Class 411 4-CEP 1544 takes the Margate line at Faversham with the 10:05 Victoria to Ramsgate Network SouthEast service on 12 August 1995. The station and signal box can be seen in the background, while just out of sight on the left in the vee of the junction (the Canterbury line is on the left), the remains of the steam locomotive depot surprisingly had managed to survive the bulldozers. Both lines and the depot site are crossed by a long footbridge.

Class 411 4-CEP units at Worplesdon in the rain. On 13 December 2003, South West Trains 1581 leads another classmate with the 10:57 Portsmouth Harbour to Waterloo service, while a 3 unit 12 car rake forming the 11:38 Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour disappears into the distance. Worplesdon is situated between Guildford and Woking.

I always thought the London & South East Davison's 'Jaffa Cake' livery was an excellent colour scheme. Not too brash and over the top, and unlike some liveries based on white, did not get grubby too quickly. Here we see Class 411 4CEP 1598 approaching Sevington with the 15:28 Dover Priory to Charing Cross service on 2 June 1989. This view has now been completely transformed, as the new high speed Channel Tunnel line now runs parallel, and cuts through the field visible in the background.

Once an everyday sight in Kent, now completely replaced by modern stock, Class 411/5 4-CEPs 1619 & 1530 pass Paddock Wood with the 10:00 Charing Cross to Ramsgate service on 15 March 1995, in a welcome bit of spring sunshine, but with a storm brewing in the background. These 1956 -63 built units were constructed specifically for the Kent main lines and spent over forty years reliably shuttling backwards and forwards between the capital and the Kent coast.

Class 413 4-CAP units were formed in 1982 by combining two Class 414 2-HAP units. On 3 September 1988, 3308 leads another 4-CAP unit into Higham station with the 10:13 Charing Cross to Ramsgate service. It is immediately obvious that the train is made up of former two car units, with the redundant yellow end still visible on the third vehicle.

Class 419 Motor Luggage Van 68007 leads a formation of EMU stock as it passes Wanshurst Green (on the long section of dead straight track between Ashford and Tonbridge) with the 14:22 Ashford to London Charing Cross service on 15 March 1986. Ten of these useful vehicles were built between 1959 and 1961 principally for use on the boat trains to Dover and Folkestone. They also had the ability to run for a limited period on battery power.

South West Trains Class 421 4-CIG 'Greyhound' unit 1315 & Class 423 4-VEP 3407 pass Battledown Flyover with the 11:30 Waterloo to Weymouth service on 30 March 2003. The line to Salisbury and Exeter diverges from the main line at Worting Junction, a little distance behind the train, and passes under the up main line under the bridge behind the first coach.

A symphony in green! Class 421 3-CIG unit 1498 Farringford is one of only two slam door third rail electric units operating on the national network. Along with classmate 1497 (which is painted in corporate blue & grey livery) it spends all its time shuttling up and down the short Lymington Branch. It is seen here at Lymington Junction on 22 August 2007 with the 11:14 Lymington Pier to Brockenhurst South West Trains service.

Well away from the 750v third rail, Class 421 3-CIG 1499 stands at Lydney on the Dean Forest Railway on 19 August 2006. The South West Trains livery and Fratton depot sticker seem a little out of place in rural Gloucestershire, but then again Scottish Class 27 27066 on the left is even further from home! Even the humble slam door EMU eventually gets preserved, although it doesn't seem long ago that a trip to the Southern Region saw an unending procession of these units working most services.

Class 421 4-CIG 1866, Class 423 4-VEP 3514, & Class 421 4-CIG 1805 approach Arundel with the Southern Electric Group 2Z62 11:02 London Bridge to Littlehampton 'Sussex Slammer' railtour on 19 November 2005. This tour was run to mark the end of slam door stock on the Southern, with the final few service trains working the following weekend. The tour had actually started from London Bridge in two sections, 3514 & 1805 running as the 2Z60 08:40 London Bridge to East Grinstead and 2Z61 09:25 East Grinstead to London Bridge, with 1866 following two minutes behind with the 2Z65 & 2Z66!

Class 423 4-VEP 3498 emerges from Shakespeare Tunnel on 11 May 1996 with the 08:55 Charing Cross to Ramsgate Network SouthEast service. The photo is taken from the footbridge that spans the far end of Dover Town Yard, which explains the overgrown siding to the left of the running lines. The steep footpath leads down from the road at the top of the cliff and allows access to the beach, fortunately providing an excellent photographic vantage point.

Despite their uncharitable 'Plastic Pig' nickname, I always thought the Class 442 units were the most stylish of the EMU designs of the last few years, and it seems a little premature to withdraw these high quality units after less than twenty years service, even allowing for the fact that the traction motors were salvaged from the 1960s built 4REP units! However on 3 February 2007 the final units were placed into store, and so the opportunity was taken to take a few last pictures. Here, 2405 passes Potbridge at high speed with the 13:05 Waterloo to Poole South West Trains service.

Saturday 3 February 2007 was the final day in traffic for the Class 442 units with South West Trains, and as it turned out to be a perfect sunny day, a trip was made to the Basingstoke to Woking line to photograph the last workings. 2410 & 2412 are seen here approaching Potbridge with the 09:01 Poole to Waterloo service. Upon arrival at Waterloo the units were split, and 2412 worked a staff only tour to Windsor, Twickenham & Shepperton, leaving 2410 to work the 12:05 Waterloo to Poole.

The moles have been busy in this field next to the Basingstoke to Woking line at Potbridge, as 450088 passes with the 10:54 Basingstoke to Waterloo South West Trains service on 3 February 2007. While taking more conventional pictures from the bridge, I noticed that a four coach train on the slow line would just fit in this gap viewed from a little way down the road. A lesson could be learnt by a number of other privatised railway companies from the external appearance of the South West Trains fleet, virtually without exception all the units seen on this day were in pristine clean condition.

While at Potbridge on 5 December 2007, I investigated the field near the bridge to see if it offered a more shadow free view of the slow lines than from the bridge. It certainly does, but the high voltage wires don't exactly add to the picture! 450127 & 450117 head west with the 11:12 Waterloo to Basingstoke South West Trains service.