Class 40 locomotives

40012 was one of the exhibits at the 1992 Bescot Open Day which took place on Sunday 30th August. The weather on this occasion wasn't as kind as it was for the May 1990 event, but the sun shone briefly and allowed a few decent photos to be taken. The Deltic is 55015, and the locos just visible on the right are 20092 and 20169, posed on an MGR train in the throat of the Down Yard.
40022 departs from platform 12 at Birmingham New St with a footex. I think this shot dates from the late 1970s, but I have no details for it. It was provided for Aston Villa fans, and was bound for Manchester. The snow is still falling and I recall that the game was postponed and the train didn't reach its destination. I seem to be the only person who's braved the snow, everyone else is staying under cover and doing the "going away" shot.
40055 emerges from the shunt neck at the rear of Saltley depot. This is from memory, but I'm fairly certain that it had arrived off the 4G66 Holyhead - Lawley St freightliner, and would return on 4D58 Lawley St - Holyhead. These trains became Class 47 jobs when the 40s were withdrawn. Holyhead freightliner terminal closed in 1991.
40074 heads south through Bescot. The lack of any bashers' heads suggests that this was an ECS, possibly from Oxley.
An unidentified Class 40 arrives at Bescot with 6G65, the 16:37 Penyffordd - Curzon St cement train. This is almost certainly a late-1970s shot, for which I have no further details. The train was booked a crew-change at Bescot, and from memory was either a pair of 24s/25s, or sometimes a 40 as here.
Very few details available for this shot I'm afraid. A close look at the original scan reveals that the loco is 40128. It's acquired "cross-eyed" dots in the headcode boxes, and is devoid of the bodyside radiator grills that LMR locos carried for most of their lives. 40128 was withdrawn in 1982, and this pic probably dates from about 1979. The train is almost certainly 6H62 Ellesmere Port - Langley Green, and is seen here passing Bescot Junction. It's final destination will be Albright & Wilson.
97406 reverses a short engineers train into the permanent way yard at Fazakerley on a rather dull day, Tuesday 12th August 1986. On the left is the single line from Edge Hill, and to the right of the yard is Aintree racecourse. It's a long time ago, but I must have seen this train in the Edge Hill/Tuebrook area while arriving on the train, surmised where it was going, and hopped onto a unit to Fazarkeley to get this photo. It was the one and only time I ever went there. 97406 was the erstwhile 40135, and its short life in this identity lasted from May 1985 until December 1986. It was subsequently acquired by the Class 40 Preservation Society, and still exists to this day. The land on which the yard stood is now housing I believe.
40145 is seen just west of Crewe at 09:41 on Saturday 4th June 2005. The train is 1Z51 Bristol - Blaenau Ffestiniog, otherwise known as Pathfinder's "Whistling Slater" railtour.
40145 passes Tame Bridge at 08:22 on Saturday 15th May 2010. The train is 1Z40 Crewe - Penzance, en-route to Birmingham International where D1015 was added for the trip to the West Country. This view is from the towpath of the Tame Valley canal, and even from this elevation vegetation eliminates any significant view to the north-west.
Walsall station on the evening of Saturday 7th June 2014, where 40145 stopped for a crew change while working a return 1Z41 Oxford - Rawtenstall charter. The assembled gallery of about 15 souls filled their boots as the loco stood gleaming in the evening sunshine. The train was just about to depart when this shot was taken at 19:24. See also this nice YouTube video (not mine), taken from the same spot as this photo.