Engine Room Tour and Cab Ride on board the GWR HST Tour (43002/43198)

Huge thanks to those at GWR who invited me, I mainly got photographs of the day, but this a collection of the videos that I took.
Bittersweet, I hope the Hitachi trains prove to be as reliable as the HSTs have.

[@alan4391]

Last of the good trains much better than the trains of today

[@billhall1983]

Happy days. I remember when I used to travel in the power cars on the four that had Mirllees engines fitted, being sucked against the cooling system as I walked past. I wish I had thought to do some video of it. I designed the engine governor control system.

[@KeiranCounsellKC1994]

when I was younger I wanted to become a train driver because of the class 43, SOLELY the class 43. now that its being phased out and retired I no longer want to drive trains. this train for me was not just a train, it was special and unique. hell when they changed the engine to the MTU a tiny sparkle of that magic died. I will really miss the class 43 when the time comes that its withdrawn entirely. I would still kill to hear the sound of the paxman valenta in person as I have not heard it in person since the MTUs and turn around and in shock see the intercity swallow livery on the whole thing, or even the old virgin trains paint with the lines

[@SamJones-x7q]

What an amazing day. Thanks for your company, and for your footage! I’m still working on my edit 😂😅

[@MrJezza31]

This is probably the worst edited and worst filmed video of the whole day - but hey, I had fun! ;)

[@davidcoath6741]

Great video. A special day. Thanks for sharing.

[@tombo1984]

These trains should be preserved. ALL of them!

[@470danadidas]

The last of the 'real' trains. Built to last and British built. Really sad to see them gone.

[@12crepello]

British built but unfortunately had to be upgraded with German engines.

[@KuntalGhosh]

They were british build definitely but they were not build to last and had way too many problems with the engine and trucks. & Later it was upgraded to a different engine.

[@alvinseville2874]

@@KuntalGhosh What problems did they have with the engine? The Valentas lasted for 30 years before being replaced so I disagree saying “it wasn’t built to last.”

[@Ben-rg3rd]

@@12crepello German engines that ruined them took away the good sounds

[@oldskool7313]

Those mk3s all saying goodbye as they pass

[@shidzngigglez]

I used to get quite bored of these but now they're rare I do miss the long sets,

[@rinomalang4175]

this is back ride kirduuun.

[@MrSpeziguzi]

This MTU engine is also in Class 218, the last series.

[@allenhughes867]

I don't think the Hitachi Azuma will give the service the class 43 HST has given ..

[@WildWildWeasel]

Long live the HST. Too bad they were retired before I was able to go to the UK and travel on one…

[@TheVleckChannel]

They’re still running in Scotland. Also in England, as part of a tour company and I think still in the south west. There’s still time.

[@bristoltransport]

@@TheVleckChannel Cross Country are still running them between Edinburgh, Plymouth, and Leeds too

[@themightyzanoss8409]

very cool

[@ChangesOneTim]

Blimey! You were allowed to walk through the power car without wearing ear defenders?

[@JagaimoNeko]

Great video, thank you so much! Is it mandatory for the Class 125 to have both pull- and push locomotives in the train?

[@MrJezza31]

No, not mandatory but the MTUs don't have huge amounts of torque, so they are pretty slow individually.

[@mikemares8971]

Sad times when they put mtu engines in, Nothing in mainstream traffic can come close

[@richardevans196]

😍😍😍😍

[@PeanutIsFunky]

its engine sounds like an nuclear explosion 💀

[@benkay8295]

Imagine if that was a pax man

[@johnjardine1595]

Where was it leaving from ?

[@Ron_TTE]

I thought you can play music on the train

[@alvinseville2874]

As a driver? Absolutely not in the UK.

[@sugarcan1110]

Valenta?

[@lesigh1749]

Alas they had the engines swapped out in the 00s and replaced with newer power plants. That classic shrill scream the Valenta's made was gone.

[@lesigh1749]

They should never have retired this class, they should have built NEW ones like them. The Hitachi things they replaced them with are ugly and sterile plastic tubes with local service bus seating.

[@ABCDEF-yf4yu]

It would be interesting for a HST to be rebuilt as an electric locomotive.

[@Morgan_Allen-Jones]

That's not gwr