"A lot of people didn't realise it was a heritage repaint, such was the continued familiarity with original IC Class 86/2s in the early noughties."
86228 Vulcan Heritage at Birmingham International with the 16:21 Wolverhampton – Euston, on Friday 13th September 2002.
If ever you need an illustration of the indifference enthusiasts showed Virgin Trains' native electric locomotives in the late 1990s, just flick through a handful of period railway magazines. There was very little mention of the Virgin electric locos across the broader railway press of '97 to '99 – unless the locos switched pools, or failed and were rescued by freight traction. And finding an actual photo of a Virgin 86, 87 or 90 in those period mags is an extraordinary challenge. There just wasn’t the demand.
87032 Kenilworth taking a diversion through Perry Barr with a Wolverhampton - Euston service.
But as the 21st century arrived, and the threat to CrossCountry / West Coast electric loco-haulage loomed closer, interest began to mount. I never imagined I’d see a line of ‘window-hangers’ on a Class 87- or 90-hauled Euston service, but that’s exactly the pitch enthusiasm had reached by the final throes of each class’s native tenure. In this post, I’m summarising electric loco-haulage on Virgin Trains, between the birth of the business in January 1997, and the virtually uninterrupted Pendolino era of 2007.
THE NATIVE STABLE OF LOCOMOTIVES
Between 1997 and 2005, Virgin had a native allocation of electric locos. For the bulk of that period the stable comprised members of Classes 86/2, 87/0 and 90/0. West Coast also initially had two Class 86/1s, but these were dropped from the Virgin fleet before the end of 1997. The most synonymous full stable of locos was as follows...
CLASS 86/2 (CROSSCOUNTRY)
Class 86s working for Virgin in InterCity livery. In reading order: 86207, 86249, 86249 and 86260.
On an almost constant basis, the 86/2s would either switch pools, switch operators or just drop into the SAXL off-lease pool for varying periods. Especially in the ’90s when the vast majority were still in InterCity livery and were therefore interchangeable imagewise between Virgin and Anglia. But I'd summarise the most familiar members of the Longsight-based CrossCountry ICCA pool as...
86206, 86207, 86212, 86214, 86222, 86224, 86225, 86226, 86231, 86234, 86236, 86240, 86242, 86244, 86248, 86249, 86251, 86253, 86256 and 86258.
AESTHETICS: Technically, Virgin red livery as standard, but repaints were very slow indeed, so InterCity livery remained a common sight, even in the 21st century. Some of the above batch were not repainted at all during the Virgin era, and retained InterCity livery until they were stood down.
CLASS 86 (WEST COAST)
Class 86s working for Virgin in house colours. In reading order: 86225, 86205, and 86260. Application of the Virgin red and charcoal livery was one of the most exciting things that happened to these former BR electric locos in the late 1990s. Ex-works, it was an awesome sight indeed.
Again, the fleet list below is based on long-term familiarity, and similarly to the XC examples, Virgin's West Coast 86s were subject to flitting in and out of the pool like yo-yos. The starting lineup was bigger, including 86101 and 86102, and additional 86/2s. But the most synonymous long-term group based at Willesden in Virgin's IWPA pool comprised...
86205, 86228, 86229, 86233, 86245, 86247, 86259 and 86260.
AESTHETICS: Virgin red livery as standard, but repaints were again very slow. In fact, despite the Virgin takeover coming in January 1997, no Class 86 was repainted into Virgin red before spring 1998, when 86229 gained the 'Kit-Kat' look. All of the above locos were repainted in the Virgin era, but...
86233 at Tipton in its special Electric blue heritage livery.
- 86228 received an InterCity heritage repaint in 2002, and ended Virgin service in that livery. A lot of people didn't realise it was a heritage repaint, such was the continued familiarity with original IC Class 86/2s in the early noughties.
- 86233 received an Electric blue repaint in 2002, and ended Virgin service in that livery.
- 86245 received a light blue version of the Virgin Trains livery in 1998, but was updated into standard Virgin red within less than a year. It wasn't particularly attractive.
WITHDRAWAL: The last Virgin 86s went off lease at the start of autumn 2003.
CLASS 87/0 (WEST COAST)
Some of the liveries sported by the 87s during their time with Virgin West Coast. In reading order: 87031 in Virgin red, 87005 in InterCity, 87019 in LNWR black, 87002 in Porterbrook purple, and 87001 in Rail blue.
Based at Willesden in the IWCA pool, the Class 87 fleet comprised...
87001, 87002, 87003, 87004, 87005, 87006, 87007, 87008, 87009, 87010, 87011, 87012, 87013, 87014, 87015, 87016, 87017, 87018, 87019, 87020, 87021, 87022, 87023, 87024, 87025, 87026, 87027, 87028, 87029, 87030, 87031, 87032, 87033, 87034 and 87035.
InterCity liveried 87030 nears journey's end as it passes the site of the former Albion station en route from Euston to Wolverhampton - 26th June 1999.
AESTHETICS: Virgin red livery as standard, with faster progress through the fleet than with the 86s. InterCity livery was eliminated from Class 87 by 2000, but the following range of special repaints re-introduced some variety between 2003 and 2005...
- 87001: Rail blue.
- 87002: Asymmetric Porterbrook purple.
- 87012: Network SouthEast.
- 87019: LNWR black.
WITHDRAWAL: The last Virgin 87s went off lease in mid 2005.
CLASS 90/0 (WEST COAST)
A typical blink-and-you-miss-it moment at Lichfield Trent Valley, showing an InterCity/Virgin mix, as 90006 speeds up the WCML on 4th October 1999.
Based at Willesden in the IWCA pool...
90001, 90002, 90003, 90004, 90005, 90006, 90007, 90008, 90009, 90010, 90011, 90012, 90013, 90014 and 90015.
AESTHETICS: Virgin red livery as standard, repainted with a similar rate of progress to that of the 87s. All examples Virgin red by 2000, and all ended their Virgin days in that livery.
WITHDRAWAL: The last Virgin 90s went off lease in summer 2004. However, EWS continued to supply Class 90s to Virgin. That practice reached optimum intensity in 2005 when the 87s were taken out of service.
Class 90 no. 90007 in Virgin red livery, on a diverted West Coast service at Bescot.
ENTIRE FLEET
Technically, the CrossCountry pool was used distinctly from the two West Coast pools. However, among the Class 86/2s, the aforementioned pool-switching meant it was no surprise to see a particular 86 on West Coast one week, and CrossCountry the next. And emergency spot-transfers involved all the Virgin electric classes. So one might see, for example, an 87 on a CrossCountry train.
DUTY SUMMARY
West Coast duties centred around long distance travel on the West Coast Main Line, with London Euston as the main southern terminus. In the Midlands, trains from Euston could either run via Coventry and terminate at Birmingham New Street or Wolverhampton, or run via the Trent Valley route on a journey up to the North West.
However, not all West Coast trains went into Euston, and Euston was not the farthest south that West Coast trains could go. The summer season saw a West Coast diagram running from Manchester to Paignton, with electric haulage to Birmingham. The train was very easily recognisable in the West Country, since the DVT would be left in the consist.
InterCity DVT 82114 trailing an InterCity Mk.III stock set. A typical sight on the Trent Valley route in the early days of Virgin West Coast.
Although West Coast services typically employed electric locomotives between 1997 and 2003, they were really operating in the style of multiple units, with a DVT enabling the loco to propel as well as haul, for bi-directionality without shunts. The Class 86s and Mk.II air-cons were more likely to be used on the Euston – Birmingham/Wolverhampton services. Longer distance trains using the Trent Valley route were more likely to be Class 87s/90s with Mk.IIIs. But 87s or 90s with Mk.IIIs were still common on the Euston – Birmingham/Wolves route. It was just that older trains had a bigger share of that traffic.
CrossCountry services employed electric locomotives bewteen the North West and Birmingham. The services themselves most often continued south from Birmingham, with a diesel having replaced the electric loco. Some loco-hauled CrossCountry trains employed diesel locos throughout, despite part or all of their route being electrified. Others had motive power changes scheduled at locations other than Birmingham.
CrossCountry loco-haulage was true loco-haulage. The trains were not bi-directional, and all the loco-hauled coaching stock was of the Mk.II air-con variety between 1997 and 2002.
HIRE OF REINFORCEMENTS
Stand-ins for unavailables. In reading order: EWS 86210, EWS 86426, EWS 90022, Freightliner 90146, and Virgin’s own 87032 giving failed 90005 a shove.
Since the start of Virgin Trains, there had been a need to hire additional electric locomotives to cover failures and shortages. Depending on the urgency and the proximity, the cover provided on electrified routes could also be diesel.
Even the driver appears excited about the use of EWS 86261 in place of a Virgin loco, at Canley.
Cover would most likely be sourced from EWS, but Freightliner also provided Virgin with electrics. In the 1990s the covering electrics came from Classes 86, 90 and 87, as EWS still had 87101 – the only Class 87 not in Virgin’s own pool. In fact, 87101 was still a British Rail loco when first hired by Virgin in '97, as EWS did not acquire Railfreight Distribution until 22nd November that year. External hires also broadened the sub-class range on the Virgin network.
As time wore on, external hires from EWS became a standard part of Virgin’s daily traffic-budgeting. And after the last Class 87s were taken out of service on 10th June 2005, EWS Class 90s became the default for loco-hauled electric services on the Virgin network.
2005 ONWARD
EWS’s 90027 working the 12:46 Birmingham – Manchester on 2nd September 2005. This loco had taken over the duty for a term starting on 17th August, when the previous regular, 90020, failed.
Even before the 87s were stood down, Virgin had been daily users of EWS 90s. Not only on West Coast, where the Pendolinos were still unable to cover all diagrams, but on CrossCountry too. In spring 2005, the Manchester – Birmingham route gained a regular loco-hauled diagram, booked for a Class 90 with five Mk.II air-con coaches and a DVT.
The diagram normally retained a specific loco for a period of up to about a month. And it was not particularly short-lived – lasting well into 2006.
90040 had a spell on XC’s Manchester – Birmingham diagram in July 2005, and it was back on 3rd March 2006, when this shot was taken at Smethwick Rabone Lane.
Within the diagram, the 10:24 Manchester - Birmingham returned on the 12:46 Birmingham - Manchester. But rather than waiting in New Street station over the interim, it ran 'round the houses', out to Aston, then round the loop to Soho, where it could often be seen waiting for a path back onto the main line.
West Coast also had daily work for EWS 90s in 2005. Here’s 90026 on the Wolverhampton – Euston route at Tipton.
And itself requiring cover, 90022 gets a drag from 57306, at Spon Lane, on Sunday 18th June ’05.
Forward from mid 2005, Virgin sought to reduce the daily intake of third-party electric locomotives, which even saw Class 87s returning via their new operators…
Former Virgin stalwart 87006 was back at old haunts on 2nd June 2006. Now working for DRS, the blue eyecatcher has terminated at Birmingham International with a crew-refreshing run from London Euston.
By 2007, Virgin had managed to phase out the borrowing of electric locos for trains which should no longer have been in the hands of ex-British Rail stock. But due to February 2007’s accident at Grayrigg, and the consequent absence of a Pendolino, a loco-hauled substitute re-emerged. This was the start of the Pretendolino era, which would ultimately see a loco-hauled set modified to serve as a long-term Pendolino replacement.
On 17th April 2007, EWS 90020 leaves Birmingham International with the 16:45 Euston - New Street. This was the Pendolino replacement requirement out of which the Pretendolino grew.
APRES VIRGIN…
The sight of electric locos being shifted in and out of store after they concluded their work with Virgin showed just how much the evolution of a single private operator could change overall demand. Some had to go abroad to find gainful employment, and many, of course, were scrapped. If only we could turn back the clock, I’m sure we’d all pay a lot more attention to Virgin’s electric locos in their late 1990s heyday.