Class 43081 Brel Paxman IC125 East Midlands Trains Wellingborough 2015 Photo

Class 43081 Intercity 125 HST, Wellingborough Train Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen   

East Midlands Trains high speed train Class 43081, Intercity 125 built in March 1978 and allocated to Neville Hill T&RSMD (Leeds), is seen en route north to Sheffield about to depart Wellingborough station in July 2015.

For two days in July 2008 Class 43081 carried the name Midland Valenta.  Valenta refers to the Paxman Valenta diesel engines used on 195 Intercity 125 Class 43's.

From the position that the photo was taken it appears that I had thrown health & safety, and 'no trespassing on the railway' rules to the wind and decided to stand close to the tracks.  In fact I was standing on a crossbar of a gate at the side of a car park, with my shins pressing against the upper bars.

Definitely a painful situation, but well worth the few minutes of discomfort for me to photograph a Class 43 from a different angle for the 'Along These Tracks railway blog!

News Update:

Seeing East Midlands Trains colourful livery of red, white, orange and red flashing along the railway tracks, will soon become a thing of the past.

Abellio will take over the East Midlands Trains franchise on Saturday 18th August 2019. The Class 43 HST Intercity 125 and Class 222 diesel multiple unit will gradually be phased out by brand new Hitachi trains that will be a variant of the bullet-nosed Class 800 bio-mode DMU.

The new trains will have a lavender livery and be branded with 'EMR' on both sides.

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