D9009 main line return is delayed after repairs

Preservation Society (DPS) has announced that its planned main line charter to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the withdrawal of the Deltics by BR has been postponed to allow its volunteers additional time to prepare main line-registered flagship locomotive D9009 Alycidon, which has been undergoing extensive repairs at their Barrow Hill base.

Work on the repairs to D9009, which suffered a serious failure in 2019, are now nearing completion with the locomotive recently placed on fully overhauled bogie, a replacement power unit and overhauled generator. However, in a statement issued by the DPS, the society said that its head of engineering, Graham Clarke, felt it was unwise to commit to the April tour, as the DPS was required to sanction it in January. After repairs have been completed, the locomotive will need to undergo static testing before completing mileage accumulation on a heritage line and a main line high-speed test. The DPS said it was felt prudent to delay its return to main line action. It is now understood that D9009 should be available to haul main line charters from early summer.

The DPS celebrated the 40th anniversary of the final BR ‘Deltic Scotsman Farewell’ on the Great Central Railway on January 2, with 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier operating three return journeys along the line on the exact date that the final tour ran 40 years earlier.

The event was well-supported, with the eight-coach trains all well loaded.

Phil Chilton Andy Coward 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier heads through Kinchley Lane, working the 15.00 Loughborough Central to Leicester North service on January 2, 2022, commemorating 40 years since the last Deltic hauled Broperated railtour, the ‘Deltic Scotsman Farewell’ in 1982. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier is pictured at Loughborough Central as it runs around its train on January 2, 2022, showing the replica headboards made by the DPS to mark the 40th anniversary of the farewell tour.