E6005 (73005) accelerates away from Bewdley with the 11:22 Arley to Kidderminster local service on 2 October 2004, during the Severn Valley Railway's Diesel Gala. Classmate 73006 was on the rear. The loco is wearing the early 'electric blue' livery carried by the class in the 196os. There are several vantage points along this stretch of line, and in between trains you can always watch the animals in the nearby West Midlands Safari Park!

In ex-works condition just after being repainted into Pullman livery to mark the 150th year of the London to Brighton line, 7310 Brighton Evening Argus passes Salfords at high speed with a Victoria to Brighton 'Brighton Belle' special composed of Orient Express stock on 21 September 1991. The vintage VSOE coaches comprised: Zena, Ione, Ibis, Lucille, Vera, Phoenix, Audrey, Minerva and Baggage Car No 7.

On 25 June 1999, the Eastleigh to Quidhampton and return china clay tanks were worked by 73106 & 73133 The Bluebell Railway in place of the usual Class 58. After seeing the train leave Eastleigh in the morning, it was just a question of finding a suitable spot for the return working, and hoping that the good weather would hold. As you can see, there was not a cloud in the sky when the pair passed East Grimstead (between Salisbury and Romsey) with the 6Y27 10:28 Quidhampton to Eastleigh Yard loaded tanks. Pictures of 73s working freights on the main line away from the 750v third rail were always at a premium, but the load here is hardly going to tax their combined 1200hp diesel power!

73129 approaches Hailes with the 09:00 Winchcombe to Toddington empty coaching stock on 24 September 2005, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Autumn Diesel Gala. A former Network SouthEast 750v DC third rail electric loco is something of an incongruous sight at the foot of the Cotswold Hills! You can quite clearly see where the former City of Winchester nameplate and crest was affixed to the side of the loco. Obviously it is running here on its 4 cylinder 600hp diesel engine.

73129 ambles along the long straight between Hailes and Winchcombe with the 12:02 Toddington to Winchcombe freight on 24 September 2005, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Autumn Diesel Gala. Although principally designed as a third rail electric locomotive with supplementary diesel engine, Class 73s come in to their own on preserved railways, where their 600hp engine and limited top speed are no handicap at all.

In very faded Network SouthEast livery, 73129 rounds Chicken Curve, near Winchcombe (the chicken farm actually closed several years ago!) on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway with the 09:00 Winchcombe to Toddington empty coaching stock at the start of the line's Autumn Diesel Gala on 4 November 2006. Langley Hill forms the backdrop, while Winchcombe's home signal looks as if it is starting to slip down the bank!

Not wishing to always stick with the conventional approach to photography, here is an panoramic view of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway from the top of Salter's Hill. In the background over 2 miles away from my vantage point is Toddington station. The line can be followed round in a sweeping curve to where 73129 can be seen approaching the bridge at Hailes with the 10:42 Toddington to Winchcombe service. This was during the line's Autumn Diesel Gala on 4 November 2006.

73129 is glimpsed through the trees as it leaves Winchcombe with the 11:05 freight to Toddington on 5 November 2006, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala. To make the most of the surroundings this was taken on a 24mm lens (38mm equivalent), the least used of my quartet of lenses. Also rarely used for railway photography, a polarizing filter was used to bring out the very faint high clouds against the blue sky.

Although the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway has some excellent photographic locations, I am always searching for a different viewpoint. On 31 March 2007, during the line's Spring Diesel Gala, I did a spot of tree climbing to secure this picture at Didbrook. Admittedly the branch I was sitting on was only a few feet off the ground, but it provides an excellent viewpoint, with the tree providing a perfect frame for 73129 as it heads south with the 12:40 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service.

While waiting for the 37s on the 13:50 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service near Far Stanley on 1 April 2007, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Diesel Gala, I casually took a picture of 73129 returning from Cheltenham Racecourse with the 13:30 service to Toddington. As it was backlit, I thought it would just be a record shot, but I am quite pleased with the picture, as the road and bridge add a scenic frame to the picture. The road is the minor road from Gretton to Gotherington. I'm just glad that there isn't a bright yellow car in the foreground!

73131 strikes an arc as its collector shoe leaves the third rail as it crosses Richborough Road level crossing on the approach to Sandwich with the Pathfinder Tours 'Kent Venturer' railtour on 14 March 1998. The second locomotive is the Pullman liveried 73101 The Royal Alex. This was the second time the tour had passed Sandwich, as it toured lines in the Dover and Canterbury area. On the outward run it ran as 1Z65 05:57 Crewe to Ashford International, now as can be seen from the SR two character headcode on 73131, it is running as 1Z88 14:17 Ashford International to Crewe.

73136 Kent Youth Music & 73109 Battle of Britain 50th Anniversary cross the River Test at Totton with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z73 10:14 Waterloo to Weymouth Town 'Wey Out' railtour on 30 December 2003, run to mark the end of EWS Class 73 operation, although the earlier failure of 73133 resulted in South West Train's 73109 helping out! The weather was terrible, but at least by the tour got to this point the rain had stopped.

73139 arrives at Lydd with the Thursdays only 7O62 06:29 Willesden to Dungeness empty nuclear flasks on 25 July 1996. The loco will stop just under the bridge, so that the guard can open the level crossing gates on the other side of the road, adjacent to the derelict Lydd station. The nuclear flasks had worked down from Sellafield to Willesden the previous day. It was such a hot day, that on the return trip the guard was sat outside on the flat platform between the brake van's verandah and headstock!

73204 Janice & 73205 Jeanette pass Amen Corner (a real place near Bracknell, and not just a 1960's pop group!), with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z73 06:05 Crewe to Liverpool Street 'East-Ender' railtour on 5 February 2005, which the EDs had taken over at Reading. This picture gives the impression of a quiet rural location - not so, at this point the line runs parallel with the busy A322.

73209 Alison & 73206 Lisa pass Soldridge on the Mid Hants Railway, as the drift down the gradient from Medstead & Four Marks with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z96 08:55 Victoria to Alresford  'Oozlum Bird Number 2' railtour on 9 February 2008. You wouldn't know it from the headboards, which read 'The Marshlander' & 'Electric Blue-Bird'.

Network Rail's 73212 & 73213 make a spectacular sight as they pass Potbridge (between Woking and Basingstoke) with the 5Z73 10:20 Tonbridge to Eastleigh stock move, conveying four GLV vehicles. This would appear to represent all the remaining non-preserved Class 489 former Gatwick Express driving trailers. Note the new relay box and associated materials by the trackside at this location. There are a couple of ominous looking holes in the bank - surely not another new signal gantry like the one in the background!