43190 to become spares donor for 125 Group fleet

In partnership with Romic Group, 125 Group are pleased to have taken delivery of power car 43190. This concludes a deal to swap some of our redundant MK3 coaches for a HST power car. 43190 will be used as a spares donor for our existing fleet.

We extend our thanks to the team at Romic who have been excellent and very supportive of preserved HST users in the UK, recognising the challenges we all face in accessing spares. 43190 will provide the missing pieces of our spares pool, enabling us to keep our fleet operational well into the future. These materials will also support improvements by providing float items which then allow components to go away for overhaul without causing extended downtime.

As always, members will find out our full plans in the next edition of our magazine; One Two Five. If you’d like to become a member, you can find details here.

43044 Named Edward Paxman

43044 Edward Paxman Nameplates image

125 Group is very proud to announce that we have named power car 43044, Edward Paxman after the founder of the Paxman company. Our Vice President Gary Heelas hosted the short naming ceremony at NHR Ruddington on Sunday 21st August as part of the Meet the Fleet event, joined by 125 Group member and Managing Director, Network Rail North Western Region, Tim Shoveller who kindly performed the honours.

We hope you approve of the name which is in the traditional BR style in the correct place on the body side for an Executive Livery power car.  It also features a small plaque explaining who Edward Paxman was, and his relevance to the continuing HST story.

43044, as our designated power car for Valenta power, now requires a engine top end rebuild and also the procurement of a coupling ring between the engine and alternator – more information on this will be in the next edition of One Two Five, our members magazine. If you are not a group member and would like to support our ongoing preservation efforts by joining, you can find more information and sign up here.