Neville Hill visits the unlikely location of the Bluebell Railway to resample three mighty Class 55 ‘Deltics’ and looks back to their heyday as masters of the East Coast Main Line in the 1960s-80s.
THERE were three large, silent locomotives standing at the quiet country junction railway station, but the air was suddenly riven by the glorious sound of three Napier diesel engines simultaneously brought to life. Hundreds of observers had their cameras focused on the chorus line of ‘Deltics’, all eager to capture the plume of blue fumes and synchronised whoop of the engines sparking into action.
The event had been carefully planned with a possession of all lines taken to allow photographers to secure the best vantage points for their ‘master shots’ – but there was something strange about it all. The backdrop was Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell Railway, a former London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) station garbed in authentic Southern region attire and so long associated with exclusive steam operation. Yet here were three Eastern Region Type 5 express diesel locomotives, out of context but designed in the period when the Southern Region of British Railways was still running this line, and they were taking part in a gala on October 6-8 to celebrate 40 years of the Deltic Preservation Society.
The Bluebell had dipped its toes into the diesel market before, although not without objections from the purists within their vast ranks of members. The results had been outstanding successes and the creation of useful relationships, especially with the DPS, who might not have quite expected the warm welcome they actually did receive on their previous visit in April 2015.
DIESEL INROADS
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