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Inside Iowa Public Television's studios in Johnston, Iowa for the Democratic Des Moines Register Debates on December 13, 2007.
Photo credit: Jeff Horn
I like to think of myself as well travelled, but there are a few glaring omissions, even in England, places I have never been to.
Stratford-Upon-Avon is one place, and I have wanted to visit there for years and years.
Last month there was a sale by Network Rail, and extra 20% off tickets if you booked ahead, and a sale by Premier Inn, with rooms from £45 a night.
I got the tickets for less than eighty quit return, and the hotel was indeed £45 a night.
Cheap as chips.
All I needed was the weather.
Oh yes, the weather. A week of rain, heavy rain and then more rain was forecasted. But I had booked, so all was set.
Whatever the weather.
Tuesday came, and I gritted my teeth and decided to do the usual session in the gym first thing, then come home, shower, pack and have breakfast, so Jools could drop me off on the way to her class.
And that's what happened. Up at five fifteen, have coffee and be out by six. Do my session and be back home before rush hour.
I had three hours to faff around and make myself all lovely.
We had a brew together before Jools went out, and I had the shower, packed before coming back down for breakfast and one last check of the tickets and itinery.
We left just after ten, into town, and at the station, where it was tippling down. I dashed inside, went into the buffet for a coffee and sausage roll, before going onto the platform to wait and eat.
The train was on time, and three-quarters empty, so it was a nice trip up through Kent, under the Thames and across the Essex Badlands to Dagenham where the line dives underground to Stratford and again to St Pancras.
I had seventy minutes to get to Marylebone, so could take my time, take shots and generally not get in the way of those who were on a tight schedule.
Marylebone was a cold stone box. I had an hour to wait, I wasn't hungry, so people watched and looked at the fine station: one of London's lesser know terminus, but on the Monopoly board, I think.
The train came in: a class 68 hauling wonderful Mk3 coaching stock. I would be comfortable with seats that lined up with the windows.
I settled in and waited for departure.
The Cotswolds Main line is unelectrified, and seems to go under London rather than through it, at least for the first few miles.
I saw Kilburn fly by, and other stations too quick to see their names.
Out into the country where the drizzle and thick cloud brought dusk at two in the afternoon. It was dreary, but there's nothing I like more than staring out of a train window.
We stopped at a few places: Leamington Spa, Banbury, where the train picked up a few passengers, but was never busy.
I had to get off at Dorridge, which is like Norwich but only when you have congestion. And wait half an hour for a local train down the Stratford Branch.
Thankfully they had a coffee shop, so I have a cappuccino and a cherry bakewell slice, just finishing it before the last train of the day arrived.
It was a half hour trundle through the mist and gathering gloom, pulling into Stratford on time, where it was pissing down.
It wasn't far to the hotel, but I grabbed the only taxi and he drove me through the one way system, dropping me at the door.
Where it was still raining.
I was given the room furthest from reception, a 130 second walk along narrow corridors up and down stairs, and finally along a dead end passageway to my room.
Phew.
Elite6 Business Networking www.elite6.co.nz
We are a progressive and forward thinking business networking organisation that brings local businesses together each week for an hour of interactive networking.
At each meeting one member delivers a 15-minute presentation to the meeting.
Then, each person speaks for five minutes about their business while sitting at a table of six. Tables are mixed each week, so you get to meet different people. This is a major point of difference with Elite6 compared to other networking groups. Members are encouraged to meet outside the Elite6 meetings for further discussion about how their businesses might collaborate and/or refer to each other.
We also promote each business online with the Elite6 Members Directory each member has the ability to post Blogs and Events! Again this is distinctive to Elite6. Several groups meet each week in Ferrymead, Cashmere, Rolleston, Christchurch City, Tower Junction, Rangiora, Papanui, Waimakariri, Avonhead, Merivale and Sydenham with more groups springing up all the time in other areas.
We’d love to have you visit one of our groups so If you are interested in joining us Register online and one of our Facilitators will contact you!
Governor and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown tour TECORE Networks facility grand opening. by Brian K. Slack at Hanover, MD
Preserved 43200 (43060) 'Heaton 150' sporting '200 Years of Train Travel Since 1825' temporary branding.
The preserved Class 43 HST power car now known as 43060 “Heaton 150” has a particularly interesting history because it has effectively lived through several generations of British intercity railway. It began life as an East Coast Main Line HST power car in 1977, spent much of its later career on the Midland Main Line, became one of the last VP185-powered East Midlands HSTs, briefly worked for Colas after withdrawal, entered preservation at the Nene Valley Railway, returned to the national network in 2025 and then acquired the temporary identity 43200 for Railway 200. Its Heaton 150 name came later, in September 2025, and commemorates the 150th anniversary of Heaton depot.
There is a small but important distinction in the modern identity. 43200 was a commemorative renumbering of 43060, not a permanent new identity. By 2026 the power car was again being recorded as 43060, while retaining the Heaton 150 1875–2025 name. The 125 Group's January 2026 fleet list records it as 43060, owned by 125 Group, with the Heaton 150 name.
Birth as an East Coast HST
43060 was built at British Rail Engineering Limited's Crewe Works in 1977. It entered service in August 1977 as part of HST set 254003, one of the early Class 254 formations intended for the East Coast Main Line.
The HST was then still a revolutionary train. British Rail had developed it as a relatively straightforward diesel alternative to more complicated high-speed concepts such as the Advanced Passenger Train. Two streamlined Class 43 power cars worked with Mark 3 coaches, giving the train a maximum service speed of 125 mph.
43060 was paired initially with sister power car 43061 in set 254003. The set was among the early East Coast HSTs, and photographs from the late 1970s show 254003 working King's Cross–Edinburgh services. A commissioning run took 43060 to York on 2 September 1977, shortly before the regular East Coast HST operation expanded.
This means that the preserved power car has a genuine connection with the birth of the HST on the East Coast Main Line, rather than being a later replacement vehicle.
The name “County of Leicestershire”
In March 1985, 43060 was named County of Leicestershire at Leicester station. The naming was part of British Rail's practice of naming HST power cars after counties associated with the InterCity network. The name was later removed and subsequently reapplied in modified Midland Main Line style.
The name is particularly interesting in retrospect because 43060 would eventually become one of the longest-serving HST power cars on the Midland Main Line.
During the 1980s it was still an East Coast locomotive. Photographs show County of Leicestershire working King's Cross–Leeds and King's Cross–Edinburgh trains, while it also travelled widely across the East Coast network. One surviving photograph records it at King's Cross preparing to work the 20:50 service to Leeds on 12 January 1987 during an exceptionally severe winter.
The locomotive also visited Scotland regularly. It was photographed in Dundee in July 1985, for example, as County of Leicestershire.
The move to the Midland Main Line
The next major phase came in the early 1990s.
Following the electrification and modernisation of the East Coast Main Line, the East Coast HST fleet no longer required quite so many of its original power cars. 43060 became associated with the Midland Main Line, where it would spend the overwhelming majority of the next three decades.
Records place its regular Midland Main Line work from approximately 1991 onwards. It became a familiar sight between London St Pancras, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield, and also appeared on summer workings to places such as Skegness.
This was a significant change in its identity. The locomotive had been built for the East Coast, had carried a Leicestershire name while based in that environment, and now actually became a Midland Main Line stalwart.
The HSTs were particularly well suited to the Midland Main Line because much of the route remained unelectrified. Even after the introduction of newer diesel multiple units, there was no straightforward replacement for the capacity and speed of a nine- or ten-car HST formation.
The Paxman VP185
One of the most important technical aspects of 43060's history is its engine.
It was originally fitted with the Paxman Valenta, the engine that gave early HSTs their famous high-pitched roar. During its later career, however, 43060 was fitted with a Paxman VP185 engine.
The VP185 was developed as a more efficient successor to the Valenta. The Midland HST fleet became particularly associated with the type, unlike the Great Western and East Coast fleets where MTU re-engining became much more prevalent.
Consequently, preserved 43060 represents an important and increasingly rare version of the HST. It is not simply a generic Class 43: it is a VP185-powered Midland HST survivor.
The engine change also means that its sound today is not quite the same as that of a completely original 1970s HST. The basic locomotive is an original 1977 machine, while its propulsion equipment represents a later stage in the HST's evolution.
Midland Mainline and East Midlands Trains
After British Rail's privatisation, 43060 continued its Midland career.
It became part of the Midland Mainline fleet and later passed to East Midlands Trains when that franchise began in 2007. During the early EMT years it retained the Midland Main Line blue livery for some time. A photograph from March 2009 shows it still wearing Midland Main Line colours despite carrying East Midlands Trains branding.
That period is particularly useful for understanding why enthusiasts became attached to 43060. It was one of the power cars that seemed to embody the transition from the old Midland Mainline operation into East Midlands Trains without immediately losing its previous appearance.
Eventually it received the East Midlands Trains livery.
The HST continued to work intensively. It could be found on St Pancras–Nottingham and St Pancras–Sheffield trains, as well as seasonal workings such as Derby–Skegness. A 2017 photograph records 43060 at Skegness with a Derby-bound HST, illustrating the remarkable variety of destinations that could be reached by a Midland HST.
By then, the locomotive was forty years old.
The final passenger years
The HST's age became increasingly significant in the late 2010s. East Midlands Railway's eventual replacement fleet, the Class 810 Aurora, was still some way off, yet the existing HSTs were approaching the end of their lives in normal passenger service.
43060 nevertheless continued to work regularly.
In April 2019 it was photographed working an East Midlands Trains St Pancras–Nottingham service between Attenborough and Beeston. This was already more than forty years after its construction.
Its last regular operator was East Midlands Railway, which replaced East Midlands Trains in 2019.
The pandemic accelerated the end of the old HST operation, and the East Midlands fleet was withdrawn from normal passenger service in 2021. 43060 was withdrawn in June 2021.
At that point, its future was uncertain.
A brief post-passenger career with Colas
43060 did not immediately go into preservation.
It was among former East Midlands HST power cars that entered the Colas Rail infrastructure-test fleet. In late 2020 and early 2021, Colas was beginning to use HST power cars for infrastructure-monitoring work, partly because the Class 43 offered high-speed capability and good route availability. Records from October 2020 show 43050 and 43060 working together on Network Rail test trains.
This was a fascinating final commercial chapter.
A power car that had spent more than forty years carrying passengers between St Pancras and the East Midlands was now hauling track-monitoring equipment.
Its time with Colas was relatively short. By 2021 the power car was being stored at Long Marston, alongside other withdrawn East Midlands HSTs. Photographic records from August 2021 show 43060 there with 43045, 43073 and 43075.
The fate of many of its contemporaries was grim. 43061, its original partner in HST set 254003, was scrapped at Sims Metal in Newport in October 2021. 43060 escaped that fate.
Preservation
The crucial change came when 125 Preservation acquired 43060 for preservation.
The organisation's objective was to preserve the InterCity 125 not merely as a static exhibit but as a functioning railway vehicle. 43060 was acquired alongside fellow VP185 power car 43045, and several historic Mark 3 vehicles.
The two power cars eventually became part of a short-formed preserved HST with three coaches: prototype Mark 3 vehicles 42355 and 42357, together with first-production Mark 3 buffet 40904. The resulting train was a particularly interesting historical combination because it brought together two surviving VP185 power cars and some of the earliest Mark 3 passenger vehicles.
The vehicles moved to the Nene Valley Railway/Railworld area in January 2023. 43060 arrived at Wansford on 10 January 2023, with 43045 following the next day. The power cars were successfully started after arrival.
This was not merely static preservation.
In July 2023, the short HST formation entered preservation service at the Nene Valley Railway. The formation consisted of 43045, 43060, 42355, 42357 and 40904. The two power cars were still in East Midlands Trains colours at that point.
The first running was historically significant because it demonstrated that an HST power car withdrawn from national passenger service could still be maintained and operated in preservation.
Railway 200
The next transformation was extraordinary.
2025 was Railway 200, marking two centuries since the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The 125 Preservation team decided to give 43060 a special commemorative appearance.
On 29 June 2025, the newly repainted power car was unveiled in a striking dark-blue Railway 200 livery. The scheme deliberately evoked the appearance of the former Great North Eastern Railway HSTs, although 43060 itself had not historically been a GNER power car.
The livery included Railway 200 branding, while the power car received the temporary number 43200.
The number was a piece of railway numerology: Class 43 + 200 = 43200, explicitly linking the HST with Railway 200.
The number was not a new permanent TOPS identity. It was essentially a commemorative disguise for 43060. Internal and historical records continued to identify the vehicle as 43060.
The Greatest Gathering
43200 became one of the most conspicuous HSTs at The Greatest Gathering, the major Railway 200 exhibition held at Alstom's Litchurch Lane works in Derby in August 2025.
It appeared alongside 43159 “Rio Warrior”, the preserved HST power car associated with the 148.5 mph diesel rail-speed record. Both were used to represent the InterCity 125 at the event.
The juxtaposition was particularly appropriate. 43159 represented the HST's extraordinary high-speed achievement, while 43200 represented the enormous cultural impact of the InterCity 125 on British rail travel.
The exhibition also brought 43060 back to Derby, a city closely associated with the later Midland Main Line phase of its career.
Returning to the main line
The Railway 200 project became even more significant when 43060 was fully registered for main-line operation.
This was a major achievement for 125 Preservation. Instead of being confined to the Nene Valley Railway, 43060 could now travel over Network Rail infrastructure again.
Railways Illustrated reported in October 2025 that the preserved power car had returned to the main line and would be maintained for main-line use by 125 Group.
There was an important organisational distinction here. 43060 belongs to 125 Preservation, while 43159 and other parts of the HST preservation fleet belong to 125 Group. The two organisations cooperate closely, allowing power cars and equipment to be shared.
That cooperation proved crucial to the Railway 200 programme.
The Heaton connection
The locomotive's new name came in September 2025.
On 20 September 2025, Northern held a major open day at Heaton Traction & Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot in Newcastle, celebrating 150 years since a railway depot was established on the site.
The original depot had been opened by the North Eastern Railway in 1875. The 2025 event therefore marked a century and a half of railway engineering at Heaton.
43060 was a particularly appropriate locomotive to commemorate the anniversary.
It had been built specifically for the East Coast Main Line and had spent its early career working East Coast services. Its history therefore had a direct connection with the North Eastern railway world, even though its later career became strongly associated with the Midland Main Line.
At the Heaton open day, 43060 was named:
“Heaton 150 1875–2025.”
The naming took place during the open day itself, and the locomotive arrived as part of a special charter from Derby. 43159 “Rio Warrior” led the train, with 43060 at the rear.
This was therefore the first time the locomotive had carried the Heaton 150 identity.
The name is quite different from its earlier County of Leicestershire name. The latter connected the locomotive to its Midland Main Line career; Heaton 150 deliberately reconnects it with its East Coast origins.
The 2025 Heaton charter
The train to the open day was operated by RailAdventure for the Branch Line Society.
It ran from Derby to Heaton on 20 September 2025 as 1Z59, with 43159 and 43200/43060 working together. The return was 1Z60 from Heaton back to Derby that evening.
The journey was especially symbolic because the locomotive was effectively returning to the geographical territory of its first career.
When 43060 entered service in 1977, it was an East Coast HST. Almost half a century later, its preserved form travelled north again to Newcastle to receive a name commemorating one of the great East Coast depots.
The GNER livery of 2026
Another interesting twist followed.
In January 2026, 43060 was unveiled in a retro GNER-style dark-blue livery at UK Rail Leasing's Loughborough facility. 125 Group and 125 Preservation presented several newly painted HST vehicles there on 23 January, with 43060 receiving the GNER scheme.
This is important because the GNER livery and the Heaton 150 name tell two different stories.
The GNER colour scheme is a recreation. 43060 itself did not spend its working career with GNER as a regular power car.
The Heaton 150 name is an actual commemorative identity applied in 2025.
The combination therefore creates a deliberately historical-looking locomotive that nevertheless represents several different phases of HST history.
By February 2026, photographs show 43060 Heaton 150 in GNER-style colours working over the East Coast Main Line. It was involved in stock movements connected with Scottish HST vehicles, travelling from Haymarket towards Derby and subsequently Loughborough.
The choice is particularly apt. A locomotive originally built for East Coast HST services is now wearing a visual recreation of one of the East Coast's best-known post-privatisation liveries.
A return to the East Coast
The February 2026 movements produced another satisfying historical coincidence.
On 20 February, 43060 worked with 43025 from Haymarket depot to Derby Chaddesden Sidings, conveying Scottish Mark 3 stock. The route took them via the East Coast Main Line, including Doncaster and Newark.
That meant that 43060 was once again travelling over the railway for which it had originally been built, although now as a preserved locomotive rather than an East Coast passenger power car.
It was effectively revisiting its own birthplace in operational terms.
The Loughborough work
The power car was subsequently involved in work at UK Rail Leasing's Loughborough facility.
The 125 Group's January 2026 presentation took place there, and records show 43060 at the site on 23 January in its retro GNER livery.
On 23 February 2026, 43060 was recorded working from Derby Chaddesden Sidings to the UKRL Wabtec Brush Works at Loughborough. Contemporary photographs describe it as the GNER-liveried Heaton 150.
The 125 Group's January 2026 fleet list subsequently recorded 43060 at UKRL Loughborough for repairs.
That is the latest firm status I can establish: the locomotive remains preserved and main-line capable, but as of the latest fleet information it is at Loughborough undergoing repairs rather than being in ordinary excursion service.
The curious number 43200
The numbers can look confusing if you encounter photographs from different dates.
For most of its life the locomotive was 43060.
During the Railway 200 period in 2025 it became 43200 for commemorative purposes.
It received the Heaton 150 name while still associated with the 43200 identity.
By 2026, railway records were again using 43060, while the Heaton 150 name remained. The 125 Group's fleet list explicitly records 43060, Heaton 150 1875–2025, while SpotLog lists 43060 with 43200 as an associated number.
It is therefore best to regard 43200 as a 2025 Railway 200 identity, rather than treating 43200 as the locomotive's permanent number.
Why the locomotive is particularly important
43060 is a particularly valuable preservation candidate because of its East Coast pedigree and VP185 engineering.
It is an original 1977 production HST power car. It was part of the early East Coast fleet. It carried a county name. It later became a Midland Main Line regular. It was fitted with the distinctive VP185 engine. It worked through Midland Mainline, East Midlands Trains and East Midlands Railway eras. It survived withdrawal and a spell with Colas. It then became part of a preserved HST formation.
Its survival is also significant because its original partner, 43061, did not survive. 43061 was ultimately scrapped in 2021.
The preservation of 43060 therefore keeps alive a physical representative of the original 254003 formation that once worked the East Coast Main Line.
The Nene Valley HST
The preserved HST associated with 43060 is also historically unusual.
The formation assembled by 125 Preservation used 43045 and 43060, both VP185-powered, with Mk3 vehicles 42355, 42357 and 40904. The coaches are themselves historically important, including prototype Mk3 vehicles and the first production Trailer Restaurant First Buffet.
This gives 43060 a preservation context extending beyond the power car itself. It is part of an attempt to preserve the whole HST concept, rather than simply displaying an isolated locomotive.
That is particularly important because the HST was never really intended to be viewed as a conventional locomotive class. Its significance lies in the complete power-car-and-coach system.
From ordinary railway vehicle to historical exhibit
There is a fascinating progression in 43060's life.
In 1977 it was new technology.
In the 1980s it was a high-speed East Coast express power car.
In the 1990s it became a Midland Main Line locomotive.
In the 2000s and 2010s it was an everyday passenger train power car rather than a heritage object.
In 2020–21 it became a specialist infrastructure locomotive with Colas.
In 2023 it became a preserved railway vehicle.
In 2025 it became a Railway 200 exhibit and returned to main-line operation.
In September 2025 it became Heaton 150.
In January 2026 it became a visual recreation of a GNER-era HST while retaining its Heaton 150 identity.
That is an extraordinary sequence for a single power car.
The significance of “Heaton 150”
The name is perhaps more meaningful than it first appears.
Heaton depot's history reaches back to 1875, when the North Eastern Railway established a locomotive depot on the site. The 2025 anniversary therefore commemorated 150 years of railway activity at the location.
43060's own East Coast history began only two years after the depot's 100th anniversary, in 1977.
The HST was part of a completely different technological era from the steam locomotives that originally worked from Heaton, yet the locomotive's preservation allows those different eras to be connected.
The Heaton 150 name therefore says something about the continuity of railway engineering. The locomotive was built during the later British Rail era, worked in commercial service for more than four decades and is now preserved by enthusiasts who are themselves maintaining the technology for future generations.
Its present status
As of August 2026, 43060 remains in preservation under 125 Preservation, working closely with 125 Group. The organisation's fleet page identifies 43060 as one of its two principal preserved HST power cars.
The most recent fleet information places 43060 at UKRL Loughborough for repairs, following its February 2026 movement there.
Its future is therefore not one of static display. It remains intended for main-line use, and its movements in 2025 and 2026 demonstrate that the preservation team has succeeded in keeping a 1977 HST power car capable of travelling over the national network.
The locomotive has consequently come a very long way from the days when it was simply the rear power car of HST set 254003.
Brad Feld and David Cohen visited Quick Left headquarters for an evening filled with networking, as they present The Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving a Relationship with an Entrepreneur. Following the event, Brad and David hosted a Q&A session and book signing. Big thanks to SVB, KKO and Kurtz Fargo for sponsoring the evening.
24/04/2022
LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA
HOTEL CRISTINA BY TIGOTAN
NETWORKING DEL MERCADO
FOTO TONY HERNÁNDEZ
Soon after I started working at Biddulph Methodist Church both Graham & I took the opportunity to attend a workshop aimed at helping us look at stereo types in a new light & also give us an opportunity to network with others in the North West of England who are working with children & families in ministry. It was almost 20 years since I'd last set foot in Warrington & most of my photographs were taken from the car, but it was nice to head out of our usual surroundings & interact with others.
Networking Reception
Oceanfront Lawn
Some of the best business ideas and opportunities arise through casual conversations. Mix and mingle while making professional and social connections.
DIY Networks' tv host Chris Grundy and Tradesperson of the Year spokesperson, strikes a pose with a fan at the Rebuilding Together Tradesperson of the Year booth during Rebuild 1000
construction jobs,architecture jobs,engineering jobs,construction employment,construction resumes,construction networking
The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber presents Network by 9! Here is your opportunity to develop potential leads and build business relationships before the workday begins. Who knows? You might have a new client before 9AM. We were sold out this morning (1/25/13) all in an effort to expand your network!