Great Western Coffee Shop

Each day in December, I'll be posting a picture of a rail subject for members to identify by location, talk about when they thought it was taken, and discuss related subjects. Many thanks to Phil Wakely for providing pictures; only Phil and I know where each was taken (and only Phil knows the "when").

Anyone jump in and identify ... rather that confirming you have it right, I'm proposing to leave that somewhat hanging for a final reveal on Christmas day though some at least will be pretty clear right away.   Not a prize quiz, no limit on numbers of posts in the thread - a good chance to have a bit of fun and in many cases to play the "I remember when" card.

Let's start

1st December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q01.jpg)

The steep valley sides and the deciduous trees, a double track line on old GWR territory. Two possibilities come to mind; Somewhere around Liskeard or Bodmin Road, or in the upper Stroud Valley around Chalford.

Somewhere Chalford or Thrupp-ish way was my immediate thought too.Not by any means sure though. As for when, I'd guess 1980s?

Beside Claverton Pumping Station (where the K&A canal is fed from water pumped from the River Avon in the Limpley Stoke Valley).
Between Bathampton Junction and Freshford.
Guess a BTM to Weymouth service, sometime in the 1980s.

St Mary's Crossing , Stroud Valley line, Swindon to Gloucester stopper 1970's

Looks familiar. Is it the Island of Sodor?

Well, I don't think it's Taunton ...  :P ::)

It's pretty fair to conclude it's a local train somewhere on what would probably have been the Western Region of British Railways at the time - a time when I (like many other people) used the train far less than today - and yet I'm struck that so many of the pictures show 3 car trains where today they might be 2 cars. Seems almost back to front in terms of the railway matching supply and demand. (Yes I am aware that more trains now run in many / most places ...)

I'd go with the Avon Valley. Building looks to be made of Bath stone.

The fact it's on an embankment is troubling me with regard to my previous answer.

Here's one for today.  Not giving anything away, I don't think, if I say "a little further away" - though perhaps this could be a "back from the future" picture of how Exeter will look in 2029  ;D

2nd December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q02.jpg)

I don't think it's Germany although its looks like a varient of an ICE3 plus the architecture and O/H seems wrong.

I have a feeling Spain use Siemans trains on their high speed lines (standard gauge)  so I would suggest Barcelona High Speed station.  The architecture could also be Spanish.

For 2nd December:

That's a Russian 'Sapsan' ('Peregrine Falcon') Siemens Velaro.

I'll take a stab at Moskovsky Station, St Petersberg.

For 1st December:

In fact, after judicious use of Google Earth and Google Images, I'll go one stage further and concur with InTheSidings. Claverton User Worked Crossing next to Claverton Pumping Station.

Russia is my guess for that (before I'd even seen Bignose Mac's answer ^ but I'm not going to guess a station). It's the stripes, the appearance of the passengers (on the platform) and something about the lettering, though we can't quite see enough to say it's Cyrillic.

No. 1 I agree that it is definitely the foot crossing at Claverton Pumping station in the Avon valley.

No.2 is a Russian ICE-derivative.  It is a high speed train so I think that would place it on the high speed route between Moscow and St Petersberg.  And the weird looking (but actually rather elegant) OLE support posts and the distinctive roof suggests that the train is at the Moscow terminus Passazhirskaya

I'll change my mind now having studied the platform canopies at both Moskovsky Station, St Petersberg and Moscow Passazhirskaya, Moscow. I think Tim is right. The 'Sapsan' is in Moscow.

Yep, 2 for 3 was the policy under 'sprinterisation". Though don't forget that the mid eighties was somewhat of a nadir in terms of the railway, and that was the only way which BR could justify eliminating the life expired (and more) 1st generation dmu stock.

3rd December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q03.jpg)

3rd December 2015:

PhilWakely  ;D

And you're going to be suggesting it was taken at Wake's Colne next ;D

No 3 is not easy.  The concrete sleepers and yellow lines suggest a main line.  The red on the shelter perhaps suggest West Yorkshire PTE area, but I give up!

I have no idea but I'll have a go at No.3:

Tir-Phil
Wakefield Kirkgate
Lydney

Alas, none of them is easy, Tim ...  ;)  (well, I don't think so!) ... but I would agree that I looked at No. 3 when I first saw it and thought it might prove to be one of the harder of a quite hard bunch.

I was thinking it was an electrified line but the wires in the picture are actually National Grid transmission lines not OLE.

Whilst this one is probably the hardest to identify, a clever search of the good old interwebby thing should help with clues from the picture. Just this once, however, I will post an extra picture from this location.......

(http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww255/PhilWakely/Pic_3a_zpskut2zusa.jpg)

Completely out of thin air and no idea but could it be Newark Castle

If it wasn't for the fact that I can read the word Departures on the noticeboard, I'd have said somewhere in moderately Eastern Europe, about 1994.

Remember that in the Ruritanian langauge, the word 'Information' is spelt "Departures". The lack of accents normally seen on the word is due to it being used in the passive neuter case.  :)

Ah, you're forgetting that the orthographic reform removing those accents did not take effect until 1998. Therefore, I call bzdura!

I think there are one or two clearer clues in this one ... perhaps as easy as no. 3 is hard?

4th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q04.jpg)

Is that the extra picture to help us identify 'Ruritania'* or is it the next place?

*'First' is an acronym formed from the Ruritanian for 'Fast Sleek Silent', here used in the masculine nominative applying to the train and clearly after the spelling reform came in.

It's to help you identify Ruritania, a.k.a. .... oops - nearly gave it away  ;D

Today's picture is as early as yesterday's was late  - "personal reasons" - hopefully back online this evening.

5th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q05.jpg)

No 5 Peak District !.

OLE wires look non standard - how about somewhere on the Woodhead route?

I'll go for Pinhoe for No.4

No.5 - Crewe in the late 1970s early 1980s.

I don't think Pinhoe is "mainline" enough.  Online images suggest it has wooden sleepers and no yellow platform lines.

As an ex-Glossopian I concur with you re the OLE (good spot)  The Woodhead route does have that kind of support (very robust they are too in all weathers).  However, I have travelled the remaining Manchester-Glossop/Hadfield line many times and also walked the route to the Tunnels and I don't recognise that wall.  SO if you are right and it is the Woodhead route, I would say that it must be East of Woodhead station.

I think 4th December is somewhere down on the coast of Ruritania, or failing that Cornwall or Devon seaside. Dawlish Warren?

4 has a white-on-black rather than black-on-white platform number sign, which makes me think SWT territory rather than GWR...

I was thinking East as well.

Before Graham posts number 6, just a quick roll back to number 3.................. For those of you with Ruritanian blood, the place featured in number 3 probably sold more platform tickets at the time the picture was taken than it did travel tickets  :-X

Me also.

With that clue it was now just a Wiki away.  3=Llanfair P.G.  Feels like cheating :)

PS. Indeed I have one which reads LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH and is about 5 inches long. Meaning, in the local M^nian dialect {future imperative} 'Welcome to Anglesey and we hope you have a great time on our beautiful island'. This of course applies to the down platform. The sign on the up platform - pictured - translates as '... we hope you have had ...' {past imperfect}. The subtlety in spelling is usually lost on English speakers.

Ah yes! - well it might have done if there was anywhere to buy one. I was there in the summer.

It is Llanfairpwll Station aka Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysilio-gogogoch.

Oxenhutch just pipped me to it while I was typing. I didn't need wiki as I had my own photo

Hopefully you'll feel much more satisfied if yu can get this one just from the image and perhaps a few discussions ...

6th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q06.jpg)

The 6th  of December I've got the tea shirt.

It's a Taieri Gorge Mitsubishi DJ class Bo-Bo-Bo 672kW ex NZR in probably in Dunedin station.

Note like most NZ stations Dunedin has one long platform only.

5th December

How about Sheffield Victoria after rationalisation after closure of the through route.

I concur, but it would be much easier to tell (if you know it or have been there) if the frontage of the Station was shown - it's very impressive.

I thought Sheffield Victoria was on to of an embankment and had stone walls.  The brick wall in the picture looks like a retaining wall. 

Image no. 7 will be posted this evening ... technical issure here, not forgotten.

7th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q07.jpg)

As that one is very clearly not Taunton ( ;D ), I did a bit of digging on t'internet.  ::)

I now know where it is, for certain, but will let others have a go first.  :-X

No.7: Wootton Ground Frame, Isle of Wight Steam Railway

There is a very similar one at Kingscote on the Bluebell Railway:
(http://www.thelinetohoneywell.com/photographs/kingscotetempbox.jpg)

Just a brief reminder of the OP...

The fact that the ground frame has a substantial wooden shelter over it prompts me to asks, what makes a ground frame different to a signal box?

My assumption was that one of the criteria was that the ground frame was not permanently staffed and was operated by train crew.  If that is the case, then why are these ground frames built with a substantial "shed" over them?  Is this simply because they are on a preserved railway where posting a signaller at every ground frame allows more volunteers to participate in playing trains? 

The other noticeable feature of course is that these buildings are at ground level which means that they don't have interlocking underneath them.  Presumably they are operated under the supervision of a "proper" 'box which will give a "release" to the ground frame to allow the points to be operated.   

And presumably that's the origin of the name.  If a modern signalling centre was built at ground level (i.e. was a bungallow) with all the electronics in a room alongside rather than below, it could (presumably) be called a ground frame too.

That appears to be the case:



How unkind!

There's a reasonable explanation of how signalling has developed at Kingscote at http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/signalboxes.html ; in essence the little cabin is temporary and is in the process of being replaced by the proper box at the north end of the loop platform.

8th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q08.jpg)

Ground Frames are not normally manned and are operated by station staff or train crew dependent on location.  I think the name may come from the fact that the lever frame is located at ground level rather than being elevated in a signalbox.

No.8 Flitwick. Class 317/1 Bedpan unit entering Up Slow platform. Mid to late 1980s.

Yes, except a modern centre wouldn't be a "frame" which I assume means the thing that holds a load of levers

I never said there was anything wrong with "playing trains".  Basically, I am jealous.

8th looks a little bit like Bedminster, but isn't!

9th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q09.jpg)

No.9 - Shrewsbury station Up Side at London End.  Class 52 (Western Diesel Hydraulic) loco standing on the Up Main line. Probably late 1960s/early 1970s.

Severn Bridge Junction Up Main Home signals to the right of the loco: Signal No.5/6 on the left hand doll and Signal No.14/15 on the right hand doll.  Showing changing responsibility for maintenance etc. over the years as the signal dolls and arms are GWR/WR construction but the main post and bracket are LNWR construction.

Brute parcels trolley on the platform.  Bay Platform No.6 track in the foreground.

No, thats not me in the anorak and gricing (for the youngsters on the forum thats number taking) :P

I'll get my hat and coat....... ;)

Early 1970s  as the western in the picture has had the D removed or blacked out from the Cabside No plate.

I feel the photo is deserving of a caption competition.  How about "In the light of recent terrorist threats, Network Rail trials its latest security measures"

No, it doesn't - and it isn't.  :o ::) ;D

Agreed. The lineside is far too tidy for it to be Bedminster.

Which should perhaps be renamed Buddleiaminster.

Uxbridge English dictionary:

Buddlia: Network Rail's favourite shrub.

10th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q10.jpg)

Is it just me, or do all of those figures on the platform in the 10 December picture look like Hornby 00 scale plastic models, glued in place?  ::) :P :-[

Showing on the forum under a thread on Oxford Station, but I suspect a guess at the location for picture No. 10


I suspect that there was some double posting of threads yesterday and some tidying up late at night, and in that tidy up activity the suggestion for picture no 10 (?) got deleted from this thread - sorry about that!

No.10 - Where's the signalmans bike?........ ;)

The train in the left-hand platform is a lot bigger than anything I'd expect on that line. And it's got what looks like a full-length kitchen car.

Either that or illustrations from a Ladybird book!

By the way, that one's definitely not Bedminster or anywhere in Eastern Europe.  ;)

11th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q11.jpg)

No.11 - Silk Mill (Crossing) at Taunton looking east (CfN will be pleased ::)).  Westbound HST.  Photograph taken from overbridge that replaced the former level crossing.  Running lines (left to right): Up Main, Down Main, Up and Down Relief.

Silk Mills, Taunton. From the road bridge that replaced the level crossing.


EDIT: Ahh, damn. Beaten to it by SandTEngineer.

FURTHER EDIT: A history of the Silk Mills link road, the level crossing and the bridge replacement: http://www.tauntontrains.co.uk/MEMORIES-SILKMILL.htm

Sorry BNM.  We must have been typing at the same time.  I pressed the post button 58 seconds before you did ;) :P

I have had been fortunate to have worked all over the UK in my 45 year career in S&T engineering so will hopefully spot any site especially if it has a signal or set of points etc. in it ;)

As a kid I spent many hours sitting in cars in queues at that level crossing. Used to go fishing nearby too, as well as muck about in the WW2 'Taunton Stop Line' pill box next to the crossing. I think that may technically have been trespassing on railway land but the pill box was accessible from wasteland next to the road, not fenced off in any way.

....and just to add to No.11 the signal (back of) that can be seen in the distance was commissioned as SM322 on 12 May 1986 and was temporarily controlled by Silk Mill signal box until control of the Taunton area was transferred to Exeter panel when it then became E322 as it is today ;)

12th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q12.jpg)

Whimple; looking from Dpwn platform towards Honiton

A pole route, a goods yard, a trailing crossover and a train with a proper tail lamp - memories!

Mid 70's early 80's? "Way out" looks a little too modern for the scene.

The "Rail Alphabet" typeface was adopted in 1965, though it may have taken a while to spread to such minor stations. I'm sure it did look modern, in situ, and in some ways it still does. But maybe it's more that stations looked then as if they belonged in a much earlier age, and in many cases they still do. 

45 year career in S&T engineering[/quote]

I now realise that you are an S&T engineer, rather than Sand T Engineer....!  ::)

Well nowdays I really am a Signal Engineer by trade rather than a Telecomunications Engineer (formerly known as Telegraph Engineer).  I did a lot of training in the Telegraph part of the role and climbed a few telegraph poles in my early years as a result, and yes, the telegraph was still used in those days ;).

Anyway, back to the quiz.  I agree that No.12 is Whimple but taken after 11 June 1967 as it looks as though the line is singled (using the former Down Line). The crossover in the distance was worked from Whimple East Ground Frame (there being a similar crossover at the West end worked from, yes you guessed it, Whimple West Ground Frame). Both connections allowed access to the goods yard.  Whimple ground frames were located in the signalling section between Pinhoe and Honiton signalboxes.

Interestingly, at this time Crannaford level crossing (between Whimple and Pinhoe) still consisted of manual gates worked by a crossing keeper.  Of course the new station called Cranbrook opened near there today (13 December 2015) and the level crossing was converted to AHB some time ago :D

13th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q13.jpg)

Paignton looking towards Paignton South/Kingswear

It's Allways good to see a picture of any western on here  Thankyou .

May not be the last one  :-X  :-*  8)

PS - This (https://www.flickr.com/photos/pwakely/albums/72157653685596576) may satisfy your craving, whilst NOT helping with any past or maybe future picture clues  ;D

Aye, Champion. As a previous quizmaster of some Renown I congratulate our latest Challenger, PhilWakely. I've been Empressed (yeah, that one's a bit dodgy :P) by the knowledge of others. I trust others are in Consort.

Thank you PW for taking up the quiz Gauntlet. I'll continue to Monitor this one daily. I will admit though to some Reliance on the web (using Google Chrome, not Internet Explorer) to find answers.

This quiz is an excellent Enterprise. Glory be. Hussar!

As someone who also can be a bit of a Firebrand, somewhat Cavalier in attitude, I am happy to take plaudits from such an Advocate and one-time Prefect, but maybe not quite a Pioneer of this excellent forum. Maybe, whoever picks up the Gauntlet for the next one will be another forum Stalwart with a rating of Hero or better. 

Still a few more Western names to get in!

Lord yes! But folk might think we are starting to talk a load of Bulwarks. Best not let it Dragoon too much longer.

And, if we are not careful, the forum Governor and Guardsman might get his Ruler out and banish this topic from his Empire / Dominion

Yes: apologies from me - that might well have been me, trying to tidy up an apparent double post.  :-[

oops - a thread Invader with the above post  :o

14th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q14.jpg)

14 Mid Hants Railway I think .

Too wet for Ruritania, otherwise it could have been the Macedonia and Hertzegovina Railway.  :)

Despite the slightly damp conditions, had you not spotted the hugely popular Ruritanian signalman, Miroslav Hristofor Ristovski, in his personalised hiviz  :D

Oh, I thought it was Mark Hopwood, Railwayman, getting some on-the-ground experience during a recent strike.

Great fun going through the abbreviation sites - "Mobile Home Resident" and "Mule Headed Republican" came up for me ... but that doesn't look like Donald Trumf to me, nor Sarah Palin. But, sure, we should have blanked out "MHR" - the picture, of course, is the Midland Highland Railway which opens in the summer of 2029 from Cromford Wharf to Higher Buxton ... following the model of the Welsh Highland Railway and encouraged by the Derbyshire Government which was formed in summer 2020 when Derbyshire broke away from the rest of England, not prepared to stay under p.m. Corbyn. This picture supplied to Phil by Marty McFly.

That explains the bi-mode* in the photo: it's the Modernised Hybrid Railway.

*Steam power and will power.

15th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q15.jpg)

Aberystwyth, early 1970's .

16th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q16.jpg)

I can remember catching the 18:58 Aberystwyth to York train in the 1970s ... looked very much like this .. and connecting onto the Edinburgh to Colchester at York.    The train from Aberystwyth ran via Reddish South and Denton (not stopping) so I can claim to have used a train there, though asleep at the time I'm sure.

16 reminds me of Alice Springs (NT, Australia) and the Ghan which I enjoyed some years ago. Highly recommended.

Re Redddishand Denton now the one train one way per week, in the early sixties just after electrification to Manachester it could be quicker to get to Sheffield (Victoria) via Stockport and Guide Bridge and Woodhead. Using that line which at that time had a regular service. I used it several times.

I also used the Manchester Central to Marylebone night train which used the link round to Reddish Depot and Guide Bridge. It was as good as the sleeper you usually got a compartmetn to yourself and got some sleep.

Whilst I do have a "cheat sheet" from Phil, I haven't looked this up to confirm or deny the location.  But I was thinking that perhaps we should do a "Christmas list" thread / poll of lines we would like to ride on given a free-range holiday anywhere around the world.


And I think that quietness may be the reason that train - and others from Manchester to Marylebone - cease running.   

Whilst I quite like "a compartment to myself" (or the modern equivalent) sometimes, these days I see it very much more as an underutislised resource and potentially a financial drain on 'the system'.    Most of the trains we surveyed for TransWilts last weekend and Monday were pleasantly busy (and I would describe 6 journeys as "unpleasantly busy"), with only two or three in the "compartment to myself" category.   The train managers for the most part were / are delighted with the cheerful busyness ("isn't this good") with one solitary train manager taking the opposite view.  In response to my "goodness this train is quiet" I got the answer "yes, and that's how I like it" ...

17th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q17.jpg)

That'd be Seaton Junction station.

Great Malvern on the downside?

I would concur with Seaton Junction

18th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q18.jpg)

18th. That'd be Bracknell.

Maybe ... also looking for dates and comments, remember!

Wouldn't know the date and don't have much, if anything, to say about Bracknell.  :P

19th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q19.jpg)

"Do not lean out of the window"!

In my day, they used to say "Do not clean soot off the window"

How about the Tavy Bridge between on the LSWR line between St Budeaux and Bere Ferrers. 

Obviously before the line was singled. 

No.19 - Tay Bridge, Dundee.  Class 47 approaching. Possibly early to mid-1980s?

Typical. Probably that will be the only place I know well, and might even recognise, and it comes and goes while I'm busy doing something else.  

As it happens, I do know when I was first there - 17th December 1976. I had come for an interview with Ferranti (remember them?), unsuccessfully. My recollections of that day are, to say the very least, a bit sketchy. I would not have been there again until nearly 20 years later - and I suspect the picture was taken in that interval.

As usual, one of the subjects we talked about was what the place was like to work in and live near. My interviewer came out with the classic line (at least as far as Bracknell is concerned) "Bracknell itself is an absolute tip, but there are some quite nice places not far away".

At that date it was of course all pretty new - and the station was very new indeed. Now that 1960s centre is a building site, and after "regeneration" will emerge, dousing its plumage, as "The Lexicon". I'm sure there must be some kind of pun in that name, but I'll need to find somewhere to look it up ...

Looks more likely than my guess

No.18 shows a Class 422 (4-Cig) unit built in 1970 on a Waterloo to Reading service.......I think :P

......and if that is the case then the blanked out headcode is either 36, 37, 38 or 39 depending on time of day and route that the train took between Barnes and Feltham ::) http://www.semgonline.com/headcodes/eheadcodes/eheadcodes01.html

Bracknell, quite coincidentally, is my 'day job' head office distribution depot. :-X

20th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q20.jpg)

Tiverton Jn with a down Express at the Taunton end.
Specially note the fine lineside Telegraph pole route ..something that is now very rare anywhere on the old BR system.
Possibly one of the longest stretches of surviving lineside telegraph pole route was in 2014 fond (and may still be) for about 20 miles on the central part of the Aberdeen to Inverness line.

Nice try at blanking out all those train headcodes.  The one in No.20 is probably 1C11....... ::)

On this occasion (and maybe others  :-X ) that is an incorrect answer  :P

Tut tut, should know my 1970s headcode areas a bit better....1B11 then, and the photograph was taken before 01 January 1976:P

Summer Saturday reliefs? (and looking at the weather conditions - it must have been a Summer Saturday  :D

21st December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q21.jpg)

Hereford. Dunno about date and time.

I'd say Hereford too.

And it's my favourite Class 43 power car - 43003 Isambard Kingdom Brunel

It can't be very recent - there's blue sky in the photo...

OK, back to signalling then...... ::).  No.20 shows Tiverton Junction as posted earlier by AMLAG.  The train is on the Down Main.  The lines here were (West to East); Back Platform (Tiverton Branch); Up Platform Line; Up Main; Down Main; Down Platform Line; Bay Line (Hemyock Branch).  The signal in the distance is the Up Main Starting signal worked by lever No.122 in Tiverton Junction signalbox sited at the Exeter End of the Up Platform behind the photographer.  This had an 125 lever mechanical frame.

Tiverton Junction signalbox was closed on 01 March 1986 and the area was resignalled and controlled by Exeter Panel with just the Main Lines, Up and Down loop lines (the former Platform Lines), the Down Sidings (at the West End) and one facing and one trailing crossover (at the East End) left in situ.

Tiverton Junction station closed on 11 May 1986.  The replacement (current) Tiverton Parkway station was opened the following day and is built on the site of the former Sampford Peverell station closed on 05 October 1964.

I thought you might like it  ;)

....err.  There are no leaves on the trees......... ::)

I hope that one is preserved, including the nameplates, along with a few other members of the class and some mrk3s to run with them.

Hear, Hear! Just name 43002 'Sir Kenneth Grange' to honour the HST designer and retain 43002/3 in preservation as a pair.

I would be pretty sure that some HSTs would make it into preservation, based on the history of larger classes.  Being able to have them run as they were in their prime (at up to 125 m.p.h, in 2+8 formation) might be a bit of an ask.  Although they've got pretty good route availability, 2+2 from Lydney to Parkend, each car in a different livery and with paint flaking, would be a sad shadow of their former glory.

No.20 was taken well before October 1975 as the M5 motorway embankment would be in the right background ;)

22nd December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q22.jpg)

No.22 - OK, nobody else has responded so I'll have a wild guess.  Somewhere in the Avon Valley (Wiltshire) near Melksham or in the Vale of Pewsey :P :-\

without saying yay or nay to either of the above suggestions.... if it helps narrow down the location, this photo was taken at the same location exactly 7 days prior to and about one hour after the service shown in the main picture
(http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww255/PhilWakely/dec22_alternative_zpsh1qtqea0.jpg)

I think 22nd is between Combe Mill and Hanborough Park Lane, looking over towards Combe East End. But I could well be wrong!

No.22 - Wherever it is I can now see its a single line so not Vale of Pewsey at least.......... :P

It is actually double track, the diesel is at the front whilst the Battle of Britain is coasting backwards  ;)

Ah yes.  I can see the tail lamp on the Buillied Pacific.  Back to my original guess then that its the Vale of Pewsey........ ::)

Again, without giving a Yay or Nay to this guess........ As it is Christmas and I suspect nobody will pinpoint this location precisely, I could post another photo clue, but that would give it away too easily  ::) so, a simple statement (which will probably make it just as easily identifiable) relating to the original picture 22 ............... "I believe that at least one prominent Trans Wilts member is on board the HST"

Add that statement to the fact that the steam train is necessarily travelling in reverse should help  ;)

Aha.  Is the HST the Weymouth Wizard shown somewhere south of Dorchester? :o

So possibly Upwey Bank?

Could the tower-crane just visible in the second pic be associated with the construction of the overbridge on the Weymouth relief road?  In which case that would date the photo to around 2009 I believe, but that in turn would significantly predate the HST Weymouth Wizards I think, so the mystery continues    :-\

Some of the locos on steam excursions to Weymouth have reversed to Yeovil for turning in the past IIRC and travelled in both directions at the head of the train, but looks like this wasn't planned on this occasion, or perhaps the schedule was changed?

I'll stick my neck out and say it was a Summer Saturday  :)

Could it be taken from the A354 just to the south of Winterbourne Monkton, about one of Dorchester. If so the bridge over the road to Winterbourne Herringston can be seen to the front of the train

Came Bridge (halt) opened in 1905, renamed Monkton and Came later that same year.
The halt was by the bridge mentionein my previous post

No.22 - I'm a bit confused about the two photographs.  If they were taken 7 days apart why can't the tower crane be seen in the first one ::) :P

Perhaps the photographer's position was slightly different. The tower crane maybe behind the trees in the first picture. Just a couple of inches difference in position can lead to large differences in the relative position of objects the further into the  distance they are.

This is known as parallax (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax).

Yes, I considered that a possibility but thought that at least part of the crane would be visible.  Anyway, back to the quiz...........

For the record  :) the picture of the steam special was taken about 50 yards into the field [with the farmer's permission] as he was collecting up the hay bales. I had to stand at the entrance gate for the HST as the gate had been padlocked shut. The position inside the field is also about 4 feet higher than the gate, so there will be subtle differences. Then there will be differences caused by the different focal lengths of the lenses used.

23rd December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q23.jpg)

23rd Looks like Colorado. A replica (?) of a "Galloping Goose" which saw extensive use on the Denver and Rio Grand 3' lines in the Colorado rockies. Which bit of preserved line it is I'm not sure.

Graham Lee has built one for his "Garden Railway" at Statfold Barn.

Silverton at the end of the preserved DRGW branch?  Too much snow to get all the way to the end last time I travelled on the railway (2008), but did the complete journey way back in 1979 but don't remember the Goose.  Train terminated in the main street of Silverton in those days - might still do today - or at least this coming summer!

Another one to be recommended.

Durango and Silverton Railroad (http://www.durangotrain.com)

Big "Thank you" to Phil Wakely for all the pictures and for all his background work in feeding them through to us and in giving us such fun looking at them.   I have a "cheat sheet" with locations and year and month of pictures which I'll publish here on Christmas day - in the meantime, enjoy yourself on Christmas eve with these two final pictures!

24th December 2015
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q24.jpg)

Christmas Bonus
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/adv15q25.jpg)

No.24 and Bonus - I'll have a wild guess at Severn Tunnel Junction (Down Side) and Exeter Central, but probably way out :P

My guess for that last image would also be Exeter Central.

Possibly a diverted service during the flooding in early 2014.

At least one of the above is not correct  :P  :-X  ;)

OK.  My final wild guess for No.24 is Swindon (Up Side, West End) and not Severn Tunnel Junction :P ::)

.....going off to have a few glasses of xmas sherry now  ;)

In which case it is the lights from Swindon Town FC that is visible over the op of the trains

Swindon upside west end with the prototype I-C 125 HST.. early 1970's .a typical unwashed Parcels Van, a former LMS BG, in the sidings which still survive.

Bonus pic is at Exeter Central east end with an HST on the Up line.

If HST is at Swindon, possibly platform 1 London bound?

I would just like to say how impressed I have been with the knowledge shown by a number of participants during the last 24 days. Whilst Graham will be publishing the answers tomorrow, there are a couple where I actually didn't know the precise name of the location and learned from the responses given!

I hope you have enjoyed this little diversion and as I will not be near an internet connection tomorrow, I would just like to wish everybody a Happy Christmas and hope all is well for you in the New Year.

No it would have to be platform 3 otherwise the lights from the County ground would not be visible in the background - which they are

They don't look like proper floodlights do they? The County Ground was equipped with lights early - 1951 - and there are loads of pictures from 1969 (the year Swindon won the League Cup) the show big square modern-looking banks of lights. And anyway, isn't the ground a bit too far from the station for two (or more) lighting mast to be that far apart?

They look more like industrial lighting to me, and quite likely a big goods/marshalling yard. Of course they've all gone now, so I've no idea where that one might have been.

PS:   Er, um ... that picture was of Wembley, of course, and I can't find one of the County Ground. But I still don't see a set of (probably) four stadium lights.

The answers ...

1 between Freshford and Bathampton Junction (Claverton foot crossing)  -   April 1976
2 Moscow Passazhirskaya   -  June 2012
3 Llanfair PG ^ August 1991
4 Pinhoe ^ February 2014
5 Crewe ^ June 1978
6 Dunedin (NZ) ^ November 2010
7 Wootton IOW ^ August 1989
8 Flitwick ^ August 1987
9 Shrewsbury ^ May 1973
10 Nairn ^ June 1978
11 Taunton ^ July 2015
12 Whimple - March 1971
13 Paignton ^ May 1971
14 Alresford ^ April 1987
15 Aberystwyth ^ May 1973
16 Katherine (Australia) ^ November 2009
17 Seaton Junction ^ April 2009
18 Bracknell ^ March 1978
19 Tay Bridge (Dundee) ^ June 1978
20 Tiverton Junction ^ April 1974
21 Hereford ^ April 2015
22 nearest station Dorchester (South or West) ^ September 2015
23 Silverton (Colorado) ^ May 2013
24 Swindon ^ October 1976
25 Exeter Central ^ February 2011

All pictures from Phil Wakley - many thanks for a really interesting quiz, Phil ... a remarkably wide selection of dates and locations.  And what a remarkably knowledgable membership we have too, with nearly every picture quickly and accurately identified, with a great deal of background in some instances too. Thank you, one and all!

I went for platform 1 as the train seemed to be on a curve (other platforms are straight). Then I found this!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pwakely/5747838406

There's actually another give-away - Signal Point was built in 1972, and would barge its way into pretty well any view from platform 3. I also did find that missing picture of the County Ground showing its lights, in Swindon Library's huge heap of images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal/6424305767. Oddly, perhaps, there were not a lot of images of the railway works and none that show those spindly floodlights.

I would not barge its way into a photo taken from either end of platform 3 looking East.  I am a little confused by the picture in the previous photo on flickr which is clearly taken from the opposite platform which I assumed was demolished when signal point was built.  There was a parcels platform retained, but I would have thought that would not be accessible. 

Update:

I have no looked further in Phil's flickr stream and see that the spindly lights were in deed somewhere in the works so it was platform 1.

And sadly, it looks as though Signal Point will be part of the view for many years, as it is going to be converted into flats (sorry, luxury apartments).  Even worse, I understand there is no plan to change the external appearance.

Wonder how long before the railway starts to have restrictions imposed because of the proximity of 136 residential properties. For a start, those platform announcements will start to get a bit irritating after a while...

For interest, this location has featured in the Bath Chronicle over recent days.

The original story related to the increased usage during the recent spell of hot weather as people used the crossing to access Warleigh Weir on the River Avon, with many leaving with less belongings than they arrived with, it would sadly appear.

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/news/bath-news/network-rail-confirms-ferry-lane-129361