Part 1 (January-June)

47814 'Totnes Castle' calls at Cheltenham Spa with 1V39 0640 York - Bristol Temple Meads (08/01/2001)

47817 'The Institution of Mechanical Engineers' awaits departure from Penzance with 1M56 0842 to Manchester Piccadilly (17/02/2001)

Later that afternoon 47848 'Newton Abbot Festival of Transport' restarts 1M40 1150 Plymouth - Crewe away from Bristol Parkway (17/02/2001)

The next morning 47853 is pictured at the head of the SuO 1E32 0955 to York prior to departing from Penzance. The train was today booked via Westbury and Bradford-on-Avon due to engineering work on the main line between Taunton and Bristol (18/02/2001)

47816 'Bristol Bath Road' awaits departure from Plymouth with 1A81 1535 to London Paddington (19/02/2001)

The following afternoon 47846 had charge of 1A81. 'THOR' seen here at Plymouth before heading for the Capital (20/02/2001)

47760 'Ribblehead Viaduct' relaxes at Plymouth before working an afternoon mail train (21/02/2001)

47722 'The Queen Mother' stands at Totnes with 1M50 1150 Plymouth - Crewe. A few minutes earlier I'd been plotting a long-distance move behind the former RES machine, but a loco failure had led to the train being cancelled here (21/02/2001)

Fortunately for me 47832 was only an hour or so away with 1C31 1033 Paddington - Plymouth, and is seen here arriving into Totnes (21/02/2001)

47832 enjoys the afternoon sunshine at Plymouth before working the return 1A81 1535 to London Paddington (21/02/2001)

47750 'ATLAS' awaits departure from Penzance with 1M56 0848 to Manchester Piccadilly (23/02/2001)

Later that morning 47750 is seen again prior to departing Taunton with 1M56 (23/02/2001)

1A81 1535 Plymouth - Paddington had been a regular feature of my moves during my week in the South West, and today produced a fourth different member of the First Great Western fleet. 47830 is seen at Plymouth before heading for London (23/02/2001)

47826 stands at Plymouth after arriving with 1V45 0955 from Crewe - a service that would normally have started back from Liverpool, but a tempoarary timetable was currently in use to accommodate speed restrictions across the network following the previous Autumn's derailment at Hatfield (23/02/2001)

47848 'Newton Abbot Festival of Transport' stands beneath the iconic train shed roof at Bristol Temple Meads with 1E33 1210 to Newcastle.. Unfortunately the train was today terminated at York due to the stock having insufficient mileage to go to Newcastle and back before its next exam was due (10/03/2001)

47848 is pictured again later that evening at Derby with 1M67 1756 Newcaslte - Birmingham, which had started forward from York and had just been cancelled here due to a traincrew shortage. Normally I'd have been on my way home from Sheffield, but 47829 was heading north in place of the booked HST on 1E40 1710 Plymouth - Leeds, so it seemed rude to turn down a few bonus miles (10/03/2001)

An attractive late-afternoon shot using my tripod of 47851 after arriving at Newcastle with 1E33 1120 from Taunton. An amended timetable was in operation today because of the engineering blockade between Taunton and Exeter (23/03/2001)

47812 is seen at Bristol Temple Meads before working 1E33 1210 to Newcastle (14/04/2001)

47741 'Resilient' is pictured on arrival at Newcastle with the SuO 1E25 0920 from Derby. This train wasn't normally booked for a '47' but an amended plan was in place today because of engineering works over the Easter Weekend (15/04/2001)

47762 waits time at Peterborough with Railtourer's 1Z37 0630 Skegness - Canterbury charter, the first '47'-hauled train for several years to use the direct Barkstone East to South Junction curve onto the ECML. Unfortunately the loco was removed here in favour of a '66' on the return journey - which saw several of us return to the east coast resort by taxi (16/04/2001)

Covering for a shortage of DMUs, Freightliner's 47292 waits to depart from Norwich with 2D16 0858 to Lowestoft, a route on which loco-haulage was unheard of at the time (21/04/2001)

On the other end of the set was Fragonset's 47488, seen here waiting to depart from Lowestoft with 2D17 0947 to Norwich (21/04/2001)

Later that morning 47488 is pictured again at Great Yarmouth before working 2P11 1120 to Norwich (21/04/2001)

47292 is seen here in Platform 6 at Norwich before working 2P32 1335 to Great Yarmouth (21/04/2001)