Part 1 (January - May)

My attempt to reach Bo'ness the following morning made me wish I'd instead headed for a weekend in East Anglia where 47367 and 47596 were in action. Running over two hours late, 67024 is pictured on arrival at Edinburgh with 1S05 0700 ex-Kings Cross - the first train of the day north of Morpeth due to overhead line damage at Pegswood. In tow is the errant 91102, which had failed a mile outside Waverley with a brake fault (02/01/2016)

Day 2 of the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway's WInter Diesel Gala began with 26038 'Tom Clift' at the head of the 0930 from Bo'ness to Manuel (03/01/2016)

Freightliner's 90045 is pictured on arrival at Edinburgh with the previous night's 1S26 2350 Euston - Glasgow. The temporary closure of the WCML at Lamington due to storm damage had seen the train diverted via the ECML, with 86401 handling the first leg as far as the reversal at Wembley. The real highlight however had been the use of 47848+47843 between Doncaster and Newcastle via Hartlepool due to planned weekend engineering work on the main line (09/01/2016)

68014 catches the afternoon sunshine at Marylebone on a bitterly cold day before working Chiltern Railways' 1R33 1310 to Birmingham Moor Street (13/01/2016)

37422 is pictured on arrival at Great Yarmouth with 2P20 1236 from Norwich. I'd been blessed with bright sunshine all the way from London and the heavens had literally opened as I reached the seaside! My previous ride behind this particular locomotive had been back in September 1989 (15/01/2016)

Later that afternoon 37425 'Concrete Bob' waits to depart from Lowestoft with 2J83 1548 to Norwich. This had been my first visit to East Anglia since '37s' had taken over from '47s' on these duties last summer, but as the first turn I went for got replaced by a 'unit' it seems at first glance that they're as unpredictable as ever (15/01/2016)

I'm sure there are supposed to be eight '68s' on hire to Chiltern, but this one has appeared on the same diagram for my second consecutive visit: 68014 waits to depart from Marylebone with 1R33 1310 to Birmingham Moor Street (22/01/2016)

The sun finally broke through somewhere around Banbury, and a particularly grim January day had became quite pleasant by 3pm. 68014 is pictured again at Birmingham Moor Street on the rear of 1H62 1555 to London Marylebone (22/01/2016)

I took the scenic route home, which involved a trip around the Cumbrian Coast with 37423 on 2C48 1156 Carlisle-Lancaster. The loco is pictured at its destination before working 2C31 1731 back to Barrow (23/01/2016)

It's a little on the grainy side but not bad for a hand-held night shot with a phone! 68005 'Defiant' is pictured on arrival at Edinburgh Waverley with 2K14 1815 from Glenrothes (29/01/2016)

87002 'Royal Sovereign' makes an unusual sight in the loco sidings at London Kings Cross whilst waiting to work 5M16 0952 ECS move to Wembley. The 'Highland' (Inverness/Aberdeen/Fort William) Caledonian Sleeper trains are currently running via the ECML and using the LNE terminus instead of Euston to cut down journey times whilst the WCML is closed at Lamington (30/01/2016)

The last time I arrived in Kings Cross on a 'sleeper' service was in May 1988 on the last night such trains ran regularly on the ECML. Freighliner's 90043 is pictured on the blocks after arriving with the previous night's 1M16 2044 from Inverness, which in addition to a weather-related detour via Aberdeen had included a planned diversion via the GN/GE 'joint line' through Lincoln and Spalding utilising 47815+47848 from Doncaster to Peterborough (30/01/2016)

68009 'Titan' stands one of the bay platforms at Birmingham Moor Street after arriving with Chiltern Railways' 1R25 1110 from London Marylebne (30/01/2016)

With the diversion of the 'Highland' Sleepers into Kings Cross well into its third week, 86401 'Mons Meg' is pictured on the blocks in Platform 1 after arriving with the empty stock for 1S25 2120 to Inverness. Given the lack of both daylight and room in my overnight bag I'd opted not to carry my camera around on these moves, and for a hand-held shot with a phone once again this hasn't turned out badly at all (04/02/2016)

68012 heads 1R25 1110 to Birmingham Snow Hill at London Marylebone. A couple of hours earlier I'd arrived in Kings Cross behind 90047 on 1M16, which had again been diesel-hauled between Doncaster RMT and Peterborough via Lincoln and Spalding by 47848+47815 (06/02/2016)

37419 'Carl Haviland' is pictured on arrival at Great Yarmouth the next morning with 2P18 1036 from Norwich (22/02/2016)

Later that afternoon 37419 is pictured again at Lowestoft after arriving with 2J80 1455 from Norwich. I can now add the two Norfolk resorts to a bizarre list of locations including Thurso, Achnasheen, Hadfield, Glossop, Bradford, Ilkley and Seascale where I've sampled this particular machine (22/02/2016)

At the other end of the set was 37405, which is seen here enjoying the sunlight before leading 2J83 1548 Lowestoft - Norwich. In contrast to my previous visit last month, these two machines put in a particularly spirited performance (22/02/2016)

37401 'Mary Queen of Scots' is picured on arrival at Barrow in Furness after arriving at Barrow-in-Furness with Northern Rail's 2C40 0842 from Carlisle. These services booked for loco-haulage are now operating in 'push-pull' mode with a DBSO on the south end of the train (05/03/2016)

37401 is seen again on the next leg of its diagram prior to departure from Whitehaven with 2C45 1138 Barrow - Carlisle (05/03/2016)

33202 'Dennis G Robinson' arrives into Eridge with the 1200 from Tunbridge Wells West during a 'Class 33 Running Day' at the Spa Valley Railway (12/03/2016)

33063 'R J Mitchell' was on the rear of the train and is seen here waiting to depart from Eridge with the 1230 for Tunbridge Wells West (12/03/2016)

Another view of 33202 at Eridge after arriving with the 1200 from Tunbridge Wells West. Unusually the station is shared between main line operator 'Southern' - whose London - Uckfield trains use the platform from which the photo is taken - and the heritage services of the Spa Valley Railway (12/03/2016)

33202 'Dennis G Robinson' waits to depart from Tunbridge Wells West with the 1300 to Eridge. Just visible in the backround is the tower of the former 'British Rail' station which was coveretd for re-use as a restaurant when the line was closed in the 1980s (12/03/2016)