I’m mega late with the update as I didn’t get around to it at the time then I completely forgot about the phots until I was browsing my shots and realised I hadn’t posted them up yet. Western Champion was booked out of Paddington on a charter to Minehead on the West Somerset Railway which coincided with a diesel gala on the line.
The weather was not the greatest but it was my first oppurtunity to phot Champion in her new colours so I decided to head out anyway. I opted for the shot at Shrivenham and was surprised to find I was the only person there. I had misjudged the timings as with a couple of minutes of arriving D1015 belted through looking superb in a very shiny coat of maroon paint!
The return trip was due to stop at Didcot to set down passengers so I popped out to try and grab another shot. It was still remarkably light as Champion arrived at Didcot enabling me to grab a handheld shot. The departure was absolutley fantastic as the driver departed on full bore and it sent a shiver down my spine listening to the exhaust music as she roared away! 
I hadn’t planned to go out today but when the Brentford – Appleford binliner was reported passing Maidenhead and the weather was so nice I decided to head on over to Moreton cutting to catch the return working.
It normally takes just over the hour to deposit the loaded wagons and pickup the empties at Appleford so I had plenty of time before the return working. 66065 was in charge of todays 6A55 Appleford – Brentford empty binliner and was powering hard away from Didcot as it passed me at Moreton.
The forecast was reasonable for the weekend and as there was an empty coaching stock movement due through Didcot early I decided to head out and try and grab some shots. The ECS was running as 5Z82 Crewe – London Victoria with the Northern Belle stock in connection with a tour to the south coast. 67023 and 67025 in top and tail formation were the motive power for the stock move and were held at the signal just out of view to enable a voyager to pass.
During the week I had also noted that the 4M21 Felixstowe – Hams Hall GBRF hauled intermodal was due to be diverted via the Thames Valley again this week. Once I had photted the ECS move I moved a short distance down the line to get in position for the GB liner, luckily it was routed via the station which gives a better shot in my opinion.
As 66710 pulled out of the station and over the point-work I noticed the chance for an interesting telephoto shot so I quickly swapped over to my 300mm lens and moved position to get a shot of the consist snaking around in the background.
As soon as I had fired the telephoto shot I swapped my lens as quick as possible back to my standard lens and just managed to grab another shot of 66710 with a decent length and well loaded intermodal before it disappeared under the bridge! I packed up my gear and was heading back to the car when another intermodal headed north, this time a diverted EWS hauled working from the WCML!
I decided to pass on the Freightliner workings today but I was 90% certain the Avon Binliner should be working as the Bank Holiday this week would need to be caught up. I opted for the shot near Uffington and arrived not long after 12:00 but I had to wait nearly two hours until finally 66514 passed me on 4V60 Calvert – Bath/Bristol and made a cracking shot against the blue sky!
