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Road directions
Best to approach this location from the north, from the Thicket Roundabout (where the A4 and the A404(M) meet), head south along Cannon Lane towards Cox Green, pass under the motorway bridge and continue along the road under the railway line at the traffic lighted bridge. Look out for the row of terraced houses on the right after which turn immediately right into Breadcroft Lane (Leading to Breadcroft Road) - this is a narrow road so be careful. Follow the road up, going straight on at the junction, here the road becomes an overgrown track. Park here (see below) and walk up the track to the bridge (out of sight until you come right to it).
Parking
Once past the junction and where the road becomes an overgrown track there is a space you can pull into on the right, failing this turn around and park on the pavement in Breadcroft Road. You can drive right up to the bridge but please DO NOT as you will block the road, if really necessary you can pull into the right half way up the overgrown track but be warned it is very muddy and you may get stuck!
Public transport
From Maidenhead (FGWLink, four trains each way an hour, 2 to/from Reading, 2 to/from Oxford) town centre or Railway Station catch the bus (Courtney) number 7a or 7b to Woodlands Park or Sawyers Crescent (every 15 minutes). Get off at the stop outside the Methodist Church (does not look like 'a church'!) opposite the garage. Walk towards the roundabout and turn right into Cannon Lane by the Woodlands Dental Practice. Follow the road along and round the slight bend, Breadcroft Lane is on the left hand side after the post box, there is a footpath sign and a Cycleway Route 4 and 52 sign pointing up it.
Amenities
If you go back towards Woodlands Park (turn right out of Breadcroft Lane) there is a small newsagents by the garage. If you go back towards the under bridge (turn left out of Breadcroft Lane) and back up the hill the 'Thatched Cottage' pub can be found on the left. Or from here you can turn right into Highfield Lane go over the railway bridge, past the school and turn left into Wessex Way (after St Chad's Road) where you will find a small shopping parade with Newsagent, supermarket called 'Country store' and Chinese Takeaway and 'Cox Green Autos'.
Accommodation
Holiday Inn and Fredericks Hotel can be found nearby on Shoppenhangers Road (go left at the garage in Woodlands park and follow the road up the hill, across the roundabout and all the way over the motorway bridge and past the Esso Station. Both are on the right hand side.
January 2018 Appeal: The Great Western Electrification continues expanding towards the south-west making most of the GWML shots west of Ealing on the site currently out of date. Please send in your new images of the old locations with the overhead mast and wires in place so people can see how the locations have changed. Update March 2007: The location has now been 'upgraded' with Palisade fencing along the width of the bridge, See Fig 7. This has effectively rendered the location unusable, unless your lens will fit through the gaps in the fence.
The light is good from 0900 - until the sun crosses the line at around 1600. Then it becomes problematic. Up and down relief good for all types of photography. Up line need telephoto lens due adjacent signal gantry. Standing on the large concrete blocks can prove very useful. The down main is not too bad but the up main is a problem due to vegetation in the cutting. In late autumn, winter and early spring shots of up trains can be difficult due to the shadows in the (relatively) deep cutting and from the warehouse to the south of the line. On the south of the shot of down trains there is a works access so sometimes machinery can be parked there. Would be good for video due to the straight track for a good way in each direction. There is a local airfield at White Waltham so can get noisy with regular light aircraft and helicopters coming and going.
