History of the 125 High Speed Train

We were pleased to welcome Society Secretary Richard Morris today giving us his presentation “A pictorial history of the HST’s”. Being a Great Western man through & through quite a few of Richard’s photographs were of the various different sets and liveries that passed through the Bristol, Cheltenham Gloucester area. It was a real memory jogger when you go back and see the original sets in their Yellow & Blue liveries. Richard then went on to tell us about how the different units had been transformed, shortened, repainted to suit the needs of the different companies the units transferred to, having been solely used on the Western and Eastern regions when introduced. The Class 43’s could be seen everywhere from Plymouth & Fishguard in the west to Aberdeen & Inverness in the north. These trains were the start of the modern railway era. They were fast, reliable and their fixed formation, with a driver’s cab at each end, transformed passenger rolling stock into what we take as normal today.
Later in the presentation Richard showed some of the steam loco’s on the preserved railways and in museums in the country today, these being one of his many varied passions, a fascinating and informative afternoon.

Dave Elsdon
Branch Secretary