Class 24-27 locomotives

• D5054 and D0226 stand outside Haworth shed on Saturday 18th June 2005. It's the Class 24 that I was really interested in here, although the plain green livery isn't my favourite.
• 24081 passes Hailes with the 09:00 Winchcombe - Toddington ECS. This was the first train of the day on Saturday 9th April 2005, and the time is 09:05.
• 24081 is seen near Hailes once again, this time with the 09:55 Winchcombe - Toddington freight train. This picture was taken at 10:11 on Saturday 9th April 2005, so the train was running about 10 minutes late.
• 24081 and D9539 run-round the stock of the 11:30 Toddington - Cheltenham, ready to form the 12:20 return working. This shot was taken at 12:13 on Saturday 9th April 2005. On the left is the then new Cheltenham Racecourse signalbox. It wasn't in use at this time, and there was only one-train working south of Winchcombe.
• 24081 was out again at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway autumn 2005 diesel gala. Amongst the trains it worked was the 11.30 Toddington - Cheltenham on Saturday 24th September which is seen here passing Gotherington at 12.06 - about 15 minutes late. A lovely spot, gorgeous light, and a fabulous engine - what more could you want.
• 24081 arrives at Winchcombe with the 14:22 goods train from Toddington. This shot was taken at 14:46 on Saturday 1st April 2006.
• On Saturday 26th July 2014, which was a diesel gala day, the 17:20 Toddington - Cheltenham was booked to be 5081 hauling a DMU set. Here it is at 17:02, waiting time in the platform at Toddington.
• 25001 stands on Dundee depot in this shot, which was taken on Wednesday 30th May 1979. Thanks to Jeff B for supplying the exact date.
• The Great Central Railway held a "Mail by Rail" weekend on Saturday and Sunday 28th and 29th July 2007. This involved the running of passenger, mail and freight trains, hauled by a mix of steam and diesel locos. This shot shows D5185 and D5401 clagging like good 'uns as they climb past Woodthorpe with the 16:10 Loughborough - Rothley. It was taken at 16:21 on Saturday 28th.
• D5185 departs Loughborough at 16:30 on Saturday 17th April 2010.
• 25040 leaves Bescot with a mixed freight. Date unknown but probably late 1970s. This loco didn't have train air-brakes so I assume those Cargowaggons behind the loco are probably vacuum-piped. 25038, 25039 and 25040 all moved to Bescot in May 1973. 25040 was withdrawn in November 1980, the other two were transferred away in 1980, and subsequently withdrawn in May 1981.
• This picture was taken in the spring of 1983 and shows 25080 towing 86210 off the depot at Bescot, and back under the wires. Although it was never really associated with the maintenance of electric locos Bescot TMD did do small jobs, like changing the heads on pantographs. It wasn't uncommon to see new heads arrive by passenger train, with a fitter from the depot collecting one from the guard of a Walsall-bound local.
• 25139 brings four Class 08s from Springs Branch into the upside at Bescot. The 25 subsequently ran-round its train, before departing via Bescot Curve. The shunt locos were 08265, 08472, 08615 and 08301. All were bound for Swindon Works when this photo was taken on Wednesday 28th July 1982.
• It's hard to read the on the grimy bodyside, but I'm fairly sure the loco here is 25235, arriving at Elgin with grain hoppers from the east. There was another Class 25 on the end of the oil tanks in the yard, although it's been cropped out as it misbalanced the image. This shot was taken in the early summer of 1979.
• 25244 leaves Duddeston with the return trip working to Bescot. In this 1980s shot the cement wagons will probably have come from Curzon St, and the other wagons from Duddeston Wagon Works. The two sidings in the foreground, which ended immediately to the left of the camera, constituted Duddeston Stabling Point. Here you could once find a handful of Type 2s and electric locos, mostly off Curzon St parcels trains.
• A Class 25 accelerates through Perry Barr with the 7K10 Witton - Longport stone empties in the summer of 1986. A very solid job for a Class 24/25 the ultimate destination of this train was Caldon Low quarry. This was the last vacuum-braked revenue train which ran in the West Midlands, although departmental services survived for a few years longer. In later years Witton was served from Whitwell Quarry using air-braked four-wheel box wagons, hauled by Class 56s. When that finished Witton goods yard was ripped up, and the goods loop was disconnected from the running lines. A Tesco supermarket was subsequently built on the site. This is a monochrome version of a Fujichrome slide.
• 25286 is seen stabled on Newton Heath depot. My visits here were always in pursuit of Class 08s and DMUs rather than main-line locos, but I only took pics of the locos. I don't remember ever being refused at Newton Heath.
• 25299 is parked at Bescot in this shot from summer 1980. This was one of the earlier withdrawals for a late-build Class 25 - lasting only until October 1981.
• 26007 and D5830 at Loughborough on the morning of Saturday 17th April 2010.
• The scene at Quorn, at 15:31 on Saturday 17th April 2010. 37314 had arrived roughly on time with the 15:02 from Leicester, but then stood a long time in the platform with the loco kicking out clag right under the road bridge. Meantime the 15:15 Loughborough - Rothley was running late, but when it reached half way down the long straight from Woodthorpe 37314 got the road north. Fortunately the 37 made just enough progress to get the rear of its train into the shot. My main interest was 26007 on the Rothley train. It should have been tailed by D1705 but I believe this had been failed and D5401 was used instead.
• 26008 stands at Dingwall in this shot which was taken in autumn 1986. I only have sketchy memories of this day, the 26 was standing at this spot, engine running, in the brief period that I was at Dingwall changing trains. As it didn't move there was no way to get a picture without the unfortunate shadow on the loco. Somewhere in the loft I think I still have the HA sticker which I peeled off 26008 while going round Haymarket depot on one of my first visits to Scotland in 1974. In those days depot stickers carried only the shedcode, and not the name.
• I spent the week of Sunday 31st August to Saturday 6th September 1986 on a Scottish railrover. Fortunately this co-incided with a DMU shortage which meant that many of the Fife local trains were loco-hauled (by a mixture of Class 26s and 27s). With the Dundee circuit also loco-hauled this provided lots of Type 2 haulage through Fife. I no longer have all the details for the shots I took that week, so these are captioned from memory. This Kirkcaldy - Edinburgh train is arriving at Aberdour and is hauled by 26010.
• Saturday 10th April 2010, and D5310 is both extant and operational. It also provided my first Class 26 for haulage in 24 years. There were two locos out on the Llangollen Railway on this day, the erstwhile 26010 working the diesel turn and 80072 working the steam one. This is the first of D5310's four trips, the 10:30 from Llangollen arriving at Carrog.
• After detaching from the stock the Class 26 proceeded into the headshunt to run-round its train.
• Aberdour again, as 26011 draws up with an Edinburgh - Kirkcaldy service on the morning of Saturday 6th September 1986. I vaguely remember the day that I had to return home being the sunniest of the week, and I spent the morning in Fife before getting the lunchtime train from Edinburgh to Birmingham.
• 26027 stabled on Eastfield depot in late May/early June 1979. It was an Inverness loco at this time. 20004 was something of an intruder, being an English loco in 1979.
• 26032 stands at the north end of Carlisle station with a train for Glasgow via Dumfries. This picture was taken in the early 1980s, and the loco is steam-heating a dual-heat rake of London Midland region stock. The only other thing I can remember about this picture is that I was on a London Midland region railrover, and had travelled to Carlisle from Euston. 26032 was still an Inverness loco at this time, and is fitted with headlights for use on the highland lines.
• 26036 was just one of the many exhibits at the 1990 Bescot Open Day, and (unsurprisingly) is the only Class 26 I've ever seen there in over forty years of regular visits. Sunday 5th May was graced by glorious weather, for what was a brilliantly organised event encompassing all of the yards on the up side plus the depot itself. The full list of exhibits: 08466 08601 08603 08920 08928 20108+20215 D5054/24054 D7672/25322 26036 D5410/27059 31110 31145 31160 31409 31423 31568 33207 D7076 37906 D100/45060 47238 47333 47474 47566 47901 50019 50020 D1013 D9016/55016 56062 58004 58015 58042 59005 73004 85008 85110 86243 90038 and 91013. And there were a bunch of DMUs too. Quite a list, covering virtually every class in traffic at the time and several long gone.
• Tuesday 29th May 1979 saw 26037 is stabled on the fuelling pad at Inverness depot. The loco visible in the background is 26045, which wasn't well. The roof panels had been removed and there were components dumped on the roof itself. Thanks to Jeff B for supplying the exact date. 
• 5343 arrives at Toddington with the 16:50 from Cheltenham. This shot was taken at 17:42 on Saturday 26th July 2014, during a diesel gala weekend at the Glos & Warks Railway.
• D5343 passes Southam Lane with a Toddington - Cheltenham train, photographed at 09:14 on Saturday 30th July 2016.
• I'm fairly sure that the loco here is 26046. The location is Kirkcaldy and the date is some time during the week Monday 1st to Friday 5th September 1986. The loco is bring its train from the sidings on the down side into the up platform where it will form a local service to Edinburgh. A turnover loco was used for these trains, the incoming service from Edinburgh would run into the down loop and another loco would drop on the back and work the return train. The incoming loco would then stable in the sidings behind the down platform before dropping on the back of the next service.
• Another shot from the morning of Saturday 6th September 1986 (see 26011 above). This is definitely 26046, seen at Burntisland with a Kirkcaldy - Edinburgh local. The original slide is rather badly framed, and has been significantly cropped and rotated here. Probably caused by tiredness on my part, the previous night having been an overnight at Carlisle if I remember correctly. That's my excuse anyway.
• 27038 stands in the centre road at Carlisle, waiting to take forward a train bound for the G&SW route via Dumfries. This shot was taken in early September 1986, and is a Fujichrome slide converted to black-and-white.
• Burntisland again, this time with 27049 on a Dundee - Edinburgh train. Note that two of the four bodyside windows on this loco have been plated over. The line branching off in the foreground led to the harbour.
• 27050 runs into the island platform at Leuchars with a Dundee - Edinburgh local train. This shot was taken during the first week of September 1986. I'd probably have made a leap for this train after photographing its arrival at Leuchars. The tanks in the siding probably convey aviation fuel for the nearby airbase.
• Late August/early September 1986, and 27052 stands in the bay at Dundee with a train for Edinburgh. A member of the train crew, the guard I think, walks towards the front of the train.
• 27052 slows on the approach to Leuchars with an Edinburgh - Dundee service. This was taken in late August/early September 1986. I'd been listening to military jets in the adjacent airfield while waiting for this train to appear, although they weren't visible from my position. When one eventually took off, right over my head, it surprised me so much I instinctively ducked.
• 27053 makes a brisk departure from Kirkcaldy with what I think is a Dundee train (rather than an Edinburgh - Kirkcaldy stopper). This picture was taken in early September 1986, at which point the loco was less than a year away from withdrawal. It was taken out of traffic in May 1987, and subsequently broken up by Vic Berry in Leicester.
• D5401 and D5185 double-head the Great Central Railway's mineral wagon set through Woodthorpe at 17:20 on Saturday 28th July 2007.
• D5401 and 26007 head away from Loughborough with a late-running 15:55 departure for Rothley. This shot was taken at 16:14 on Saturday 17th April 2010.
• I'm fairly sure the loco here is 27066, seen leaving Stirling with the Menstrie - Mossend Speedlink in early September 1986. The small yellow tanks conveyed molasses. Twenty years later I can't remember much about this particular afternoon, but I think I was waiting for a train north. The 27 was shunting near the station, and I had time for a walk to the first overbridge to the south which enabled me to get this shot. The only other thing I remember about this occasion was that I bought the NME from the station bookstall, which could mean this was Wednesday 3rd September (the NME came out on a Wednesday if I recall correctly). It's odd, the little details that you can remember after such an interval.