A Guide To Having A Preserved 25 On The World Wide Web

(As simple as A-B-C)

Recent enquiries have revealed that several preserved Class 25s do not seem to be illustrated on the web as often as others. Listed below are those which have not appeared very often and why.

25035 - Formally based at the Northampton & Lamport Railway which is just under one mile long, not a mileage loco then! 035 has, however, been receiving body repairs at the Great Central Railway.
And is reported to be staying. so hopefully it will see regular use.

25072 - Formally at Okehampton, this loco has not worked any passenger turns since. The loco has now been acquired by the C.R.D.G. & Has moved to the Caledonian Railway for restoration to running order

25083 - Based at the Caledonian Railway this loco has also not worked any passenger trains since preservation.
(But didn't enter preservation until December 2000 after 16 years in open storage with first B.R. & then E.W.S)
Extensive restoration is underway and it is hoped the loco will work its first train in preservation during 2004.

25173 - Based at the West Somerset Railway this example may work at the odd gala. Other workings suffer from lack of advance notice.

25185 - Based at the Paington & Dartmouth STEAM railway this loco has one guaranteed turn per year at the Thomas The Tank Engine event. Other than that it works when the ash trays cannot cope with wet rails, advance notice of this does not exist.

25191 - Based at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. 191 has worked very frequently up until last year (2002) until it was sidelined awaiting numerous repairs. Although widely illustrated up until then this loco is not expected to reappear for some time.& has been reported as available for sale

25244 - Based in the south this is another example which has not turned a wheel in preservation. There was some speculation that it was for sale last year until information emerged that "another group" have assumed ownership and are "doing it up". We are still waiting for even a screwdriver to be used in anger.

25265 - Based at the Great Central Railway this privately owned example only ever works at the annual Diesel Gala. Other than that it is actually very busy hauling the engineering train on virtually a daily basis - not exactly conducive to passenger mileage really.

25283 - Undoubtedly the biggest disgrace in diesel preservation. This example was based at the Severn Valley Railway and is owned by the Permanent Way Department. In the 1980s the PWD had a sales stall on Bridgnorth station the proceeds from which were to fund a locomotive for said department, this included the opportunity to purchase shares. On arrival at the railway 283 was used quite extensively for around a year or two and then suddenly the PWD declared it is their engine so it shall work minimal (if any) passenger turns - in short blatant sectorisation in preservation which denies anyone who may have contributed to its purchase any chance of actually riding behind it. We believe 283 is currently broken, up until that point it led a similar life to 265 with regular use on engineering trains.
This Loco has now been purchased by a member of the Dean Forest Diesel Association.
& has been moved to the Dean forest railway for repairs.
Unfortunately all indications imply it will return to the S.V.R. for engineering trains when the work is completed

25309 - Owned by Pete Waterman this loco has been out of service at Crewe South Carriage Sheds for quite some time awaiting repairs.

25322 - Based at the Churnet Valley Railway this example used to work on at least a couple of occasions per year. It was taken out of use early in 2002 for brake block renewal and engine repairs.

The best method of seeing a lot more views on various websites of  those from the list above which do not work passenger turns very often (numbers highlighted) is shown below.

[A] Passenger Coach         [B] Class 25 in motion               [C] Track

And finally make sure people know about it in advance!!!!!