In miserable lighting conditions on 22 January 1994, Class 438 4-TCs 417 & 410 leave Salisbury with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z33 07:35 Waterloo to Weymouth 'Push Pull Farewell' railtour, with 33116 just out of sight behind the white house doing the pushing at the rear. Both the units have been restored to their original 1960s livery. The lower stage of the tower on Salisbury's world famous cathedral was undergoing restoration work at the time and is encased in scaffolding.

With the prominent local landmark of the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal engine house in the background, Class 438 4-TCs 417 & 410 are pushed past Charlton by 33116 Hertfordshire Rail Tours with the Hertfordshire Railtours 1Z33 07:35 Waterloo to Weymouth 'Push Pull Farewell' railtour on 22 January 1994.

Network Rail DBSO 9701 is propelled towards Cam & Dursley by 31454 on 12 October 2009. It is working the 2Z08 09:46 Derby RTC to Bristol Temple Meads test train. It would later work up various Welsh Valley lines, albeit after dark. Unfortunately this viewpoint is getting more difficult thanks to tree growth next to the bridge.

Network Rail DBSO 9714 leads the 4Z10 07:50 Derby RTC to Bristol Kingsland Road (via Oxford) test train past Shorthampton on 23 September 2009. 31106 is providing the power at the rear. The recently cleared cutting at this location now makes an excellent photographic location, and as the light was abysmal, I decided to go for a different viewpoint by shooting from the north side. The tiny Norman church at Shorthampton, famous for its Medieval wall paintings, is just out of the picture to the left, a couple of fields from the railway.

82101 leads the 14:10 Liverpool Lime Street to Euston InterCity service through Cheddington station on 28 April 1990. It was a couple of miles north of this spot that the Great Train Robbers halted the up postal on 7 August 1963, getting away with £2.6 million. The alarm was raised by one of the loco's crew catching an early morning train to Cheddington. Obviously the following day this quiet station in the middle of the Buckinghamshire countryside would have been swarming with police!

Having been thwarted in my attempt to get a picture of 82101 on the 09:30 Birmingham New Street to Euston Virgin West Coast service two days previously, I tried again on 22 April 2009, this time going to Banbury Lane, and this time not being blocked out by something going the the way! 82101 is just passing over the site of the former level crossing at Banbury Lane with its mixed rake of Cargo D blue and grey and Virgin liveried stock. 90036 is out of sight at the rear providing the power.

82123 leads the 1M25 11:48 Glasgow to Euston Virgin service past Docker (between Tebay and Oxenholme) on 12 July 2003. An ideal photographic location on a sweeping curve with the hills in the background. Just think how good it must have been in steam days before they put the wires up, or even in the 1970s when doubled head Class 50s were commonplace!

82125 speeds past Brockhall (between Rugby and Milton Keynes) with the 07:10 Liverpool Lime Street to Euston InterCity service on 24 August 1991. Having a streamlined front end only works if you shut all the flaps, not as here with one of them open and acting as an air brake! The Canon F1 I used to take this picture was one of the few cameras available at the time that had the 1/2000sec shutter speed that was necessary to freeze all motion with a train this close to the camera and traveling at such high speed.

82144 speeds past Kings Langley with the 06:30 Manchester Piccadilly to Euston InterCity service on 28 October 1995. The train will soon be passing underneath the M25 on its express journey to the capital, Having already had its last booked sop at Milton Keynes.

82146 leads the 5Z05 12:50 Toton to Exeter Riverside DB Schenker Management Train past Tredington on 3 June 2010, with 67029 doing the pushing at the rear. Most photographers would prefer this to be the other way round, but I prefer the sleek lines of the DVT to the aesthetically challenged corrugated sided 'Skip'. At least DBS have managed to keep this train clean (unlike the majority of their fleet) and this does show off the 'three beasties' logo very well.

82210 catches the early morning sun as it passes Great Heck with the 06:30 Newcastle to Kings Cross National Express East Coast service on 14 March 2008. Note the 80 mph speed restriction on the down. line. This section of the ECML was closed the previous day due to damage caused to the overhead wires by the second lot of high winds in less than a month. Such, unfortunately is the vulnerability of overhead electrification, especially when inadequate strength was built into the system in the first place to save costs.

82211 leads the 09:30 Edinburgh to Kings Cross National Express East Coast service past Houndwood on 3 May 2008. This was the perfect way to enjoy railway photography (apart from the long walk to get to the location). Sitting on the grassy bank in the sunshine and just picking up the camera when a train appeared in the distance. The only noise was from the sheep in the neighbouring fields and the traffic on the distant A1 road which can just be seen in the background.

82213 leads the 07:50 Glasgow Central to Kings Cross East Coast service past Noblethorpe on 17 June 2010. The DVTs never had a chance to acquire National Express's stylish silver and white livery, before that company lost the franchise. Here we see the subtle rebranding of the re-nationalised operator's interim colour scheme.

In a brief burst of spring sunshine, 82217 leads the 1E11 09:50 Glasgow Central to Kings Cross East Coast Trains service past Burn on 11 March 2010. All vehicles in this train carry the former GNER colour scheme, which is now carrying its second re-branding. National Express East Coast didn't survive long enough as an operating company to apply its new silver livery to much of its stock, and so the good dark blue livery lives to see another day!

A picture that required split second timing and 1/2000 sec shutter speed to freeze the 125 mph train at exactly the right spot between the catenary. 82219 Duke of Edinburgh leads the 1A24 11:40 Leeds to Kings Cross National Express East Coast service past Grassthorpe (between Retford and Newark) on 25 January 2008. The entire train is in the transitional livery, with all traces of former route operator GNER removed, and the National Express branding applied on a white stripe.

82227 speeds past Grassthorpe on 25 January 2008 with the 1E11 09:50 Glasgow Central to Kings Cross National Express East Coast service. Although operated by National Express, 82227 is still carrying GNER colours, with the branding suitably altered. It never would get to acquire National Express livery, as the franchise was handed back to the government the following year!

82301 leads the 1J82 12:17 Marylebone to Wrexham service past Wormleighton Crossing on 22 April 2009, with 67012 doing the pushing at the rear. There was certainly no mistaking that this train was approaching, as these DVTs have a very loud a distinctive chime type horn.

82304 leads the 1J82 12:17 Marylebone to Wrexham service past Old Milverton on 20 February 2009. Note that the Wrexham & Shropshire Railway livery does not yet extend to the coaches. 67012 was doing the pushing at the rear. This picture would have been unfit for inclusion on this website without the use of layers in Photoshop. Because the sun had gone in but the sky in the background was still bright the initial image showed a virtually blank sky and a burnt out roof area to the train, and yet paradoxically virtually no shadow detail. Creating layers for each f these problem areas and adjusting accordingly along with careful feathering and blending has yielded a natural result. After all, you wouldn't know there had been any work done, would you?

Inspection saloon 975025 Caroline is propelled by 37423 past Beighton on 25 November 2008, with a cab full of railway officials, at least one of whom appears to be photographing the line ahead. The working is the 2Z65 09:05 Bedford to Bedford (via Sheffield) special, which despite being propelled into Sheffield, returned an hour later with the Class 37 still at the back, which was not anticipated or appreciated! The background of pylons and waste ground is typical of many areas of formerly industrial South Yorkshire.

Inspection saloon 975025 Caroline is propelled by 37423 past Claydon on 22 April 2009 running as the 2Z44 10:58 Derby to Southampton. This was running approximately 30 minutes early, which was just as well as although not very obvious from this picture, the clouds were building up rapidly and this was in a brief sunny interlude.

A solitary steam diagram was employed during the Llangollen Railway's Railcar Gala on 26 June 2010. However, it was totally in keeping, as this is basically the steam equivalent of the railcar principle. Auto trailer 167 leads, GWR 64xx 0-6-0PT 6430 provides the power, and auto trailer 163 brings up the rear, as the 15:00 Llangollen to Carrog service passes Garthydwr.