125 Group

43044 Named Edward Paxman

43044 Edward Paxman Nameplates image

125 Group is very proud to announce that we have named power car 43044, Edward Paxman after the founder of the Paxman company. Our Vice President Gary Heelas hosted the short naming ceremony at NHR Ruddington on Sunday 21st August as part of the Meet the Fleet event, joined by 125 Group member and Managing Director, Network Rail North Western Region, Tim Shoveller who kindly performed the honours.

We hope you approve of the name which is in the traditional BR style in the correct place on the body side for an Executive Livery power car.  It also features a small plaque explaining who Edward Paxman was, and his relevance to the continuing HST story.

43044, as our designated power car for Valenta power, now requires a engine top end rebuild and also the procurement of a coupling ring between the engine and alternator – more information on this will be in the next edition of One Two Five, our members magazine. If you are not a group member and would like to support our ongoing preservation efforts by joining, you can find more information and sign up here.

Funding 125 Group

As 125 Group has moved to being an active preservation group, our costs have continued to rise. Keeping four power cars and 13 trailer vehicles on the rails and in good operational condition is not a cheap activity!

If you are one of our (almost) 800 strong membership you are already helping towards our typical monthly expenses of over £5000! If you are a follower/supporter of our activities, why not join up as a member today? Donating regularly via Direct Debit is also a great way to help and provides us with more stable cashflow for planning future projects with.

Purchases from Shop125 also go a long way towards funding our activities. Did you know you can also add one-off donations at checkout? Even rounding off your purchase to the nearest £ helps. Supporting us with Buffet125 and Shop125 purchases at events and running days also go a long way with the bonus of seeing your donations in action! Alternatively, if you are shopping at Amazon, why not support us with no cost to yourself using AmazonSmile?

43044 in Executive Livery at Neville Hill

While this is something no one likes to think about, leaving us a bequest in your will is a way of helping us out in the future and leaving your own mark on the HST legacy.

With upcoming key projects such as fitting toilet retention tanks (to enable mainline passenger service), vehicle repaints and the ongoing Valenta works on 43044 your support is needed more than ever. Thank you for your ongoing support so we can continue to tell the HST story for years to come.