Nice shots for a first real attempt, Jon.
It sure does take a little bit of time to get used to the different settings on the DSLRs. I certainly found that out, but just by tweaking a few things each time, the difference in quality is quite noticable.
Keep practicing and hopefully see you at the London airports some time!
PS – nice train picture (surprised it was actually running given there are few bits of snow in the picture!!)