Lest there be any doubt, here's a reminder that this collection features only AC power ! Quite what has befallen this sign is open to conjecture; it would appear to have been used for target practice by someone.....!

Whilst waiting at Minshbull Vernon for 86101 to pass on its first loaded test run, a variety of other things passed, not least a number of 'Desiro' 350 units. In this view, 350109 heads south with 1G31, 13:19 Liverpool - Birmingham, on 21st March.

86637+86609 run along the Down Slow light engine, heading for Ditton to work 4L92 back to Felixstowe, on 21st March.

And finally the shot I drove 80 miles for. With the Mk3 set not being ready in time due to spares issues, a motley assortment of stock appears to have been cobbled together at short notice for the run! A duff is of course inside for insurance, but on the front, 86101 'Sir William A Stanier FRS' looks magnificent as it heads for Carnforth with 5Z86, 14:00 from Crewe.

A hour or so later, and a little further south, 86609+86637 are glimpsed among the OLE clutter as they head south towards Crewe with 4L92, 14:03 Ditton - Felixstowe, on 21st March.

How not to photograph Electrics.....! I was a bit too quick on the draw with this second shot of 86609+86637 heading 4L92!

With a train of Fords on the Down Slow headed by 66167, 350123 scurries south with 1G39, 15:19 Liverpool - Birmingham, on 21st March.

With the sun fast setting, EWS liveried 92031 cruises through Acton Bridge, bound at a guess for Warrington, on 21st March.

With a ridiculously short train in tow, 92007 heads north through Acton Bridge with 6S73, 16:15 Bescot - Mossend, on 21st March.

For once a 92 with a proper length train; 92013 heads south at Canley with an enormous load in tow, forming 6A42, 15:15 Bescot - Wembley, on 27th March.

'Desiro' pioneer 350101 zips away from Canley, forming 1C20 (I kid you not!), 16:02 Coventry - New St, on 27th March.

For all their reliability, I am no fan of 321s. All the same, 321432 makes a pleasant shot as it heads past DIRFT with 2Y11, 11:48 New St - Northampton, one of the mercifully few such turns which is in fact booked for a 321 rather than a 350.

The weather was dismal, but a second bite at a pair of grey 86/6s was enough for me to drive to Atherstone. They were more than 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and by some good fortune I arrived with seconds to spare. As I got onto the platform on the Up side, they were upon me, and with no time to make adjustments to my camera I literally pointed and pressed. The pair were 86622+86637, the train of course is 4L92, 14:03 Ditton - Felixstowe, on 30th March.

Cruising north on the Down Slow, 90047 passes Atherstone's ornate station building while in charge of 4M88, 08:49 Felixstowe - Basford Hall, on 30th March.

A beautiful sunny day at Linslade, but 390010's driver is probably cursing poor regulation as he trundles along behind an all-stations 321. The train is just about to enter Linslade Tunnel.

321410 heads north on the Down Fast at Old Linslade with a Sunday Euston - Northampton turn, when the slow lines were closed for engineering work, on April 1st.

390003 is dwarfed by the Caterpillar earth mover parked up at Stoke Hammond, as it rushes past into the setting sun on April 1st. Before anyone complains, this was a Sunday, and I wasn't dicing with death in front of this machine !

Er, pan down.....!! 57307 drags an errant 90016, which had failed at Northampton in charge of 4M81, 07:45 Felixstowe - Ditton, on 3rd April. In pouring rain, the ensemble gathers pace past Cathiron.

Light and shade make for tricky photographic conditions at Harlestone Heath on 5th April, as 86501 passes northbound with 4M87, 11:43 Felixstowe - Trafford Park.

A side on view of 86501, at Harlestone Heath with 4M87, on 5th April.

An unidentified southbound Pendolino is almost lost among the gantries and catenary, etc, as it rushes towards Kilsby Tunnel, and 2416 yards of blackness, on a somewhat hazy 2nd March.

5th April was a day of considerable farce on the WCML, with the Trent Valley closed due to power supply problems, only for a points failure at Four Ashes to stop the job altogether, with a dozen trains at least stacked up nearly as far as Stafford! By 7pm, a huge backlog of trains was passing Rugby. Never one to shy away from a spot of 'contre-jour', I took several shots as the sun set. In this view, 350115 runs into the platform with 1Y23, 17:45 New St. - Northampton, running some 35 minutes late.

Heading directly into the sunset, 92017 heads north with what I believe was 6X77, 17:31 Wembley - Mossend, on 5th April.

The procession of nose-to-tail southbound Pendolinos continued for over an hour; in this view the sun has set a little further as 390034 crawls through on the Up Fast, waiting the road.