Harry Needle sells Class 47s - buyer of one outlines testbed plans

Harry Needle has sold four redundant Class 47s that had not been included in the majority of his firm’s assets acquired by Swietelsky.

The Austrian company bought the majority of Harry Needle Railroad Company’s assets in January - including several Class 08/09 shunters, Class 20s and Class 37s, as well as Worksop Yard and the shed owned by the spot hire business.

Nemesis Rail has acquired 47703 (currently at Wabtec’s Doncaster site), Rail Engineering Solutions has bought 47715 Haymarket (at Worksop), and the heavily stripped 47843/847 have been taken on by West Coast Railways as a source of spare parts.

47785 remains owned by HNRC and has been dumped at the Wensleydale Railway for several years, with its future unclear.

Speaking about the purchase of 47715, Rail Engineering Solutions owner and director Mike Vaughan said the locomotive is to be returned to main line condition.

He told RAIL the plan is for customers, such as rail operators, to see the locomotive and the equipment to fully understand the benefits of the systems. He said this would provide a better experience than a presentation.

“On private land it can be driven. You don’t get that at the moment,” he said, explaining that customers will be able to see how systems integrate with older stock in particular.

New systems being fitted include On Train Data Recorder (OTDR), Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), GSM-R in-cab signalling, and European Train Control System (ETCS).

Vaughan said 47715 last ran “with people using it” in 2016. While it remained at Worksop for repairs, it was moved ahead of travelling to the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway’s diesel gala.

The ‘47’ will appear on the Sunday of the three-day event from April 4-6. The railway described the visit as “fitting”, as it was the last locomotive to traverse the line under BR ownership.

It is likely to lose its heritage Network SouthEast livery for a new company colour scheme, with the details yet to be revealed.

West Coast Railways collected its two ‘47s’ from Worksop on March 10, using 37518/685/706. They were taken to Carnforth.