66007 at Leaton 66007 passes Leaton, just north of Shrewsbury, with the afternoon Dee Marsh - Llanwern, seen here at 16:31 on Saturday 7th October 2006. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66037 at Bescot This train was waiting at the signal on the up main when I arrived back at Bescot after a quick shopping trip to Walsall on Saturday 23rd September 2006. As the sun was out I hung on for a few minutes to photograph it when it was eventually allowed into the Down Yard at 13:13. 66037 was working 6M13, a Portbury - Rugeley coal train diverted via Hereford and Shrewsbury due to engineering work on the Gloucester route. Easily the best shot available from a public place at Bescot, this spot suffers from a severe lack of trains. Even when WCML traffic is routed this way on Saturdays there are next to no freight trains at the right time of day. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66055 at Pleck Jct 66055 rolls past Walsall cement terminal as it approaches Pleck Jct with the 6G22 Washwood Heath RMC - Bescot trip. This picture was taken at 17:27 on Friday 9th June 2006. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66127 passing Whittlesea 66127 passes Whittlesea with the 6L39 Mountsorrel - Trowse stone train. This shot was taken at 12:19 on Friday 8th September 2006, and it wasn't the photo I was after. What I really wanted was 47703 on the Oxley - Norwich ECS which passed at 12:27, making serious clag, but with the sun behind a cloud (and back out at 12:28). This was a frustrating day with regards to the weather. In a climate like Britain's I can forgive the forecasters for getting the forecast wrong, but driving around the Fens at 10:30 under near complete cloud cover is seriously annoying when the weatherman on the radio is telling you how wonderfully sunny it is all over England right now. By noon the cloud had begun to break, and I thought it was going to be OK for the ECS - but no such luck. It was a close call with 6L39 too, the 10:57 Norwich - Liverpool only just got out of the way in time. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66157 at Whitacre Jct 66157 hauls a uniform rake of SPAs loaded with steel wire around the curves on the approach to Whitacre Jct. This pic was taken at 11:27 on Friday 6th April 2007, and I presume the train is 6Z58 Cardiff - Rotherham which had been a regular runner at this time. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66168 at Whitacre Jct 66168 negotiates Whitacre Jct with what I suspect is a Bescot - Mountsorrel train. This was taken at 10:03 on Friday 2nd March 2007. For those not familiar with the location the church-like building in the background is Severn Trent's Whitacre Water Works. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66185 passing Elford This shot was from a test session with a new 24-105L lens on Thursday 9th November 2006. The best of the batch was this one of 66185 hauling southbound coal empties past Elford at 14.20. In no small part the result was down to some lovely autumn sunshine set off by a background of dark clouds. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66219 at Whitacre Jct 66219 winds around the reverse curves at Whitacre Jct in this picture taken at 12:24 on Saturday 11th February 2006. The distinctive red "Petroplus" tanks are used on the Port Clarence - Bedworth circuit, and these are empties from Bedworth I believe. The train had been to Hams Hall to run-round, this no longer being possible at Nuneaton. The route indicator on SY304 shows "D" (Down) for the main line to Water Orton, and "H" for trains going into Hams Hall. I was actually at Whitacre for 47145 on a Hams Hall - Peterborough special, and fell on the tanks by chance. In the end they made a better picture than the flat wagons behind the 47, particularly in the less-than-ideal light. Original image taken with EOS-300D
66409 at Elford Freightliner hired two locos from DRS during 2006, at the time this picture was taken they had 66407 and 66409. The latter is seen passing Elford at 17:08 on Friday 14th April with the 6M51 Hull - Rugeley coal, a train it had also worked on Tuesday 11th April. Original image taken with EOS-300D
66414 at Rugeley Trent Valley This shot shows 66414 passing Rugeley Trent Valley with 4M44 Mossend - Daventry. It was taken at 15:12 on Thursday 5th April 2007. The signal on the down fast is at red because the road was set off the branch for the 14:12 New St - Stafford. Meantime the green on the slow was for a northbound liner. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66504 at Hamstead 66504 heads a southbound liner through Hamstead at 11:26 on Saturday 19th February 2005. On the down line 170515 forming 2H44, the 11:12 New St - Rugeley has just got out of the way in time. Saturday morning is traditionally the best time for freight trains on this stretch of line, as long as there is a Trent Valley diversion is in progress. On this particular day the period from 10:30 until 13:20 produced the following northbound freights: 60072 (engineers train); 92031 (intermodal); 86501 (liner) and 57001 (liner). Southbound trains were headed by: 66169 (intermodal) and 66504 (liner). Unfortunately the autumn 2005 diversion has seen fewer southbound freights running on Saturday mornings, and tree growth now throws shadows onto the line during autumn and winter. Original image taken with EOS-300D Map
66513 at Wylde Green Something of a lucky shot this. I'd gone out to this spot in Wylde Green (on the Sutton Park line) for 67018 hauling 507001 as 5X61 Birkenhead - Eastleigh. The weather consisted of dark cloud with small, but usable, patches of blue sky. One of those days when you'll be lucky to get a moving target in the sun, but if you do it'll probably have a lovely dark-sky backdrop. The sun was behind a cloud when 5X61 arrived, but while I was waiting 66513 came past with the colourful Jarvis engineers train, probably en-route to its base at Washwood Heath. The sun just peeked out as it passed, which was at 16:18 on Monday 30th August 2004. Original image taken with EOS-300D Map
66522 at Leamore (Bloxwich) 66522 climbs past Leamore (Bloxwich) with the 6M49 Hull - Rugeley coal train. The time is 16:13, and the date is Thursday 5th April 2007, and the hybrid "Shanks" livery carried by the loco is a mess. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66555 at March 66555 re-starts the 6M14 Harlow - Bardon Hill stone empties out of the loop at March. This shot was taken at 15:19 on Friday 8th September 2006. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66614 at Elford 66614 passes Elford with the 6M00 Humber - Kingsbury tanks. This shot was taken at 15:51 on Friday 14th April 2006, the same afternoon as the shot of 66409 above. Original image taken with EOS-300D
66615 at Ryecroft 66615 winds across Ryecroft Jct with a Rugeley-bound coal train at 08:42 on Tuesday 25th July 2006. This path is often used by 6M53 from Immingham, but I'm not sure whether that was the case on this occasion. The shot was taken from the apex of the junction, a spot once occupied by the engine shed, but which is now a small wood. It's a rarely used angle, but accessible to the public from Mill Lane or Coalpool Lane. Despite the weather there are some surprising wet spots in the wood, so take care if you venture that way. However the fence adjacent to the Bloxwich line is of modest height and not spiked, so the picture is not hard to take once you've scrambled through the undergrowth. It was no surprise when I disturbed a fox, they're quite common in this area and often seen on the railway lines in my experience. Incidentally I've cloned out a lamp post which was growing out of the loco roof (in the exhaust haze). Original image taken with EOS-350D
66620 at Bagworth 66620 passes Bagworth at 16:24 on Wednesday 19th July 2006. The train is, I think, 6M54 Thorney Mill - Bardon Hill stone empties. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66708 at March South Jct 66708 departs from the up loop at March South Jct with a short engineer's service from Whitemoor Yard. The picture was taken at 16:10 on Friday 8th September 2006, but I've no idea where the train was bound (I suspect it was a "Z"). This is another grab shot of sorts, I was at March East when 66708 crept out of Whitemoor Yard and slipped into the loop to allow a unit to pass. I'd originally tried to make a dash to Manea for it, but the tea-time traffic was so heavy, and my knowledge of the locality so poor, that I ended up at March South by accident. Original image taken with EOS-350D
66712 near Water Orton This shot was taken at 11.54 on Saturday 4th November 2006, and shows 66712 passing underneath the M42 with 4M21 Felixstowe - Hams Hall. In the week this train runs up the WCML via Nuneaton, but when that route is unavailable on Saturdays it usually runs via Reading, Banbury and Birmingham. Original image taken with EOS-350D