Hull Trains Class 86 and Grand Central HST, 16/02/08.

We start at London Kings Cross with the AC Loco Group's 86 101 which was on hire to Hull Trains during repairs to one their damaged DEMUs. The 86 worked the 1H03 09:34 from Kings Cross which terminated at Doncaster. A short lived working, but one which proved popular with enthusiasts.

At Doncaster we start the Valenta-powered action with a ride on a National Express East Coast HST to York. The return to London was with the open access operator Grand Central, which had only commenced services a few months earlier.

Fourteen years later and pretty much everything you see here is history now. The 86 has now been sold to Locomotive Services Ltd, after having a spell on hire to Caledonian Sleeper for shunting empties at London Euston. Class 800 Azuma multiple units have replaced the Intercity 125 HSTs and most of the class 91-hauled 225 sets too, the latter down to just a handful of examples which no longer work into Scotland. Grand Central replaced their HSTs with class 180s in 2017.

Sadly the days of Valenta-powered class 43 power cars firing up on the buffer stops at Kings Cross are long gone.

Видео Hull Trains Class 86 and Grand Central HST, 16/02/08. канала ValentaLamenter