British Rail Class 252

Prototype HST 252 001 at Weston-super-Mare in 1975.

252 001 arriving at Reading, 1975.

One of the first Mk3 coaches No:E12000 to be deliverd to RTC, Derby in April 1972

Class 252 was the classification allocated to the prototype High Speed Train unit, numbered 252001.

History

When originally built, in 1972, the prototype High Speed Train (HST) units were considered to be formed of two locomotives at either end of a rake of carriages. As a result, the power cars were designated Class 41 and numbered 41001/41002, while the carriages were given numbers in the new Mark 3 carriage number series.

Shortly after their introduction, it was decided to classify the unit as a Diesel Electric Multiple Unit. It was allocated Class 252, and the whole formation was renumbered into a new carriage number series for HST and Advanced Passenger Train vehicles (4xxxx). Two coaches were not included in the renumbering (one Trailer First and one Trailer Second), as these were transferred for use in the Royal Train as part of its upgrade before Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. The power cars were allocated numbers in the 43xxx series, and the two prototype cars took the numbers 43000/43001. Thus, the production-run cars were numbered from 43002 onwards.

Ironically, the situation reversed again in the 1980s, and the production power cars were then considered to be class 43, as this time round no power car or carriage was renumbered. By this time, the prototype cars had been transferred into departmental (non-revenue earning) service and had taken numbers in the departmental carriage 975xxx series, so they were not involved in this redesignation, and they retained their departmental carriage numbers rather than being transferred to the departmental locomotive list.

The former 41002/43001 has now been scrapped, but the other prototype loco, 41001/43000, has been preserved as part of the National Collection, held at the National Railway Museum, York. Of the passenger-carrying vehicles, all remain in use on the mainline, except for one of the former restaurant cars, which was scrapped in 1993, whilst many other vehicles have seen the 'Nacker's Torch' since then due to other accidents.

External link

Testing the prototype HST [1]

Formation

The vehicles that made up the prototype High Speed Train are listed below, together with their current identity and use:

First Number	Second Number	Type	Converted to	Current Location
10000	40000	Trailer Buffet (TRSB)	Departmental, 975984	New Measurement Train
10100	40500	Trailer Kitchen (TRUK)	Departmental, 977089	Scrapped (1993)
11000	41000	Trailer First (TF)	Departmental, 975814	New Measurement Train
11001	-	Trailer First (TF)	Royal Train, 2903	In service
11002	41001	Trailer First (TF)	Production TF, 41170	In service
11003	41002	Trailer First (TF)	Production TF, 41174	In service, as TS 42357
12000	42000	Trailer Second (TS)	Production TF, 41172	In service, as TS 42355
12001	-	Trailer Second (TS)	Royal Train, 2904	In service
12002	42001	Trailer Second (TS)	Production TF, 41171	In service, as TS 42353
12003	42002	Trailer Second (TS)	Production TF, 41173	In service, as TS 42356
41001	43000	Driving Motor Brake (DMB)	Departmental, 975812	Preserved, National Railway Museum
41002	43001	Driving Motor Brake (DMB)	Departmental, 975813	Scrapped (1990)