Run-time: 1 hour 40mins approx

In this programme we look back at the British-railera in the mid to late 1980s/early 1990s featuring:

March – a look at action from two visits in July & September 1990. Class 31s dominate the services to be seen – we have them on ballast, parcels, engineering trains & speedlink trip freights. Class 37s are also seen on speedlink services, so too are class 47s in rail blue & Railfreight distribution colour schemes. We include a pair of class 20s on MGR hoppers & a class 52 ‘Western’ & a class 27 on their way to Cambridge open day.

Severn Tunnel Junction – We visit on 5th December 1985. A wide variety of locomotives are witnessed during the course of our stay, such as class 25, 31, 33, 37, 45, 47, 50 & class 56! Oil, steel, MDV coal, Speedlink, MGR, ballast, passenger & parcels trains are just some of the traffic types to be seen.

Worksop – a further round-up of coal train action (we visited the station in Volume 13) in this mega hot-spot for type 5 motive power. We visit the area just as class 58 diesels are entering operations sharing with class 56. We also see pairs of class 20s, as well as class 47s, 31s & 37s on a variety of duties, including 37 130 assisting a failed DMU!

Wellington, Somerset - stand by for a deluge of train services on this mainline to the southwest. Ballast trains are seen with classes 31, 33, 37, 47 & 50 in charge. We also witness Speedlink freight workings with class 47s, Network Coal trains with class 37s & parcels trains with class 47s & 50s. Passenger trains are also seen with HSTs in early blu/grey livery as well as early intercity, loco-hauled passenger trains with class 47s & class 50s at the helm.

Clay Cross – March 1986, July 1987 & July 1988 are the dates when we visited this. Pairs, of class 20s on steel & ballast, 47s on passenger, oil & empty car-train workings, class 37s on steel & ballast, class 31s on empty steel & freightliner & class 56 on coal. With HSTs – & a lone HST power-car – making up the rest of the traffic types to be seen: this is a real blast from the past!