Photo Class 43151 First Great Western Intercity 125 Train St Austell 2016

First Great Western Train Class 43151 Intercity 125 

Photo: Charles Moorhen

An early evening photo of UK trains First Great Western trains, Class 43151 HST Intercity 125  express passenger train, waiting at St. Austell station, Cornwall, before heading towards Paddington station, London.

In 1988, Class 43151 Intercity 125 carried the name, 'Blue Peter II'.

While on the subject of Class 43 motive power, it is interesting to note that the first-built production High Speed Train power car, 43002 (also numbered 253001) Sir Kenneth Grange, now stands in its new home - the National Railway Museum.

The iconic Victorian lattice-work iron station bridge which had deteriorated over the decades, a small section of which can be seen in top left corner this photo, was removed in February 2019 and re-homed at the Helston Railway, Cornwall. 

The Present and The Past

Express train, Class 43151 Intercity 125, is a far cry from the type of passenger trains once seen on the Great Western Railway back in the days of steam.

Back then it would have been possible to have witnessed a Castle class steam locomotive, such as 4-6-0 Castle class 5010, at St. Austell station, Cornwall.

4-6-0 Castle Class 5010 'Restormal Castle'         Photo: fromoldbooks.org

4-6-0 Castle Class 5010 'Restormal Castle' was built at Swindon Works in July 1927.  It was withdrawn from service in October 1959 and subsequently scrapped.
Incidentally, a sister locomotive of the same class, 5004 'Llanstephan Castle', appeared in the 1949 Ealing Studios film, 'Run For Your Money'.

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Photo Class 153382 First Great Western Super Sprinter DMU Train St Austell 2016

First Great Western Class 153382 St. Austell Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

In bright blue First Great Western livery, UK passenger train diesel multiple unit (DMU) Class 153382 Supersprinter, working in tandem with an unidentified Class 153, leaves St. Austell station in Cornwall heading for Exeter St. David's.

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Photo Class 31306 and 31280 British Rail UK Diesel Locos Bletchley 1988

British Rail Class 31306 Diesel Locomotive, Bletchley 1988

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

The driver of UK diesel loco Class 31306, in Departmental Dutch Yellow Style livery 'smiles for the camera' as his loco heads through Bletchley station in front of BR Blue liveried Class 31280 on a beautiful sunny in August 1988.

 

Class 31306 was introduced from Brush Traction, Loughborough, in 1957 and carried the number D5839.

Class 31280 was built at Brush Traction, Loughborough, and introduced into service in 1957 and initially carried the number D5810. (See Historical Note below)

I also managed to spot Class 31306 three weeks earlier at the same station but unfortunately was unable to photograph it.  Perhaps there is some truth to the old saying, 'everything comes to he who waits' after all.

 

 

Class 31 Diesel Locomotive Historical Note:

Whilst hauling a train in which Queen Elizabeth II was travelling on 4th January 1961, D5667 (31240), broke down south of Cambridge.  

Two onboard Brush fitters, on hand to deal with any mechanical problems that may occur, were unable to fix the problem and a steam loco had to be sent for in order to rescue the stricken diesel adding over an hour to the completed journey.

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Photo Class 205032 BR Network South East DEMU Train Basingstoke 1988

Network South East Class 205032 Train Looking Its Age at Basingstoke Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Back to the days of the 35mm film camera for this shot of well-worn UK trains British Rail diesel multiple unit, Class 205032 in Network South East livery, as it stands in Basingstoke station on the 9th September 1988.

The fleet of 34 Class 205 trainsets were built at BR Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK, between 1957 and 1962 and were operated by the Southern Railway, replacing steam traction.

Class 205032 diesel multiple unit passenger train was built and entered service in 1962 and was eventually withdrawn in 2004.  205032 was fortunate in being rescued and now resides at the Dartmoor Railway.

In all, 10 trainsets managed to avoid the fate of the scrapyard, and seven examples are preserved, in various states of repair, at a number of heritage railways, such as those listed here:

205009 - Eden Valley Railway.

205018 - Lavender Line.

205023 - Swindon and Cricklade Railway.

205025 - Mid-Hants Railway.

205028 - Dartmoor Railway.

205032 - Dartmoor Railway.

205205 - Epping Ongar Railway.




Basingstoke railway station historical note:
In the mid-1800s, a special train was permanently kept in a state of readiness at Basingstoke, Hampshire, by the London & South Western Railway for the sole use of the Duke of Wellington - hero of the Battle of Waterloo -  should he require it.

Wellington was not a fan of what he described as the 'new fangled railways', and it is not known if he ever used his train.

What would he have made of the example above?

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Night Photo Class 150109 London Midlands DMU Sprinter Train Bletchley 2018

Class 150109 Diesel Multiple Unit, Bletchley Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Resplendent in bright, freshly applied livery, UK trains London Midland Trains Class 150109 Sprinter diesel multiple unit passenger train stands in Bletchley station on the night of 18th April 2018, about to operate a local service that will probably be the last trip of the day to Bedford.

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Class 395021 South Eastern Javelin EMU Train Ashford 2013 Photo

Class 395021 Electric Multiple Unit, Ashford International Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

UK Electric multiple unit, Class 395021 Javelin passenger train, 'Ed Clancy MBE', operated by South Eastern Trains, running a scheduled service to Margate photographed waiting for the 'all clear' at Ashford International Station on the 9th June 2013.

More trains photographed at Ashford:
South Eastern Trains Class 375905 Electrostar

 
Southern Trains Class 171721 Turbostar DMU

 
Eurostar Trains 3001 and 3230, 2013

 
Class 377521 and Class 465923 EMU

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Photo Class 222 Midland Mainline Meridian DEMU Train Wellingborough

Midland Mainline Liveried Class 222 Diesel Multiple Unit, Wellingborough

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Unidentified Class 222 UK passenger train diesel multiple unit train in striking blue and white Midland Mainline livery stands in Wellingborough station in the early 2000s.

This train livery was superseded by the colourful East Midlands Trains livery when the company took over the franchise.

With the capability of a top speed of 125 mph, and the ability of travelling 1,350 miles (2,170 km) between each refuelling, the Class 222 diesel multiple unit has been in mainline service since 2004.

Built for Midland Mainline and Hull Trains, and at time of writing operated by East Midlands Railway by Bombardier Transportation in Bruges, Belgium, a total of 27 sets were manufactured.

Although the Class 222s are fitted with the same Dellner couplers as those on the Class 220 Voyager DMU and Class 221 SuperVoyager DMU, they cannot work together in one train as the electrical connections are not compatible with the 220s and the 221s.

Due to their superior acceleration, the Class 222 DMUs replaced all of the Class 170 DMUs and a number of Class 43 Intercity 125 HST on the Midland Mainline.

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