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It’s that time of the month again when Clare asks us to Share our Desktop. This month I am using a shot that I took back on 24th June this year…

…Taken with the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and the 55-200mm zoom lens, it shows Class 66 locomotive 66596 hauling an intermodal service through Ealing Broadway on an overcast, typically English, summer day. The train is travelling from Wentloog near Cardiff to Felixstowe North freightliner terminal where the containers will mainly be loaded onto ships for international destinations. To get from West London to the east coast, the train will route over the North London Line and has slowed to around 30mph in preparation for diversion into Acton yard where it will await its slot between passenger services on that busy route. You may notice that the containers are sitting on wagons that sit very low to the track. This is because larger containers were introduced some years ago and wagon designers had to come up with a solution to allow them to be transported within the restricted British Railways loading gauge. Some routes are being re-engineered to overcome this issue but on others it is not viable to carry out such work in the short term.