Bunchrew: The 1862 station at Buchrew. to the west of Inverness, lost its passenger service in 1960 and is now privately owned domestic accommodation. Photograph taken looking north west towards the level crossing in November 2003. [Ref query 14 June 2018].

St Fort: St Fort station building. Now owned by a paramedic.

Ashton Gate: EWS 66201 passing the disused Ashton Gate station, Bristol, on the Portbury Line with a train of coal empties on 24 November 2008

Newbridge Junction: The final phase of the Edinburgh - Bathgate redoubling project was the installation and commissioning of the redesigned layout at Newbridge Junction. The new arrangement is seen here on 24 November 2008 with the 1518 Edinburgh - Bathgate taking the branch, just as the 1500 ex-Glasgow Queen Street approaches on the main line heading for Waverley. The train in the background is standing in the loop. See image [[19736]]

Ratho: The 1530 Edinburgh - Glasgow shuttle runs through the remains of the former E&G Ratho station (closed 1951) on 24 November 2008. View east from the bypass showing the bridge that once carried Station Road through the village (this section is now a walkway/cycleway). Note the use of the old yard - formerly the site of the adjacent South Queensferry Branch Low Level station (closed 1930) - on the left, currently being used to accommodate equipment and materials in connection with the nearby Newbridge Junction remodelling see image [[21576]]. Despite the warning on the bridge I detected no unpleasant aroma.

Worleston: Former station house at Worleston (closed 1952) on the down side of the Crewe to Chester line in November 2009.

Princes Street [Tram]: ...Edinburgh tram works, looking west along Princes Street at the foot of The Mound on 24 November 2009, with two continuous tracks now in place between Waverley Bridge and Lothian Road.  The road surface is currently being restored before handing Princes Street over to Christmas shoppers etc from 29 November!

Winsford: DRS 66419 waits at signals near Winsford on 24 November 2009 with a John G Russell return working to Scotland from Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal.

Baddesley Colliery: A little known Warwickshire bye-law says that every footpath on a disused railway, this one leading to Baddesley Colliery (North side) from the WCML, must have a bit of bent rail to mark the end of the path. The colliery used a Beyer Garratt, now preserved at Bressingham see image [[36110]], to get up the 1 in 47 gradients on this short branch, which closed in 1974. Apparently, much of the coal won here was burned in the brickworks at nearby Polesworth.

Baddesley Colliery: These gas-axed girders used to support the coal screens. There are still 8 pairs of rails embedded in concrete here. The colliery closed in 1989; its site is now used for car boot sales. This probably doesn't explain the word IRAN painted on the concrete in the foreground. UPDATE 2017: this area is now used for storage of new Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles pending UK delivery.

Baddesley Colliery: Shades of Porthmadog: narrow gauge dram (tub) track crossing standard gauge railway. Notice the check rails on both lines. The mine closed in 1989.

Baddesley Colliery: Site of dram turntable. Notice the dual gauge track on both 'main' and 'branch' lines, and the bricks surrounding the turntable. This location is near the former pit head, closed in 1989.

Edinburgh Waverley: One of the few 400hp 158s, No 868 spent a considerable time in Scotland in its Alphaline colours before finally being turned out in Saltire livery.  It still however has the rather ineffectual LCD destination display and no automatic journey information inside.  It stands at Waverley's Platform 10 on 24 November with a Bathgate service in the last weeks of diesel operation.

Edinburgh Park: 334s are associated so much with Glasgow that it's odd to see one within sight of of Arthur's Seat, though I'm sure we'll soon get used to it.  A 6-car set passes west through Edinburgh Park station on a training run on 24 November.

Lancaster: Growling up the bank after the Lancaster station stop is Trans Pennine unit 185138 heading for Manchester Airport. The driver's blind is down due to the low afternoon sun. These units have a quite distinctive engine note when under load and excellent acceleration, even on steep gradients.

Edinburgh Waverley: The twain have met without apparent problems, as what was hitherto a feature of The West is already a regular sight at Waverley, thanks to frequent staff training runs in preparation for the A-B reopening. A pair of 334s at Waverley's Platform 16 prepares to head back on 24 November 2010. Note the stabling siding between the platforms, still often used.

Bathgate: 158 705 stands at Bathgate waiting to return to Edinburgh on 24 November 2010. 

Shettleston: The 'booking' office at Settleston in November 2010, with Michael Cochrane in attendance. See news item.

Shettleston: A novel idea! Michael Cochrane, a member of the ticket office staff at Shettleston, seen alongside the station book trolley on 24 November 2010 - see news item.

Bathgate [4th]: A few short weeks after the closure of the 1986 Bathgate station all track on its dedicated line has been removed and workmen are busy dismantling the station fittings. Nothing much has changed from the street point of view however and the double arrow sign is still there out there on the roadside. View out from the buffer stops into a low winter sun on 24 November 2010.

Bathgate: On 24 November a westbound 6-car 334 makes a stop on a training run passing 158729 at Platform 1 waiting to return to Edinburgh. The new ScotRail depot stands in the background. In the nicest possible way Bathgate will hope never to see a 158 again come 12 December.

Nuneaton: Contrasts in appearance and speed at Nuneaton one evening in November 2011. The 153 won't break any records on its way to Coventry, but the Pendolino might on its way to Euston

Shrivenham: A1 60163 Tornado runs past the site of the former GWR station at Shrivenham on the eastern outskirts of Swindon on 24 November. Not the best of days! A none too gentle rain shower plus a modicum of freezing fog to enjoy whilst passing the time away waiting to catch a glimpse of the locomotive in its new blue livery.

Nuneaton: It's amazing what you can learn from advertising hoardings. I must admit, I'd never noticed Tower Bridge on the run in to Euston; and I hadn't realized that the Albert Hall was on the South Bank. However, if this kind of thing leads to a thriving railway, they can use all the 'artistic licence' they want. Notice the picture above the fireplace.

Galabank Junction: The first loco to pass in front of the photographer's house (the white one above the wagon bogie) after a gap of almost exactly 43 years - on 24 November 2014, 66752 waits just north of Stow station while two lengths of rail are winched off the rail laying train. While I cannot pinpoint the exact date that track was lifted here, that operation had reached milepost 27, about half a mile south of the station, on 22 November 1971, so there's a good chance that tracklifting was taking place here two days later.

Galabank Junction: For operational reasons the Borders Railway rail-discharge train is worked by two GBRf class 66s and normally they both seem to be involved propelling the train at the actual work site. However on 24 and 25 November 2014, at least, when rail laying was taking place through Stow, one detached from the train and spent the day parked about half a mile north of Stow station at the point where the southernmost loop starts - this seems to have been labelled Galabank Junction, although for a traditional railway enthusiast like myself, one set of points at the end of a loop doesn't really qualify as a 'junction'!

Stow: An audience of pupils from the local school next door stand on the up platform at Stow on 24 November 2014 to witness rails being laid through the new station.

Portobello [1st]: In 1846/7 a number of short curves and connections were made by the North British Railway to the re-gauged Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. This view shows the NBR curve which connected the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway's Leith branch to the NBR at Craigentinny - a west to south curve. This was to be the NBR's only connection to the Leith branch until 1852 when the a new line on a sweeping curve connected to the branch to the north of today's Baileyfield depot. The alignment of the E&DR was lower, to the right and parallel to Baileyfield road. This view looks north with the ECML bridge over Baileyfield Road, under which the E&DR also passed a little to the left. Behind the camera was the junction and the site of the first Portobello halt.

Craigentinny Depot: Busy scene at Craigentinny Depot. 67013 passes with the Oxwellmains - Powderhall empty 'bins'. The New Measurement Train and a CrossCountry HST are in the yard. Beyond the latter can just be seen 73966, heavily rebuilt for use on the Caledonian Sleeper.

Figgate Burn Bridge [E&DR]: Just to the north of the ECML, and just shy of Baileyfield S and C Works, stands this original Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway bridge. This view looks west from Sir Harry Lauder Road at the bridge over the Figgate Burn on their Leith branch. The bend in the conduit shows where the later (1858) NBR line bridge was built alongside which gave the NBR access to Leith from Portobello and paved the way for the closure of the Portobello-Niddrie section.

Castlecary Viaduct: A detail shot of how to prepare to attach OLE to a viaduct.

Almond Valley Viaduct: From a distance the Almond Valley Viaduct appears unaffected so far (24th November 2015) by the EGIP electrification work; however closer inspection (inset) reveals preparatory work similar to that on the Castlecary Viaduct. See image [[52829]].

Linlithgow: On 24th November 2015, two Class 170 DMUs on Edinburgh/Glasgow duties pass on a section of track east of Linlithgow which has the OHLE wiring installed.

Linlithgow: Progress on the electrification just over a mile east of Linlithgow on 24th November 2015 as a mid-afternoon Edinburgh - Glasgow Queen Street service approaches. See image [[51344]]

West Calder: And that's before the stairs are added. The new lift towers at West Calder dominate the station (and the vicinity) in this view on 24 November. The construction compound for the structure is at this, the eastern end of the station while the plant visible in the background is in the OHLE compound. The comparatively graceful footbridge and original station building are in between.

Lancaster: 37401 brings the 2C47 Preston to Barrow service to a stand on the Lancaster Canal bridge as it waits for Platform 3 to clear in Lancaster station. 24th November 2017

West Calder: A Glasgow to Edinburgh semi-fast calls at West Calder carrying Black Friday shoppers on 24 November. Photographed from the fine lattice footbridge (Hanna, Donald & Wilson. Paisley) which is doomed by the monstrous, accessible, OHLE-ready version under construction behind me. The crossover is used on Sundays to reverse the two-hourly service to/from Edinburgh.

Dunblane: One in, one out. On the right the Class 170 is forming a service to Glasgow while the Class 158+170 on the left has just arrived from Edinburgh and will later return there. This was on 24 November 2018, in the weeks before the start of electric services.

Bridge of Allan: A Dunblane to Glasgow service calls at Bridge of Allan on the morning of 24 November 2018. While some of the waiting passengers joined the service a larger number waited for the following Dunblane to Edinburgh service.

Bridge of Allan: GBRF 66724 is seen approaching Bridge of Allan on 24 November 2018 with an engineering train from Millerhill to Perth.

Bridge of Allan: 170426 travels north at Bridge of Allan heading for Dunblane in November 2018.

Donibristle Platform: DRS 68007 'Valiant' leads a Fife Circle - Haymarket rugby special past the site of the junction for the Donibristle aerodrome, which passed to the right of the location box. The base of the signalbox can be seen beyond the rear loco (68006). 24th November 2018.

Stirling: When I visited Stirling on 24 November 2018, the wires were up but the trains to £dinburgh and Glasgow were still in the hands of Class 156 and 158 DMUs. On platform 7 156446 is the rear unit of a 4 car set that formed the 1323 hrs to Glasgow Queen Street.

Dunblane: DBS 66127 heads north at Dunblane while working a Millerhill to Perth engineering train on 24 November 2018.

Stirling: The DRS Grangemouth to Aberdeen intermodal service passes Stirling in the early afternoon on 24 November 2018. Interesting to note the OHLE stanchions within the station area are a dark blue colour rather than the usual unpainted grey.

Plates, signs, notices etc: The Ayr Corporation Tramways War Memorial, on display at a WW1 exhibition in Rozelle House on 24th November 2018.

Donibristle Platform: 68006 'Daring' brings up the rear of a Fife - Haymarket rugby special as it nears Dalgety Bay on Saturday 24 November 2018. 68007 leads.

Dunblane Junction: A view north from the up platform at Dunblane in November 2018. The former line to Callander is seen on the left of the mainline to Perth, now used as an engineers siding. The signalbox is on the extreme right.

King's Gate Junction: The rain has stopped and the autumn sun is attempting to break through at Sheriffhall on the morning of 24 November 2019. The 6-car 158 combination dropping down the bank from the Edinburgh City Bypass towards Kings Gate Points is about to join the single line section to Fushiebridge. The train is the ScotRail 1011 Edinburgh - Tweedbank.

Sheriffhall [2nd]: A Sunday morning service on the Borders Railway approaching Kings Gate Points from the south on a misty 24 November 2019. The train is approximately one and a half miles from its next scheduled stop at Shawfair.

Lancaster: Ex LMS 4-6-0s, Jubilee no.45562 'Alberta' and Royal Scot no.46115 'Scots Guardsman' had just returned to Lancaster with the WCRC Santa Special trip to Carlisle in the late afternoon of 24 November 2019. The Jubilee is believed to be 45699 'Galatea' in disguise and repainted into BR Brunswick Green, so new that you could still smell it!

Princes Street Gardens: The Edinburgh Christmas Market narrow gauge railway features a level crossing complete with hand bell and manually operated gates-very Victorian. OK,it does also feature colour-light signals which are housed in the black box by the gatekeeper's right hand. There is no tunnel this year just an overbridge where the visitors' walkway crosses the track.

Lancaster: Ex LMS Jubilee 45699, running as 45562 'Alberta', sits at the head of the 'Santa Special' at Lancaster that had just returned from Carlisle on 24 November 2019.

Lancaster: The WCRC's 'Santa Special' pulls into platform 3 at Lancaster on the late afternoon of 24 November 2019 having taken a train load of passengers of all ages to Carlisle and back. The train was hauled both ways by the pairing of Jubilee 45562 'Alberta' and Royal Scot 46115 'Scots Guardsman' although the former is understood to be the repainted and renumbered 45699 'Galatea'.

Lathalmond Railway Museum: Brand new steam. NBR Engineering Services Ltd (Darlington), works no. 14 of 2021 to a Bagnall 0-4-0ST design, newly arrived at Lathalmond Railway Museum, for use on the West of Fife Military Railway and pictured in the sunshine on 24 November 2021.

Lathalmond Railway Museum: Brand new steam. Newly arrived at Lathalmond Railway Museum, for use on the West of Fife Railway, is this NBR Engineering Services Ltd (Darlington), works no. 14 of 2021, built to a Bagnall 0-4-0ST design and seen on 24 November 2021.