HST. 125.

Class 43 British Locomotives.

Please do not get upset, when I refer to these engines by that class. Because with the reclassification we tend to associate 43 as the old Warship engines.

The HST (High speed train) came out of the experimental class of advanced tilt technology and the 125 intercity was Britain's first high speed diesel a successful leap into the future.These were the first steps into the concept of the Channel tunnel trains or Eurostar.

These HST were built by BREL/PAXMAN at Crew works between 1975 to 1982, they are powered by MTU engine of 1565kW, 2250hp at 1500 rpm. Weight was 70.25 ton, with a top speed of 125mph. Continuous traction speed is just over 64 mph.

Since then they have been rebuilt to give them at least another forty years running life and in that process were re-numbered. Officially they are now Class 43/2.

They are much liked and remain a quality high speed train. They also carry many famous name plates and several have been fitted with cameras for work as departmental measuring train.