D-Day = Deltic Day

It suddenly occurred to me this afternoon that Monday marked a momentous occasion in the UK's transport calendar, for it was on 2 January 1981 that British Railways ran its last Deltic-hauled passenger train. It would be 15 years before a Deltic hauled another passenger train, through from this point on, charter services only.

The Deltics were ostensibly replaced by the High Speed Train, or InterCity 125, which while being record breakers themselves, haven't always found favour with rail enthusiasts. A friend of mine, for example, refuses to travel on them, referring to them as 'trams', while another (as I recently discovered) refuses to take a photo of one as "they replaced the Deltics!"

Just imagine!

In homage to the Deltic, below is a video I shot during August 2010, as 55022 Royal Scots Grey hauls a charter train north along the East Coast Main Line through Essendine, Rutland.