Hi Folks, 

Not been as busy as I would have hoped in February partly due to quite a nasty chest infection I had, but there has been some nice updates.

2nd February seen a venture to my local spot; Elmesthorpe which lies between Hinckley and Narborough. Now normally I don't venture out for units but in this case, Grand Central liveried 180105 was working a Heaton - Longsight move which took a somewhat arduous route via Derby, Leicester and the West Coast Mainline, not that I'm complaining and I bagged a full sun shot. Picture here: http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p973533299/h3bebd5d2#h3bebd5d2

Most notable event was 7th February when I attended a nightshoot at Barrow Hill Roundhouse near Chesterfield which which was a joint effort between Neil Cave and Jason Cross, the main attractions were 3 Class A4's; 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower in BR Green livery, 4489 Dominion of Canada in LNER Garter Blue livery and also 4464 Bittern also in LNER Garter Blue livery. We also had Class A2, 60532 Blue Peter posed as well.

The images can be viewed here: http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p655372131/h2b110c9#h2b110c9

19th February, I decided to get my HGV fix and opted to go to Packington Lane near Coleshill which spans the M6 and further up the M6 Toll, I stayed for an hour and got just over 200 different truck images as well as a couple of coaches too. It was a nice surprise to see quite a few Mercedes Benz MP4 units with various hauliers as well as a couple of new style Volvo FH's.

Truck Pics: http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p432215213

Coach Pics: http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p713436261

26th February I went to Stenson Junction, my main reason was to photograph 20189/142 with a loco convoy consisting of 31459, 47375 and 47769 which is still sporting the old Virgin Trains livery, however just before it was due to depart Derby it was cancelled owing to vandalism, which was the case as stated on RTT, not to give up I decided to hang around anyway for the usual freight workings plus there was a couple of 60's imminent anyway going to and from Kingsbury (60063 going in on 6M57 from Lindsey and 60017 coming out on 6E54 back to Humber). As luck would have it later on in the early afternoon, the loco convoy was reinstated on a later path with a 14:15 departure from Derby to Washwood Heath, a quick look on RTT showed it had departed 5 early so it was camera's poised and ready. Sure enough 20189 appeared unusually running bonnet first with 47769, 47375 and 20142. 31459 had been removed has the air pipes had been damaged. So all in all it wasn't a bad day.

20189 and friends:  http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p973533299/h3bebd5d2#h1417bd29

Rest of the freight which featured  60017, 60063, 66001, 66082, 66424, 66526, 66531 and 66848 can be viewed here: http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p540950746

Cheers and look forward to some exciting updates in March 2014!!!.

Regards and Best Wishes

James