Great Western HST Farewell

The stars of the final line up at Paddington are undoubtedly the two 'celebrity' power cars 43002 'Sir Kenneth Grange' and 43185

43093 arrives into Truro with the 09:50 Penzance - Paddington

After 43 years of front line use on Intercity Trains from London's Paddington May 18th 2019 saw the final scheduled use of HST's by Great Western Railway. For the final day four HST's were in use worked by 43188/43093, 43162/43188, 43009/43155, 43002/43198. Notable was the pairing of the final set which saw both the first (002) and last (198) production power cars paired for the final day and also work the final GWR passenger service from Paddington with the 18:30 Paddington - Taunton.

The last full length GWR HST to leave Cornwall crosses Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge over the River Tamar.

43185 at Reading with the 09:29 Swansea - Paddington

My day actually started on the previous Friday night with a positioning move on the Night Riviera Sleeper (worthy of another post in its own right) which would position us (and a handful of other enthusiasts with the same idea) at Truro in time to enjoy the last GWR HST out of Cornwall, 43093 and 43188 on the 06:50 Penzance - Paddington. I have ridden surprisingly few HST's as far as Cornwall and the crossing of the Royal Albert Bridge into Devon was a poignant moment. Similarly provoking of emotions was what could quite possibly be my final run along the Dawlish sea wall beside an opening HST window - having travelled extensively over the scenic railways of the UK the stretch from Newton Abbot to Exeter St Davids is still probably unbeaten as my favourite. The weather forecast had been poor, and indeed was leaving Cornwall however crossing through Devon the sun began to appear and beat down on this final HST from Cornwall to London.

At lunchtime before all the crowds arrived 43185 in vinyled 'Intercity Swallow' livery rests at Paddington.

43188 at Paddington ready to depart with the 13:00 to Bristol Temple Meads

We left our first HST at Reading, some delicate planning having taken place that should allow travel on each of the four sets performing on the day. Sure enough, as 43098 was departing, 43185 in it's distinctive InterCity 'Swallow' branding was rolling into the adjacent platform with the 09:29 Swansea - Paddington. This was enjoyed into Paddington where there was time for some photos of the IC powercar under the roof before getting back onto our first set with 43188 now leading on the 13:00 Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads. Here we met some friends and the process of enjoying, and drinking dry, the buffet cars began! By Bristol the buffet was out of cider, prosecco and perhaps wine too! The buffet steward making attempts to over-stock for the return journey must have been disappointed when his customers then disappeared onto a local train across to Cardiff!

43042 and 43097 prove that all is not lost at Newport with a
short 'Castle' working with classic coaches.

The trip through the Severn Tunnel allowed us to be in position for 43002 to lead us back into London partnered with 43198 on the 14:29 Swansea - Paddington, the last HST from South Wales to London. Despite some earlier troubles with 43002 which had seen it shut down for much of the outbound run the 1st built power car ran well for the fast run back down the Great Western, certainly clocking it's top speed of 125mph if various phone GPS trackers were to be believed!

Our arrival at Paddington put is in third position in the well organised line up of the last four trains in platforms 1-4. I was somehow not prepared for quite how popular these trains were or how well patronised this final line up would be - literally hundreds, if not a thousand people had turned up at Paddington wielding cameras to record the historic event. The atmosphere was brilliant with all the enthusiasts and staff displaying all the right attitudes and responsibility paying attention to the rules so that everyone could enjoy the event - though many can't have got anywhere near enough the trains to get decent photographs!

43002 'Sir Kenneth Grange' arrives into Newport with the 14:29 - the last service HST from South Wales to London.

43002 and 43185 together on the blocks at Paddington.

The final run, the 18:30 Paddington - Taunton had been advertised as a reservation only service leaving all those without seats three other options for their final GWR HST fix; the 18:03 to Plymouth, 18:15 to Cheltenham or 18:22 to Hereford. Our chariot was to be 43162 and 43172 with the Cheltenham run, our final of the four sets, which was taken just to Reading (it had already been a long day!) from where the final two HST's were watched passing, before the sad reality that it was actually over finally started to dawn while on board an Intercity Express Train back to London. It just wasn't the same!

A huge number of enthusiasts gathered at Paddington in the poor weather
conditions to witness the last HST arrivals and departures.

Thanks to all those who made the day very special in the end- particularly GWR who really didn't have to organise anything, but actually pulled all the stops out to make quite an event of the day. My only suggestion to improve the offering would be to offer enthusiasts some sort or 'Day Rover' ticket enabling the various trains to be covered. It does become rather expensive otherwise!

The final GWR HST! 43198 leas the 18:30 Paddington -
Plymouth away from Reading bringing down 43 years of HST
Intercity services on the Great Western Mainline.

Of course this isn't the end of HST's just yet. With the exception of a railtour which followed on 1st June the trains will no longer work into Paddington; however GWR is keeping eleven shortened 'Castle' sets to work local traffic between Cornwall, Devon and South Wales. These will be refurbished with retention toilets and slide-plug automatic doors. Elsewhere while HST's are imminently about to start beind displaced on the ECML by LNER and their replacement on the Midland Mainline seems inevitable the sets used by Cross Country are being refurbished, and a large number of sets are beginning to enjoy a second life working Inter7City services for Scotrail. They may not pass the Dawlish sea wall but the HST is far from dead yet!

The line up from the end of the platforms at Paddington: 43188, 43162, 43009 and 43198 wait their final departures.