Deltics

Deltics by Simon Lilley.

The 22 Class 55 ‘Deltics’ brought new levels of speed and performance to services from King’s Cross to the north of England and Scotland, starting in 1961. The locomotives brought the journey time to Edinburgh down to just six hours, and maintained this over the next twenty years, gaining a huge following amongst railway enthusiasts in the process. Even as late as 1979, they were breaking records, when they took ‘The Hull Executive’ from King’s Cross to its first stop at Retford at an average speed of 91.4mph.

This book illustrates their life from the debut of the prototype locomotive Deltic on the East Coast Main Line, all the way through to the final rail tour on 2 January 1982. The key stages of their working lives are covered, including liveries, names, modifications, and withdrawals, with a collection of high-quality, previously unpublished photographs.

It concludes with the farewell event at Doncaster works in February 1982 and the passing into preservation of six class members.