No.E43062

No. E43062 was built by British Rail Engineering Limited at Crewe in September 1977 and was outshopped in a BR blue and grey livery. The locomotive was first allocated to the Bounds Green (BN) depot and 43062 was initially part of the 254004 set. It was repainted in an InterCity Swallow livery after a few years in service.

As British Railways prepared to be privatised, it sold its HSTs to Virgin in 1997, including 43062. The Class 43 locomotive was repainted in a Virgin red and black livery for use on CrossCountry services.

Virgin handed over ten HST power cars in 2002. 43062 was given to Network Rail for use as part of the New Measurement Train (NMT). The locomotive was outshopped in a bright Network Rail yellow livery and because of this, the train was often referred to as the ‘Flying Banana’. The NMT travels at 125mph to monitor and record any faults on the track. 43062 was named ‘John Armitt’ after the chairman of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission and had a red nameplate fitted.

Loram UK won a Network Rail £8-million five-year contract to maintain the NMT in 2020. 43062 was recently overhauled at Loram Derby and returned to traffic in January 2024 with No. 43257 at the rear.

No. E43063

No. E43063 was built by British Rail Engineering Limited at Crewe in September 1977 and outshopped in a BR blue and grey livery. The locomotive was first allocated to the Bounds Green (BN) depot and 43063 was initially part of the 254004 set. On 18th May 1991, 43063 could be seen at the Laira depot in a repainted InterCity Swallow livery and continued in service with this livery until 1997.

As British Railways prepared to be privatised, it sold its HSTs to Virgin in 1997. 43063 was the first locomotive to be repainted in a Virgin CrossCountry red and black livery. Hon. Lord James Douglas-Hamilton QC & MP named the locomotive ‘Maiden Voyager’ to mark the launch of Virgin CrossCountry services, the same name given to Virgin’s first jumbo jet. Nameplates were fitted at Edinburgh station on 6th January 1997.

43063 ran in service with this name until the nameplates were removed in October 1999. In 2002, Virgin handed over 43063 to FGW who repainted it in a FGW blue and purple livery. Between 2006 and 2007, the locomotive faced an overhaul at Brush Traction and was fitted with an MTU 16V4000 R41 engine. FGW was renamed Great Western Railway in September 2015 and 43063 continued in service under the new name.

Six GWR Class 43 HST power cars were stored at the Laira depot in 2020 and 43063 was among them, becoming a spares donor.

This train set features:

• a Class 43 HST power car numbered E43063
• a Class 43 HST dummy car numbered E43062
• two Mk3 TS coaches numbered E42064 and E42065
• a transformer
• a buffer stop
• a full curve
• a power straight
• a standard straight
• a 3rd full curve
• a left-hand point
• a re-railer.