Celebrity Loco's / EMU's / DMU's

[tsr]

377472/474 achieved what is still the fastest official time by rail from London Bridge to Brighton. A subtle special commemorative livery was created.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Right here's another for the list, and which requires a little more information. From memory in the late 1980's I recall two class 20's which were painted in green. By this stage I was no longer a rail enthusiast but I do remember seeing them at Derby station. I'm guessing that they were based at either Toton or Tinsley. Any ideas?

20 030 and 20 064 were in brunswick green at around that time, so it was probably them.

 

[DerekC]

We need to know what a celebrity loco is, I suppose. In human terms the definition of a celebrity seems to be "appears on TV a lot". On that basis there are very few contenders - Locomotion (replica), Rocket (replica) , Flying Scotsman and Tornado plus maybe Mallard. You might add the two Class 47s (I think - somebody will correct me) - that used to haul the Royal Train - but I haven't seen them lately. There are lots of locos which play bit parts and have walk-on appearances but I am afraid nobody (except the initiated) notices them much.

 

[sprinterguy]

You might add the two Class 47s (I think - somebody will correct me) - that used to haul the Royal Train - but I haven't seen them lately.

They're still around, both in preservation now, 47798 with the NRM and now restored to its' RES style royal livery and 47799 at the Eden Valley Railway.

Of course, the Royal train is now class 67 hauled, with two dedicated locos, 67005 and 006, carrying the royal claret livery, while other members of the class have also seen action on the train, notably 67026 which gained a special livery to commemorate the Queens' Diamond Jubilee year in 2012 and saw regular use on the train during this time.

Talking of class 47s, I could probably mention the batch of Western region 47s which had names bestowed upon them when new in 1965 and, later on, the handful of locos which were repainted in GWR lined green livery (47079, 47484, 47500 and 47628, as well as 50007) to celebrate that company's 150th anniversary in 1985.

The Western region named 47s were as follows:
D1660/47076 - "CITY OF TRURO"
D1661/47077 - "NORTH STAR"
D1662/47484 - "ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL"
D1663/47078 - "SIR DANIEL GOOCH"
D1664/47079 - "GEORGE JACKSON CHURCHWARD"
D1665/47080 - "TITAN"
D1666/47081 - "ODIN"
D1667/47082 - "ATLAS"
D1668/47083 - "ORION"
D1669/47084 - "PYTHON"
D1670/47085 - "MAMMOTH"
D1672/47086 - "COLOSSUS"
D1673/47087 - "CYCLOPS"
D1674/47088 - "SAMSON"
D1675/47089 - "AMAZON"
D1676/47090 - "VULCAN"
D1677/47091 - "THOR" (Name transferred from D1671, which was written off and scrapped in 1965)

Bringing this post full circle, another 47 given a name with Western region heritage was 47609, which in 1985 was named "FIRE FLY" on an episode of "Jim'll Fix It", therefore gaining this loco a TV appearance. The loco was subsequently renumbered 47834, and later became royal loco 47798.

There's so many possible candidates for a thread such as this, depending on your criteria of "celebrity" as DerekC mentions.

How about some record breakers?
3440/3717 "City of Truro" - First unauthenticated 100mph run, 9th May 1904.
4472/60103 "Flying Scotsman" - First verified 100mph run, 30th November 1934.
2750/60096 "Papyrus" - Reached 108mph on Stoke Bank on 5th March 1935.
2509/60014 "Silver Link" - Achieved 112mph on the inaugural run of the "Silver Jubilee" train on 29th September 1935.
6220/46220 "Coronation" - Achieved 114mph on the approach to Crewe on 29th June 1937.
4468/60022 "Mallard" - Fastest steam loco in the world, achieving 126mph on 3rd July 1938.
4498/60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley" - Set the official post-war speed record for steam, reaching 112mph on 23rd May 1959.

252001 - Achieved 143.2mph on the ECML between Darlington and York on 12th June 1973.
APT-E - Achieved 152.3mph between Swindon and Reading on 10th August 1975.
APT-P - Achieved 162.2mph on 20th December 1979.
43038+43158 - Achieved 144mph in passenger service on a shortened 2+5 set to mark the launch of the new Newcastle - Kings Cross Tyne-Tees Pullman on 27th September 1985
43102+43104 - Set the record for the worlds' fastest diesel train, achieving 148mph on the ECML on 1st November 1987.
91010 - Set the UK locomotive speed record of 161.7mph on 17th September 1989.
91031 - Set the record for the UKs' fastest domestic passenger train, achieving 154mph on 2nd June 1995.
3313+3314 - Set the current UK speed record for rail traction of 208mph on HS1 on 30th July 2003

There was also the HST set which became a TV celebrity on 30th August 1984, when it was filmed for a special episode of Top of the Pops performing a record breaking run of 62 minutes 33 seconds for the 117 miles from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads with a shortened 2+5 set; an average speed of 112.7mph; with power car 43002 being named "Top of the Pops" by Jimmy Saville upon arrival.

Thinking about it, perhaps there is scope for a separate section for locos which have gained notoriety for being filmed for television in the presence of Jimmy Saville?

 

[341o2]

We need to know what a celebrity loco is, I suppose. In human terms the definition of a celebrity seems to be "appears on TV a lot". On that basis there are very few contenders - Locomotion (replica), Rocket (replica) , Flying Scotsman and Tornado plus maybe Mallard. You might add the two Class 47s (I think - somebody will correct me) - that used to haul the Royal Train - but I haven't seen them lately. There are lots of locos which play bit parts and have walk-on appearances but I am afraid nobody (except the initiated) notices them much.

I agree along the lines of "being well known", surely Mallard (most people seem to know the name of the world's fastest steam locomotive) and Flying Scotsman (the latter drawing such crowds as discussed elsewhere to the point where its itinery is being witheld) must top the list

 

[306024]

How about 321334 on the Great Eastern which was painted in full Dutch livery, long before Abellio were even thought of.

And naturally the Stratford 47s, especially the five counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire along with Great Eastern, James Nightall and Benjamin Gimbert.

 

[168lover]

Which 442 broke the third rail speed record?

 

[sprinterguy]

Which 442 broke the third rail speed record?

According to the page linked below, units 2401 and 2403:
http://www.southernelectric.org.uk/features/rolling-stock/442/442nse02.html
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And naturally the Stratford 47s, especially the five counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire along with Great Eastern, James Nightall and Benjamin Gimbert.

Yes, quite a distinguished little group. On which note, I think that it's also worth mentioning the two Stratford 47s which received full height painted Union Jack flags a couple of years earlier to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977; 47163 and 47164.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Any suggestions would be very welcome, including class 08's which received fancy paint jobs.

It is interesting to consider which depot pets received heritage schemes in the late eighties:

BR Black: 08730 (Edinburgh Haymarket)/867 (Thornaby)
BR Green: 08011 (Bletchley)/647 (Doncaster works)/691 (Tinsley)/772 (Stratford)/869 (Norwich)
08601: London, Midland & Scottish Railway Black (Bescot)
08604: Great Western Railway Green (Bescot)
08642: London & South Western Railway Black (Eastleigh works)
08793: London & North Eastern Railway Apple Green (Edinburgh Haymarket)
08833: Great Eastern Railway Blue (Stratford)
08907: London & North Western Railway Black (Crewe Diesel)

 

[507021]

I wonder which unit will have the honour of being the first new train delivered to the Northern franchise...

 

[yorksrob]

There was also the HST set which became a TV celebrity on 30th August 1984, when it was filmed for a special episode of Top of the Pops performing a record breaking run of 62 minutes 33 seconds for the 117 miles from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads with a shortened 2+5 set; an average speed of 112.7mph; with power car 43002 being named "Top of the Pops" by Jimmy Saville upon arrival.

On a more cheery note, how about the train which (momentarily) became "Railwatch" (or it might have been "BBC Railwatch - can't find a picture) in conjunction with the special 1990 BBC series of that name, including such TV luminaries as Rob Curling, Paul Coia and the late Mike Smith !

 

[trash80]

Is that the one that went to the Coventry railway museum, along with the 4SUB and Tyneside EPB?

No thats a 503

 

[yorksrob]

No thats a 503

Ah thanks. My knowledge of trains with sliding doors is somewhat limited !

 

[sprinterguy]

On a more cheery note, how about the train which (momentarily) became "Railwatch" (or it might have been "BBC Railwatch - can't find a picture) in conjunction with the special 1990 BBC series of that name, including such TV luminaries as Rob Curling, Paul Coia and the late Mike Smith !

That jogged a bit of a memory, so had to go and look it up: HST power car 43108. Apparently, at least one of the stick-on nameplates (which read "BBC Television Railwatch" in full) remained stuck on for around two months, rather than the week or so that was intended!

How about another one which gained fame on television, albeit in violent circumstances: 46009, the loco wrecked in the "Operation Smash Hit" demonstration in 1984.

 

[yorksrob]

That jogged a bit of a memory, so had to go and look it up: HST power car 43108. Apparently, at least one of the stick-on nameplates (which read "BBC Television Railwatch" in full) remained stuck on for around two months, rather than the week or so that was intended!

Indeed. One would have thought that between BR and the BBC, they could have afforded a proper nameplate.

Perhaps they'd spent all the money on "Top of the Pops" !

 

[RichmondCommu]

There was also the HST set which became a TV celebrity on 30th August 1984, when it was filmed for a special episode of Top of the Pops performing a record breaking run of 62 minutes 33 seconds for the 117 miles from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads with a shortened 2+5 set; an average speed of 112.7mph; with power car 43002 being named "Top of the Pops" by Jimmy Saville upon arrival.

Simply from memory (please bear in mind that I will be 50 in October!) on arrival at Temple Meads Howard Jones played at least one song to greet the HST. I say this with some reasonable certainty because one of my sisters was studying at Bristol University at the time and fancied Howard!
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It is interesting to consider which depot pets received heritage schemes in the late eighties:

08601: London, Midland & Scottish Railway Black (Bescot)
08604: Great Western Railway Green (Bescot)

I'm guessing here that those would have been station pilots at New Street?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

If we're harking back to the days of steam I think we should include the Jubilee's that survived at Holbeck in Leeds until the Autumn of 1967. From what I've seen they were well cared for by the Holbeck fitters and I think there were around half a dozen of them; I'm guessing here that they must have been the last Jubilees still running. They appear to have been widely photographed, especially on the S & C. One of my neighbors has some cine film footage of one them accelerating away from Blear Moor with a freight having been held in the up loop for several hours. The old girl (not sure which one) still had a good turn of pace even at the end of her career.

 

[StripeyNick]

Is that the DMU that was operating stopping services on the Hope Valley route in the 1990's?

Yes. It was originally used on the N.Wales coast and Ffestiniog branch then went across to the Hope Valley towards the end of 101s on the main.

 

[sprinterguy]

I'm guessing here that those would have been station pilots at New Street?

There's certainly a good few shots of 08601 online in and around the environs of New Street acting as pilot on coaching stock shunts.

 

[skyhigh]

Not sure if they've been mentioned already, but I'd pick 319008 and 319009 as being the first units to carry passengers in the channel tunnel and for setting the record for the shortest London to Brighton journey time before it was broken again in 2005. (I think?)

 

[randyrippley]

whats "famous" depends very much on your personal experience.....for many who served in the military in Europe post WWII it could well be EM1 26000

 

[Helvellyn]

It is interesting to consider which depot pets received heritage schemes in the late eighties:

BR Black: 08730 (Edinburgh Haymarket)/867 (Thornaby)
BR Green: 08011 (Bletchley)/647 (Doncaster works)/691 (Tinsley)/772 (Stratford)/869 (Norwich)
08601: London, Midland & Scottish Railway Black (Bescot)
08604: Great Western Railway Green (Bescot)
08642: London & South Western Railway Black (Eastleigh works)
08793: London & North Eastern Railway Apple Green (Edinburgh Haymarket)
08833: Great Eastern Railway Blue (Stratford)
08907: London & North Western Railway Black (Crewe Diesel)

Willesden had two Class 82s and three Class 83s for pilot duties at Euston and also for ECS moved between Euston and Wembley. Two of these, 82008 and 83012, gained InterCity colours. 82008 is pictured above is seen pretty much after it gained the colours whilst 83012 shows how repeated trips through the carriage washer bleached the paintwork!

 

[Strathclyder]

82008 looks fantastic here!

 

[trash80]

whats "famous" depends very much on your personal experience.....for many who served in the military in Europe post WWII it could well be EM1 26000

Yes though 26020 was the one preserved while "Tommy" was scrapped. I'm sure i read once 26020 was chosen as it was a "celebrity loco" does anyone know why?

 

[EveningStar]

Yes though 26020 was the one preserved while "Tommy" was scrapped. I'm sure i read once 26020 was chosen as it was a "celebrity loco" does anyone know why?

Gather 26020 was an exhibit at the 1951 Festival of Britain and also hauled the Woodhead Tunnel opening train.

 

[randyrippley]

somewhere I've read on the 'web that 26020 was prettified for the exhibition and had aluminium cast handrails and other look-nicer "goodies", and that's the reason for it being selected for preservation