Back to the future as workhorse returns to railways

But despite a career spanning 50 years on the rails, there was no rest for Deltic 55022 Royal Scots Grey yesterday as the vintage Yorkshire-owned locomotive became the first of its kind to haul long-distance freight across the country for more than 30 years.

The classic 1961 locomotive, owned by Huddersfield man Martin Walker, was built to haul express services on the prestige inter-city route between King’s Cross and Edinburgh and was a familiar site at stations in the region until its retirement with the introduction of high-speed trains.

It is now one of only six left in existence and has been called back into service by haulage company GB Railfreight owing to a shortage of diesel-powered trains.

Already it has spent five-and-a-half weeks working 16 hours a day in the North East hauling Rio Tinto Alcan tank trains containing raw materials between North Blyth and Lynemouth.

And yesterday, it hauled 12 wagons 200 miles between Fort William and Glasgow.

Mr Walker, a train enthusiast as a child who bought the locomotive in 2004 and has invested around £250,000 bringing it up to scratch, has been running chartered journeys with it across the country for the past five years.

He says yesterday was an historic day and despite the 30-year gap, he had no worries his locomotive would pick up where it left off.

“It is a moment of pride for me but you get the real feeling of pride at the end of the job,” he said.

“People said it wouldn’t work and it was too old but it was hauling for nearly six weeks for 16 hours a day, five-and-a-half days a week.

“After that was when I got a real swell of pride.

“Yesterday was the first time a Deltic has hauled a long freight train since well before 1980.

“It was a completely different kind of job. We had done some work for GB Railfreight in the past, taking their staff on days out and things like that.

“Normally Deltic was a passenger locomotive running through Yorkshire between London and Edinburgh. Then in early April they asked us to do the job up in the North East.

“We checked out what the job was, considered all the implications, and decided there was absolutely no reason at all why this locomotive could not do this type of work.

“It is very strange that it has now ended up hauling a freight train. But it is doing fine, absolutely no problem at all.

“Providing it is maintained properly, which it is thanks to the work of a group of friends and rail enthusiasts, there is no reason why it cannot keep hauling freight for years to come.”

Royal Scots Grey was the first out of 22 Deltics built for British Rail in 1961 and 1962 for use on the East Coast Main Line out of King’s Cross that were named after military regiments or famous racehorses.

By the early 1980s, they were being replaced by new Inter-City 125 trains, and were gradually phased out. The last examples were taken out of service at the beginning of 1982.

Out of the six left in preservation, the National Railway Museum in York owns one, 55002 King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, which is currently undergoing extensive renovation work.

The Deltic Preservation Society, a group set up by train enthusiasts in 1978, owns three, D9009 Alycidon – a regular visitor to the North York Moors Railway, D9015 Tulyar and 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier which is currently based at the Wensleydale Railway. Mr Walker owns the other two.

But Royal Scots Grey is the only Deltic still capable of mainline service as it is equipped with a Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) and an OTMR – the equivalent of a plane’s black box.

Mike Hallum-Rudd, volunteer liaison officer at the Deltic Preservation Society, said: “This is a very happy day for Deltic enthusiasts.

“Deltic was a high speed passenger locomotive and they were seldom worked on freight. This was something British Rail said was to be considered a non-standard class because of the complexity of the engine and electronics.”

Deltic 55022 Royal Scots Grey is normally based at the East Lancashire Railway in Bury.

As fuel costs rise, companies are increasingly turning to rail freight to shift goods around.

In 2006, the rail freight market shifted 110 million tonnes in the UK – five per cent of the total goods moved in that year.

Network Rail says freight traffic has increased dramatically since privatisation and predicts a 30 per cent growth in tonnage lifted over the next decade.

Society works to preserve engines

THERE were 22 Deltics built for British Rail in 1961 and 1962 for use on flagship services on the East Coast Main Line between King’s Cross and Edinburgh – Royal Scots Grey celebrated her 50th birthday on February 28.

The locomotives – powered by Deltic engines originally developed by the navy during the war – were named after military regiments and famous racehorses.

There is a close link between Deltics and Yorkshire and despite being made in Lancashire, the locomotives used the famous British Rail Doncaster Works as a repair shop which undertook all the overhauls and heavy repairs on the engines throughout their British Rail careers.

By the late 1970s, enthusiasts realised the introduction of new high speed trains meant the days of the Deltics were numbered and set up the Deltic Preservation Society.

The first two Deltics were withdrawn in 1980, and the final ones were phased out by 1982.

The remaining 16 Deltics were cut up by British Rail at Doncaster between 1980 and 1983.