The beautifully restored Cheltenham Racecourse station building is picture here on 3 May 2004. This marks the southern limit of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, although the trackbed carries on towards Cheltenham through Hunting Butts Tunnel. The platforms are in a deep tree lined cutting, with this building at road level at the top of the cutting. The building is a rare survival of what is effectively a Great Western Railway prefabricated design. Even a Portakabin looked so much better in Victorian times!

Time was when most railway companies identified their major civil engineering structures with cast iron number plates, rather than just painted numbers. Some still survive, although the railwayana market ensures that a lot go missing (legitimately or otherwise!). Bridge 1613 at Eccles Heath (near Attleborough) has a modern replacement cast plate in the old style (with mileage). Pictured on 27 November 2006.

Goole station once boasted an impressive red brick station building, which along with many other medium sized stations across the country became increasingly ill suited to the traffic requirements from the 1960s onwards. It is pictured here on 1 January 2000 from the car park, with various windows boarded up and signs of neglect. It was not to last much longer, being demolished shortly afterwards and replaced with a reasonably stylish modern replacement.

Heyford station (between Banbury and Oxford) became an unstaffed halt in the 1960s, but for a long time retained its original Great Western Railway station building. This fine stone structure is pictured on 17 September 1983, when in private use. Note how the platform must have originally been much lower, as the door into the building is now well below the current platform level! Unlike its near neighbour, Aynho, it was not converted into a private dwelling and was replaced by a basic 'bus shelter' in 1986.

A fine show of hollyhocks at Mistley station on 26 August 1991. Situated not far from the River Stour, it is the first station on the Manningtree to Harwich line. The Eastern Union Railway 1854 built Italianate station building is no longer used by the railway, and has been considerably smartened up since this picture was taken. The distinctive chimney still dominates the scene.

Along with most other Victorian railway companies, the Great Western Railway was very keen to mark out the exact boundary of its property. It installed numerous cast iron boundary posts along the borders of its domain, and amazingly a vast number still survive. This 1881 example is pictured amid the Lesser Celandines at Rousham on 18 April 2010. Obviously painted white at some time, just a few flakes of paint now remain.

The universally recognised BR 'double arrow' logo was one of the products of the 1964 rebranding programme, and even in this era of privatisation has come to represent the national network. It was once used on everything from the humblest item of literature right up to rolling stock and of course, station signage. Here is the sign for my local station at Shipton, looking almost brand new (perhaps it was) on 25 July 1993. It has since suffered the ravages of time and neglect.