Westbury: 56040 running into Westbury Station with a loaded stone train.

Westbury Shed: The unique 47901, photographed on Westbury shed on 17 December 1982. The locomotive was running as an operational test rig for the class 58 engine at this time and had previously been used on a similar basis for testing class 56 traction equipment. The locomotive was finally withdrawn in 1990. See image [[23153]]

Cardross: SPT train heading east from Cardross as seen from beach.

Bathampton Junction: Looking east towards Bathampton Junction in December 2006 as 3-car 158966 turns south towards Westbury.

Racks: A Carlisle - Glasgow Central train heads for Dumfries along the G&SW route just west of Racks on a bright and frosty 17 December.

Kittybrewster [1st]: Looking north from the Bedford Road bridge over the Waterloo branch, with the site of Kittybrewster station just before the square building in the middle distance.

Kittybrewster [2nd]: Looking north from the Powis Terrace bridge at the site of the former Kittybrewster station on the Aberdeen - Inverness main line. The platforms are still just visible, but nothing else hints at the important railway location this once was. The Waterloo branch is hidden behind the trees and shrubs at the right of the shot.

Craiginches Yard: A rather old and weather-beaten LMS No Trespassing sign still standing on the embankment just to the south of the new Aberdeen, Craiginches, freight terminal in December 2007.

Slateford: 156 511 calls at Slateford on 17 December with a Glasgow Central - Edinburgh Waverley service.

Beningbrough: Famous for many years as The Sidings Hotel, with accommodation in MkI coaches, this building alongside the ECML is now an Italian Restaurant. The station itself, Shipton and Beningbrough, closed in 1958, was a short distance to the north. 185108 heads south in this view towards York.

Lawrence Hill: 158 769 bound for Bristol Temple Meads, photographed at Lawrence Hill station on 17 December. The old railway bridge in the background (closed to traffic in 1969) carried the former Midland route north from Temple Meads to Gloucester and Birmingham. The trackbed is now a walkway/cycleway to Bath and beyond.

Thornton-in-Craven: The previous occasion on which I visited this station was during its last week of service in January 1970. Thornton-in-Craven closed, along with the Colne to Skipton line, w.e.f. 2nd February 1970 and there have been campaigns ever since to reopen this missing link between Lancashire and Yorkshire (which should never have closed). View towards Skipton through the old platforms. Map Ref SD 910483

Lawrence Hill: The 1230 CrossCountry service to Glasgow Central heads north through Lawrence Hill station shortly after leaving Bristol Temple Meads on 17 December.

Lawrence Hill: Single railcar 153372 at Lawrence Hill station, Bristol, on 17 December with a service to Temple Meads.

Millburn Yard: Class 37s are a rare sight in Inverness these days, but here we have 37425 Pride of the Valleys/Balchder y Cymoedd in BR blue large logo livery, seen at the stabling point in Millburn Yard, Inverness on 17 December, standing alongside EWS 67011.

Barassie: 334005 stops at Barassie with the 13.12 to Ayr on 17 December 2010.

Exeter St Davids: The Network Rail Measurement Train takes shelter at Exeter St Davids on 17 December 2010.

Barassie Junction: 156462 passing Barassie with the 12.06 ex Girvan on 17 December 2010. The train is due into Kilmarnock at 13.06.

Cornhill: Cornhill station is now a private residence owned by a local joiner who has done a great job in restoring the classic GNSR wooden station to its former glory.

Haymarket: The 10.00 East Coast service from London Kings Cross to Aberdeen arrives at Haymarket on 17 December 2012. The steelwork in the background is part of the station expansion.

St Andrew Square [Tram]: The St Andrew Square tram stop starting to take shape on 17 December. View south towards Princes Street.

Preston: With DRS now providing the traction for Pendolino drags, no 57302 Chad Varah is attached to 390047 at Preston on 17 December for the journey to Longsight Depot Manchester. The train will run via Bolton with reporting code 5H00.

Preston: One of the Network Rail Test Trains at Preston on 17 December with veteran 31465 on the rear propelling two coaches and DBSO 9703. The train was working to Carlisle over Shap and had stopped here to change crews and allow service trains to pass.

Dalwhinnie: Posters in the waiting room at Dalwhinnie, prepared for the HML 150th anniversary by local graphic designer Jules Akel, seen left alongside Angus Munday, husband of station adopter Deborah see image [[44409]].

Kingsknowe: GBRf 66733 climbs through Kingsknowe with the 6S45 North Blyth - Fort William freight, on 17 December.

Curriehill: First Transpennine 185127 with the 07.25 service from Manchester Airport to Edinburgh, a little to the east of Curriehill on 17 December. Soon to be replaced by a class 350 electric unit...

Troon: The 11.05 for Edinburgh, which originated from Ayr, calls at Troon on 17 December 2014.

Pollokshields East: This project led by James Dornan MSP has provided posters for over half-a-dozen suburban stations south of the Clyde featuring local attractions. Here's the one at Pollokshields East.

Whifflet: 66746 in Belmont Royal Scotsman livery running north through Whifflet with the North Blyth Alcan to Fort William train.

Edinburgh Waverley: A weak sunrise over the east end of Waverley as the 0855 Edinburgh - Tweedbank crosses the bridge over Calton Road shortly after leaving platform 7 on Saturday 17 December 2016.

Dalgety Bay: DRS 68016 leads the 'Northern Belle' towards Dalgety Bay on its way from Dundee to Perth via Edinburgh (!) with 68023 on the rear. 17 December.

Marlborough Road: Exterior of the former Metropolitan Railway Marlborough Road station on 17th December 2016. It was opened in 1868 and closed in 1939 (replaced by St. John's Wood station on the LUL Bakerloo Line, transferred to the LUL Jubilee Line in 1979). For many years this building was in use as a restaurant but in recent times has become abandoned and boarded-up. The site of the platforms, in an open cutting on the cut-and-cover Metropolitan Line, can easily be seen from a passing train as can the stairs that are retained as an emergency exit.

Leaderfoot Viaduct: View of the Berwickshire Railway's 1863 Leaderfoot Viaduct, looking west on 17 December 2016. Although the viaduct carried the line across the River Tweed it bears the name of the River Leader, one of its tributaries, which flows south from the Lammermuir Hills to join the Tweed at Leaderfoot, a quarter of a mile behind the camera.

Book: Enjoying the Cumbrian Coast Railway by David Hindle. See image [[61899]]. Is now available. A review article is now available.

Harrington: Harrington station, looking northwards from the footbridge in November 2017. An overcast day but the coast of Scotland is just visible across the Solway. This is a request stop so I didn't risk photographing the southbound Class 37 but went down to the platform and flagged it down - a first for me.

Hillington East: A 6-car Gourock to Glasgow service pulls into Hillie East on 16 December 2017. It is composed of doomed class 314s, to be scrapped next year. It's now clear why they haven't bothered to paint most of them out of the long-redundant SPT livery. The rusting footbridge I am standing on is the only reasonable access to this platform from the ticket office and most of the custom: it is surely ripe for replacement with an accessible one - if they can find room.

Bermuda Park: This may look like a still from a melodramatic TV detective series, but it's just a view along the old spur to the Coventry Canal which passed under the Nuneaton to Coventry line. The old towpath is used as a path from one platform to the other through the underpass.

Haymarket: An HST customer video at Haymarket. Seen on the island platform at Haymarket in December 2018.

Glenfinnan Viaduct: Glenfinnan Viaduct's west end in December 2018, showing over 100 years worth of the effects of water on concrete.

Glenfinnan Viaduct: The midday westbound Sprinter between Glenfinnan Viaduct and Glenfinnan.

Glenfinnan Viaduct: Glenfinnan Viaduct seen from the slopes of Beinn an Tuim with Allt an Tuim in the foreground and Loch Shiel beyond the viaduct.

Glenfinnan Viaduct: Glenfinnan Viaduct from Mam a' Chreagain with Glen Finnan itself stretching off to the right.

Glenfinnan Viaduct: Evening service from Mallaig crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Larbert: Dusk at Larbert on 17th December 2018 with a Class 365 EMU waiting in the platform.

Larbert: Dusk at Larbert on 17th December 2018, with a Class 365 EMU in the platform.

Larbert: Class 365 EMU 365529, seen leaving Larbert for Dunblane on 17th December 2018.

Glenfinnan Viaduct: An extremely tall drain pipe strapped onto the north side of the Glenfinnan Viaduct. On closer inspection the viaduct is covered in small drain pipes, but those are generally not very noticeable.

Dunbar: The second platform at Dunbar was officially opened today (17th). This is the view from the new platform.

Dunbar: The second platform at Dunbar was officially opened today (17th). View east from the new platform showing the long new footbridge.

Dunbar: A southbound service on the bypass line passes the new westbound platform (left) at Dunbar station - opened today. Station building on right. The view is from the new footbridge.

Prestonpans: 802206 with the 12.33 from Edinburgh to Liverpool Lime Street. (The train was running on diesel mode due to inadequate power supply to line north of the border!)

Prestonpans: 91119 in Intercity livery enters Prestonpans station with the 06.15 from Kings Cross to Edinburgh on 17th December 2019.

Prestonpans: An LNER Azuma nears Prestonpans with the 09.52 from Aberdeen to Kings Cross on 17th December 2019.

Prestonpans: An Arriva CrossCountry Super Voyager passes Prestonpans with the 08.20 from Aberdeen to Penzance on 17th December 2019.

Prestonpans: 66147, and Maritime-liveried 66005, running about an hour late with the Mossend - Tees Dock intermodal service on 17th December 2019.

Prestonpans: Colas 56113 passes Prestonpans with a Doncaster Decoy - Millerhill engineers train. on 17th December 2019.

Edinburgh Waverley: Azuma 801211 at Waverley's platform 6 waiting with the 11.00 to Kings Cross on 17th December 2019.

Kirkliston: The site of Kirkliston station has been built over, but thanks(?) to the blue van on the former level crossing that's not too obvious in this 17 December 2019 view from the south. The trackbed either side of the station site is intact and the course of the distillery branchlet can be seen coming in from the left.

Farington Curve Junction: Colas 56087 and 56113 take the East Lancs line at Farington Curve Junction with the 6E32 from Preston Docks to Lindsey Oil Terminal empty tar wagons on 17 December 2020. The line on the left is the Ormskirk branch.

Moss Lane Junction: The 1001 hrs service from Ormskirk to Preston starts the descent to Farington Curve Junction as it passes the site of Moss Lane Junction on 17 December 2020. The other line that used to be here diverged to the right and headed towards Lostock Hall providing a direct link from East Lancashire to Liverpool. At one time both these lines were double track.

Gregson Lane Crossing: West Country 4-6-2 34046 'Braunton' heads towards Blackburn with the 'Pennine Moors Christmas Explorer' railtour on 17 December 2020. The tour had started at Birmingham International but the Pacific had taken over at Crewe. The return to Crewe was via Copy Pit and Manchester before the train continued to Birmingham with diesel haulage.

Cameron Bridge [1st]: Looking east towards the former Cameron Bridge station in December 2021, with the distillery on the right. The lifted branch line curves past.

Cameron Bridge [1st]: Looking east towards the former Cameron Bridge station o,n 17th December 2021. The former main line remains in place across two girder bridges along with the yard points and ground frame. Taken from the boundary fence.