08937 engages in a spot of shunting at Plymouth station on 4 July 1979. This loco still resides in the West Country, now being preserved at the fledgling Dartmoor Railway, part of the former LSWR line from Crediton to Meldon Quarry.

20022 rounds the curve past the civil engineer's sidings at Ashton Gate on 30 June 1985 with the F&W Railtours 1Z60 'Severncider 2' railtour. The disused platform of Aston Gate station is in the foreground. The station closed in 1964, but was briefly reopened several times afterwards, the last time being the year before this photo was taken, when it was used by special trains run in connection with evangelist Billy Graham's visit to Bristol.

20022 arrives at Tyherington Quarry on 30 June 1985 with the F&W Railtours 1Z60 'Severncider 2' railtour. This tour also visited Wapping Wharf, Severn Beach, Tidenham, Gloucester Docks and Sharpness. A truly memorable day!

A brief burst of sunshine, on an otherwise dull day. 20115 stands at Gloucester Docks on 30 June 1985 with the F&W Railtours 1Z60 'Severncider 2' railtour. The vehicle on the left gives a clue as to what this location was last used for. No trace of the railway exists at this location today.

This is definitely something out of the ordinary! 25133 has a Class 104 DMU in tow, as it pulls out of Colwyn Bay station on 5 April 1977 with an eastbound parcels train. If this had been a Kodachrome slide, the identification of the unit may have been possible, but this is Agfa, so no such luck!

A very dull day at Chester on 23 July 1977, as 25133 pulls way from the station with the 1D17 13:05 Llandudno to Nottingham service. I would imagine this was making a considerable racket, as the load is at least eight vehicles, and probably more.

25162 passes through Bangor station on 25 July 1977 with a short freight., including chemical tanks from Amlwch. This is shortly after the display of headcodes on locomotives was abandoned, with characters wound to 0000, as here.

25207 emerges from the short tunnel under Wesley Street and Higher Fore Street, Redruth, and passes through the station with a train of grampus wagons on 26 July 1978. 25207 was a Western Region allocated loco for a couple of years from March 1978, when it arrived at Laira from Longsight, Manchester.

A surprising, and very welcome traction combination approach Abbotswood on 8 June 1984. The 1E21 14:20 Plymouth to York parcels was often worked by a 'Peak', but other motive power also turned up, including Class 50s, 47s & 31s, but this combination of 25275 & 31239 is definitely noteworthy.

Class 27 5409 is pictured at Glasgow Queen Street station on 24 June 1973. Later that year the loco was allocated the number 27116 under the TOPS renumbering programme, but it never received it, being numbered 27210 instead in mid 1974. In 1984 is was renumbered again, to 27064.

31136 passes the red sandstone cliffs at Dawlish on 2 July 1979 with a westbound local service. It doesn't look like this loco has been cleaned for a very long time, and the blue livery is well hidden under a layer of grime.

A vanished world. Surrounded by Victorian tenements, 31222 shunts parcels vans at Kings Cross on 6 August 1978. Even as late as the 1970s parcels traffic was still big business for BR, and especially at night, the London termini would be busy with mail trains being loaded at the platforms, as well as at the dedicated parcels facilities seen here.

31256 & 31273 pass through Dawlish Warren station on 2 July 1979 with a short engineer's train. 31256 was converted to an ETH loco in 1984, but 31273 ended its days as a 31/1. Note the wooden building, still in Great Western Railways colours, and the multitude of semaphore signals.

37142 rounds the curve at the site of Devonport Junction on 22 February 1979 with a short engineer's train. The gull flying on the left indicates that the sea is not far away! 37142 now resides a little further to the west - at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway.

A superb view of 37154, as it passes Abbotswood on 8 May 1985 with the 9B70 16:30 Worcester to Gloucester freight. Note how open the viewpoint is, with a clear view all the way to the cluster of buildings and tall chimney near Norton.

The 1E31 16:03 Bristol Temple Meads to Newcastle HST failed on 14 April 1984, and required the assistance of 37187. With the fearsome Lickey Incline a few miles ahead of it, 37187 is pictured passing Spetchley. The 37 worked the train between Gloucester and Sheffield.

37215 runs alongside the muddy banks of the River Avon, as it traverses the Wapping Wharf branch on 30 June 1985 with the F&W Railtours 1Z60 'Severncider 2' railtour. This branch formerly gave access to the once extensive Bristol Docks complex.

Passing a superb collection of semaphore signals (including two fixed distants), 37230 arrives at Worcester Shrub Hill station from the Hereford direction on 12 March 1985 with a loaded train of Dogfish and Sealion ballast hoppers.

37244 & 37289 arrive at Westbury on 1 August 1978 with Foster Yeoman stone empties. Despite looking antiquated now, the PGA wagons were relatively modern then, especially compared to the vacuum braked hoppers which were then still in use, a rake of which can be seen stabled behind the locomotives.

Just a few years old, and well over three decades away from when it became a celebrity member of the fleet, 43002 passes Laira on 8 September 1980 with a London bound train. 47343 waits on the left with a train of china clay wagons.

A contrast in passenger services at Exeter St Davids on 27 July 1984. 43191 brings up the rear of the 06:25 Penzance to Paddington InterCity service, as it leaves the station, while the much more humble 08:20 Barnstaple to Exeter DMU approaches underneath the magnificent signal gantry. The DMU is Class 118 set P460 (51317, 59469 & 51302).

A brief glimpse of sunshine against a stormy sky as 46025 crosses Moorswater Viaduct on 28 July 1978 with a westbound working. Note the piers of the original viaduct both on the left and the right. The centre piers were demolished at the time of the second viaduct's construction (1881).

46028 passes through Teignmouth station on 2 July 1979 with an up train. There are a succession of bridges crossing the line here, with the station itself crossed by two.  46028 was withdrawn in spectacular fashion in 1984, when it caught fire while assisting a HST at Plymouth!

A perfectly timed picture, taken from a train on the Great Western Mainline near Sonning on 12 September 1973. D1068 Western Reliance plods along the up relief line with vacuumed braked mixed freight train 7E36, while a Class 117 DMU bound for Paddington approaches in the distance. This location is just after the famous Sonning cutting, and on the approach to Reading, which at this time was dominated by the large gas holder, which was situated between where the former GWR and Southern lines approached each other, as they neared Reading station.