50 Years of the High Speed Train

The Inter City 125 High Speed Trains were the anchor for long distance services right across England, Scotland and Wales for nearly 50 years. Alex Wood from the 125 Group came, on 19^th February, to tell us the story of these iconic trains. With competition from roads and air, the railway industry needed something which could get customers where they wanted to be, quickly! The Derby team came up with the HST idea, BR board ran with it and, after the prototype took to the rails in 1972 running successful trials, 95 complete trains were produced from 1975 to 1981 for Western Region, Eastern Region and Cross Country. The Midland lines benefitted later when units were transferred following electrification of the ECML. 125 Group was formed in 1994 with a view to preparing for the future day when the HSTs would be retired. Who knew that would be some 30 years on? The group now owns five power cars (two with Valenta engines, one with the updated Paxman VP185 engine and two with the MTU4000 engines), and 9 carriages. 125 Group have developed a tour programme to take their units out on the main line. A wonderful evening with a superb train – which just got on with its job.