Anthony Coulls, Senior Curator of Rail Transport and Technology, takes you on an in-depth tour of our Class 43 High Speed Train power car—more commonly known as the InterCity 125—and tells the story of this impactful locomotive.

Introduced in 1976, the InterCity 125 quickly formed the backbone of Britain's high-speed rail routes and revived interest in rail travel after years in the doldrums.

The loco's popularity was helped by both its eye-catching aerodynamic wedge-shaped design—penned by Sir Kenneth Grange—and its considerable speed advantage over what went before. The 148mph top speed recorded by a Class 43 remains the world's fastest speed achieved by a diesel-powered locomotive.

This particular 125, no. 43002, was both the first InterCity 125 to be produced and the last to operate a passenger service before it was retired in 2019.

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0:00 Introduction
0:24 History of the InterCity 125
1:25 Sir Kenneth Grange's design
1:57 Where are the buffers?
2:40 Engineering details
3:38 Inside the cab
5:20 Driving controls
7:22 The all-important horn
7:51 The big screen
8:58 Inside the engine room
10:38 A very noisy guards and luggage compartment
11:26 Emergency coupling
11:58 Summing up

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