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3500 tonne coal trains double-headed and banked were the highlights of this line which extended south from Baotou. The others are just QJ shots which have no particular home.

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Only 5 Western groups ever got to visit this highly militarised area in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region . Our lady guide's father had been on the Long March with Mao in 1949 ,so we were treated very well, although there were 7 of them looking after 6 of us.
JS's had worked the line some years previously when the area was closed to all visitors...what a thought !..but despite the switch in motive power and although I was there for only a brief 3 days, it was without doubt one of my favourite lines.What a shame steam finished just 6 months after our trip.

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Some people were overwhelmed by the majesty of the QJ's ,while others delighted in the miniature world of the C2's,and nowadays still, the followers of industrial steam have their SY's. For me though ,there's only one class of Chinese Steam Locomotive which beats all the others hands down....
Welcome to my collection of JS pictures.

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A very small collection this from my earliest Peak photting attempts to more up to date shots which don't fit elsewhere.

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This collection will contain pictures which don't fit readily into any of the others.

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Provided you have nice scenery and a variety of freight ,there's no reason at all why the new GM locos shouldn't make pleasing pictures.

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The North Wales Coast has been photographed extensively, so this collection will be quite selective.
Despite its nearness to my mum's home, I still have only half a dozen pictures taken in Cheshire. Although the Stanlow Shell refinery traffic has been lost, the county still retains a number of interesting workings. Maybe I'll get there one day to capture what's left.

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Shropshire.. County of my birth.. in the late 1980's and early 1990's, gave good opportunities to record a variety of loco-hauled workings ,both passenger and freight , in pleasant if not spectacular scenery. Apart from the late Geoff Bannister ,with whom I spent many enjoyable afternoons ,I mostly had the place to myself.

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1 PICTURE ADDED 23RD NOVEMBER

I always felt a sense of defeat when bad weather in the hills or steep valleys drove me down to the main line ,but in fact ,there were quite a number of interesting workings to observe and a few interesting locations if you were prepared to seek them out. There are no Newport or Cardiff station shots ,sorry !

You will also find the odd Class 56/60 picture taken on this line amongst the 56 and 60 collections, and one or two pictures of 37's in the new " Class 37's in South Wales " book published by Train Crazy.

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The majority of my West Highland pictures were taken on small group visits ,so most of my shots from the line have already appeared on other fotopic sites. Here are just a few of my favourites and the odd few when I ventured north on my own.
There are also a couple of pictures of MGR and Iron Ore workings from Hunterston-Ravenscraig taken when bad weather had prevented photography on our intended line.

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As time went on ,it was impossible not to see these locos at work on services previously hauled by pairs of 37's or whatever ,so since they were part of the railway scene ,they were photographed ,even if ,in the beginning ,they were not actively sought out.

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After getting up at 4.00am on Saturday mornings and doing my delivery, faced with a journey from deepest Essex down the nightmare combination of A12, M25,and M4 to get to Pangbourne, it's not surprising I didn't make too many visits.

OK. It's confession time. I DID go to South Moreton a couple of times when I was off work nursing a broken bone in my foot. I had offered to stay in the office and do sorting rather than doing my round ,but they knew my sorting ability and I was told not to come back until it was fully mended !

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1 PICTURE ADDED 29TH NOVEMBER

Railways through the hills have always held a fascination for me,partly when I consider how, when and under what conditions they were built . The hills also attract cloud and any sunny pictures obtained are therefore much more valued.
Born in the North ,but resident in the South East for many years , these locations are still amongst my favourites , and I continue to pursue those elusive shots to this day,no matter what's on the front of the trains.

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1 PICTURE ADDED 19TH NOVEMBER

Not intending to take any holiday before my planned retirement in August 2000 I nevertheless checked the Holiday Board at work only to find I had been allocated a week in May. Since this had been our traditional W.Highland photography month for a number of years ,I thought it must be an omen ,and decided to make one last trip.Thank you Royal Mail for fixing it for me!

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1 PICTURE ADDED 25TH NOVEMBER

I have spent at least one week's holiday at Garsdale every year since 1982. The original plan was to put up a few pictures taken within 1/2 mile of the cottage we stay at ,but that has now been extended by a few miles in each direction, as have the loco classes pictured.

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Still in pursuit of freight in out of the way places , I managed 3 trips to Cornwall in the early to mid-1990's and managed to capture St.Blazey's fleet of Class 37's hard at work in some spectacular scenery.

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Despite what you might have heard , Essex is not a bad place to live , unless you are a railway photographer who abhors poles and wires. The only line in the county free of such encumbrances( apart from a mile or two of the Sudbury branch ) is the one down to the refineries at Shellhaven and Thameshaven. Shellhaven refinery has now been closed and the new Thames Gateway Container Port will be built in its place. LATEST WORD is it will be doubled but NOT electrified to start .
My other favourite haunt was the Felixstowe Branch in Suffolk which has also resisted the wires.

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Stunning..unbelievable..but now sadly all gone.

JS Images are now contained in http://whitemasksnaps.fotopic.net/c1512317
Pingluo-Rujigou line shots at
http://whitemasksnaps.fotopic.net/c1534495
Bao-Shen line pictures at
http://whitemasksnaps.fotopic.net/c1535457

Images are being removed from China Steam as they are loaded onto the new collections.

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Cwmbargoed. What a place! Almost 1400ft. up in the hills above Merthyr Tydfil. A desolate windswept spot which took a special breed of men to work there. I loved it.
My first visit was in 1988 and the welcome I received on that occasion was repeated on each subsequent visit ; a hot cup of tea in the shipping container which doubled as loco crew refuge and shunter's cabin ,a printout of the weekly South Wales coal plan ,not to mention the " stimulating " conversation.

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My first visit to South Wales for railway photography was in September 1988 , just too late to catch many of the lines to collieries and factories which a few years before would have been buzzing with activity with most trains comprised of ancient wagons and BR blue liveried 37's.
I'm grateful to those people whose publications made me aware of just what it was I had been missing and gave me the determination to go out and explore some of the more obscure lines for myself before many of them closed in turn, but special thanks are due to all railway employees in South Wales at that time from shunters ( especially at Cwmbargoed ) ,signalmen ( especially Selwyn Blyth at Tondu ) , Cardiff Canton staff, Ebbw Vale staff , drivers ( for the occasional cabride ), and most importantly Andy Franklin ,BR Coal Swansea , and John Barnes BR Coal, Cardiff. These gentlemen helped me to locate the last workings of the old MDV wagons and provided other information which in the most part ,enabled me to avoid overlong waits at the lineside.

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Following the demise of the 37/4's on the West Highland Line passenger services in mid-May 1988 plus the reduction in freight on that line, I was at a loss as to where I might focus my efforts next.
I decided that South Wales would be my next chosen area . In April 1989 I went down there, but a sudden inspiration at Margam one evening and an encouraging weather forecast saw me heading northwards, ending up at Mandy's B&B at Falls of Truim the next morning ,and discovering the delights of the HML. I really don't know though how I managed to take any photos at all on this line as I'd not seen any pictures published nor had I ever visited the area previously. I just turned up and walked most of the 7 or 8 miles of the line which seemed to be the most interesting. Nowadays ,it seems many of today's photographers are incapable of doing anything like this ,needing to be told exactly where the photo spot is ,where to stand ( and probably needing to be taken to the toilet as well ).
Be bold...explore for yourselves. You may find a "real" master shot that no-one has discovered just waiting for you round the next corner.

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Although I photographed the odd one that passed me in the sun prior to 1994 ,it was in that year , following their introduction on the twice-weekly Ditton-Ipswich BOC Tanks ,that my love affair with them really started.
The following year they were introduced onto all Freightliner trains down the Felixstowe Branch and a job where I was on " earlies " allowed me to get down there just after mid-day and have the rest of the day enjoying the sight and sound of these fine locos at work.
I did try to photograph them in other locations around the country but missed out on many of the more interesting workings . Still , I can enjoy looking at pictures of those on other people's websites.
I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing them back on the mainline from May,courtesy of Jarvisrail ,and to seeing the Class 56 Group's loco 56040 in action on the Mid Norfolk Railway in due course.
Sorry there's no sound to go with the pictures.
" Hellfire " I think is the younger generation's word that in this case I feel is entirely appropriate.