HST ‘43’ and Mk 3 for national collection

A High Speed Train Mk 3 catering vehicle has arrived at Locomotion (Shildon), having been designated for the national collection last year.

It will be joined next year by a second HST power car (the National Railway Museum already has 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange).

The coach is former London

North Eastern Railway Trailer Kitchen Buffet First (TFKB) 40732. It was latterly part of set EC64, which has been withdrawn and stored, with various vehicles from the set also acquired by Locomotive Services Limited.

NRM spokesman Simon Baylis told RAIL the carriage will be assessed and cleaned before going on display at Locomotion later this year. He said there are no plans to acquire another Mk 3, and that this particular coach was designated by the Railway Heritage Designation Advisory Board (RHDAB) because it was the last of the original Mk 3 buffet vehicles with First Class facilities.

The RHDAB has also designated East Midlands Railway 43302. Owned by Porterbrook, the HST power car was last used by LNER and has transferred to EMR to replace the HSTs currently in use on the Midland Main Line. It will also be withdrawn at the end of the year.

The power car has been selected as it holds the current world speed record for a diesel train, having reached 148.5mph between Northallerton and York on November 1 1987 (when it was 43102). The other power car used that day (43159) is stored at Long Marston. It is also owned by Porterbrook and was last used by Great Western Railway.