GREAT Western Railway said farewell to long-distance InterCity 125 operation on June 1 with an epic railtour visiting many parts of the GWR network.
No. 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange heads GWR’s ‘The Flying Banana’ farewell tour during the first of two visits to London Paddington early on June 1. Diagrammed work finished on May 18, but this charity railtour marked the end of GWR’s InterCity 125s on long-distance work. TOBY RADZISZEWSKI
The first and last production HST power cars – Nos. 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange and 43198 – powered standard eight-car set LA72 on an itinerary embracing Bristol, Paddington, Oxford, Hereford, Carmarthen and Gloucester, before a non-stop westbound run from Paddington to Plymouth.
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