Bit of a busman's holiday. A couple of nights in Torquay, I managed a few snaps of Stagecoach buses operating in the area. Starting with E200EV 63145 & 63147 and mini E200EV 46046 and Optare Solo SR 47840 seen at Paignton bus station.

Short weekend in Torquay and a quick hop over to Paignton to see 18308 😁

This is Alex, one of the earlier Dennis Trident ALX400s delivered new to Manchester 😁

Getting its lean on.... 66524 waiting on the Didcot avoider yesterday at midday, witha a service from Leeds to Maritime. With me from Birmingham to Eastleigh.

No Cardiff today.... covering a turn due to sickness. Here's a few photos taken at Landor Street Junction this morning while waiting for my return working back to Eastleigh. 170115 & 113, 153311 and then 66200 all showing up before my train did 😅

3 years ago today I undertook my first solo driving shift 😬 starting with 66593 "3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway" from Maritime to Basingstoke via Andover, then 70002 (same route) and finally 70006 from Eastleigh to Maritime 😄 (only photo NOT taken that day is of 66593)

Meet Trent, the newest bus character. Based on the Dennis Trident ALX400.

Somewhere I've not been for over 3yrs now. 66514 at Wentloog FLT having just arrived from Southampton, sitting next to a silent 66524 in the early hours. I'm spending the next 4 weeks route learning Southampton to Cardiff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿😃😃

66505 behind Redbridge station propels it's train back towards Maritime, having just arrived with a service from Leeds.

66517 waiting for the signal to clear at Tyseley this morning as I near the halfway point of my shift. And 66571 waits to be put onto my train and brake tested at Lawley Street terminal, to form my return working back to Eastleigh.

66522 waiting at a red signal at Acocks Green in the early hours this morning with a service to Leeds from Southampton Maritime.

A dwindling breed. Dennis Trident ALX400 18510 seen arriving outside Basingstoke railway station on service 12. I fondly remember driving these 😁

Another day in orange being a shunt driver. 66572 waiting to be brake tested before heading out on 4M55.

The humble container. What was essentially a nothing photo when I took it, but actually turned out better than expected.

Drew the short straw and I'm playing shunt driver at Maritime all day. Well if I'm in full orange gear then so should my loco! 66502 with the first move of the day. And just passing over the bridge is a 45ft MOL container, quite rare around these parts.

DB Cargo 66013 & 66102 are currently on loan to Freightliner Intermodal. Now I just need them to come down my way so I can red pen some red sheds 😁😂

Busy looking scenes at Southampton Maritime this morning. XC Voyager passes the terminal with a service from Bournemouth to Manchester. 66502 is shunting away its wagons after arriving from Manchester.

66510 waiting to depart from Maritime this morning with a service bound for Lawley Street terminal. With me as far as Eastleigh.

Same loco, two different days. 1st photo taken yesterday, sees 66502 departing from Maritime. And the 2nd shows 502 having just arrived into Maritime with me this morning.

Can anyone guess what loco these two items might be from 😉 sourced them at the end of last year to save them being thrown in the bin 😃😃😍

I will get to drive them again 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 #Team70 youtu.be/cjakU8elxmI?...

Last train of the shift. 66505 waiting at Eastleigh for the next driver to book on (we arrived early from Maritime). 505 still sporting the old style company name, having never received the G&W style.

66517 waiting at Eastleigh in the dead of night while changing over crew. I had just brought it up from Southampton Maritime.

66508 "City of Doncaster" at Mottisfont & Dunbridge in the early hours this morning. Again heading from Maritime to Basingstoke via Andover.

First night back at work after some time off. Here's 66515 at Basingstoke, having just arrived from Southampton Maritime via Andover.

Managed to get 11231 the other day. Finally.

Taken 13 years apart. Firstly being branded up as the "Surf" for route 23 between Southsea and Leigh Park. Then it gained standard 23 blue ribbon branding before the fleet of them were split up. 27560 was gutted and retained for training purposes. The memories came flooding back! 🥲🥲

My class 70 statistics, from 017 being my first drive to 015 being my last and everything in-between. Some were around for a while and others? Not so much 😆 but still clocked 31,000 miles at the controls 😁

66596 waits to depart from Southampton Maritime for Leeds in the early hours of the morning, just as 4o31 rolls into the terminal from Leeds.

Unexpected jolly out of Maritime with 3 locos for Eastleigh East Yard tonight. 66563, 66534 "OOCL Express" and 66551 (on loan to Colas) seen waiting in platform 1 at Southampton Central.

After working 66516 down from Nuneaton to Southampton Maritime, I now have to work 66597 "Viridor" up from Maritime to Eastleigh, where I can finally finish for the day 😁

Another "year ago today" photo. This time one of my favourite ones 🤩 70020 doing a bit of star gazing.

66601 at Maritime this afternoon, shortly before I had to put 66531 on the front and work the train up to Eastleigh. A colleague would then take the train most of the way towards its destination of Basford Hall.

A year ago today (almost to the minute!) 08530 seen at Maritime outside the wagon shed. We had this one for a little while, whilst 08785 was off on adventures.

My first train of the year last night and it was led by 66554, seen waiting on the curve outside of Coventry.

387220 working todays 1N27 Southampton to Brighton, arriving into Fareham. Although Realtime Trains shows it being worked by 387211 🤷🏻‍♂️😅

387119 seen arriving into Fareham in the early afternoon with a service to Brighton.

A year ago today. 27 Dec 2024 and my first drive of #Team70 70008 in its (then) new Heavy Haul green and yellow livery. Seen at Wallers Ash Loop working 4M61.

Seeing as I'm not back to work until the 2nd Jan. I've done some final tallies for the year. First loco: 66546 Last loco: 66588 Last ever 70: 70015 (8th Dec) Lightest: 739 tonnes Heaviest: 2213 tonnes Shortest: 945ft (2 loco + 12 wagons) Longest: 2604ft (2 loco + 36 wagons)

15 years ago today, at only 19yrs of age. I passed my bus driving test with Stagecoach. I will also be making use of my licence again in the new year 😁. Photo of Stagecoach Devon 35164 (WA56 FKR) outside Southampton Central on Rail Replacement, Oct 2023.

Great day today, spent on the 455 Farewell tour (Train B). It was a decent turnout (both on the train and at almost every station along the route), to say goodbye to the work horses of the London suburbs.

Another one from 18th December 2024. This time taken while on my we into work and another of my keen interests, buses. Taken at 0550 in the morning, Stagecoach South, E400MMC, 11581 (YX23 OPH). Picks up workers at the end of Lake Road, heading for Barfoots Farm.

A year ago today 18th December 2024 and #Team70 70020 wearing the Mk1 Tango livery. Arriving into Nuneaton with 4o49, where I would take it the rest of the way down to Southampton Maritime. This was also the first (and one of very few) day time photos I managed of 70020 😅

47727 & 47739 were still parked up when I finished work at 0800 this morning. So got some more photos. Tweaked this one a bit and it feels like it's straight from the 80s. 😁

Double Duff at Eastleigh last night as I started work. GBRf 47727 "Edinburgh Castle" and 47739 keeping each other company in yard.

The last time I'll get to put my driver number into a 70 😢 This will undoubtedly be my last drive of a 70, and 70015 has the honours of the final 7½ miles from Maritime to Eastleigh for a crew change. Say what you will about them, but I'll miss them 😭😭

So pleased when I turned up to find I was working the last leg 4o99 tonight 🥲 #Team70 70015 at Maritime, waiting to shunt the train away (which I volunteered to do 😁)

For the first time in 2 weeks, there's a 70 working an intermodal train down to Southampton today!!! #Team70 70015 is currently working 4o99. The last 70 to work down here was 70020 on 4E91 on 24th November 25 🥲

Network Rail dog box 153385 sat in the yard at Eastleigh this evening.

50 shades of pink! Stacked containers adding some colour to the terminal and giving the vibes of Cherry Blossom trees 🌸🌸 as 66517 drags my train through 4 road at Maritime.