Naming Update
It’s been a busy month for namings, with the majority being the West Midlands Railway Class 323s used by the operator on the Cross City Line, but which are due to be replaced by new trains in the non-too-distant future. The units are all being named after stations on the route, and joining the five that were reported last month are a further 17 in the period since the last issue of Railways Illustrated was published.
One interesting aspect of the WMR Class 323 naming was when 323207 was initially named Bourneville, but the vinyl nameplates were quickly removed due to a spelling mistake, with corrected vinyls applied a couple of weeks or so later.
Another five GWR IETS have received names as part of the operator’s ‘Make a difference’ campaign, in conjunction with BBC local radio stations within the GWR’S operating area. The campaign highlights the work done by community heroes who went above and beyond during the Covid19 pandemic, with those chosen having a train named in their honour
– although in many cases, two names are applied to one train, with a different name at each end.
West Coast Railways has named three of its locomotives in the past few weeks with 47815 regaining its former Great Western name, albeit in a different typeface to the previous version applied to it, while 57314 is now named Conwy Castle and 57316 Alnwich Castle.
08790 is the latest Class 08 shunter to be named Longsight TMD, the nameplates seemingly transferring between the Alstom fleet depending on which locomotive is resident at the Manchester depot.
Chiltern Railways 68013 has been in traffic for a number of weeks with covered-over nameplates visible on the bodyside, but the locomotive had still not been officially named as this issue closed for press. It is understood these were to have been unveiled in late February in tribute to a Chiltern member of staff who passed away, but the naming ceremony had to be postponed due to the storms that affected so much of the rail network.