Intercity 125 is destined for Railworld and the NVR
Class 43 High Speed Train power cars and three Mk.3 trailer coaches are set to move to the Railworld attraction in Peterborough and the neighbouring Nene Valley Railway, where they will join the small group of heritage railways currently providing homes for preserved Intercity 125 HSTS.
Now preserved under the brand ‘125preservation.co.uk’, former East Midlands Railway HST power cars 43045 and 43060 (both of which are fitted with Paxman VP185 engines and are currently in store at Long Marston), along with first-built production HST Mk.3 trailer buffet coach 40001 (last operated by Great Western Railway and numbered 40904) will soon move to their new home at Railworld.
It is planned that the buffet coach will be regularly open as a static cafe at Railworld when not operating passenger services on the NVR.
The sidings where the HST will be housed are located on land once occupied by an LNWR Locomotive Shed. Railworld, which is also home to a thriving nature reserve, is visible from the East Coast Main Line just south of Peterborough station. New pointwork is currently being installed at the site to allow the three vehicles to easily move between
Railworld and NVR tracks for the HST to be operated at special events on the heritage line.
Two of the Mk.3 HST trailer coaches that were built for use with the original prototype HST – 41002 (currently carrying LNER livery and numbered 42357) and 42000 (also in LNER colours, as 42355) – will also join the power cars, but due to space constraints at the Railworld site, these will be usually based elsewhere on the NVR.
The two prototype coaches will be located at Overton station, about three miles up the NVR from the Peterborough site, where they will join Mk.3 sleeper coach 10731, which has been a resident on the line for the past six years. It is hoped that the two power cars and three Mk.3 HST coaches will be able to operate regularly on the NVR line.
The group which owns Swedish Railcars 1212 and 1987 at the NVR are heading the 125preservation project and has already acquired several other Mk.3 vehicles that are in store at various locations for future use. These include prototype HST coaches 42002 (currently in GWR livery and numbered 42356), 41095, 40711 and Class 442 DTF 77382.
The coaches will all receive toilet retention tanks in due course, which will allow them to be operated over Network Rail.
At more than seven miles in length, the NVR has a direct connection to the ECML and regularly sees heritage vehicles arriving and departing by rail. Once the two power cars – which have been stored since 2021 after a brief period on lease to Colas – enter traffic, the NVR will become the longest heritage line in the UK to operate an HST.
The move follows a growing number of preserved HSTS to find homes on heritage railways, with the 125 Group operating its collection of power cars (43044/048/089/43159) and Mk.3 trailer coaches at the Midland Railway – Butterley and the Nottingham Heritage Railway, while 125 Heritage operates a collection of three Class 43 power cars (43071/073/082) and three Mk.3 trailers at the Colne Valley Railway. Additionally, HST power cars have been preserved at the National Railway Museum (prototype power car 41001 and 43002/43102), Crewe Heritage Centre (43018/081) and the Gwili Railway (43056).