The
British Rail Class 125 was a design of three car
Diesel Multiple Unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
built by
BR Derby at
Derby Works
The Derby Works comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities designing and building locomotives and rolling stock in Derby, England. The first of these was a group of three maintenance sheds opened around 1840 behind Derby station. Th ...
in 1958. They were almost identical in appearance to the
Class 116.
History
The Class 125 was built in 1958 at Derby Works as high capacity suburban railcars specifically for the Lea Valley Lines near
Stratford. They were fitted with powerful
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
engines, allowing them to have comparable performance to contemporary
EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
.They bore a close resemblance to the similar
class 116, which were also built by
British Rail at Derby. The Class 125 had a unique multiple working code (orange star), due to their unique pneumatic, rather than electric, engine control system. They also had a non-standard jumper cable arrangement and were therefore incompatible with other
British Rail diesel multiple unit classes. They were withdrawn in 1977 and like many other first generation DMUs, never wore their Class 125
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom.
TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...
classifications.
Operational history
The class 125 entered service in 1958, replacing steam trains on the lines they served.
The Class 125 operated semi-fast suburban services on the Lea valley lines until their
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
in 1969, after which they were replaced by EMUs. They also operated commuter services on the
West Anglia Main Line
The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines that operate out of , the other being the Great Eastern Main Line, which operates services to Ipswich and Norwich via Colchester. It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Har ...
. These services were operated alongside locomotive hauled trainsets until the line was also electrified in 1969, after which
class 302 and
308 electric multiple units took over the newly electrified routes. The trains were then transferred onto the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
commuter services out of
King's Cross, where they worked for the rest of their operational lifetimes.
Departmental use
Two trailers (59458 + 59466) were taken into departmental (non-revenue earning) service in November 1982 and March 1984 as 975993 + 975964. They were used at the
Railway Technical Centre
The Railway Technical Centre (RTC) in London Road, Derby, England, was the technical headquarters of the British Railways Board, and was built in the early 1960s. British Rail described it as the largest railway research complex in the world.
Th ...
in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
and used as fire test vehicles. They were both withdrawn and scrapped in February 1986 and August 1988.
Withdrawal and Scrapping
The Class 125s were withdrawn from ECML commuter routes in 1977, following the electrification of the ECML. They were then scrapped after a brief time in storage. No class 125 units survive to this day, as they were withdrawn before the interest in preserving multiple units began.
Numbering
Liveries
They were delivered in an unlined medium shade of Brunswick green with white cab roofs and yellow speed whiskers. The whiskers were replaced during the early 1960s by split yellow warning panels, one either side of the central character train describer which remained green.
During the mid 1960s rail blue appeared, and white cab roofs were gradually dispensed with and
buffer beam
A headstock of a rail vehicle is a transverse structural member located at the extreme end of the vehicle's underframe. The headstock supports the coupling at that end of the vehicle, and may also support buffers, in which case it may also be ...
s became black. Initially the yellow warning panels were expanded to cover the complete lower front of the driving cabs and later the whole cab fronts became yellow.
References
History of the Class 125s* Brian Golding (1995). ''A Pictorial Record of British Railways Diesel Multiple Units''. Chinnor: Cheona Publications. .
* Brian Morrison (1995). ''British Rail DMUs & Diesel Railcars: Origins & First Generation Stock''. Ian Allan. .
125
Train-related introductions in 1959
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