If it wasn't for the yellow front end, you would almost think that this was a monochrome photograph, such is the drabness of the surroundings and the weather! 304012 heads north at Slade Heath on 10 March 1984 with the 09:35 Birmingham New Street to Stafford local service. Although I prefer to take pictures in full sunshine, I believe it is important to take a few in less than ideal conditions to give a sense of variety. In any case, I have very few pictures of Class 304s and as they were all withdrawn by 1996 and scrapped by 2000, I am not likely to get any more!

The Class 309 'Clacton' units spent most of their life in Essex, hence their nickname, but at the end of the class's career some of the units moved north and ended their days working for Regional Railways North West. On 10 June 1994, shortly after their relocation, 309624 arrives at Holme Chapel with the 17:16 Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe service. The Network SouthEast livery is hardly appropriate for the Manchester area, and even though the units only had a limited life left, they were soon repainted into more fitting colours.

312793 arrives at Wrabness with the 10:13 Manningtree to Harwich Town Network SouthEast service on 26 August 1991. This class of EMU was introduced in 1975 and was the last to be built with slam doors and consequently they were replaced by more modern units before their intended design life was up. The entire class (49 units) was withdrawn by 2003 and virtually all vehicles were scrapped the following year.

321425 arrives at Hemel Hempstead with the 12:49 Northampton to Euston Network SouthEast service on 2 September 1990. Then only a few months old, the 321s were introduced on these outer suburban services to replace the older Class 310 & 317 units. The P suffix to the number at this end of the unit indicates that this DTSO vehicle contains a small parcels area that can be locked off by an internal sliding door. The DTCO vehicle at the other end of the unit does not have this feature.

365509 & 365520 pass Langford with the 09:15 Peterborough to Kings Cross First Capital Connect service on 12 May 2008. next stop Stevenage. This seems to be a very strange variation of the First corporate livery, with small blurred coloured lines as part of the design. The 'smiley face' front end design originates from when the class was fitted with cab air conditioning.