The Railway Journal
Power: Class 55 at Leicester North
Preserved class 55 no. 55016 'Gordon Highlander' prepares to enter the headshunt off 2A18 Loughborough-> Leicester North in order to run round and form 2B18 to Loughborough on 31st August 2014 during the Great Central Railway's Diesel Gala.
22 locomotives were produced between 1961 and 1962. They were designed and geared to operate high speed services on the East Coast Mainline out of Kings Cross. Each locomotive was fitted with 2 Napier Deltic D18-25 engines and they operated at a maximum speed of 100mph. They were introduced onto the East Coast Mainline where they took over from class 40 hauled trains. The locos frequently hauled loads of up to 13 coaches and hauled prestigious trains such as the Flying Scotsman and achieved a time of 5 hours 30 minutes between London and Edinburgh with a call at Newcastle. In the late 1970s, the class 55s were slowly stepped down to secondary roles as the High Speed Train sets replaced them on high speed trunk services. 31 December 198 marked the final class 55 powered service from Edinburgh to London Kings Cross. Six locomotives and 2 cabs were saved and preserved following the withdrawal of the class 55s. 55002, 55009 and 55022 are all certified for operation on the mainline. 55016 was used by Porterbrook and was painted in their corperate purple livery for a time whilst it operated on the mainline following it's sale in 2008, it has been absent from mainline use, however following a further sale, it may be returning to the mainline fairly soon.
Power: Class 55 at Leicester North
Preserved class 55 no. 55016 'Gordon Highlander' prepares to enter the headshunt off 2A18 Loughborough-> Leicester North in order to run round and form 2B18 to Loughborough on 31st August 2014 during the Great Central Railway's Diesel Gala.
22 locomotives were produced between 1961 and 1962. They were designed and geared to operate high speed services on the East Coast Mainline out of Kings Cross. Each locomotive was fitted with 2 Napier Deltic D18-25 engines and they operated at a maximum speed of 100mph. They were introduced onto the East Coast Mainline where they took over from class 40 hauled trains. The locos frequently hauled loads of up to 13 coaches and hauled prestigious trains such as the Flying Scotsman and achieved a time of 5 hours 30 minutes between London and Edinburgh with a call at Newcastle. In the late 1970s, the class 55s were slowly stepped down to secondary roles as the High Speed Train sets replaced them on high speed trunk services. 31 December 198 marked the final class 55 powered service from Edinburgh to London Kings Cross. Six locomotives and 2 cabs were saved and preserved following the withdrawal of the class 55s. 55002, 55009 and 55022 are all certified for operation on the mainline. 55016 was used by Porterbrook and was painted in their corperate purple livery for a time whilst it operated on the mainline following it's sale in 2008, it has been absent from mainline use, however following a further sale, it may be returning to the mainline fairly soon.