Abercynon Signal Box - which controlled the junction of the Merthyr and Aberdare lines - and semaphore signals on 9th April 2007. This scene changed dramatically when the station was upgraded in 2008 ready for an increased frequency on the Merthyr line.

The former Abercynon loco shed on 9th April 2007. The shed was coded AYN by the GWR, or 88E by BR. It had an allocation of 27 locomotives in 1950 and closed in 1964.

The former station building at Aberdare High Level, disused but still intact on 11th October 2008.

The station building at Ammanford Town, on the Gwaun Cae Gurwen branch, photographed in 1986, shortly before it was dismantled.

A second view of Ammanford Town station building in 1986.

Barry Signal Box was built for the Barry Railway by Evans, O'Donnell & Co., based on a Great Eastern Design, in 1897. Photographed in June 2006.

The former Barry Dock Office is nowadays in use as a local government building. The red brick and Portland stone building was opened in 1900 as the general office of the Barry Railway. The clock tower was not part of the original design but was added during construction. 24th August 2008.

The site of Brecon Free Street station on 8th July 2006. The running in board has been restored by the Breconshire Railway Society and returned to the original position it occupied for approximately a century.

A general view of Brecon Free Street station site on 8th July 2006. The low boundary wall (centre, right) can often be seen in steam era photographs of this location and is now the only remaining reference point. Passenger services were withdrawn from Brecon at the end of 1962.

The frontage of Bath Green Park, noted terminus of the Somerset & Dorset Railway, with conservation work under way on 20th February 1980. The station closed to passengers on 7th March 1966 and goods on 31st May 1971.

Bath Green Park on 20th February 1980. The train shed lost a lot of glass during bombing raids in April 1942. This wasn't replaced until restoration of the building after closure.

The London and Birmingham Railway was the first to make it to the city centre when it opened a station at Curzon Street, Birmingham in 1838. Design was by Philip Hardwick who also built the long-lamented original structure at Euston. The opening of New Street Station in 1854 spelled the end of Curzon St. as a passenger terminus and it remained as a goods-only terminal until 1966. (2nd February 1980).

The wonderfully restored - if a little overgrown - terminus platforms at Birmingham Moor Street on 28th March 2007. What a pity funding could not be found to bring the platforms back into use as suggested by the station's owners, Chiltern Railways.

The restored concourse of Birmingham Moor Street oozes steam age atmosphere! 28th March 2007.

The celebrated GWR station at Birmingham Snow Hill closed in March 1972 and the buildings were demolished in 1977. This was the scene looking north on 2nd February 1980.

A view looking south at Birmingham Snow Hill on 2nd February 1980. The bridge girders over Great Charles Street can be seen in the centre of the picture. Nowadays a new Snow Hill station occupies the site.

The southern tunnels at Snow Hill on 2nd February 1980.

Faded glory: detail of the elaborate mosaic floor which once graced the Refreshment Room on platform 7 at Birmingham Snow Hill. How many journeys began with a cup of tea here? September 1978.

One of the very few remaining pieces of the 'old' Birmingham Snow Hill is this decorative doorway in Livery St., complete with GWR insignia and coat of arms. 28th March 2007.

A reminder of Merseyrail's heritage above a doorway at Birkenhead Central on 1st September 2008.

The former Mersey Railway station building at Birkenhead Central on 1st September 2008.

The neat 'box at Bishton which supervises the level crossing on the outskirts of that village. The 'box was downgraded to Ground Frame status as part of the Newport MAS scheme in April 1961 and normally is manned from 1000-1800, although vehicles no taller than a motor car can use an adjacent underpass. 31st March 2007.

Church Road Station, on the former Brecon and Merthyr line, closed on 16th September 1957 and is now a private residence. The still used vestigial remains of the B&M from Newport to Machen Quarry can be seen to the right. 23rd June 2007.

Rhiwderin Station, also on the Brecon & Merthyr line, closed to passengers as long ago as 1st March 1954. Now in use as a private residence, it was photographed on 23rd June 2007.

The remains of the station at Pontyates (looking towards Burry Port) on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway photographed on 19th September 2009. Passenger traffic ceased in 1953, but the line remained open for coal traffic until the local collieries closed in 1996.

A second view of Pontyates looking towards Burry Port on 19th September 2009. As a consequence of low bridges along the route, in its later years the line famously employed class 03 and subsequently 08 locomotives with cut-down cabs.

The level crossing at Pontyates, looking towards Cwm Mawr on 19th September 2009.

Pontyberem looking towards Cwm Mawr, BP&GV, on 19th September 2009. The station platform was situated just beyond the gate. Hope Helen - whoever she is - enjoyed her birthday!

Pontyberem looking towards Burry Port on 19th September 2009.

This plaque, now on display at Bristol Temple Meads, was originally fixed to the east portal of Patchway Tunnel to commemorate the opening of the railway between Bristol and Portskewett on the Gloucester to South Wales line. The railway was 12 miles long and included two tunnels at Patchway and a ferry crossing at New Passage. This bottleneck was eventually superseded by the Severn Tunnel which opened in 1886.

The interior of the train shed of the original Brunel terminus at Bristol Temple Meads which was built in 1839-41 for the GWR. 1st November 2008.

Looking in the opposite direction from the previous picture, the interior of Brunel's original Bristol Temple Meads Station. The station closed to rail traffic in 1965. 1st November 2008.

The elaborate exterior of Brunel's original terminus at Bristol Temple Meads, 1st November 2008.

Next door to Temple Meads is Bristol & Exeter House. It was the original headquarters of the Bristol & Exeter Railway, designed by F.C. Fripp and completed in October 1854.

An evening shot of Bristol Temple Meads station in the early 1980s.

The exterior of the 1870s station building at Bristol Temple Meads, taken on 1st November 2008. The flagpole marks the position of a spire which was destroyed by bombing on 3rd January 1941.