PRESERVED ROLLING STOCK
The 125 Group has acquired three more HST trailers thanks to the support of Porterbrook. These were moved from Neville Hill to Leicester on November 7. Previously part of set NL01 with East Midlands Railway, the trio are TRFB 40730, TF 41057 and TS 42111, and the rail transfer took place between power cars 43423 and 43073. All are in good order, particularly in terms of bogie and wheel condition, and will ultimately form part of the group’s operational HST set. Still awaited are the initial trio of Mk 3s acquired from Porterbrook last year, as 40741, 41067 and 42119 are still in traffic with EMR in set NL03.
With 43089 already at Leicester, the ownership of the group’s second power car, 43048, has also now been transferred over with a move from Long Marston expected to take place shortly. For the moment the set is to remain at Leicester, where it will be kept serviceable and secure, rather than moving it to Ruddington.
The latest former Caledonian Sleeper coach to find a new home at a preserved line is Mk 3a 10706. It initially moved from Long Marston to Wishaw in mid October. It was then taken north to the Caledonian Railway on the 21st, where it was unloaded the following day.
With planning permission granted, the transfer of Mk 1 TSO 4606 to the former station at Sandsend, near Whitby, went ahead on October 21. Previously kept at the Howlish Boarding Cattery in Bishop Auckland, the coach will see use as holiday accommodation, having already been converted some years ago to feature two bedrooms and a bathroom. The complex delivery to the site required the use of two road cranes to lift the body and bogies into position.
Another of the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway’s Mk 1 coaches has visited the West Somerset for a rapid contract overhaul. Turned around in just five weeks,
TSO 4300 has received bodywork and underframe repairs, new flooring and a complete repaint in BR carmine and cream. 4677 underwent similar work in November and was the fourth of the line’s Mk 1s to head to Williton. Also at the West Somerset, home fleet TSO 4911 is now resplendent in a coat of BR maroon.
A further road transfer took place between York and Shildon on October 13 involving 1898-built Third Corridor 12. This is the second stint at Locomotion for the East Coast Joint Stock clerestory, which was resident between 2011-16.