WATCH: Final East Midlands Railway VP185 Class 43 locomotive at Chesterfield

The Final VP185 Passenger Service

Friday 11th December saw the end of an era for the Midland Mainline with East Midlands Railway running their final Paxman VP185 HST passenger services.

What is a VP185?

The VP185s were created to be a more efficient version of Paxman’s Valenta engine and have been a great success in service.

Several Class 43s were fitted with these engines in 1995, and most HSTs on the MML were fitted with them replacing the Valentas.

From 1995 until 2020 the VP185 HSTs have been screaming along the MML making a fine and unforgettable sight indeed!

East Midlands Railway (East Midlands Trains) Class 43 HST — Credit: RailView

With the VP185 engines growing old and tired, EMR replaced the original blue power cars with the VP185 engines and buffered power cars with MTU engines with Ex-LNER HST power cars powered by MTU engines due to being more energy-efficient and more environmentally friendly.

The first red EMR HST set began service in June 2020 and now six months later in December 2020, they have fully replaced the iconic blue HST sets on the MML.

Northern 195 at Oxenholme Lake District with a Windermere train

By Monday 14th December, East Midlands Railway’s new timetable changes will see less HST diagrams on the MML and eventually in the not distant future will see the Class 222 Meridians start to replace HSTs on diagrams alongside ex-Hull Trains Class 180 Adelantes which will replace all buffered power car HST services.

It is believed that all EMR HST will be fully replaced by mid-2021 and by 2023 all 180s & 222s will be replaced by the Hitachi Class 810 Aurora on all services.

The final VP185 services would also mark the end of Paxman engined HSTs on passenger service

The final VP185 HST services include:

1B23 06:34 Leeds to London St Pancras International via Nottingham
1D23 10:34 London St Pancras International to Nottingham
1B43 12:45 Nottingham to London St Pancras International
1D48 15:34 London St Pancras International to Nottingham
1B69 17:45 Nottingham to London St Pancras International
1F70 20:01 London St Pancras to Leeds via Derby

The last VP185 would run with Class 43 HST power cars 43047, the first HST power car to fitted with a Paxman VP185, carrying a special nameplate to celebrate 25 years of VP185 power car service on the MML ‘be Powered by Paxman VP185’ & 43049 Neville Hill.

The Final EMR VP185 passenger service would see the HST travel through places on it’s final journey such as St Albans City, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Meadowhall, & Wakefield Westgate.

The 11th December would see RailView capture this final run at:

Chesterfield, Derbyshire arriving at 21:57 on time
Tapton Bridge, Chesterfield, Derbyshire: Passing through at 11:01, 7 minutes late
Barrow Hill Roundhouse, Derbyshire: Arriving at 11:27, 7 minutes late

Class 43 Locomotive info:

Power type Diesel-electric
Built by British Rail Engineering Limited at Crewe Works
Built date, 1976-1982
Total Produced, 197
Wheel configuration, Bo-Bo
Engine, Paxman Valenta, Paxman VP185 & MTU
Power output ,2,250 HP
Max Speed, 125MPH
Nickname, HST

Make sure to check out RailView’s YouTube Channel by clicking here.

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