A vanished world. Spalding's railways now feature just a pair of running lines, with none of the other infrastructure seen here. The forest of semaphore signals are long gone, as is the line heading off past the level crossing in the distance towards Boston. This scene depicts Spalding on 5 May 1984, during the town's tulip festival. The DMU ensemble in the background has brought in one of the many special trains that ran in connection with the festival. In the foreground, Class 100 inspection saloon ADB975637 & ADB975664 heads off towards Sleaford. On a final pessimistic note, even the large scale commercial growing of tulips in the Spalding area has now ceased.

A superbly lit study of a Class 101/108/108 DMU combination passing Saltney Junction on 1 September 1984 with is presumably (judging by the angle of the sun) the 08:50 Bangor to Manchester Victoria service. It looks a lot cloudier over the Welsh hills in the background!

Tyseley's Class 101 set TS408 (50305, 59535 & 50321) passes Ashperton on 18 April 1980 with a Hereford to Worcester Shrub Hill service. The unit is wearing the largely white livery that was adopted by BR in the mid 1970s for DMUs that had been put though the refurbishment programme.

An interesting DMU combination passes Mostyn on 26 August 1983, with an unidentified Class 101 twin set leading. The working is unidentified, but the 16:00 Llandudno to Manchester Victoria is a possibility. The slightly misty day almost hides the view of the Dee estuary in the background.

A pair of Class 101 DMUs led by 51188 pass Mostyn signal box on 21 April 1984 with an unidentified up working. 51188 has survived into preservation, and currently resides at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.

Class 101 DMU (with 54350 nearest the camera) stands at Rock Ferry station in October 1984. Note the preparation for the electfrication of the route, with partially installed and very rusty conductor rails. The line between Hooton and Rock Ferry was energised the following year.

Light and shadows at Chester station on 28 December 1983. A Class 101 set waits for prospective passengers. Although it is a sunny day, leaving the doors open in midwinter probably didn't go too well with those already onboard!

A pair of Metro Cammell Class 101s run alongside the River Conwy, as they leave Glan Conwy station on 21 April 1984 with a train for Blaenau Ffestiniog. This was the first stopping place after the train had left Llandudno Junction.

A Class 101 DMU passes underneath the impressive signal gantry at Llandudno on 20 June 1985, as it heads off towards Crewe. The 34 lever signal box in the background was built by the London & North Western Railway in 1891.

A Class 108 DMU calls at Upton by Chester station in November 1983, just two months before it closed, and was replaced by a new station at Bache, just a little to the south. Upton station was situated on the northern edge of Chester, and as can be seen from the sun angle, this is clearly a train from Rock Ferry, rather than to Rock Ferry, as indicated by the destination blind.

Not stopping here! A class 108 unit passes the long disused platform at Rossett in October 1984, whilst en-route from Chester to Shrewsbury. The station closed to passengers in 1964, and freight four years later. In 1984 at least the goods shed was still in use, as a storage facility for the agricultural merchants, Bernard H. Barkley.

A Class 110 DMU is pictured near Long Preston on 7 April 1984. Built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, these units soon got the nickname 'Calder Valley' sets, due to their area of operation. They were especially designed for these hilly routes, and so had a higher power to weight ration than most DMUs. They had all been withdrawn by 1988.

At least one other person is interested in Class 116 P319 (50868, 59365 & 50918), as it passes Powderham on 11 July 1979. The mostly white livery applied to refurbished DMUs in the 1970s didn't last long, due to the impracticality of keeping them clean. By the early 1980s they had all acquired standard blue and grey livery.

Watched by a cyclist on the public footpath that borders the line, Class 117 L407 (51342, 59494 & 51384) descends the Lickey Incline, and approaches Bromsgrove station on 11 August 1984 with the 2V82 11:32 Birmingham New Street to Hereford service. At this time Bromsgrove has a very poor service, and this train, like most others, would not be calling.

An unidentified Class 120 set leads a couple of other units past Sandycroft signal box on 24 April 1984 with the 07:57 Llandudno to Crewe service. The signal box survived into the new millennium, but was finally demolished in 2005.

With Restormel Castle clearly visible on the hill in the background, Class 120 C558 (51588, 59588 & 51579) approaches Lostwithiel from the north on 29 July 1978. With just a single centre car surviving in preservation, there are effectively no longer any Class 120 DMUs.

A Class 120 unit with 53648 leading (I think, but the number is not 100% clear on the original slide) passes Saltney Junction on 7 June 1984 with a Shrewsbury to Chester service. The centre car appears to be from a Metro Cammel Class 101 unit.

With the Conwy estuary on the left, hybrid Class 120/101/120 unit (53732, 59526 & 53686) arrives at Deganwy station on 19 August 1984 with a North Wales Railway Club sponsored Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog 'Sunday Shuttle'.

Hybrid Class 120/101/120 unit (53686, 59526 & 53732) leaves Deganwy station on 19 August 1984 with a North Wales Railway Club sponsored Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog 'Sunday Shuttle'. The railway occupies a narrow strip of land between Station Road and the Conwy estuary.

Class 122 55001 only had a relatively short career as a passenger carrying vehicle, as it was transferred to departmental stock as early as 1969. It then acquired the number 975023, although it also carried 'set' number B101 on the front ends. It is pictured here at Cardiff Central station on 11 September 1973. The distinctive water tower still survives, and is now grade II listed. It looks slightly different now though, as it is covered in colourful murals.

Early preservation days at the Llangollen Railway. The railway's first DMU is pictured at Llangollen station on 14 April 1985. Nearest the camera is diesel hydraulic Class 127 51618, which is working with freshly restored Class 105 56456. Although the 127 unit has the unusual red triangle multiple working code, it is able to operate with the more common blue square unit (such as the 105), as long as the driver remembers he is connected to a mechanical transmission unit, and makes sure that he changes up through all the gears.

The ground breaking Blue Pullmans were withdrawn from service in May 1973, but this eight coach unit languished outside Swindon Works for a couple of years, before finally being broken up in 1975. It is pictured here from a passing train on 12 September 1973. The original Nanking blue livery was replaced by this largely white colour scheme in the late 1960s.

The new order at Manchester Victoria on 10 April 1985. Although having been completed six months earlier, 150001 was still undergoing tests when this picture was taken. The unit was built by BREL at York, and was fitted with Cummins engines and Voith hydraulic transmission. The second prototype (150002) was fitted with Rolls Royce engines, and as should have been no surprise to BR, given their experience with first generation DMUs, this was not a success.