Royal Oak Junction: A BR InterCity 125 Bristol - Paddington service approaching its destination in 1982, seen from the platform of Royal Oak Metropolitan Line station. In the background one of the Western Region Express Parcels units is held under Lord Hill's Bridge awaiting clearance into Paddington parcels depot. See image [[36915]]

Paddington: An unidentified class 47 accelerates out of Paddington in January 1982 with a South Wales train.

Ipswich Lower Yard: A Ruston & Hornsby 48DS sits abandoned and rusty in a disused siding alongside the former Ipswich Princes Street maltings of R & W Paul Ltd in January 1983. Judging by its very poor condition, the loco had been idle for many years, probably since the maltings closed in the 1970s. The distant building to the right of the buffer beam is Ipswich station.

Cambus Junction: 26037 arrives at Cambus Junction with a train of molasses tanks for Mestrie on 22 January 1991. See image [[36159]]

Menstrie and Glenochil: 26037 arrives at its destination at Menstrie on 22 January 1991 with a train of molasses tanks see image [[36151]].

Stirling North Junction: Grangemouth - Aberdeen WHM containers passing Stirling North box in January 2005.

Stirling North Junction: A train for Dunblane about to pass Stirling North box in January 2005, shortly after restarting from Stirling station.

Stirling North Junction: Stirling North signal box seen looking north west from Shore Road overbridge in January 2005.

Edinburgh Waverley: View over the ticket gates at Waverley west end on Sunday morning 22 January 2006, as major works continue in the background.

Edinburgh Waverley: West end bays 15-18 cordoned off at Waverley on 22 January.

Edinburgh Waverley: Track lifting continues on a desolate looking north side at Waverley on 22 January 2006, with the crossover and platform 19 bypass line recently removed.

Edinburgh Waverley: Looking along Waverley platforms 14 & 15 towards The Mound central tunnel on 22 January 2007. New catenary is now in place and work is well advanced on the refurbishment of the platform canopies.

Ashton Gate: Freightliner 66585 drifts through the former Ashton Gate station on the Portbury branch heading in the direction of Bristol Temple Meads with a trainload of imported coal on 22 January 2009. The Clifton Suspension Bridge can be seen spanning the Avon Gorge in the background.

Ashton Gate: A fully loaded coal train from Portbury import terminal heads east towards Bristol through the platforms of the former Ashton Gate station on 22 January 2009, hauled by Freightliner locomotive 66585.

Bare Lane: The Heysham Boat train has just picked up the ground frame keys at Bare Lane signal box so that it can access the Heysham Port Branch at Morecambe. The December timetable change with a through train from Leeds has seen class 144 DMUs, like 144002 here, at Heysham for the first time but this necessitated Barrow drivers being trained on this type of traction. 153332, in the other platform, is heading for Lancaster on a service from Morecambe.

Brundall: We get poor sunsets in the East but spectacular sunrises. Scene at Brundall, Norfolk, in January 2009.

Newport Pagnell: The Milton Keynes Railway Walk isn't as bad as it sounds; it is tarmacked and street lit, and follows the former branch from Wolverton to Newport Pagnell; which was closed while MK was in the planning stages. A shame - they could have had a very neat self-contained light railway operation. Newport Pagnell's former distant signal post stands aloof, some 46 years after closure; the cleared station site is behind the camera.

Kempston Hardwick: Sleeper spotting for dummies. As a matter of record, the wooden sleepers heading East are interrupted by concrete sleepers across the level crossing.

Newport Pagnell: The Newport Pagnell Railway Company succeeded in building a branch to their town from Wolverton, but failed to connect it to Olney on the Bedford to Northampton line. Various earthworks, abandoned in 1871, offer mute testimony to this failed extension scheme. This view looks South-West towards the site of Newport Pagnell station see image [[27539]] on Bury Field Common.

Sandy: Flowers are a bit labour intensive these days, but white bricks came in handy at Sandy. The EMU rushing past in the foreground is London-bound.

Sandy: The observant will see that there was a track behind the up platform. The knowledgeable will know that this was the LNWR line to Cambridge, which crossed the GNR on a flyover to the North of the station (behind the camera see image [[33417]]). Even the East-West Consortium have given up on rebuilding this section, due to a combination of development and NIMBY problems.

Kempston Hardwick: The 2.35 to Bedford had little custom. This station is on a 3.5 mile straight, but speeds are still slow, due to frequent level crossings and halts. As the brickworks here has closed, most passengers work on industrial estates in Kempston. Most would probably prefer this station to be replaced by one nearer the former Kempston and Elstow halt, which could also serve the extensive modern housing estates in Kempston.

Kempston Hardwick: These sadly decayed gates on the South side of the level crossing once controlled access to the private sidings at Eastwood's Brickworks, which are now demolished. The left gate still has a padlock - finding the keyholder would be an interesting challenge. You might find he has a Clint in his eye...

King Edward: With the original porch at King Edward station now revealed, the booking office door, location of the station clock and ticket window are now visible. See image [[32456]]

Leyland: 67008 heads south through Leyland with the 1Z61 Preston - London Kings Cross UK Railtours charter on 22 January 2011 in less than ideal lighting with more than a hint of fog in the area.

Inverkeithing South Junction: 170 477 embarks on the climb form Inverkeithing station to the Forth Bridge with a Fife local on 22 January.  The rear of the train is clearing the points at Inverkeithing South, the junction for the Rosyth Dockyard Branch.  I wouldn't like to calculate what fraction of the time the points are set for the branch, but I can at least predict that the points motor is unlikely to wear out.

Banff: Site of the throat of the former yard at Banff looking west in January 2011.

Dalgety Bay: The 4' 6' gauge Fordell Waggonway had been in operation for about 150 years when it was crossed by the Fife section of the Forth Bridge Line in 1890, and it was to survive until 1946.  Seen here on 22 January is the spot where the waggonway was bridged: not terribly obvious on this side, but it's clear that there's more to see from the northern side which is unfortunately inaccessible.  The seemingly pointless short fence is another clue. Local farmers have allowed the waggonway's embankment north of here to survive unscathed. 

Edinburgh Waverley: The novelty of 334s in Edinburgh will soon wear off, but for now the livery and the strident digital ping of the door warning are things of the west. 334 036 at Platform 10 will form the 1321 to Helensburgh Central.  For now there are enough sets on a Saturday (as here) to provide a half-hourly service.  The cascade following the gradual introduction of problematic 380s means that (when last I heard) the full 4 trains an hour Monday to Saturday service will not start until the May timetable change at the earliest. 

Oykel Viaduct: 158709 crossing the Oykel viaduct over the Kyle of Sutherland on 22 January 2011. The train is approaching Invershin station which can be seen in the background. Having left Inverness at 13.59 the two car unit is scheduled to reach Wick at 18.16.

Donibristle Siding: The post in the left centre of this photograph, taken on 22 January 2011, once supported a level crossing gate and is one of the few remains of the obscure East Ness Jetty branch. This left the main line (position obligingly indicated by a passing 170) in the middle distance then crossed the A92 (now A921) behind Donibristle Halt on the main line. It ran through the Royal Naval Air Station at Donibristle and over the Fordell Waggonway. It was used for transporting seaplanes to the East Ness Jetty at Inverkeithing. See image [[32608]]

King Edward: The wooden station building at King Edward (1860 - 1951) still survives in 2011, although it is not being looked after at present - so who knows for how much longer. Extensions added to the building in the 1970s have since been removed, revealing the original facade of the porch. See image [[32462]]

King Edward: Interior of the wooden station building at King Edward on 22 January 2011. The owner kindly let me grab this shot through a window which shows the original 1872 chimney and fireplace still in situ. See image [[32456.]]

Newcraighall: Boarding a train at Newcraighall on Saturday 22 January 2011. This was the photographer's first journey over this part of the Waverley Route since 5 January 1969!

Dalmeny: 170 470 heads for Haymarket out of Dalmeny up loop where it had reversed after arriving as the 12.44 class 5 (empty stock) working from Linlithgow, on 22 January 2012. The top of the Forth Bridge can be seen above the trees.

Helsinki: Helsinki tram Valmet Nr with inserted low-floor section at Etelaesplanadi on 22 January 2012.

Noel Park and Wood Green: Westbury Avenue bridge between the former stations of West Green and Noel Park on the old Palace Gates branch in north London, closed to passengers in 1963 and to freight in 1964, looking towards Palace Gates on 28th January 2012 and one of the few memorials to this long lost line. The road and path below the bridge, which now gives access to a housing estate called The Sandlings and which occupies the site of the line near Noel Park, has been raised slightly from the level of the original track. The vast and ugly Wood Green shopping city, indistinguishable from all the other ghastly shopping cities up and down the UK, now stands where Noel Park station, full name Noel Park & Wood Green, once stood, making it impossible to believe there was once a railway and station there.

Melling: Unlike the other closed stations between Carnforth and Wennington, Melling is rather inaccesible but in winter it can just be seen from the A683 that passes under the line in the village. The station building is to the same design as nearby Arkholme and Borwick stations and, sixty years after closure in 1952, is still in residential use.

West Harrow: The halt-like buildings to the south side platform at West Harrow station, on the LUL Metropolitan Line's Uxbridge branch, on a snowy 22nd January 2013. At this time, this entrance had no mechanical rottweilers (oops! sorry, I meant automatic ticket gates) so passengers were able to enter and exit without having their tickets checked. It is a long time since I've been to West Harrow so I am not sure if this is still the case. There is a new modern entrance on the north side that does have the barriers. The Harrow & Uxbridge Railway, an offshoot of the Metropolitan, was opened on 4th July 1904 but West Harrow station was not opened until 17th November 1913. So 10 months short of its centenary in this photo.

West Hampstead: 378211 with a London Overground service to Stratford arriving at West Hampstead station, on the snowy afternoon of 22nd January 2013. This station on the Hampstead Junction Railway of 1860 was opened in 1888 as West End Lane and renamed in 1975 in conjunction with the nearby Thameslink and LUL Jubilee Line stations though, at that time, the LUL station was part of the Bakerloo Line. The three stations are entirely separate but all remarkably close together on West End Lane within a few paces walking distance of each other.

Bare Lane: Another piece of railway history gone. The signal box at Bare Lane was demolished in January 2014, over twelve months after closure. Trains for Heysham no longer stop to collect a staff and 37038 and 37611 take two flasks past the site of the box without stopping on 22 January 2014. See image [[37896]] for the same location in 2012.

Didcot Parkway: Freightliner 66527 with a ballast train, runs through Didcot station on 22 January 2015. Ultimate destination is the virtual quarry at Hinksey, just south of Oxford.

Didcot Parkway: West Coast 37706 eastbound light engine through Didcot on 22 January 2015 heading for Southall.

Didcot Parkway: Freightliner 66516 about to passing through Didcot station from the Bristol direction with a container train on 22 January 2015. Note the recent changes to the Oxfordshire skyline see image [[44038]].

Dalgarven Signal Box: Name board from Dalgarven Signal Box (1889-1968) preserved by Dalgarven Mill after being rescued from the river where it was dumped in the rubble following a fire. This box, between Dalry Junction and Kilwinning, was to the north of the River Garnock Viaduct.

Paddington: GWR Paddington - Plymouth Pullman Dining Car Service, 2016.

Dalgety Bay: Freightliner 66551 nears Dalgety Bay with a Millerhill - Montrose ballast on 22 January. (The same loco as in John's Millerhill photograph on the same day see image [[57856]]).

Craigentinny Depot: Fife Circle loco-hauled carriages at Craigentinny - presumably to visit the lathe for tyre-turning.

Craigentinny Depot: 'Robin of Templecombe' at Craigentinny.

Newcraighall South Junction: Running through Newcraighall South Junction onto the single line section on 22 January 2017 is the rainsoaked ScotRail 0945 Tweedbank - Edinburgh Waverley. The train is slowing for its next stop at Newcraighall station, located on the other side of the bridge carrying Whitehill Road. Running along the top left of the picture, just beyond the tree line, is the road that now links the Biogen anaerobic digestion facility, opened last year, with Whitehill Road. See image [[51265]]

Millerhill Yard Junction: Sunday morning activity at Millerhill on 22 January 2017 as Freightliner 66551 ambles through the yard. Works in connection with the new ScotRail EMU depot are underway in the background, with the former diesel locomotive servicing facilities having recently been removed.

Galashiels: Edinburgh bound service draws to a halt at Galashiels, which was looking smart and busy.

Tweedbank: Here is a photo of the new cafe and toilets facilities that open on the 23rd at Tweedbank Station.

Croston: Rerailing complete, moving the old jointed rail out of the way is taking place at Croston on the afternoon of 22 January 2017. It is understood that around 2Km was replaced in total which should make the journey by Pacer a little more comfortable.

Stow: STOWlag luft surely? The somewhat severe fencing at the south end of the northbound platform of Stow station.

Tweedbank: Tweedbank plaque, the story in stone.

Newcraighall South Junction: The 4-car 0945 Tweedbank - Edinburgh Waverley, photographed shortly after leaving Shawfair on 22 January 2017 in light rain. The train is passing the Biogen anaerobic digestion facility at Millerhill heading for its next stop at Newcraighall. At this point the train has covered around half of the one mile distance between the two stations.

Kirkham and Wesham: With one week to go the footbridge is now installed at Kirkham and the new third platform is being surfaced. See image [[62548]] taken less than a week earlier. No doubt the new lifts will be a later addition to the facilities. As from Monday 29th January there will be an hourly service between Preston and Blackpool South calling here with full resumption of services in time for Easter 2018.

Oxheys: DBS 90018 and 90024 work a Mossend to Daventry intermodal service towards Preston passing the Oxheys Loop on 22nd January 2018. This was once a four track line from Preston but now just two tracks suffice plus this Up Loop and the Down Loop at Barton & Broughton.

Oxheys: Colas liveried (but now GBRf owned) 47749 ran light engine from Craigentinny to the East Lancashire Railway on 22nd January 2018. The Brush Type 4 is seen here running alongside the Up Loop at Oxheys on the approach to Preston and returned north to Mossend via the WCML later that same day with empty coaching stock.

Glasgow Queen Street High Level: A Smartcard campaign poster at Glasgow Queen Street on 22nd January 2018.

Oxheys: Silver is so yesterday - unfortunately. 390010 Cumbrian Spirit, one of a growing number of all white Pendolinos, runs south alongside the Oxheys Loop near Preston with a Glasgow to Euston service on 22nd January 2018.

Kilmarnock: 73966 arrives at Kilmarnock with an 8-coach set of the new Caledonian Sleeper stock. Testing is at Brodie's.

Dundee: Although it looked inviting on this freezing January day the Customer Lounge at Dundee station maintains the tradition of the old-style waiting room when it comes to winter heating. You could have kept milk fresh on top of the radiators.

Edinburgh Waverley: 365519 at platform 15 at Waverley, with the 10.20 to Dunblane on 22nd January 2019. 385007 is alongside.

Drem: Azuma 800112 passes Drem loops with a test run from Newcastle to Edinburgh.

Bay Horse: Class 37s have become rare birds on the WCML but 37038 ran light from Crewe to Sellafield and back (Route learning?) on 22nd January 2019. The Type 3 is seen in the cutting at Forton near Bay Horse on the return run. By coincidence I had photographed 37038 five years earlier (to the day) taking flasks to Heysham See image [[46050]].

Glasgow Queen Street High Level: A late afternoon view over Queen Street station on 22nd January 2019, with just one class 385 train at platform 4 in view. The steelwork of the west truss of the new station frontage can be seen just above the cab of the single decker bus crossing Cathedral Street bridge.

Balmossie: Balmossie has not been called a Halt since 1983, but I find it difficult to call it a station. Here it is in all its glory in January 2019, seen looking west. The red and white barrier just visible on the extreme left surrounds a newly installed base for something electrified. It looks very much like its going to be a departure screen. Well, I suppose if you are waiting on the one train a day the information is more important to you than if there were several an hour. The bridge marks the boundary between Angus (this side) and Dundee; '5' was the distance from Dundee East.

Finsbury Park: 700010 to Peterborough, which has travelled from south London via the new Canal Tunnel at Kings Cross, calling at Finsbury Park as sleet began to fall on 22nd January 2019. An hour or so later, snow was falling heavily in north London.

Broughty Ferry: The once negligible service at Broughty Ferry has crept up over the years, but December 2018 service improvements between Dundee and Arbroath mean there are now hourly stopping trains. This is surely all good for this commuter suburb of Dundee. An Arbroath to Edinburgh service calls on 22 January 2019. Note the displaced signal box which, if it were working, would have a rather limited view of the Up line.

Bay Horse: 90047 and 90049 take a well loaded container train, from Daventry to Coatbridge, through the cutting at Forton near Bay Horse on 22nd January 2019.

Drem Junction: 380 111 takes the North Berwick line at Drem Junction with the 11.42 from Edinburgh on 22nd January 2019.

Farringdon: Entrance to Farringdon station, as rebuilt in 1923, on 22nd January 2019. This was the original city terminus of the world's first Underground, the Metropolitan Railway, opened on 10th January 1863 as Farringdon Street. At the time of its 1923 rebuilding, it was also renamed Farringdon & High Holborn (which can still be seen engraved on the wall on the right) but the suffix was dropped in 1936, which is somewhat odd as there is no actual district called Farringdon. The station is actually in the district of Clerkenwell and there have been suggestions over the years to rename it but, so far, to no avail.

Drem: GBRf 66746, in maroon livery, draws out of Drem Down loop with the North Blyth - Fort William alumina train on 22nd January 2018.

Farringdon: New entrance to Farringdon station, opposite the original, on 22nd January 2019. Passengers should have been travelling on the first section of Crossrail for at least a month by this date, however that was first put back to autumn 2019 and then put back indefinitely even further and now, in January 2022, we are STILL waiting, more than THREE YEARS LATE. Just exactly when will it open? Your guess is as good as mine.

Farringdon: 700025, with a Thameslink service to Sutton in Surrey, about to depart from Farringdon on 22nd January 2019. The LUL platforms for Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & District Line trains are at a slightly higher level on the left.

Farringdon: Farringdon station, looking north from staircase, with a train of LUL S8 stock on a Metropolitan Line service from Aldgate to Amersham calling on 22nd January 2019. The 'Widened Lines' platforms as they were called, now part of Thameslink, are at a lower level on the left.

Monifieth: December 2018 improvements to services between Dundee and Arbroath mean that calls at Monifeith have leapt from 7 a day to 28, giving it a proper service again after many years. Much more of this and they will have to ask SRPS for the building back from Birkhill. An Edinburgh to Arbroath service calls on 22 January 2019.

Drem Junction: 385123 nears Drem Junction with the 11.34 from North Berwick to Edinburgh on 22nd January 2019. The Law dominates the horizon. Fifty years after closure was proposed, the branch now sees Scotrail's newest trains!

Dundee: An Inter7City service from Glasgow to Aberdeen approaches Dundee on the morning of 22 January 2019. Meanwhile on the left the Platform 1 road is set for another HST, an LNER one for London Kings Cross. The 'F' indicates the Fife line (take my word for it that is an F - its pretty old tech and bulbs are blowing).

Drem: 385123 enters Drem station with the 14.28 from North Berwick to Edinburgh on 22nd January 2019.

Farringdon: 700010 with a Thameslink service to Peterborough, arriving at Farringdon on 22nd January 2019. This train will travel via the new Canal Tunnel linking the former Midland Main Line from St. Pancras International Low Level to the GNR north of King's Cross which opened in May 2018.

Drem: 385123 speeds through Drem with with the 13.01 from Dunbar to Edinburgh on 22nd January 2019.

Rotherham Central: Rotherham Central station, looking north, on 22nd January 2020. The first station here was only temporary, opened on 1st August 1868 and replaced by a permanent station called Rotherham Central on 1st February 1874. It closed during Beeching and Barbara Castle's disgraceful purge of the former Great Central Railway on 5th September 1966 and was demolished. Rotherham Masborough on the Midland Line remained open but this was more than half a mile from the town centre. Fortunes turned however, and trains were switched back to the old GCR route through a brand new Rotherham Central station on 11th May 1987 with Rotherham Masborough closing the following year. On 25th October 2018, Rotherham Central station became served by the UK's first Tram-Train service, hence the overhead wires, when South Yorkshire Supertram opened the Tinsley Chord at Meadowhall which connects the tramway with National Rail tracks and along which the Tram-Trains run to a new terminus at Rotherham Parkgate, calling at Rotherham Central. Two new lower platforms for the Tram-Trains were added at the south end of Central station, linked to the National Rail platforms by ramps. All very new and interesting.
See query 2235

Inverness: Harry Beck designed the iconic London Underground map and GBRf 66721 has been named in his honour with this representation of the first map on its flanks. Very striking, but not what you would expect to see at Inverness on the Euston Sleeper on 22nd January 2020.

Rotherham Central: Pacers are still in use on selected Northern routes at the start of 2020. 144012, heading to Sheffield calls at Rotherham Central station, on 22nd January 2020. The train is about to pass the new low platforms that were added for the Tram-Trains when this service opened on 25th October 2018.

Dore and Totley: Dore and Totley station, just south of Sheffield, seen from the ex-09.02 service from St. Pancras to Sheffield passing on 22nd January 2020. The conjunction is spelled out in full and not with the usual & sign.
See query 2237

Inverness: GBRf 66721 'Harry Beck' buffered up to a Class 73 prior to departing from Inverness with the sleeper to Euston on 22nd January 2020.

Rotherham Central: Brand new Sheffield Tram-Train 399 206, heading to Rotherham Parkgate, calling at Rotherham Central station on 22nd January 2020. In the background is the National Rail station which the Tram-Train will pass through once it restarts its journey. The two low platforms linked to the National Rail platforms by ramps were opened when the Tram-Train service, the first of its kind in the UK, began on 25th October 2018.

Rotherham Central: Brand new Sheffield Tram-Train 399 206, heading to Rotherham Parkgate, arriving at Rotherham Central on 22nd January 2020. After calling at the low platform here, the Tram-Train will then pass through the station's National Rail platforms.

Rotherham Parkgate [Tram]: Brand new Sheffield Tram-Train 399 201 at Parkgate, on 22nd January 2020. This terminus, opened with the new service on 25th October 2018, is shown as Rotherham Parkgate on Tram-Train destination blinds and on indicator boards at tram stops.

Castle Square [SYPTE]: Brand new Tram-Train 399 201 from Cathedral to Rotherham Parkgate approaching its first stop at Castle Square in Sheffield city centre, on 22nd January 2020. This service, the first of its kind in the UK, began on 25th October 2018 when South Yorkshire Supertram opened the Tinsley Chord which connects the tramway to the National Rail tracks and along which these new vehicles move at quite a speed to their destination, serving also Rotherham Central on the way. Rather unexpectedly, these vehicles were also seen operating on the normal Blue and Yellow Routes of the Sheffield tram network.

Sheffield: Northern Pacers continue in use in 2020, but only on specifically approved routes, or in multiple with Sprinters so there is PRM provision. 144006 to Leeds waiting to depart from Sheffield station, on the morning of 22nd January 2020.

Inverness: GB Railfreight 66721 'Harry Beck' seen at the head of the Euston Sleeper at Inverness on 22nd January 2020.

Bay Horse: The flock of starlings had witnessed the passage of several trains from the wires but the rumble of a Caterpillar diesel engine stirred them into flight. There is still a daily path from Carlisle to Crewe for these TPE push pull sets for test/training purposes but once they were in regular use between Liverpool and Scarborough it was only occasionally used. In January 2021 however several runs took place and 68026 'Enterprise' is seen propelling the train at Bay Horse, travelling at around 30mph on a temporary speed restriction. Photograph incidental to a daily permitted exercise under Corona Virus legislation.

Bay Horse: A Manchester Airport to Edinburgh TPE 397 heads across the embankment at Bay Horse on 22nd January 2021. Photograph incidental to daily permitted exercise under Corona Virus legislation.

Lostock Hall Junction: First steam of 2022. 45699 Galatea with 45627 on the smokebox door, 'Sierra Leone' nameplates on the splasshers and 45562 on the cabside travels between Farington Jct and Lostock Hall Jct whilst working the RTC 'Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express' tour from Manchester to Carlisle on a very dull morning of 22 January 2022.

The Shore [Tram]: The Shore tram stop island platform is well advanced in this view looking north on 22 January 2022. Rails are in place along Constitution Street as far as the sharp turn into Ocean Drive.

St Margarets Shed: This 'Smokey Brae' street name commemorates the 64A St Margarets steam shed. See image [[31386]] for the story behind this.

Ocean Terminal [Tram]: Track installation on Ocean Drive, adjacent to Victoria Dock, on 22nd January 2022. Beyond is the mouth of the Water of Leith.