As regular visitors might be aware, I regularly revise images and publish the updated version. This is because my processing skills are improving all the time and I think that the best-possible images should be available.

I've recently been reprocessing some of my digital images, especially the older ones and I'm going to put them in here for a couple of weeks before transferring them to the relevant collection.

Apologies to anyone who left comments about any of the original versions. Your comments are much appreciated and no less valued because they've now disappeared.

So in the absence of anything new...................

August was almost a write-off weatherwise. Luckily September was a bit better.

I spent a very enjoyable day at the ELR Diesel Gala on Sunday, 5th July. Amazingly, the sun stayed out most of the time and it was great to see the Severn Valley's Western in action. Also had a good time at the lineside with (among others) Julie Knowles, Denis Bradley, Mike Taylor and Warren Armstrong. Thanks to all for their excellent company.

I've been fortunate enough to have photos published in several different magazines and also in a few books.

I owe an especial thanks to Gareth Bayer, the Assistant Editor of Rail Express for starting the ball rolling and for still regularly doing me the favour of using my shots. Thanks Gareth.

For the purposes of this collection I'm taking a geographic area from Walsden in the west to Elland in the east.

The Calder Valley was where I grew up, where I still live and where I cut my "photting" teeth. Especially in the 1980s it was very busy with both freight and passenger workings and there were some great locations. Unfortunately freight has dwindled to virtually nothing, and most of the photographic locations have disappeared due to tree growth. The line through the upper Calder Valley was also frequently used as a diversionary route for Trans-Pennine expresses as well as fairly regular charter trains.

NOTE: Photos captioned "MM" were taken by a good friend of mine - Michael McNicholas, for whom I've now created a separate gallery. See the "Other Galleries" link elsewhere on my front page. I've used some of his shots to fill gaps in this particular collection and I owe him a large debt - not only for his photos but also for his company and guidance over a number of years. RIP Mick.

The Copy Pit line from Todmorden to Burnley was opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway (later L&YR) on 12 November 1849.

I spent my formative years living next to it and well remember steam-hauled coal trains and Blackpool-bound excursions passing our house. When I was a child the motive power was Austerity WDs, Black 5s, 8Fs etc with occasional express locos such as Royal Scots, Jubilees and Britannias on excursions. When steam finished, Class 25s, Class 31s, Class 40s and 37s took over and I remember these well also although I never photographed them.

At the time I took up rail photography, the line was mothballed but was soon re-opened for a Leeds to Blackpool service, largely because a building society had re-located to Leeds from Lancashire and they sponsored a service to convey it's employees. The service soon expanded and a small amount of freight returned also. Now the line is pretty busy, although predominantly with passenger trains

To my regret I've never perhaps gven the line the attention it deserves, mostly because the loco-hauled traffic was pretty sparse and I preferred to be where the action was - on the main Calder Valley route.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these few photos and hopefully more will be added as time goes on.

For obvious reasons the S & C has to be my favourite piece of railway line. I've been visiting regularly since 1986 and I hope to spend many more years in it's environs.

Enjoy!

The S & C has long been used as a diversionary route during engineering work on the West Coast Main Line and I've been fortunate in photographing them since 1987. The results are depicted herein. 2008 may have been the last year of such happenings so this is perhaps an appropriate point to pay tribute to them.........

When I look back, I've done an awful lot of photting in North Wales over the years especially on the North Wales Coast and especially when a lot of the services were loco-hauled. I've visited less frequently recently, but I still make the occasional trip, especially when something special is about. The area features unrivalled scenery and has to be one of my favourite places, both from a photographic and a travelling point of view.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the shots.

For the purposes of this collection I'm taking a geographic area from Brighouse to just east of Dewsbury.

This section of the route was always busier than the upper Calder Valley as near Mirfield the Calder Valley and the Standedge routes converge and for that reason was always busier than either of those two lines individually. I've always tended to go where I'm likely to see most traffic so because of that I've spent a lot of time in and around Mirfield. Ravensthorpe is where the lines to Wakefield and Leeds diverge again and it too has had (and still gets) it's share of my attention. Dewsbury is a relative newcomer to my list of "phot-spots", partly due to the work of James Rose and Mark Allatt who showed me that there were shots to be had. It is also blessed with the cement terminal which sees a couple of daily workings.

Running, for the purposes of this collection, from Heaton Lodge Junction, Mirfield to Stalybridge, the fomer LNWR route over the Pennines is still one of the main rail arteries.There is a very frequent passenger service, which is currently in the hands of second-generation DMUs and Class 185s. In the past, of course, the Trans-Pennine services were loco-hauled and while those days are now over, my photographs of these services can be found in a separate collection. This collection will feature freight services, specials and the occasional DMU. Freight is also still to be seen on the route, although not perhaps in the same abundance as formerly. In addition, many of the locations depicted here are no longer available to the photographer, due to tree growth (as usual). However the line is still worth a photographic visit, something I still do myself. I hope you enjoy the collection.

Healey Mills has always been one of my favourite phot spots. It's the hub of railway activity in this area and while not always as busy as it might be it often produces the goods - literally!
Hope you enjoy!

This really is my local area as I live in Halifax. Loco-hauled passenger trains through Halifax are as rare as hen's teeth - just the odd charter - but there's a once-weekly scrap train from Laisterdyke, near Bradford that passes through. The same applies to Bradford - especially Interchange station although in earlier days it was busier loco-wise and still gets it's fair share of charter trains as this collections shows. Leeds station has always been busy although now diesel hauled trains are now a bit of a rarity, except for the odd freight that passes through and HSTs.

Welcome to my favourite type of train. I think the reason I like them so much is probably because apart from an odd one they've all gone. I also think that the later red postal livery was very photogenic against any type of background. It certainly stood out! That's not to say that rail blue era mail and parcels trains weren't interesting. They had a rarity value even then and I always enjoyed seeing them. Little was I to know then that eventually all such trains would virtually cease and all the photos I'd taken of mail, newspaper and parcels trains would take on such a nostalgic hue! In my view it's sacrilege that mail, parcels and newspaper traffic has largely gone over to road and air transport. Hopefully, at some point, someone might see sense and put this traffic where it rightfully belongs - on rail!
Enjoy .............and weep!

Unfortunately I missed photographing the Deltics in everyday BR service. I do however class them as among my favourite type of loco and I photograph them now whenever opportunity presents. Luckily they have been used regularly on charter workings since some of them were fortunately preserved. They have also appeared at various preserved railway galas. Both those types of workings are featured here, although I'm not personally a fan of heritage railway diesel galas, due to remembering the real thing! Deltics though are always worth a sight (and sound!) I hope you enjoy these humble efforts.

The former Midland route along the Aire Valley is one of my favourite lines, despite the electrification masts. Even this has brought it's benefits as the EMUs which run on the line are unique to it (see my EMU collection). It also runs though some nice scenery and there's loads of photographic locations. Freight is also ever-present on it's way to and from the S & C and the quarries at Rylstone. Specials often use the route too, so all in all it's a pretty varied scene. Please keep checking back for more images, as I'll be continuously adding to the collection.

I've probably done quite a lot of photting around Wakefield over the last few years, as it's still busy with freight, centred on Healey Mills Yard, but also including traffic on a north-south axis between Normanton and Hare Park Junction or Crofton.

Horbury is also full of interest with services routed through Healey Mills also passing through and there are several different locations in which to phot them.

The area around Milford Junction has always been one of my happy hunting grounds. Extremely busy with coal and other traffic it used to satisfy all my gricing criteria - especially when there was lots of "Grid" action!

I still visit the area quite a lot, but here are the results from when it really was my second home!

Another of my traditional happy hunting grounds that I still visit frequently.

York and it's environs probably counts among the most frequently visited areas to photograph trains. It's still very busy with freight although unfortunately, diesel-hauled passenger services (with the exception of specials) are a thing of the past.
I shall no doubt still be taking photos around York for the foreseeable future, as indeed I will on the Harrogate line on which I've only really scratched the surface.

The Trans-Pennine services were loco-hauled from the late 1970s until the early 90's and I got many pictures. The good thing was that they were quite frequently diverted over the Calder Valley line, where I lived, so as well as shots on their substantive route, it was also possible for me to phot nearer home! Unfortunately I missed the Deltics on the service, but I got a frequent "bag" of 45s and 47s until services went over to second-generation DMUs. Enjoy!

I've been visiting Newcastle since I first started photting. I especially used to like the panoramic view from the Keep, north of the station. Teesside came much later, when I made a conscious effort to visit the area to catch the Class 56's before they finished. I really enjoyed these three or four visits to Teeside and hope to go again. Big up to the lads up there who keep us Yorkshire lads up to date with going's on, via the North East Discussion Gen group and various Fotopic sites.

This collection inevitably focusses on Doncaster which is still the main hub for railways in South Yorkshire. Other locations have lots to offer though, as I hope to show over the course of time.

Tinsley was just about the only maintenance depot that I ever got the chance to look round officially. I went on a couple of occasions as part of an invited party and the results are depicted here. It was also quite easy to get shots looking into the depot from a nearby footpath and such an example is also included. It was a shame that not long after my last visit the depot was closed. I dedicate this collection to all the many railwaymen who served within it's confines and did such a sterling job in helping to keep Britains railways on the move.
RIP.

There has been an increasing tendency in the last few years for Network Rail to run RHTTs to clean the rails of leaf and other debris during the Autumn season. I've not got as many photos of these as I would like but no doubt as the years go on this collection will increase in size.

Barnetby is perhaps one of the most visited railway hotspots in the country by virtue of the frequency of the freight traffic and the semaphores which still surround the station area. The lines which lead ultimately to Barnetby and Humberside are also full of great photographic locations. Enjoy!

I've made numerous trips to the East Midlands to phot trains, especially to the Chesterfield area. Trips to Nottinghamshire have not been as regular, but I, like everyone else, have been to Toton! I also visited Leicestershire once (briefly)! I hope to go again one day. I hope you enjoy the phots.

I've spent an inordinate amount of time in the Hope Valley over the years - and still do. It's a beautiful area and still has a lot to offer in terms of loco-hauled trains. It's not quite as good now, as it was when the 31s were on an hourly passenger service, but it's still well worth visiting.

I hope these photos whet your appetite.

The day that I attended the Toton Railfair was lovely and sunny initially and I had a quick whip round the exhibits before going off to phot the associated shuttles.

There was a good variety of motive power present and at ten years distance some of it is extremely interesting.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

There aren't as many photos of the Royal Train in here as I'd like but I have managed to capture it a few times in it's various incarnations. Hopefully I'll get more photos of it in future.

The results of a non-railway holiday to Switzerland with the wife. Inevitably I got some photting in! I was very impressed with Swiss Railways and would love to return to do some serious photography, especially as the weather during our holiday wasn't universally sunny.

The main focus of railways in Greater Manchester has to be the three main stations in central Manchester - Piccadilly, Victoria and Oxford Road, although good locations are also available outside the city in great numbers. A good many will ultimately be featured here. Over the years I've spent a great deal of time at the central Manchester stations, but no more so than the "old" Manchester Victoria, where I did much photography in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was always busy with a variety of freight, passenger and parcels trains and I used to love it's atmosphere, especially at night. Unfortunately "progress" deemed that it had to be turned into a concrete tunnel and I visit it no more. Piccadilly too has had more than it's share of my attention - as has Oxford Road. All three are featured in this gallery, as are several locations outside the city. Please keep checking back for more photos, as this will ultimately be a big collection.
NOTE: Photos captioned "MM" were taken by my deceased friend, Michael McNicholas.

The pathetic number of images in here will hopefully increase as time goes on.

Not for me the delights of the West Highlands or the Kyle line! Instead on my one and only photting pilgrimage to Scotland, I did Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling! I was actually on a working visit to and squeezed in a little photting in-among. Herein are the (publishable) results, as the weather was mostly cloudy.

Includes shots taken in Somerset, Devon, Cornwall & Bristol (not many mind!)

The KWVR is primarily known for it's steam trains, but it also has a small, but interesting diesel collection, which sees frequent use. It also holds Diesel Galas and these have invariably have been excellent events. Pictures of normal service trains and shots taken at galas both feature here.

I don't often attend Diesel Galas at Heritage Railways but I couldn't resist this one with it's combination of superb weather and the sight and sound of three Tractors in use.

The East Lancs Railway has a fine collection of preserved diesels and is not scared to use them. They are in use every weekend for service trains and also at the East Lancs' rather fine Diesel Galas which are held frequently. I haven't been to one for a couple of years now but I think after scanning these images a visit is long overdue!

I've always had a soft spot for first-generation DMUs. They certainly seemed to have more character than the current crop of stuff provided for us to ride around in. I hope your soft spot is as big as mine, because there's a lot of photos in here!

A little bit of everything in here!

This new book: "Grids - The Class 56 Story" by Keith Bulmer is published by Visions International and is a superb history of the Class 56s. As well as being a fascinating read it also includes the photos in this collection. As well as my own photos, the book also features the work of such photographers as John Hooson, Martin Loader, Mike Goodfield and Paul Robertson etc.

I can highly recommend the book and it would make a superb present for any "Grid" afficionado. It is available, price £16.95 at http://www.visionsinternational.biz/ and for Class 56 Group members it's available direct from the Group for £16.49 including p&p. All proceeds to the restoration of 56040. See the groups' website for details.