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A British High Speed Train (HST), also known as an Intercity 125 consists of two diesel power cars either end of a rake of between five and nine (but usually seven or eight) 'Mark 3' carriages. The train is capable of 125 mph (200 km/h) and is considered one of the best trains Britain has produced, although as of 2004, they are showing signs of ageing.
The HST was the first high speed train in Britain: that is, the first train to travel at over 125 mph (200 km/h). Its trade name was "Inter-City 125", spelling later changed to Intercity 125 or the more colloquial name of "Screamer", referring to the loud screaming noise made by the turbocharger of the train's 2,250 bhp (1,678 kW) Paxman engines.
It was introduced in the late 1970s by British Rail, at a time when the generally accepted maximum speed of British trains was around 100 mph (160 km/h). This, plus its rapid acceleration and deceleration, made it ideal for passenger use and it slashed journey times around the country. The prototype HST still holds the world record for diesel traction at a little over 143 mph (230 km/h).
The train is widely used on long haul passenger services even today and has been hailed by many as Britain's best train ever.
The original Inter-City 125 livery was blue and grey coaches, with yellow front (for visibility), with the yellow continuing down the side of the power cars. This led to the nickname " flying banana ".
The next livery was in less widespread use. It was brownish-grey, dark grey (almost black) around the windows with a red and white stripe along the centre, and retaining the yellow bands on the power cars. A later variant of this livery saw the yellow side-bands replaced with light grey and did not feature the British Rail name or logo, and carried a new InterCity logo, with the name in serif type and an image of a swallow, (incidentally known as "Roderick").
After privatisation, the individual train operating companies attached their own looks to the HST, with First Great Western changing its livery many times, finally to a pink, white and blue theme to match FirstGroup's corporate colours.
In the early 1970s, a prototype unit was produced. At this stage, it was considered that each power car was a locomotive in its own right, and the carriages in between were ordinary hauled stock. As a result, the two prototype power cars were allocated Class 41 (numbers 41001/002) and the carriages were numbered in a new series for 'Mark 3' stock (numbers 1xxxx).
Shortly after the introduction of the prototype unit, it was decided to classify the whole set as a permanently-formed Diesel Electric Multiple Unit. It became Class 252Class 252 was the classification allocated to the prototype High Speed Train unit, numbered 252001. History When originally built, in 1972, the prototype High Speed Train (HST) units were considered to be formed of two locomotives at either end of a rake, and both the power cars and the carriages were renumbered into a new series (numbers 4xxxx), with the locomotives becoming 43000/001.
Production units started to appear from 1976, and these were allocated Class 253Class 253 and Class 254 were the classifications allocated to the production High Speed Train units. The former class was used for Western Region sets, operating out of London Paddington, and the latter for Eastern Region sets, operating out of London Kin for the Western Region units (which had only one reastaurant and kitchen car) and Class 254 for the Eastern Region units (which had two resturant and kitchen cars). The power car and intermediate carriages took numbers in the 4xxxx series, following the prototype unit stock.
In the 1980s, considerable trouble was experienced with the power cars, and this contributed to the abandonment of the permanent formation of power cars with carriages. Arrangements reverted to that originally adopted for the prototype unit; two locomotives either end of a rake of carriages. This time, though, no stock was renumbered and henceforth the production power cars have been referred to as Class 43Two distinct types of locomotive have been allocated Class 43. North British Built 'Warship Class' The D800 series diesel-hydraulic 'Warship Class' was constructed by two different builders. Those locomotives built by British Railways at Swindon Works wer.