66501 Japan 2001 passes South Marston with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner on 22 June 2010. If you think this train looks a little lightly loaded, compare it with 66536 which followed ten minutes later with the newly introduced 4L32 Bristol Parsons Street to Tilbury service. This is actually a fairly good load for 4O51. This was the start of 45 minutes of hectic Freightliner activity, with 66623 following on later with 6M22 Westbury to Mountsorrel.

You don't get many opportunities to photograph double headed Freightliner 66s, especially when the leading locomotive has just been released from works. Sported a freshly painted cab, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 leads classmate 66505 (dead in tow) past Wormleighton Crossing with the 4O27 07:12 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 22 April 2009. 66502 had only been released from Glasgow Works the previous day. The crow perched in the tree is obviously not impressed!

66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 speeds through Tackley station on 21 May 2009 with the 4O17 15:49 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner. Just visible in the shadows in front of the car on the left is the local rail enthusiast cat. This tabby had just walked across the crossing, then sat down and watched the train go by before wandering off into the village!

In a brief sunny interlude, 66502 Basford Hall Centenary 2001 passes Heyford on 1 May 2010 with the late running 4O14 06:39 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner. The wait for this train was enlivened by a near miss slow speed collision of two narrowboats on the nearby Oxford Canal! One didn't see the other approaching due to the narrow gap of a bridge, with the result that there was much reversing of engines to avoid an impact. Not that much damage can be done at 5mph!

A busy moment at Harbury on 22 December 2008! 66503 The Railway Magazine swings round the curve with the 4M55 08:58 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner, while the back end of the 4O04 09:35 Washwood Heath to Eastleigh intermodal (hauled by 66024) can be seen disappearing into Harbury Tunnel. Note the banner repeater signal which has already retuned to danger. This gives advanced warning of the state of the signal by the tunnel mouth.

66505 passes Kings Sutton on 23 April 2009 with the 4M61 13:00 Southampton to Trafford Park freightliner. It was once noticeable that Freightliner 66s were kept in a better external condition than their EWS cousins, but judging by this one the novelty of keeping what were once new locomotives clean has worn off!

66505 dodges the shadows at Denchworth on 16 August 2010, as it heads east with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. Even though it is only mid August and despite what the experts are predicting with regard to a late autumn, the first signs are already visible in the trackside vegetation, notably the emerging hawthorn berries.

66506 Crewe Regeneration passes through Hatfield & Stainforth station on 15 March 2007 with the 4R10 Eggborough Power Station to Immingham empty coal hoppers. The back end of the train is negotiating Stainforth Junction, coming off the freight only line from Applehurst Junction.

Running over three hours late, 66506 Crew Regeneration passes Steventon with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner empties on 8 May 2008. This massive late running results in a much better picture, as normally during the summer months the sun would not be on the front of the loco at this location. It appears that Didcot Power Station in the background is shut down, or at least the coal fired plant, as there is not a trace of smoke visible from the main chimney.

Carefully framed beneath the overhanging branches of a roadside tree, 66507 is pictured near Uffington with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 12 February 2008. The line between Didcot and Swindon runs through rather uninteresting countryside, so I am always on the lookout for different vantage points to photograph familiar trains, and am particularly pleased with this view, as the branches for once are in the ideal photographic position.

66507 rounds the curve at Hatton North Junction with the 6M01 14:08 Hinksey to Stud Farm ballast empties on 19 February 2008. This was a day of extreme weather contrasts, with some areas being completely fog bound all day, and other areas starting misty, then clearing, only to have the fog reappear. This was the case only a few miles south of here, but luckily at Hatton the sun stayed out right to the end of the day.

66512 approaches Heck Lane, Hensall with the 6R10 09:44 Immingham to Drax Power Station coal train on 13 March 2008, just as the sun was fading out into high cloud. The level crossing next to Hensall station can just be seen behind the train. The station is little used, as the passenger service on this section of line is so sparse, and no doubt the line would have been closed where it not for the vast tonnage of coal being moved in trains such as this to Drax.

In superb evening light on 16 June 2010, 66512 heads down the East Coast Mainline at Fenwick with another load of coal for one of the Aire Valley Power Stations. Despite the sunshine, notice that virtually the entire sky to the north is filled with cloud, which despite looking like it was increasing, actually melted away later on.

66517 at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth with the diverted 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 2 November 2006. This was the beginning of an interesting twenty minutes, in which the assembled photographers had three freights from the east after a long period of nothing but HSTs.

66517 passes Cholsey on 6 December 2006 with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. Note the amount of rail sections left lying in the four foot and next to the down main line. Surely in today's health and safety conscious age, and with trains traveling on this line at 125 mph this is something of an oversight.

66517 passes Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 12 June 2010. The trees have now virtually obscured the former view of Oxford from this spot, although the tower of St. Barnabas church in Jericho can just be seen in the distance above the rear of the train.

66518 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 18 October 2007. Although a reliable runner, nowadays you know exactly what traction you're going to get on this train, unlike the pre Freightliner era. Mid October and still very little sign of any autumn colour in the trees behind the train.

The weather forecasters got it wrong again on 6 November 2007. A sunny day was predicted, and indeed it did start sunny, but it soon clouded up and by the time I got to the lineside near the site of Wantage Road station it was mainly cloudy with occasional sunny breaks. I was surprised to see 66518 on the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties, as this particular train should have passed while I was still en-route to the location. However, I was lucky that it was running late as it passed in a few seconds worth of sun, which nicely spotlights the train against the dark clouds in the background. Note that the rear of the train is in shadow, and as the train was passing me the light in the foreground dropped as well. Definitely a very lucky shot!

66520 is pictured near Waltham St Lawrence on 27 July 2007 with the 6M91 11:00 Theale to Earles empty cement tanks. The photo is taken from Chalkpit Bridge on the Waltham St Lawrence to Knowl Hill bridleway. There are several photo locations in the area, including the footpath bridge seen in the middle distance and a further one towards Shottesbrooke, but tall trees on the south side of the line means they all tend to be very shady on the main lines.

66523 & 66560 pass Gossington with the 4Z70 08:53 Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford coal empties on 8 April 2010, substituting for an unavailable Class 70. Are they ever going to live up to their promised reliability? Luckily the late running of this train had meant that the sun had come around and was now on the front.

Diverted via the Berks & Hants line due to the closure of Basingstoke station for major track alterations, 66525 passes Manningford Bruce with the 4O35 09:40 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner on 12 April 2007. Although completely sunny when I set out from home, a lot of cloud had built up by the time I reached the lineside. In fact the train is in a lucky patch of weak sun, both the background and the immediate foreground are in shadow.

A poignant moment at Great Heck on 2 March 2002. In tribute the Steve Dunn, the driver who tragically lost his life in the previous year's rail accident, 66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) & 66530 came to a stand on the main line at the site of the accident whilst working the Pathfinder Tours 1Z66 15:50 York to Crewe 'Steve Dunn Memorial' railtour. To see a passenger train come to a stop in the middle of nowhere and then move off after a two minute stand is certainly different. As it was very nearly dark, it also made photography marginally less difficult.

Catching the last rays of the setting sun on 8 June 2007, 66526 Driver Steve Dunn (George) passes Cample with the 6E72 New Cumnock to Cottam Power Station coal train. Note that the sun has already disappeared from the mountains in the background. The loco is named after the driver of the coal train who died in the Heck rail crash in 2001.

No sooner had I added the picture of 37276 to this website, with a caption explaining how there had been no freight on the southern end of the Cotswold Line for many years, when this happens! 66527 Don Raider and 66507 worked the 6Z49 10:51 Neasden to Long Marston on 1 March 2007 conveying a rake of PGA hopper wagons formerly used on the Wool to Neasden sand trains for storage at Long Marston. Normally such trains would be routed the long way round via Swindon and Worcester. The use of top'n'tail locos was necessary because the run-round loop at Honeybourne is out of use due to the state of the track. Remarkably I was the only person to witness this most unusual working passing through the Brunel designed station at Charlbury in a very lucky patch of sun.

66527 Don Raider approaches Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 2 April 2007. The location was chosen because its one of the few spots between Didcot and Swindon where the sun would be on the nose after the clocks had changed at the end of March, even then it is only just glancing across the front. Incidentally, the crossing was replaced by a footbridge many years ago, yet the name remains!

66529 heads along the Great Western Mainline near the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham on 1 November 2007. The loco is well matched livery wise to the Avon County Council wagons, the working being the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner empties.

66531 crosses over the East Coast Mainline at Tilts on 24 November 2008 with the 6M07 11:05 Roxby to Pendleton GMC Binliner empties. This is on the freight only line to the north of Doncaster, from Stainforth to Adwick. Unfortunately the sunshine earlier in the day had now given way to high level cloud.

66531 approaches Tackley with the 4O14 06:39 Birch Coppice to Southampton 'Fresh Air Express' on 15 May 2010. This freightliner service normally has a much more healthy load than the two containers visible here. 66531 looks to be in desperate need of some cosmetic attention to its front end. Less than nine years old and there are already large rust patches developing around the cab windows - not a good sign!

66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express approaches the site of Challow station with the diverted 4O54 05:33 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 6 December 2008. The use of a long lens is required here to avoid the bushes and large signal gantry in the foreground. Note how this has compressed the perspective, with Circourt Bridge at Denchworth clearly visible in the distance.

66533 Hanjin Express / Senator Express ambles along the up relief line at Denchworth on 16 August with the 4O24 Bristol Parson Street to Grain 'Wineliner'. I would not normally take pictures of every Class 66 that came along whilst at one location, as I have mentioned on the Introduction page, but in this case I have made an exception, especially as there is not a 'Red Shed' amongst them!. On this occasion three freightliners passed within less than 40 minutes, the other tow being 66563 & 66505. Incidentally the more commonly used Denchworth vantage point (Circourt Bridge) can be seen in the background. This alternative location requires careful framing and a long lens in order to shoot underneath a massive signal gantry.

66535 heads through the Vale of White Horse near Uffington with the diverted 4O27 01:35 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 1 December 2007. This train had been held in the loop at Challow to allow 3 HSTs and the Hertfordshire Railtours 'Worcester Christmas Fayre' railtour to overtake it.

On 15 April 2008 services were severely disrupted on the Birmingham to Oxford route by a broken rail at Knightcote (between Banbury and Leamington). All up trains were hand signaled through the red signal seen in the background, and had to travel over the temporarily clamped rail at 5 mph. While 66535 speeds past the blackthorn blossom at Bishops Itchington with the unaffected 4M50 07:25 Southampton to Crewe freightliner, a Chiltern Railways Turbo unit waits to precede south. At one point there were three trains in view on the up line, with one preceding at walking pace along the embankment just around the corner, one stopped at the signal seen here, and yet another at the preceding signal on the other side of the bridge!

66535 passes Wolvercote on 15 August 2008 with the lightly loaded 4O27 07:12 Ditton to Southampton freightliner. The lack of a load on the front section of the train reveals the little used up good relief line, which runs from Wolvercote Junction to Oxford. Not too many years ago it was regularly used by MGR coat trains to Didcot Power Station and empty car trains to Morris Cowley. Neither of these services now operate on this route, and as can be seen here what little freight traffic that remains tends to use the main line.

66536 passes South Marston on 22 June 2010 with the newly introduced 4L32 10:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Tilbury freightliner. The line curving away to the right serves the Swindon Keypoint industrial estate, and sees regular trains from the Honda car plant.

What's all this then, a full load on the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner, surely not! 66537 has indeed got a very respectable load on the usually lightly loaded 4O51, as it passes a very overgrown Baulking on 25 June 2010. Now that the lineside bushes are in full leaf, it is no longer possible to see the road bridge near the site of Uffington station, which was always an obvious landmark in the background of this view.

What I thought was going to be a ruined picture, turns out to be perfect passing shot. On 2 May 2007, while waiting to photograph 66538 approaching Kidlington with the 4O27 06:50 Ditton to Southampton freightliner, I heard the ominous whine of a voyager behind me as the freightliner came into view. Thinking the unidentified Class 221 on the 11:46 Bournemouth to Glasgow Virgin service would completely block out the 66 I just kept the shutter pressed and let the camera fire several frames per second in the hope of getting the picture. The bridge visible in this view is a farm occupation bridge near Thrupp, while just visible in the distance is the isolated church at Hampton Gay.

66538 heads down the Cherwell Valley near Rousham with the 4O14 01:35 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 16 February 2008. The frost was just starting the melt from the field of long grass in the foreground, but it was still bitterly cold! This field separates the railway from the Oxford Canal, which comes closer and then parallels the line from the trees on the right all the way to Heyford station, approximately a mile further north.

66539 passes Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 30 December 2008. I hadn't realised it at the time, but from this angle the tower of St Barnabas Church, Jericho can just be seen peeking through the trees in the distance above the third container. Although it was a sunny afternoon, the day had started with thick cloud, which had not even started to clear when I left home (less than twenty miles away).

66542 & 66590 pass Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) in ideal photographic conditions with the 4O02 11:14 Lawley Street to Southampton freightliner on 9 January 2010. Although some photographers complain about empty container flats in freightliner consists, I think the snow covered flats behind the locos here actually improve the composition of the picture.

66543 gives a helping hand to failed classmate 66564 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner on 27 April 2010. Running over five hours late the pair are pictured climbing out of the Severn Tunnel towards Pilning. It shows just how vulnerable Freightliner's operation at Wentloog is, when the location is so far away from any rescue loco in the event of a failure.

66544 crosses the River Esk at Metal Bridge with the 6Z39 11:16 New Cumnock to Drax Freightliner coal hoppers on 17 May 2002. As both the A74 road and the railway cross the river here, it doesn't take much imagination to work out what the local pub (and therefore the locality) is named after! Although sunny, it was an extremley blustery day, and with virtually nothing to lessen the full force of the wind coming in off the Irish Sea, an exposed footbridge was not the best place to spend any length of time!

66545 passes Maud's Bridge with a rake of empty HHA wagons bound for Immingham on 14 March 2007. The location is between Thorne and Crowle, where the line parallels the Stainforth & Keadby Canal for a number of miles.

66545 passes Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties on 7 November 2008. I went to this location to get a picture of the 3S33 Didcot to Kings Norton Rail Head Treatment train, only to see it pass through as I was getting out of the car! As the sun was shining, and as there was a fair amount of autumn colour showing in the background, I decided to wait for this train, rather than going straight back home! Although I have now got numerous pictures of this service since it acquired Class 66 haulage, I always think the virtually perfectly matched colour of the containers works well with the green Freightliner locomotive.

Viewed through a 200mm lens, which emphasises the change in gradient just to the rear of the train, 66547 approaches Linwith Lane at Carlton with another load of coal for Drax Power Station on 15 March 2007. This double track line serves only Drax, and sees an intensive freight service supplying the UK's largest coal fired power station.

66549 approaches the site of Waddesdon Manor station on the Aylesbury to Calvert line with the 6M80 13:12 Dagenham to Calvert binliner on 1 August 2007, bringing yet more of the South East's rubbish to dump in a big hole in the ground! This section of line is freight only, its only traffic being these waste trains. Calvert receives three trains daily via this route, the other two coming from Cricklewood and Northolt. 

The rabbits in the field in the foreground take no notice of 66555 as it approaches Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham with the 6Z60 10:51 Neasden to Newton Abbot Hackney Yard sand empties on 1 November 2007. This loco appears to be something of a regular on this train, which runs as required and is the return working of the train that originates at Burngullow. Unfortunately there was no sun when it passed me, even though it was a generally bright day. The light was a bit better when it passed Denchworth a little earlier.

66557 passes through East Midlands Parkway station on the up relief line with the 6V94 07:35 Earles Sidings to Theale cement tanks on 11 March 2010. This was supposed to be a completely sunny day. However, in reality after a promising bright start, this was one of the few sunny periods that actually corresponded with a train passing!

66558 passes the site of Uffington loops with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Millbrook freightliner on 27 August 2008. Somehow I doubt that the freightliner driver really needs the L plate! I rather like this location, as the loco is framed nicely by the signal gantry, which as can be seen from its width, once spanned four tracks. Note also the redundant up loop signal on the right.

66558 passes Tollerton on 12 March 2009 with the 6B53 09:43 Redcar to West Burton Power Station coal train. This location is adjacent to a footpath crossing to the north of the village, and despite the fact that is a fair walk from the nearest road, I was surprised that nobody else turned up, considering Tornado was due on a railtour from the other direction.

66559 passes Baulking with the 6B11 12:30 Thorney Mill to Pengam empty stone hoppers on 24 March 2009. To anyone visiting this rural spot today with its handful of farms and cottages, it is hard to imagine that several hundred years ago it was a much more important settlement with a thriving market. Perhaps the last straw was when the Great Western Railway removed part of the village's large green to make way for their pioneering line to Bristol in the 1840s!

66560 approaches Oddington on the Calvert to Oxford line with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 1 August 2007. Although this section of track has recently been upgraded, just the other side of the crossing the track reverts to 95lb per yard bullhead track. Apart from the infrequent Oxford to Bicester passenger service, the binliner is the only train to use this route.

With virtually all the track now in shadow, 66560 is illuminated by the very last of the weak winter sun as it passes Hinksey Yard (near Oxford) with the 4O27 07:12 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 30 December 2008. As I took my first railway picture of 2008 from this location, I thought it was only appropriate that I should also take the final one of the year from the same spot!

66560 passes Shrivenham in very poor light on 4 February 2009 with the early running 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliners empties. I was tempted not to bother taking this picture, but due this train's 'as required' unpredictability I decided to take it, and opted for a slightly different viewpoint to include as much of the remaining snow as possible. By now all hope of the promised sunny intervals had disappeared as high cloud had drifted in from the south west.

66562 emerges from the bushes at Kibworth Harcourt on 25 June 2008 with the 6F12 08:49 Forders Sidings to Stud Farm ballast empties. It would maybe have been alright at this time of year, but this is definitely not the location to go to if the sun is out in the winter, or at least not until Network Rail deal with the encroaching vegetation!

66562 approaches the site of Launton station (closed 30 December 1967) with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner empties on 15 August 2008. The use of a long lens to avoid the various items of lineside clutter around the level crossing has accentuated the unevenness of the track. This and the corresponding early morning loaded train are the only trains to use this section of line, although there is a very slim possibility that passenger services may one day return in the form of an Oxford to Cambridge service. The local press frequently has articles speculating on the line's reopening, however the proposers of these grand ideas really have very little grasp about the practicalities of such an ambitious project.

66563 passes Hatfield Colliery and approaches Hatfield & Stainforth station on 15 March 2007 with another load of imported coal from Immingham to the Aire Valley Power Stations. Ironically passing a coal mine, this imported coal is being hauled by an imported locomotive. A sign of progress?

66563 passes Denchworth on 16 August 2010 with the 4L32 10:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Tilbury freightliner, one of a pair of new services taking imported wine to Bristol (these of course being the returning empty boxes). Are they all alcoholics in Bristol? Careful inspection of this picture shows a wood pigeon having a very lucky escape (look just below the rear cab door). It just managed to pass in front of the loco by a few feet.

On 16 August 2010 I made a brief visit to one of my favourite spots for lineside photography in the Didcot area during the 1980s and 1990s - the farm occupation bridge between the two road bridges at South Moreton. 66564 is pictured passing by with the 4M68 14:55 Southampton to Birch Coppice freightliner. This bridge always used to be very photographer friendly with a very low parapet that doubled as a seat! Network Rail replaced this and the bridge near the village (just visible in the background) over Christmas and New Year 2009/10 for gauge enhancement purposes. I had been told that tat the replacement was definitely photographer unfriendly, and so it proves to be with a ladder required even to see over it. I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, but why do these new bridges have to be so ugly? They stand out like a huge silver blots on the landscape.

I try not to replicate pictures I have already taken, but on 17 November 2009 I came pretty close with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties. 66565 is pictured approaching the site of Wantage Road station amid some fine late autumn colours. Apart from the different cloud patterns, and the fact that the containers are missing from the first wagon, this picture is not much different to 66518 pictured at the same spot and on the same train two years previously.

With the snow from the previous week still covering the ground, and the prospect of a sunny day, I ventured out on Saturday 9 January 2010 to Hinksey (near Oxford). Wisely leaving the car at the top of South Hinksey village, rather than being unable to climb the slight hill back out of the village if I used my usual parking spot, I was still quite surprised to be the only railway photographer that had ventured to this location. I arrived on the footbridge just as 66566 appeared with the 4O29 08:14 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton freightliner.

66567 heads through the rain at Yarnton (near Oxford) with the 4E44 09:29 Southampton to Leeds freightliner on 7 January 2008. The bridge in the background was constructed a few years ago on the footpath between Yarnton village and the A44. Although not a brilliant vantage point, it is possible to take pictures of northbound trains on summer evenings from the far right corner.

66567 passes Yarnton on 2 February 2008 with the 4O14 01:15 Ditton to Southampton freightliner. Ironically I had seen this same loco only a few weeks before heading the opposite direction with 4E44. In that instance I photographed it from the bridge seen in the background.

66568 rolls slowly around the corner at Bishops Itchington with the 4O14 04:35 Garston to Southampton freightliner on 15 April 2008. There was a broken rail a mile south of this spot, near Knightcote, and a queue of trains was building up due to having to be hand signaled through the affected section at 5 mph. 66568 had been stationary for some while at the signal in the distance (just visible to the left of the blackthorn bushes), and was only traveling at about 20 mph as it passed me, preparing to stop at the next red signal. Years ago single line working would have been introduced around the affected stretch, but nowadays the repairs are carried out between trains.

In glorious evening light, 66569 passes Kings Sutton with the 4S59 15:00 Southampton to Coatbridge freightliner on 24 July 2006. Despite the good lighting, this was a not a very successful evening for photography, as a signalling problem further down the line at Radley not only resulted in most trains running later, but resulted in the cancellation of the Class 37 hauled 6M28 Didcot to Bescot engineers train, which is what I had gone there for!

66569 passes Rousham (between Banbury and Oxford) with the 4O27 04:32 Garston to Southampton freightliner on 16 February 2008. This picture does give the impression that I have just felled two ash trees that were in the way, however, I was glad to see that somebody had already done this. Presumably another photographer, but this is not a very well known location, and it does require a walk of at least a mile from the nearest road, which does tend to put most people off!

66569 traverses the up relief line at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth on 12 May 2009 with the 4O51 10:00 Wentloog to Millbrook freightliner. The trees behind the locomotive mark the site of a small pond, which was presumably created when excavating material for the bridge approach roads. In the 1970s ponds were still visible on both sides of the line here. The trees in the background are much more recent, having been planted in the 1980s.

66570 passes through Dean station (between Salisbury and Romsey) with the diverted 4O14 01:15 Ditton to Southampton freightliner on 21 March 2009. Its usual route would have been the direct line between Basingstoke and Eastleigh, but here has traveled via Andover and the Laverstock line at Salisbury.

66570 swings round the curve near Tackley on 15 May 2010 with the 4O27 06:40 Garston to Southampton Maritime freightliner. Luckily a much more heavily loaded train than the preceding 4O14 service. The bridge just visible half way along the train is where the line crosses over the River Cherwell.

66573 accelerates away from Wantage Road on 26 March 2007 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. It had traveled along the up relief line from Challow, and had waited at the end of the four track section (just beyond the bridge in the background) for the passage of a couple of HSTs. Unfortunately the main traffic on this service is fresh air, and this very light load is not at all unusual.

66574 passes Grassthorpe (between Retford and Newark)  with the 4L85 08:57 Leeds to Felixstowe freightliner on 25 January 2008. Luckily this perfect lighting lasted for quite a long time. The dark clouds covered most of the sky, but for once the big blue patch was just where the sun was - why doesn't that happen more often?

66575 passes Awbridge (near Romsey) with the diverted 4O54 05:33 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 21 March 2009. The Salisbury to Romsey line is regularly used as a diversionary route at weekends bringing a welcome variety of traction to the route.

66575 must be really struggling with this massive load! It is pictured passing Bourton on 31 August 2010 with the 4O24 11:00 Bristol Parsons Street to Grain 'Wineliner'. I just missed the other 'Wineliner' as I was making sure the car was parked clear of the field entrance, in case a farmer wanted access. Of course, when you take the trouble to do this rather than just leaving the car anywhere, you never see a farmer - and this was no exception!

66576 Hamburg Sud Advantage passes Yarnton with the 4O14 05:28 Garston to Southampton freightliner on 1 September 2008. This is a very awkward location for photographing southbound trains due to the shadows from the trees on the right. However, at this time of year the White Poplar trees behind the loco make a good background with the silver undersides of the leaves standing out against the sky.

66576 Hamburg Sud Advantage passes Uffington with the diverted 4O54 05:33 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 27 September 2008. This diversion was due to the Reading to Basingstoke line being closed for engineering works. Note the strange lighting effect, as the sun just starts to break through the early morning fog. The background is still murky but a shaft of sunlight neatly picks out the train. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

66577 pulls away from a signal check at Didcot on 10 December 2009 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The popularity of Didcot Parkway station with commuters can be gauged by the virtually full car park. A nice little earner for Network Rail at £5.90 per car per day!

66577 passes Wolvercote with the 4O14 06:39 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner on 10 April 2010. It was just starting to slow down here under amber signals, as it was obviously catching up 66178, which had passed just a few minutes before. Two freights within five minutes is unfortunately not an indication of the level of traffic you can expect in the Oxford area on a Saturday!

66579 glows in the early morning autumnal sunshine as it rounds the curve at Bishops Itchington with the 4O14 07:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton freightliner on 14 November 2009. The good lighting was quite a surprise, as the forecasters had predicted torrential rain accompanied by gale force winds. Admittedly all this came later!

66580 passes South Marston on 11 December 2007 with the 4O51 10:02 Wentloog to Southampton freightliner. The area in the foreground marks the entrance to the former sidings, little used and long since lifted. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing.

66584 approaches Knighton with the late running 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 1 May 2007. The verdant green new foliage on the embankment contrasts starkly with the barren looking 'Set-aside' field in the foreground.

On 24 March 2009 I popped out for an hour or so to one of my favourite local spots at Baulking (now a shadow of its former self - literally!). During my brief visit the first freight to appear was the late running 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon Binliner with 66584 in charge. After an initial dearth of pictures when Freightliner took over, I have now got a vast number of photos of this working, so would normally ignore this train, but as the lighting was perfect I added it to my growing collection of Freightliner sheds on this working!

So much for General Electric reliability! 66585 The Drax Flyer gives a helping hand to failed 70002 with the 4Z70 08:53 Rugeley Power Station to Stoke Gifford coal empties on 2 March 2010, seen here passing Charfield. The three month old 70002 had disgraced itself at Cheltenham, caused severe delays to following passenger services. If your impression of a loco class's performance is gleaned from first impressions, this is not a good start. Not having bothered to obtain a picture of a Class 70 until now, I decided to wait around for this train as the light was good, only for this to happen! I had assumed that the class's extreme ugliness would be compensated for by ultra reliability, but apparently not. 

66587 approaches Walton Well Road, Oxford on 23 May 2009 with the well loaded 4O14 Ditton to Southampton freightliner. This train had traveled down the up relief line from Wolvercote Junction and had just rejoined the main line at Oxford North Junction, just past Aristotle Lane footbridge in the background.

66588 crosses the River Cherwell near Tackley with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner on 17 December 2008. I had been waiting for a sunny winter afternoon to visit this remote location which in summer is slightly compromised by a few lineside bushes, but after the leaves have gone allows a number of different viewpoints with nothing obstructing the low winter sunlight.

In some weak spring sunshine on 26 March 2009, 66591 passes the site of Bletchingdon station with the 4O05 12:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton intermodal. Just visible on the horizon are a couple of water towers that mark the site of the former RAF Upper Heyford airbase, latterly home to the USAF and for a long time home to the swing wing F-111 bombers. Its closure in 1994 was a direct consequence of the ending of the Cold War.

66591 passes Hinksey on 9 January 2010 with the 4O54 05:27 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. The line of wagons in the foreground appear to be the only stock that has moved in the yard since the snow fell three days previously. Despite the bitterly cold conditions, a lot of the snow had already fallen off the trees at this location.

Torrential rain (126.2mm was recorded at Brize Norton in 24 hours!) on 20 July 2007 resulted in numerous lines being closed due to flooding, and one week later the line through Oxford was still closed, resulting in various freight services being diverted via alternative routes. On 27 July, 66593 is pictured ambling down the relief line at Waltham St Lawrence (between Reading and Maidenhead) with the 4M55 08:58 Southampton to Lawley Street freightliner. This is not the usual location at Waltham St Lawrence, but from the footbridge in the fields towards Shottesbrooke. The bridge in the background is Chalkpit Bridge, on the bridleway between Waltham St Lawrence and Knowl Hill.

66593 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway passes Hinksey on 12 June 2010 with the diverted 4V46 11:09 Crewe Basford Hall to Wentloog freightliner. This would shortly be taking the west curve at Didcot to travel to Wales via the Severn Tunnel. Its usual route is of course the much more direct one via Hereford. Although the locos look the same, the consist on this train looks very different from that of 4O54, which passed by just four minutes earlier.

A well loaded 4O05 12:00 Birch Coppice to Southampton Intermodal passes Tackley on 19 March 2009 with 66594 NYK Spirit of Kyoto in charge. The loco is just crossing over the River Cherwell, one of numerous crossings of the river between Banbury and Oxford. Although an excellent viewpoint, a long train such as this is a fairly tight squeeze between the trees in the distance and the hedge which is just out of shot to the right.

On 3 December 2008 nearly new 66596 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner. On this occasion the footbridge was packed with photographers, most of whom were admittedly waiting for the steam hauled special, but it does seem a little ironic that I hardly ever met anyone else at this location when photographing the much more interesting variety of traction in the 1980s!

Heyford station is a very awkward location for photography with a new footbridge that dominates the site and requires the use of a moderate wideangle lens to include the entire structure when standing on the nearby road bridge. On 29 October 2008, 66597 rushes with the 4O54 06:13 Leeds to Southampton freightliner. I would normally crop out the shadow of the bridge (and myself!) in the foreground, but have left it in to emphasise the very small gap in which you can take pictures at this location. The Oxford Canal can just be seen on the right of the picture.

66601 The Hope Valley approaches Melton Ross on 26 July 2003 with the 6E55 10:35 Kingsbury to Humber oil empties. This loco was named prior to entering service in November 2000, and although not obvious from this angle, the 'o' of Hope Valley name is painted in Blue Circle blue to mark the connection of Freightliner with the Hope to Dewsbury cement traffic.

66601 The Hope Valley passes through the exceedingly overgrown cutting between Uffington and Baulking with the 6U72 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties on 30 April 2009. Luckily the HST working the 1B31 12:15 Paddington to Cardiff First Great Western service has just got out of the way in time! There was plenty of warning that a freight train was approaching as the up line signal was flashing amber indicating that the next train would be looped a few miles further on at Challow.

66601 The Hope Valley passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham on 31 August 2010 with the 6Z60 Theale to Stoke Gifford stone empties. With a booked departure time of 15:30 it has done very well to get here by 15:48! It's a good job passenger trains don't run with that kind of flexibility!

66602 approaches Circourt Bridge, near Denchworth on 12 May 2009 with the 6U72 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. As often happens during the late spring and summer, it had clouded up somewhat during the middle of day, but luckily this cleared away later in the day. The same loco worked this train the previous day, as seen here at Hatton.

In perfect winter light, 66607 approaches the site of Ashbury Crossing at Shrivenham with the 6V60 10:31 Angerstein Wharf to Cardiff Pengam Freightliner Heavy Haul stone empties on 3 December 2008. The relatively clean loco contrasts strongly with the wagons which are now looking very work stained.

66608 rounds the curve on the approach to Kings Sutton station with the 6M22 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties on 28 May 2010. The trees and hawthorn bushes behind the locomotive hide the spot where the Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway diverged for the start of its journey across the Oxfordshire Hills and the Cotswolds, to meet up with the Midland & South Western Junction Railway at Andoversford. The line closed as a through route in 1951, but the section of line from Kings Sutton to the first station (Adderbury) remained open for freight until 1969, when the final customer, Bibby & Sons ceased using rail. A short spur survived near this spot for a further two years.

The last rays of the setting sun highlight this Class 66/6 top'n'tail formation of assorted Network Rail track machines and permanent way vehicles passing Shrivenham on 9 June 2006, en-route from South Wales to Didcot. 66609 leads the ensemble, while 66603 can just be seen on the back. The intensity of the headlight is obvious in these conditions.

Although it is something of a challenge, I am always looking for slightly different photographic viewpoints on the Didcot to Swindon line. Here's one I hadn't tried before, between the two footpath crossings at South Marston. The hawthorn bush on the right provides a frame for 66610 as it heads west with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol binliner empties on 11 December 2007.

66610 passes a snowy Baulking on 14 January 2010 with the 6M22 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. An interesting comparison can be made with the same working (albeit running with a different headcode) taken at the same spot in very different seasonal conditions. Unfortunately most of the snow had already disappeared from the lineside trees and bushes at this location, although ironically further from the railway there was still a fair covering on most trees.

At just after 15:00 on 28 November 2006, the last rays of the setting sun illuminate 66612 Forth Raider as it approaches Heck Ings with an empty coal train from Drax Power Station. Hensall Junction is just behind the rear of the train, with the little used line to Goole carrying straight on into the distance. The Drax line curves in from the left, and consequently the train is pulling away from the speed restricted curve.

66614 weaves off the Sheet Stores line at Stenson Junction on 4 November 2009 with the 4Z98 06:45 Sudforth Lane to Daw Mill coal empties. Note the all too common vandal graffiti attacks on several of the wagons.

Although not as clear as it once was, there is still a reasonable view of northbound trains from the occupation bridge near Kings Sutton station. On 23 April 2009, 66617 is pictured heading north with the 6U72 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties.

66617 passes Bourton on 31 August 2010 with the 6M22 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. It is lucky that this was only traveling relatively slowly and HSTs travel at 125mph, because on this occasion they both came into view from opposite directions at the same time. The HST can just be seen exiting stage left.

66620 rounds the curve on the approach to Wellingborough on 23 April 2010 with the 6M91 11:24 Theale to Earles Sidings cement empties. This is one of the very few locations on the Midland Mainline where the sun is on the front of the loco for this train.

66621 is just about to cross Stocks Lane Level Crossing in Steventon with the 6M22 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties on 29 September 2009. Steventon has two level crossings, Stocks Lane and Causeway, the latter is approximately where the rear end of this train is. Luckily both are on minor roads in the village, and through traffic has makes use of a overbridge.

66621 passes Uffington on 13 October 2009 with the 4V60 10:55 Calvert to Bristol Avon binliner. The signal gantry that it is approaching presumably dates from the introduction of colour lights in the mid 1960s. This would obviously explain its terrible condition. What might at first sight appear to be brown paint is in fact rust, with only a few flecks of the original silver paint remaining!

66621 runs along the down relief line at Denchworth on 16 August 2010 with the 6V60 11:56 Angerstein Wharf to Newton Abbot Hackney Yard empty Bardon stone hoppers. I had only just taken this picture when a FGW HST appeared under the bridge in the background, showing just how useful these relief lines between Wantage Road and Challow can be.

Freightliner's unique Bardon Aggregates blue liveried 66623 Bill Bolsover passes South Marston on 22 June 2010 with the 6M22 11:56 Westbury to Stud Farm ballast empties. Not ideal lighting, with the sun no longer on the front end, but as I was in the area and knew that the loco was on the train, I decided it was worth waiting to get this picture, especially as I had not seen this particular locomotive before. The standard Freightliner green roof does give the impression this repaint was done on the cheap!