Museum Acquires 8,000th Crewe Built Locomotive

Crewe Heritage Centre Has Successfully Acquired the 8,000th Locomotive To Be Built At Crewe Works.

Thanks to a generous donation by Porterbrook we are delighted to announce that the Crewe Heritage Centre has been able to secure a second HST Power Car (43 081) as a permanent exhibit at the museum. 43 081 was built a short distance away from the Heritage Centre in March 1978 and is officially considered to be the 8,000 locomotive to be constructed at Crewe Locomotive Works.

43 081 at Leicester on 15 March 1994

43 081 at Teignmouth on 12 August 2008.

43 081 arrived at the Heritage Centre today (Monday 13th September), and we’re really excited about our plans to restore this very special locomotive.

Its arrival also marks 45 years to the day (13 September 1976) that British Rail officially introduced the first High Speed Train into service (Source: BBC Archive).

43 081 seen at the Heritage Centre shortly after arriving.

43 081 seen at the Heritage Centre shortly after arriving.

Since entering service the HST’s have become a common sight throughout the country. The HST was originally developed as a low-cost stopgap whilst the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was still in development. However the HST proved itself to be far more than a stopgap, successfully running for 45 years with most of the fleet still in service today.