Our Friends electric
Going it alone as the owner of a main line preserved locomotive is not something for the faint hearted, but the owner of 86259 has done just that for well over a decade – and he couldn’t be happier! Andy Coward talks to Les Ross MBE.
Andy Coward speaks to Les Ross MBE, the preservationist who’s made the successful transition from broadcaster to main line locomotive owner of 86259 Les Ross / Peter Pan.
Iinadvertently found myself smiling recently when I saw a comment on social media stating: “How arrogant to name a locomotive after yourself!” in response to a photo of preserved Class 86, 86259 Les Ross/peter Pan hauling a charter along the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Indeed, 86259 is named (on one side) after its owner, West Midlands broadcaster Les Ross, but a more down-to-earth and friendlier person you couldn’t wish to meet – and the pristine electric blue Class 86 is his pride and joy. Arrogant is certainly not a word that can be labelled against Les Ross.
It’s now over 13 years since 86259 returned to the main line under the auspices of former Tyseley Locomotive Works engineering chief Bob Meanley. However, although Les remains a volunteer with TLW’S Vintage Trains charter operation, his locomotive is no longer part of the VT stable and is now based at Rugby, operated by West Coast Railway Co (WCRC) whenever it ventures out.
Although work for the 86 has been rather thin on the ground for the past few months (as it has for most other privately-owned locomotives, as the brakes were put on charters during the coronavirus pandemic), 86259 returned to main line action in late May, hauling its semi-regular workings on the Railway Touring Company’s (RTC) ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’.
When working these tours 86259 generally hauls the train from London Euston along the WCML to Preston or Carnforth, where one of the WCRC steam fleet usually takes charge to haul the train north to Carlisle, with 86259 rejoining the tour later in the day for a fast run back to the capital.
Les has a close working relationship with WCRC and the arrangement works well for them too, as 86259 gives them a locomotive capable of managing the tight schedules required for working charters on the faster sections of the WCML, where diesel locomotives would struggle to maintain the timings required to fit in around scheduled passenger and freight services on the busy route. Whenever the electric blue 86 ventures out, it gains a lot of attention from enthusiasts, passengers and photographers alike. And the owner is never far away from his locomotive when it is in action – always willing to spend time talking to anyone who shows an interest in the 86.
Returning to the subject of 86259 bearing the name of its owner, there are still many enthusiasts who don’t know the story behind the naming of 86259 19 years ago, after the man who now owns it.
Les Ross is a name that may be unfamiliar to many people in the UK – unless you live in or around the West Midlands. In Birmingham
and the surrounding area he is a household name and something of a radio legend, with an award-winning broadcasting pedigree that is the envy of many of his peers and contemporaries.
Well known for his sharp wit, sketches and lively presenting style, he is credited as an inspiration to well-known DJS Simon Mayo and Chris Tarrant, and comedian
Frank Skinner is another fan of Les’s style of presentation.
One of the most popular commercial radio stations around the West Midlands for many years was BRMB (now re-branded as Free Radio) and Les presented the flagship breakfast show on the station for 26 years, before leaving in September 2002.
Never ashamed or embarrassed to share his enthusiasm for trains and railways, it was one of his loyal listeners who approached the BRMB management to suggest naming a locomotive after Les to mark his impending departure from the station after more than quarter-of-a-century at the helm.
BRMB approached Virgin Trains about the possibility of naming one of the thennew Class 390s after the broadcaster. Virgin,