000, 60014 Alexander Fleming is pictured half way up the formidable gradient at Vigo, giving the train a hefty push from the rear. In this case the train loco was 66053. There are not many vantage points on the incline to photograph the rear end of a train going up the bank in the evening, but this seems to work quite well, and I deliberately included a large area of sky in the picture to show off the interesting cloud formation.

Engineering work resulted in trains being diverted over the Vale of Glamorgan line on Sunday 2 June 1996. One such was the 6B71 10:28 Margam to Ebbw Vale steel coils, seen here passing through Dinas Powys station hauled by 60015 Bow Fell. Note the Buxton depot plaque below the secondman's window.

Running several hours late, and therefore affording an unexpected daytime picture on the Berks & Hants line, 60015 Bow Fell passes Crofton with the 6A11 21:33 Robeston to Theale oil train on 21 July 2006. note that the original triple grey livery has been adapted yet again, this time with the EWS "three beasties" logo on a yellow patch. 

The isolated church of St. Giles at Hampton Gay (between Oxford and Banbury) stands next to the railway line, with a derelict manor house nearby. Otherwise the area is quite deserted, as no trace of the village survives, and as there is no road access a walk across the fields is required to get to the location. This was the site of a terrible railway accident on Christmas Eve 1874, when a crowded express derailed and ended up in the nearby Oxford Canal. 60017 Arenig Fawr passes the site with the 6M23 14:12 Fawley to Longport LPG tanks on 4 May 1995.

60018 rolls downhill past Triley Mill, near Abergavenny with the 6V75 09:29 Dee Marsh to Margam steel empties on 25 February 2006. A bright but very cold day, fortunately this position was sheltered from the biting wind, but note the snow on the Black Mountains in the background above the locomotive.

Although somewhat ruined by that modern scourge of the railway photographer - palisade fencing, this is a location I had not previously visited. Over the years I have taken numerous pictures from the roadbridge near the site of Shrivenham station, seen in the background here, but had never ventured to this spot. 60018 passes the site of the long closed station with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 15 November 2007.

It is just after 21:00 on a mid-summer evening and the sun is just approaching the horizon as 60019 Pathfinder Tours 30 Years of Railtouring 1973-2003 passes Spetchley with the 6V37 12:59 Lackenby to Llanwern steel train. The date is 16 June 2004, only a few days away from the longest day, which is why it was just possible to take the picture, even though only the side of the loco and the tops of the trees are actually getting any sun. Spetchley is the ideal location for late evening pictures such as this, as nothing at all shades the line.

Definitely running at its top speed of 60 mph, 60019 Pathfinder Tours 30 Years of Railtouring 1973-2003 passes Compton Beauchamp on 18 August 2009 with the 6B33 13:33 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties. Surprisingly there hasn't been a great increase in the lineside vegetation at this location in the last thirty years. This most noticeable difference since 1979 is the plantation of trees surrounding Galleyherns Farm in the background.

A very grubby 60020 emerges from Wickwar Tunnel with the 6B13 05:10 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks on 9 August 2007. I only just got this one in sun, as can be seen from shadows in the background! The bridge in the distance is a combined footpath and aqueduct.

60020 approaches Wickwar on 30 January 2008 with the 6B13 05:10 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks. I wasn't too impressed with this choice of traction, as it was on the train the last time I photographed this working just over a mile south of this spot! The long lens has compressed the perspective here, bringing up the houses at Charfield and the Cotswold Hills in the distance.

60021 passes through Ninian Park station with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z42 13:50 Margam to Crewe 'Valley Vostock' railtour returning from a reversal at Radyr on 7 February 2004. Eventually the sun decides to shine at the critical moment, after a day of largely cloudy skies. 

60021 Pen-y-Ghent approaches Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 6C23 10:29 Hayes to East Usk empty hoppers on 2 November 2006. The train is traveling on the down relief line, which means it will stop at Challow to allow a passenger to overtake. The fenced area on the right is a road access constructed a few years ago to field used for keeping horses. Luckily the original crushed stone surface as now become overgrown, once more blending into the scene.

60022 Ingleborough in a almost complete state at Brush's works at Loughborough on 11 August 1990.  Note that although the loco has already been named, it does not yet carry any bodyside numbers or sector branding on the triple grey livery. It was finally handed over to BR at the beginning of the following year. It is seen here in the company of 60026 William Caxton.

60023 passes Woofferton on 6 November 1999 with the 6V75 09:02 Dee Marsh to Llanwern steel empties. An ideal photographic vantage point on a sweeping curve with a background of trees and semaphore signals. Although I haven't been there for a few years, I would imagine the silver birches in the foreground are probably no longer just bushes and are blocking out the view, rather than just being a welcome bit of foreground colour!

60024 Elizabeth Fry passes Baulking on a very dull 21 April 1992 with the 6V13 12:18 Furzebrook to Hallen Marsh LPG tanks. This wide open view, with unobstructed views of the surrounding countryside (and Didcot Power Station in the distance!) has long since been replaced by the usual mass of uncontrolled lineside vegetation.

60024 was one of the first Class 60s to acquire EWS livery. It is seen here in ex-works condition at Melton Ross on 18 July 1996 with the 6D96 13:00 Welton to Immingham oil tanks. I am convinced that the early EWS repaints used either a slightly different colour or a higher gloss finish, as all later locos seem to look very drab by comparison.

60025 approaches Linlithgow on 24 May 1999 with the early running Mondays only 6N71 17:05 Linkswood to Mossend oil empties. This service provides aviation fuel for RAF Leuchars. Note the two Forth bridges on the horizon. Although this looks like a pleasant spring day, there was in fact a terrific gale blowing and it was all I go do to keep the camera steady and pointing in the right direction. Also the shadow just behind the train was traveling up the line faster than the 60, so I was lucky to get this in the sun!

60025 Caledonian Paper passes Broken Cross (between Lydney and Gloucester) with the 6B13 05:10 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks on 18 February 2008. Note the crude patch painting of the yellow front end, which certainly needs some attention. Luckily the sun is still just glancing across the front end, but the lighting is not as good as when 60071 passed a little earlier, especially as the frost has now disappeared from the ballast.

60026 approaches Shrivenham with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 1 November 2007. As the light was very poor, the opportunity was taken to photograph the train from the north side of the line, which when the sun is out is only possible late on summer evenings. In the background is Chapelwick Farm, which takes its name from the former chapel which was situated near the tall trees visible in the background on the right.

60026 passes Kibworth Harcourt with the 6V92 10:10 Corby to Margam steel empties on 25 June 2008, traveling via the Midland Mainline rather than its usual route via Melton Mowbray. The scatter of orange plastic visible in the ballast is an all too common sight nowadays, plastic track components spilled during track maintenance works and just abandoned. All kinds of discarded materials can bee seen on the lineside, and certainly money could be saved with better stock control.

60026 passes Yarnton (near Oxford) with the diverted 6M04 02:28 Port Clarence to Bedworth Petroplus tanks on 1 September 2008. The major engineering work on the West Coast Main Line has resulted in considerably increased mileage for this train, as instead of traveling down from Teesside to the Midlands in the conventional way, it is seen here approaching the Midlands from entirely the opposite direction! Ironically this massive diversion is caused because its normal route involves just a very short section of the WCML at Nuneaton.

60028 John Flamsteed passes through Oxford station on 13 May 1995 with the 6V53 02:20 Lindsey to Langley Total aviation fuel tanks. At this time the loco was in Immingham's FDAI pool, and therefore the Railfreight Petroleum livery is correct for this working - it wasn't always so! The area to the south of the station was in limbo at this time, with the former scrapyard gone, and the sidings rusting, but before the new car park was constructed, which effectively ruined this photographic viewpoint.

60030 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the 6V99 12:43 Hamworthy to Cardiff Tidal scarp and steel train on 5 October 1999. At the time I thought this location would become restricted by the lineside vegetation seen here in the foreground. Luckily however, this has subsequently been blitzed and the spot is completely clear again.

60030 heads south from Milford Junction on 3 August 2002 with the 6V37 13:00 Lackenby to Llanwern steel slabs. Obviously at this time a Class 60 was such a common sight that nobody was bothering to record every single move, as happened a few years later. There were no other photographers, either on the bridge visible in the picture, or the one on which I'm standing.

60031 ABP Connect passes Challow with the 6B33 12:12 Theale to Margam Murco oil empties on 6 December 2008. The loco seems to have been in a minor shunting accident resulting in a damaged front end just above the buffer beam. The outer pairs of lines visible here are the freight relief lines that were relaid in the early 1990s and extend from a few hundred yards behind my position here at Challow to the site of Wantage Road station.

Shortly before the Avonmouth to Didcot coal trains were taken over by Class 66s hauling bogie HTA wagons, 60032 William Booth passes Baulking with the 6A65 08:51 Avonmouth to Didcot Power Station service on 27 August 2001 using the time honoured HAA wagons, that would have been taking coal to Didcot since the power station opened, although principally from the Midlands via Oxford and hauled by classic traction including Class 47s, 56s & 58s. The bridge in the background marks the site of Uffington station.

Corus silver liveried 60033 Tees Steel Express pulls slowly out of Ashchurch loop on 16 July 2002 as it works the 6V40 06:02 Lackenby to Llanwern steel train. Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station opened in 1997 on the site of the former Midland Railway station, junction for the Malvern and Evesham lines.

Corus silver liveried 60033 Tees Steel Express passes Melton Ross on 26 July 2003 with 7C78 14:45 Immingham to Scunthorpe MGR imported coal. This locomotive previously carried the British Steel light blue livery. Note the amount of coal dust blowing off the load. A significant amount of this finely ground coal never gets to the power stations, as witnessed by the state of the ballast at some locations on this intensively used route, which can be quite black in places. The footbridge in the background is next to the New Barnetby level crossing.

60034 Carnedd Llewelyn catches the last rays of the setting sun as it emerges from Twerton Tunnel on 12 October 1994 with the diverted 6B17 Theale to Robeston oil empties. Note the newly planted trees in the field on the right, which have since made such views a lot more difficult.

A very piece of track for a loco-hauled passenger train. 60034 approaches Rawcliffe (on the Knottingley to Goole line) with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z55 07:13 Gloucester to Hull  'Humber Haulier' railtour on 18 March 2006. Needless to say the sunshine earlier in the day had now vanished! The loco carries the former Railfreight triple grey livery with the original markings replaced by a large EWS 'three beasties' logo.

With Goole's 'Salt and Pepper Pot' water towers dominating the background, 60034 pulls away from the station stop with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z55 'Humber Haulier' railtour on 18 March 2006. Apparently one passenger elected to visit Goole, rather than carry on to Hull! 66125 can be seen waiting in the loop to follow the railtour out with the 6H93 17:08 Goole to Peterborough empty sand hoppers (from the nearby glass factory). By this point in the day the weather had really deteriorated, and it was now getting dark.

60034 Carnedd Llewelyn approaches Tredington on 13 February 2008 with the 6V92 10:10 Corby to Margam steel empties. The use of a long lens not only reveals the change of gradient under the farm bridge at Fiddington, but compresses the perspective, making the red brick bridge at Claydon, and (just visible in the haze) the bridge at Ashchurch appear relatively close.

60035 Florence Nightingale passes Rangeworthy on 22 July 1995 with the late running 6B13 05:40 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil train. This picture would look a lot more impressive if the relatively clean train of Murco tanks wasn't interspersed with several exceedingly grubby grey liveried vehicles!

On a gloomy 9 September 1998, 60035 Florence Nightingale passes Cathiron with the 6B10 08:57 Peak Forest to Bletchley RMC stone train. There seems to be one track less than when I was last there in 1984, although this has sine been reinstated.

60035 passes Baulking (between Didcot and Swindon) with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 26 April 2007. The EWS paintwork doesn't look to be in too good condition, with sections on the roof and the number peeling off to reveal the colour underneath. A large mass of cloud was approaching from the south, and a few minutes after this train had passed the sun went in for the rest of the day. Usually with my luck this happens before the train had gone out specifically to photograph arrives. At least I win sometimes!

60037 Helvellyn passes Stanwardine-in-the-Fields, deep in the Shropshire countryside, with the 6M30 10:17 Margam to Dee Marsh steel coils on 18 August 1996. Note the reddish deposits on the roof of the loco, which indicate that it has recently been used on the Port Talbot to Llanwern iron ore trains.

60038 prepares to leave Westerleigh oil depot on 27 July 1998 with the 6B47 20:25 Westerleigh to Robeston oil empties. With a departure time like that it is obvious why this train had to be photographed in high summer. Luckily the area around the oil depot is relatively free of obstructions, so the very low sun at that time in the evening is not a problem. A decade later in 2008, the train departs several hours earlier, giving more choices of photographic location en-route, although obviously it is more backlit when it leaves Westerleigh.

60038 AvestaPolarit approaches Claydon with the 6V92 10:10 Corby to Margam steel empties on 5 April 2007. The new road bridge near Ashchurch station can be seen in the background, and the tower of Ashchurch church is visible on the right. The use of a long lens also means that the bridge at Bredon can just be seen in the distance.

60038 AvestaPolarit departs from Onllwyn with the Pathfinder Tours 'Principality Railtour' on 14 April 2007. Five minutes before it was running as the 1Z37 06:19 Birmingham International to Onllwyn, now after the briefest of stops it is running as 1Z74 13:33 Onllwyn to Birmingham International. Unfortunately the tour only went as far as the Network Rail limit, and nowhere near the colliery, which can be seen in the background.

60038 AvestaPolarit brings up the rear of the Pathfinder Tours 1Z74 13:33 Onllwyn to Birmingham International 'Principality freighter' railtour on 14 April 2007 as it passes Tonna on the Cwmgwrach branch. 37422 Cardiff Canton & 37410 Aluminium 100 can just be seen at the head of the train.

60039 heads south along the East Coast Mainline at Fenwick (between Selby and Doncaster) with the 6D43 14:12 Jarrow to Lindsey empty oil tanks on 13 September 2003. It is something of a challenge finding decent photographic locations on lines with overhead catenary, in fact I try to avoid them if at all possible, as what would otherwise be a useable location is often spoilt by a badly positioned mast. However this turned out to be a reasonable location to spend a few hours in the autumn sunshine.

60039 passes Spetchley with the 6Z98 Lindsey to Westerleigh oil tanks on 8 October 2008. Not a lot left of the numbers on this loco, either on the side or on the front! I didn't realise quite how lucky I was with the sun on this picture until I turned round. The other side of the footbridge was completely in shade from a cloud that I hadn't noticed creeping up on the sun! 

Even near the Summer Solstice it is very difficult to take pictures clear of shadows at 21:00. Such is the case here as 60040 Brecon Beacons passes through Quainton Road station with the 6A71 19:25 Northolt to Calvert binliner on 27 June 1995. Although the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre's signal box and signal gantry are well lit, unfortunately most of the station isn't. However, this was the only way to record this unusual view of a mainline freight train passing through the middle of a preservation centre.

Eagerly awaited by the large crowd of photographers on the footbridge, 60040 The Territorial Army Centenary approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham on 3 December 2008 whilst working the 6C54 13:13 Oxford Banbury Road to Whatley Mendip Rail stone empties. The branding on the side of the locomotive includes the Army's latest recruiting phrase: 'Army - Be The Best'. This loco has become something of a celebrity, despite the fact that its so-called one off livery is very little different from the standard EWS colour scheme.

Class 60 sunset? Running over an hour late, 60040 The Territorial Army Centenary passes Ollerton in near darkness on 12 December 2009 with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z60 14:30 Tuxford to Westbury 'Pye Bridge Pie-Man' railtour. The assembled photographers had to watch the fine evening light gradually disappear, and indeed some had understandably given up after the sun had set! Prior to setting the sun had tinted the clouds in the background pink, but such was the lack of light that this picture was taken at 1/500sec f2.8 at ISO 3200.

60041 passes Steventon with the 6B33 13:30 Theale to Robeston Murco oil empties on 22 May 2007, running 20 minutes early. Didcot Power Station dominates the background and the A34 road bridge can be seen crossing the line in the distance. 

60041 passes Coaley with the 6B13 05:10 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks on 18 September 2009. This was very much a rush shot, as I had walked the few hundred yards from the footpath crossing to the west where I had seen 6E41, and was still not in the right position when the 60 could be seen approaching around the corner!

A long lens dramatically compresses the perspective and emphasises how short the train is, as 60042 The Hundred of Hoo approaches the site of Wantage Road station on 6 November 2007 with the late running 6B24 10:36 Didcot to Wentloog MoD stores train. Using a lens this long (200mm) almost reminds me of the time when I used to use a Pentax 6x7, such is the limited depth of field!

60043 emerges from the fog at Little Haresfield on 27 March 2007 with the 6B13 03:48 Robeston to Westerleigh Murco oil tanks. Although partly lost in the gloom, you can just about see in the background where it is pulling out of the loop after allowing a couple of passenger trains to pass.

60044 leans into the curve at Kintbury with the 6Z20 09:45 Whatley to St. Pancras stone train on 2 April 2007. A very odd combination of liveries, with an EWS branded Mainline blue loco hauling a rake of ex National Power hoppers! This was one of those infuriating situations when a freight train was approaching from both directions and a snap decision had to be made as to which one to photograph. It was touch an go as to whether I was going to get blocked out on this shot. As I pressed the shutter the Class 59 on the westbound stone empties was just about level with me!

60045 The Permanent Way Institution passes Baulking on 27 August 2001 with the 6C64 11:59 Didcot Power Station to Avonmouth MGR coal empties. There was very nearly a passing shot here, as 60026 was bearing down from the opposite direction with the 6A66 loaded train from Avonmouth. The warm sunny day had tempted me to cycle to this location and surprisingly considering it was a Bank Holiday the weather forecasters for once got it right!

Hatfield Colliery dominates the background of this view, as 60048 Eastern approaches Hatfield & Stainforth station with the 6N04 09:00 Lindsey to Jarrow oil tanks on 30 October 1998. Note the unusual style of nameplate, with a large white surround to the actual name. This was unveiled on 29 August 1997 to mark the Eastern Group's reopening of the Hunterston terminal, and replaced the original name Saddleback, which was named after an English mountain, and not the breed of pig!

60050 passes Gascoigne Wood on 20 March 2000 with the 6D04 11:18 Hull Dairycoates to Rylestone Tilcon stone empties. The rusting line in the foreground leads into the former Gascoigne Wood 'super pit' - the largest deep mine coal complex in the world at the time of its construction in the 1980s.