Probably the best distance to view a pair of 'skips' from, even if they are the Royal Train allocated pair! With Oxleaze Farm in the foreground, 67005 Queen's Messenger & 67006 Royal Sovereign head west through the Vale of White Horse near Uffington with the UK Railtours 1Z67 06:47 Stevenage to Kidderminster 'Severn Valley Sunrise' railtour on 5 April 2008. I had been waiting for the ideal weather conditions to attempt this long lens shot from the top of White Horse Hill, and the uninspiring choice of traction for this tour meant I wasn't going to miss an important picture if it didn't work out.  As the train is over two miles away, a clear morning was essential.

67012 passes Fritwell with the 1P13 11:10 Wrexham General to Marylebone Wrexham & Shropshire Railway service on 9 June 2008. EWS liveried 67002 can be seen on the rear of the train. This was one of those annoying situations where the sun was behind one of the few clouds on an otherwise sunny day as the train came into view. However the cloud was obviously moving faster than the train, because it just cleared in time. Note the slightly darker ballast in front of the loco, caused by the tail end of the cloud - that's how close it was!

67014 rounds the curve at Kings Sutton with the first ever northbound passenger carrying Wrexham & Shropshire Railways service - the 1J80 06:45 Marylebone to Wrexham General on 28 April 2008. 67012 can just be seen on the rear of the three coach train, both locos being in Wrexham & Shropshire Railways colours. Running on time and in the company's new colours, it was a good start on the first day of the service. If only the same could be said of the inaugural southbound service!

In February 2008 crew training started for the Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway. The 5Z23 14:01 Banbury to Marylebone is pictured passing Bucknell in brilliant late winter sunshine on 27 February 2008, with 67017 Arrow leading and 67016 at the rear of the 3 coach Cargo-D Mk3 First Class rake. My preferred location for this picture was a few miles up the line at Fritwell, but reconnaissance a few weeks earlier had indicated that the shadows would extend right up to the running line, and if the train had only been slightly late would have led to very difficult lighting. In the event it was a good decision to choose this spot, as it was completely sunny all the time, despite there being a huge bank of cloud just to the north and a similar one to the south!

67021 passes Claydon at high speed with a crew training run for Wrexham & Shropshire Railways on 15 April 2008.This was running in the path of what will be the 1P03 07:25 Wrexham to Marylebone service when passenger trains commence running at the end of April. 67012 in W & S livery can be seen on the rear of the train. On this occasion the train was running 20 minutes early. I suppose there is a certain novelty value in having a train made up of an EWS liveried loco, 3 blue & grey Mk. 3 coaches, and a grey liveried 67 on the rear!

This ill conceived design has had a troubled life with EWS, ever since the cessation of the mail trains which were the class's reson detre. This has led to their use on freight trains and possibly the most unsuitable job imaginable for a 125 mph loco with a ridiculously heavy axle weight - the Fort William sleeper. In this role they have unsurprisingly proved more troublesome than the Class 37s they replaced. However, here we see them on slightly more normal duties, although why it takes two I have no idea. 67022 & 67028 pass Whitehill, on the Cotswold Line with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z67 07:21 Finsbury Park to Kidderminster 'Severn Valley 1960's Gala' railtour on 21 February 2004.

67023 passes Blackford, on the Highland Main Line with the 4D65 15:12 Inverness to Mossend Safeway Intermodal train on 17 April 2003. A ridiculously inappropriate loco for the job, but then since the cessation of the Royal Mail trains, the class has no real purpose, so has to be found work somewhere. The A9 trunk road can be seen in the background, and just out of the picture to the right is the huge shed that is the Highland Spring factory, hardly the quaint image that the name conjures up!

There was an unfortunate start to the Wrexham & Shropshire Railway's passenger service on 28 April 2008. The inaugural train - the 1P01 05:42 Wrexham General to Marylebone service suffered loco problems only a short distance into the journey, and time was lost as the rear loco had to be transferred to the front of the train at Wellington. 67026 is pictured approaching Kings Sutton with the disgraced 67025 Western Star, running 37 minutes late. It is a pity that there was no more suitable class of loco for Wrexham & Shropshire to use, as the unreliability of the Class 67s has led to a very public embarrassment on the very first day. Unlike the inaugural northbound train, a pair of scruffy EWS locos hardly did much to promote the service either! I was very lucky with the lighting with this picture, as the clouds were building up very quickly and the sunny spells were getting much shorter!

67029 Royal Diamond passes under the footbridge next to the Kennet & Avon Canal at Little Bedwyn with the 1Z31 09:28 Paddington to Cardiff Central rugby special on 9 February 2008. Hidden behind the bushes on the rear of the train is 67024. This train was run in connection with the Wales v Scotland Six Nations match at the Millennium Stadium. Unfortunately the beech hedge in the foreground means it is now impossible to do the standard picture here in the winter, including both the church and the lock, as the hedge now shades the line.

It is 06:16 and the sun has only just risen as 67030 passes Elliot (near Arbroath) with the 1A25 21:15 Euston to Aberdeen ScotRail sleeper on 6 May 2008. This was my second attempt to photograph this train. The previous day's picture was ruined by the all too common North Sea harr (thick fog) which seems to always occur on a clear morning on the east coast of Scotland. I was therefore surprised that it was clear this morning, as the sea is only just out of the picture to the left, and indeed it was foggy only slightly further inland.