THE large end section of Class 47 No. 47738, used for educational purposes at Plymouth, was removed from the Regional Interactive Safety Centre (RISC) building on November 2 (RM Dec, p82).
This building, next to the station, had been converted from the old Royal Mail docking station and contained various rail-themed scenarios for training staff in real-life situations. The loco section was used for emergency response training for when someone had been hit by a train.
A false tunnel was built around the loco and it was also used for schoolchildren’s safety education, while trainees had used it for practising emergency loco-to-HST couplings without needing to call on operational locos.
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The RISC building is being demolished to make way for a multi-storey car park for GWR.
The loco section, including a bogie, was extricated by Railway Support Services, (RSS), calling for the cutting out of a section of track and the positioning of a specially fabricated jacking frame.
The ‘loco’ was drawn onto the frame, turned through 90 degrees using skates, and moved through the roller shutter doors and onto a low-loader.
The loco section was taken to RSS in the West Midlands for the body to be lifted off the bogie.
The cab section was destined for The Cab Yard, Bridgend, while the bogie went to Raxstar at Eastleigh. Picture: PAUL FULLER
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