St Albans Abbey: Gasometers, piles of refuse, a decrepit station, potholes in the road and cold drizzle greet passengers alighting from a shabby DMU at St Albans Abbey on 29th December 1978. If the post Christmas gloom was not enough, there was also the ongoing Winter of Discontent to reflect upon. 'Can things get any worse?' the downcast folk in the photo might be wondering. Many decades later, social historians have still to agree on an answer..

Doncaster: Deltic 55003 'Meld' southbound light engine through Doncaster Station on 29 December 1979.

Doncaster: Deltic 55003 Meld at Doncaster on 29 December 1979.

Doncaster: Deltic 55007 Pinza stands with a train at Doncaster station on 29 December 1979 lit by a low winter sun.

Armley Junction: Deltic 55009 Alycidon runs through the Leeds suburb of Armley heading onto the Harrogate line to York, and then on to Hull via Selby, with The Deltic Executive special on a cold and snowy 29 December 1981. The special had reversed at Leeds after arrival from London Kings X, and would return from Hull to Kings X via Doncaster.

Ballachulish (Glencoe): Small diesel shunter in the old terminus at Ballachulish in December 1987. At the time the building was in use as a garage, it is now a doctor's surgery. The platforms had been infilled.

Tyndrum Upper: Tyndrum Upper station looking to Glasgow.

Ballachulish (Glencoe): Looking from the former platform ends to the terminus building at Ballachulish. The locomotive sat in the station site for a time in the late 1980s. The platforms were infilled and I couldn't find any trace of them. The former slate quarries can be seen behind the station - these were served by a line extending from the goods yard (off to the left) and a number of narrow gauge lines. The snow covered Pap of Glencoe can just be seen above the hillside (above the chimney).

Ballachulish (Glencoe): Looking west towards the terminus (the platforms were behind the building and goods yard off to the right) when in use as a garage. The area under the entry canopy had been boxed in - it has now been re-opened. This was not one of the larger station buildings on the line but given that it was in a town, practically the only one to be so, accomodation did not have to be provided in the station building. Within the station there was a cottage on the northern of the two platforms. This predated the line and ended up being entirely surrounded by track.

East Grinstead: DEMU arriving at East Grinstead on a snowy 29th December 1987.

Ballachulish (Glencoe): Ballachulish station when in use as a garage.

Ballachulish (Glencoe): Looking east towards the former terminus at Ballachulish.

Ballachulish Shed: Looking north at the former engine shed in Ballachulish.

Ballachulish (Glencoe): Old station at Ballachulish complete with shunter.

Ballachulish (Glencoe): Entry into Ballachulish goods yard.

Tulloch: Early morning at Tulloch during Christmas 1987. The northbound sleeper, hauled by 37423, has drawn forward of the crossing between platforms due to its length. At the southbound platform is the morning train for Glasgow (37407 Loch Long). The train crews swap over across the tracks (they also guided a dismounting passenger). Slippery diesel was spilled all over the footway so crunching across the ballast might have been a better option anyway. Tulloch was very much in use as a maintenance base at the time, with lots of equipment lying alongside the platers hut on the left.

Forsinard: Northbound Sprinter pauses at Forsinard viewed from the north end of the station at night in 1994.

Helmsdale: A southbound Sprinter calls at Helmsdale on 29 December 1994.

Kinbrace: Kinbrace looking south from the former northbound platform, now disused since the loop was lifted.

Forsinard: Forsinard looking south from the north, timber end of the platform, in 1994. The timber portions are where the line crosses a stream north of the station.

Broomlee: Lit by a brilliant sunset are these amazingly well preserved sleeper indentations about a mile to the east of West Linton and its Broomlee station. The remains of a lineside hut are to the right. The view looks to Macbie Hill.

Milkhall Crossing: Often on a railway ramble nothing at all remains, ploughed fields, not even a fence. But sometimes part of a platform or the base of a signalpost can be found. This example of the latter survives just to the north of Milkhall Crossing, itself just north of Leadburn.

Rothley: GWR 41xx 2-6-2T 4141 at the Great Central Railway, seen leaving Rothley on 29th December 2004.

Bathgate Central Junction: A 158 from Edinburgh leaves the original through route at Bathgate on 29 December 2004 and turns onto the short spur leading to the 1986 single line terminus. In the background is the STVA car compound.

Bathgate [4th]: End of the line - Bathgate in December 2004 with a train from Edinburgh Waverley at the colourful buffer stops.

Slateford: Looking east from the station footbridge at Slateford on a damp 29 December 2004 as a morning Glasgow Central - Edinburgh Waverley service pulls away from the platform. At this point the train is running alongside city bound traffic on Slateford Road. The track machine depot in the north west corner of Slateford Yard is visible top right.

Edinburgh Waverley: EWS 90039 at the east end of Waverley on the rear of the 11.34 departure for North Berwick on 29 December 2004. This was the period during which these push-pull services were being used to cover for multiple unit shortages on the route. What is shown here as platform 7 subsequently became platform 4 as part of the December 2006 renumbering.

Slateford: A GNER DVT brings up the rear of a Kings Cross - Glasgow Central service running west through Slatford station in December 2004. The train will make one further stop at Motherwell (to set down only) en route to its destination.

Glasgow Central: The concourse at Glasgow Central on 29th December showing the barriers in place for passengers awaiting replacement buses for services disrupted by work taking place at Shields Junction

Carstairs: 60500 RAIL Magazine passing Carstairs on 29 December with 6S36 Dalston - Mossend empty tanks.

Glasgow Central: Replacement bus services waiting at the Gordon Street entrance to Glasgow Central on 29th December 2007 during Network Rail engineering works.

Glasgow Central: The concourse at Glasgow Central on 29th December showing the barriers in place for passengers awaiting replacement buses for services disrupted by work taking place at Shields Junction

Glasgow Central: 390016 waiting to depart at Platform 2 with the 0805 service to Coventry

Glasgow Central: 314205 and 314210 at Glasgow Central on 29th December at Platform 8 and 9 awaiting their turn to depart

Glasgow Central: 91128 of NXEC waiting to form the 0850 service to Newcastle at Platform 1 and 221140 of CrossCountry with the 0820 Newcastle service at Platform 2 of Glasgow Central on 29th December

Richmond [Yorkshire]: The booking office at Richmond has been restored with old railway artefacts but also has very interesting display boards and an audio visual slide show of the Richmond branch and its stations when the line was operating prior to closure in 1969.

Richmond [Yorkshire]: It is not just the station trainshed at Richmond that has been tastefully restored. Here is the former engine shed, now a gymnasium, with the old passenger station visible across the car park. Behind the camera is the old gasworks building too, previously rail served and again restored to a high standard.

Leyburn: The nicely restored station at Leyburn on the Wensleydale Railway viewed along the platform towards Redmire and Hawes.

Bridge of Earn: Scene at Bridge of Earn on 29 December 2008. The line has been closed since before Christmas due to engineering work and will reopen after the New Year holiday.

Richmond [Yorkshire]: Inside the former trainshed at Richmond station many original features have been retained alongside the cafe, the shops and the micro brewery selling Richmond Station Ale. In 1938, LNER V2 2-6-2 4806 (later 60835) was named The Green Howard after the local regiment at a ceremony on this very spot.

Richmond [Yorkshire]: Restoration of the old station at Richmond has been carried out to a very high standard using original railway features wherever possible. Closed in 1969, it became a garden centre until 2001 but is now an outstanding visitor attraction.

Muirhouse South Junction: A pair of 156s creeping through the shadows onto Muirhouse South Junction off the little used link from Larkfield Junction on their way to Crossmyloof to start their next turn. In the foreground is Muirhouse Central Junction. Work at Glasgow Central meant buses replaced trains between Crossmyloof, Pollokshields and Glasgow. The low sun and long shadows suggest an earlier time but the photo was taken at 11am on 29 December 2008.

Aysgarth: First station after Redmire on the lifted section of the Wensleydale line is Aysgarth, near to the famous waterfalls. Closed to passengers in 1954, and freight ten years later, the station is very much intact but private property. The Wensleydale Railway's long term ambition is to extend through here to Garsdale.

Askrigg: Lying just outside the village where the James Heriot TV series was filmed, Askrigg station in Wensleydale, like Aysgarth to its east, was closed in 1954 but is now used as business premises. If the Wensleydale line is reopened to Hawes or Garsdale this will be a superb line to travel on.

Chinley East Junction: A westbound First TransPennine Express service for Manchester enters the cutting between Chinley East and North Junctions on a dull and cold 29 December 2009. East Junction can just be seen behind the rear coach of unit 185127.

Chinley East Junction: An East Midlands service to Manchester passes Chinley East Junction on 29 December 2009 - in a rather more seasonal landscape than is the case in 2011!

Chinley East Junction: A TransPennine Express service from Manchester heads east towards Sheffield through Chinley East Junction on 29 December 2009 in the hands of 2 car Turbostar 170301. The single line to the left leads to Peak Forest on the former Midland Railway route to London from Manchester and is now used by stone trains from the quarries.

Buxworth: A westbound East Midlands Trains Class 158 passes Buxworth on 29 December 2009 with a service to Manchester. The westbound platform and station building still exist, although the platform is overgrown and fenced off. This was formerly a 4 track section between New Mills South Junction and Chinley North Junction, the other two tracks being on the left of the existing lines. I can confirm that it was much colder than it looks with a very strong easterly wind blowing at ten past three on a late December afternoon!

Cardross: Nice to see a bit of variation on the Helensburgh line, livery reminiscent of Pepsi Max displaces the usual rhubarb and custard.

Langbank: A Gourock bound 314213 calls at Langbank on a stopping train from Glasgow Central. This station overlooks the Clyde Estuary, more or less opposite Dumbarton on the north side.

Kemble: HST's in the mist - and not a Sigourney Weaver to be seen. It is refreshing to find a small country station with about 3 trains an hour each way. The train on the right is the 14.50 to Didcot Parkway and that on the left, the 14.30 to Cheltenham Spa - which is running rather late. Notice that the engineer's siding, once part of the GWR Cirencester branch, has its own headshunt!

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury: The branch running north east from the station into MoD Ashchurch, on 29 December 2011. The huge Defence Storage & Distribution Centre at Ashchurch is the MoD's main S&D site for all types of armoured and soft skinned vehicles, as well as bridges, boats, construction equipment and other military hardware.

Toddington: Single car W55003 on the line from Laverton to Hailes Abbey calls at Toddington on 29 December 2011. (This section is currently diesel only due to the landslip earlier this year.)

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury: A northbound CrossCountry DMU entering Ashchurch station on 29 December 2011. The MoD exchange sidings stand in the left background.

Winchcombe: Stanier 8F 2-8-0 running in its Turkish Rail configuration as No. 45160 at Winchcombe on 29 December. Due to landslips, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway is only running steam-hauled services between Winchcombe and Cheltenham (Racecourse) at present.

Winchcombe: Stanier 8F 2-8-0 no 45160 at Winchcombe on 29 December 2011. The line up alongside the GWR Carriage & Wagon Works includes D8137, E6036 and D2182.

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury: Freightliner 66585 brings southbound coal empties through Ashchurch station in December 2011.

Winchcombe: Another image of Stanier 8F 2-8-0 running in its Turkish Rail configuration as No. 45160 at Winchcombe on 29 December 2011.

Buckshaw Parkway: FTPE 185115 passing Buckshaw Parkway on 29 December 2012 heading for Manchester Airport. The site of the former ROF station was just behind the train with the ammunition production to the right and the administration buildings to the left. A mixture of housing, retail, offices and warehousing now covers much of the 928 acre site. See image [[20909]]

Gloucester: Perchance to dream... The red plastic barrier just visible on the left blocks access to the platform where the Sprinter is stabled between duties. In earlier years, it could have travelled to a variety of enticing destinations, like Hereford, Monmouth, or Speech House Road see image [[42595]].

Bo'ness: DC Rail 56312 waits for the signal to move into the loco sidings at Boness on 29 December.

Newent: Scene just East of the station site at Newent, Gloucestershire, where these stone abutments alongside the B4215 still look substantial some 50 years after the closure. The small brick store just visible on the left of the picture looks intriguing.

Bo'ness: Colas 56105 and home-based 47643 pull away from Boness on 29 December with the 11.30 train to Manuel.

Bo'ness: Newly restored 37401 Mary Queen of Scots leads a train into Boness on 29 December, with 47643 and 56105 on the rear.

Bo'ness: 47643 leaves Boness with the 12.30 to Manuel on 29 December 2013.

Bo'ness: The boiler of Hunslet austerity 3818 of 1954, formerly of Comrie Colliery, Fife, undergoes a steam test at Boness on 29 December.

St Helens Central: Looking east across Shaw Street to St Helens Central in December 2014.

Largs: Largs Transport Interchange
Latest innovation - intermodal exchange in Platforms 1 and 2 (old numbering). Need to wait for the floods to arrive. Note the SUN!

Haymarket: Platform 5 is the bar of the Tune hotel opposite Haymarket station. It has this fine mural taking up the whole of one wall. We must allow artistic licence in the liberties taken with geography, and I don't think Maryhill has really declared UDI. There is one glaring fabrication though, and I don't get the reason. Spot it? You can award yourself a round of applause if you also get the connection with Robert Donat.

Tollerton: A large Ainscough scissor crane by Warehill Lane road overbridge work site between Tollerton and the A19 road. A new bridge has been installed, possibly to give W10 gauge clearance on the ECML slow lines, as part of a series of bridge replacement works on five consecutive bridges. Work began initially at both Station Lane, Shipton (by Beningbrough) and Forest Lane, Alne. As well as replacement of this bridge, work is currently being carried out at Chapmans Lane, next bridge south towards Shipton, with work yet to start on the final bridge at Station Road, Tollerton. Each bridge replacement requires a near four month road closure, hence a staggered pattern of work to maintain close to hand diversion routes around the work area.

Tollerton: A view across the work site for the bridge replacement on Warehill Lane, south east of Tollerton on 29 December. The large Ainscough crane was used to remove the old bridge structure, seen to its left, and install its replacement over the four track East Coast Main Line.

Grain Crossing Halt: UK Railtours' excursion to the Grain freight branch passing Grain Crossing Halt as it runs into the terminus at Grain, on 29th December 2016. The line beyond to Port Victoria closed in 1951 and, at the same time, Grain Crossing Halt was replaced by a new station just to the east called simply Grain. However, this only lasted ten years until all services on the line, and the branch to Allhallows-on-Sea that had only opened in 1932, were withdrawn in December 1961. In 1974, a campaign to restore passenger services on the line was started but met with little enthusiasm and was quickly forgotten. However, in the April 2021 edition of Todays Railways, a report states that Medway Council has opened a public consultation into a proposal to again restore passenger services but only on part of the line. This envisages a new station called Hoo, near the site of the former Sharnal Street station, as a new terminus. There are no plans to reopen through to Grain nor to reopen the Allhallows branch.

Woodacre Crossing: The overnight frost has gone from the fields as 37403 Isle of Mull approaches Woodacre with the 2C47 Preston to Barrow-in-Furness service on 29th December 2016.

Moss Side: Next train in.......about a month. Moss Side on 29th December 2017, with the platform padlocked off (but lights on) and a stop light on the tracks on both sides of the level crossing. Blackpool South branch services are scheduled to resume on 29th January 2018 when the Preston to Kirkham line also reopens.

Bay Horse: A pair of Voyagers, on 9S47 New St to Glasgow, meet a Pendolino working 1M09 Glasgow to Euston on the embankment at Bay Horse. 29th December 2017.

Bay Horse: 156425 leads 153363 through Bay Horse with a Northern service from Preston to Windermere on 29th December 2017.

Bay Horse: 37403 Isle of Mull heads the Preston to Barrow train across the embankment at Bay Horse on 29th December 2017. Although a number of Northern drivers have recently been trained on Class 68s it now appears the Class 37s will continue in charge of these trains for the time being.

Santolan [Manila]: It doesn't worry me at all that the Office for Transportation Security exhorts people not to carry pots of paint or car batteries on the Light Rail System. The references to guns and hand grenades are more disturbing. Poster seen at Santolan station.

Santolan [Manila]: A frightfully polite notice at Santolan on LRT Line 2. Notice the maintenance walkway in the background, added since my last visit see image [[37875]].

Craigleith Junction: The Barnton branch (left) parted company from the Caledonian's Leith North line just north of Craigleith station. As with Edinburgh's other railway walks it is well-signposted. Also like similar walks I suspect more people pass here on foot and bike in any given period than ever passed on a train.

Perth: HST Power Car 43141 on the Fuel Road at Perth during the night of 29 December 2018.

Prestonpans: A survivor from a past age, seen at Prestonpans station approach in December 2018. The 100-watt bulb it would have held must once have seemed dazzling compared with the gas lamps it replaced.

Finsbury Park [GNPBR]: South side entrance to Finsbury Park Underground station on Seven Sisters Road, on 29th December 2019. This is now open only on weekdays between 06.45 and 22.00. Before the mechanical rottweilers - sorry ticket gates - were installed just inside the entrance, non passengers wanting to get from one side of the station to the other could use this subway as a short cut. Now they are faced with a lengthy walk around three quarters of the station site, which is also an interchange with National Rail services.

Freshford: I draw three conclusions from this picture. (1) Digital cameras are great at dusk. (2) Freshford station maintains its amazing ability to attract a crowd just before departure time (3) There is no cant deficiency on the Southbound track. The train is the 16.37 to Westbury on 29th December 2019.

Finsbury Park [GNPBR]: New north side entrance to Finsbury Park Underground station, LUL Piccadilly and Victoria Lines, on 29th December 2019. This opened on 17th December 2019, almost a year late and there is still currently no direct access to and from Wells Terrace Bus station. Since 2016 when the original north side entrance closed, bus passengers have had to make a long detour under Stroud Green Road bridge to the Station Place entrance. From what I could see, when the hoarding (behind me when I took this photo) is removed, there will still be a short walk to Wells Terrace for bus interchange (at the moment, a longer walk via Fonthill Road is required) whereas the old north side entrance led directly to and from the bus station to the tube lines. The long sloping subway of the old entrance with its original Edwardian tiles has disappeared for good.

Freshford: All the information you could possibly want, except those trains which do not stop. It looks quite busy, until you realize there is typically 90 minutes between stoppers. Still a good service for a large country village.

Balshaw Lane Junction: Freightliner 70011 passes Balshaw Lane in the winter sunshine with the Hardendale to Tunstead stone train on 29 December 2020.

Bamber Bridge: 156460 crosses the Old Tramroad bridge as it leaves Bamber Bridge, on a Colne to Preston stopper, on 29th December 2020. This is now a public thoroughfare. The Lancaster Canal Tramroad from Preston to Walton Summit was opened in 1803, and had to be bridged when the Preston and Blackburn Railway was opened in 1846. The tramroad closed between Bamber Bridge and Preston around 1854 but the bridge continues in use to this day, albeit with the deck replaced at some point.

Houndwood Siding: The area around this siding just south of Houndwood House on the NBR mainline was evidently used as a storage area for gravel. Apparently the North British Railway was a user of gravel for track ballast in the 1850s. This may seem surprising as there were numerous whinstone quarries to the north east of the line around Coldingham but gravel seems to have been the material of choice. Posted by Charlie Niven. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland see: https://maps.nls.uk/copyright.html

Cadder Yard: Work at Cadder on the 29th of December.

Balshaw Lane Junction: GBRF 66760 takes the Down Slow line at Balshaw Lane Jct on 29 December 2020 with the Avonmouth to Clitheroe (Castle Cement) empty tank wagons. Fortunately for me the train was running nearly 2 hours late so I was able to photograph it during a long circular walk along some very muddy footpaths!

Todd Lane Junction: After closure in 1972 the old line at Todd Lane Junction has been largely handed over as public space and there is little evidence of the former railway. This view looks east in December 2020 with the station site behind the camera. The direct line to Bamber Bridge ran through the wooded area to the left of the rising footpath. Beyond the pond, a post-closure feature, the chord to Lostock Hall and the Ormskirk and Liverpool route curved away.

Whitehouse North Junction: Looking down the hill on the old Lancaster Canal Tramroad near Whitehouse Junction in December 2020. This was actually a slight realignment of the original route with an easier gradient allowing the Penwortham rope incline to be dispensed with. The stone wall on the left is one of the few surviving artefacts of the old double track plateway with the East Lancashire Railway route into Preston, also now a cycle route, on the embankment above. The five mile link between the two canal basins was abandoned in 1854 but this two mile stretch south from Preston has remained available as a public right of way through to the present day.

Whitehouse North Junction: A short section of the old Lancaster Canal tramroad affords access to several properties, in addition to its primary role as a footpath and cycleway. The formal title of 'Old Tram Road' is a nice touch although it was actually a plateway, with flanged rails and plain wheels on the horse drawn wagons. This view is towards Preston from Walton Park on 29th December 2020 and just out of view the tramroad drops down quite steeply towards the River Ribble flood plain.

Walton Summit: Walton Summit, near Bamber Bridge, was the northern terminus of the southern section of the Lancaster Canal. From 1807 to 1854 a double track plateway tramroad provided a link with the main stretch of the canal at Preston Basin. A rope worked incline at Walton Summit was one of three originally on the five mile link and this view from the summit [SD583248], in December 2020, looks down a steep public footpath that follows the old incline before the tramroad route disappears under modern housing and a business park.

Bermuda Park: Lockdown blues were blown away by the sight of 66596 powering up the grade to Bermuda Park. I chose this platform because the freight train could have been blocked by a departure for Leamington on the other platform; but I like the trees on the left balancing out the distinctly man-made warehouse on the right. The light dusting of snow on the plates of the canal bridge makes a change from their usual dark colours. Note for enthusiasts: this is train 456P from Southampton to Birmingham Lawley Street.

Nuneaton Abbey Junction: When it snows in Nuneaton, it usually melts within 2 hours; so its best to catch it while it lasts. My efforts on 29th December 2020 were rewarded with this unusual working - three 66/7s should be able to cope with four unloaded flat wagons. 66731 'Captain Tom Moore' was leading the consist, with 66749 dead in tow; and an absolutely filthy 66735 bringing up the rear. The train originated at Peterborough, lost 2 hours 43 minutes shunting at Leicester, and was nearing the end of its journey to Hams Hall.

Bermuda Park: A solitary passenger awaits the 12.21 to Leamington Spa at Bermuda Park on 29th December 2020. The light dusting of snow made a nice change.