The twenty one year eleven month career of D7591/25191 included allocations to London Midland Region depots, with a bias towards the northern depots.

Built: BR Derby Locomotive Works.
Dual brake fitted (June 1978).
Time between last Classified repair and withdrawal: 105 months.
Preserved.

Allocations

D7541 was new to Toton on April 10th 1965. Further transfers were:

October 1965 to London Division (Midland) (D14).
May 1968 to Longsight (9A).
June 1968 to Manchester Division (D09).
October 1971 to Liverpool Division (D08).
May 1973 to Springs Branch.
May 1973 to Kingmoor (KM).
January 1975 to Kingmoor (KD).
May 1986 to Crewe.
Withdrawn March 18th 1987.

Renumbered April 1974.

After withdrawal 25191 was stored at Basford Hall Yard until sold to Vic Berry, Leicester, being moved to Leicester Humberstone Road on July 8th 1987 and into Berry's yard the next day. During November (?) 1987 25191 was sold to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, departing Vic Berry's by rail on January 25th 1988 to Toton, then Tinsley & York (26th), Tees Yard (27th) and Grosmont NYMR (29th).

Works Visits

Works visits (records incomplete).

Noted Derby Works January 1973.
Noted Derby Works April 1975.
Noted Derby Works May & June 1978 (dual brake equipment fitted).
Noted Derby Works December 1979 - February 1980 (N4 repairs).
Noted Swindon Works March 1980 (N4 repairs).
Noted Derby Works May 1983 (N4 repairs).

Highlights

1965
The frames for D7541 were laid down at Derby during early 1965, with delivery to traffic taking place in early April to the Nottingham Division (M16). During October D7541 was moved to the London Division (D14) at Cricklewood.

1967
On June 15th D7541 worked the 08.12 St Albans – St Pancras.

1968
D7633 & D7541 were noted on a late evening Edge Hill - Godley Junction freight on June 14th.

On August 3rd the 09.35 Sheffield - Llandudno Town and the 14.28 Llandudno Town - Sheffield were worked by 7541.

1969
On July 7th the 10.00 Sheffield - Llandudno Town & 14.28 Llandudno Town - Sheffield were worked by 7541 & 7592. A month later on August 16th the 14.50 St. Pancras - Sheffield was worked from Nottingham by 7541.

7541 was possibly the the Manchester Victoria pilot on the evening of December 9th, whilst it was the pilot on 10th (with 3592). 7577 & 7541 were the Manchester Victoria pilots on December 31st.

1970
5154 & 7541 were the Manchester Victoria bankers on February 24th.

On the afternoon of October 24th 5291, 7541 & 7672 were stabled at Stockport.

1971
7541 was the Manchester Victoria banker on August 16th, 17th, 19th & 31st.

1972
7541 was on empty coaching stock duty at Liverpool Lime Street on May 29th.

1973
On February 1st 7541 made a test run from Derby Works.

The snag sheet for February 1st recorded:

Recordings below on leaving Loughborough.

Governor top leaking
Oil leaks A side crankcase doors
Knecht fuel filter adaptor
Both RI gears to check and covers ??
No.1 bulkhead door seal renew?
Oil pressure 22 at idling
Oil temperature higher than water

At about 5pm on February 6th 7541 was noted at Liverpool Lime Street on a down van train.

At about 6pm on March 27th 7541 was noted at Manchester Victoria with down empty coaching stock.

1975
On August 16th the late running 09.42 Newcastle - Manchester Victoria with 40181 took assistance from 25191 from Leeds (?) due to problems with the Class 40.

1978
On February 14th 24019/66, 24102/121 were hauled by 25191 from Carlisle to Skipton, from here 31183 took over.

A light engine move from the Stoke line on March 11th saw 24047, 25162, 25161 & 25191 run through Crewe station.

On June 14th 25191 made a test run from Derby Works.

The snag sheet for June 14th recorded:

25191; June 14th 1978; time ??

No recordings were made due to the main generator suffering a flashover at 26mph.

Other issues reported were:
No.1 cab driver's door seal
No.1 bulkhead door seal
Compressor contacts to check
Governor load - sticking? - to investigate.

On June 16th 25191 made a 2nd test run from Derby Works.

The snag sheet for June 16th recorded:

No.1 cab roof leaking
No.2 cab roof leaking
Overspeed tripped and won't reset - slipping
Compressor governor to set
No.2 cab driver's side window stiff to open.

A Stoke-on-Trent - Skegness on July 1st was worked by 25191 & 25326 (throughout?), the train return as empty coaching stock. On July 8th 25191 was stabled at Llandudno Junction. On July 10th 25191 worked the 1M84 11.30 Cardiff - Crewe and the 1V09 16.00 Crewe - Cardiff. On July 11th 25191 worked the 1V05 12.22 Crewe - Cardiff.

1979
On the afternoon of March 11th 25191 was stabled at Kingmoor.

On the afternoon of March 21st 25191 was southbound at York with a freight.

25191 was stabled at Saltley on March 31st.

On May 24th 25191 worked the 1M73 17.10 Cardiff - Crewe, 25194 had been booked to take this service.

On June 26th 25191 was noted passing Ashton (WCML) with a loaded continuous welded rail train.

On August 2nd the 13.40 Glasgow Central - Carlisle was worked by 25191. A month later on September 3rd 25191 worked the 17.20 Llandudno Town - Manchester Victoria.

25191 & 25184 were shunting oil tanks at Toton depot on November 24th.

25191 was eastbound at Beeston (Notts) with mineral empties during the afternoon of November 26th.

25191 was noted at Willesden on November 27th, a long way from its Kingmoor home.

1980
The continuing shortage of locomotives, partly caused by a backlog of repairs at the main workshops, led to Swindon Works receiving unclassified repairs for locomotive types it had not dealt with before. On March 9th collision damaged 31124 & 31154 were moved from Doncaster to Swindon. Likewise 25191 and 25236 were also received for repairs. During March approximately six hundred locomotives were awaiting attention of which only one third (about 160) were out of traffic for scheduled repair. For the Class 25’s fifty eight were laid up, the Class 31’s had thirty out of traffic, whilst for the Class 47’s one out of every five machines was awaiting some sort of attention. Eight Class 25’s had been out of traffic for at least three months (25035/42, 25113/147/177/191, 25234/252), obviously the aforementioned move of 25191 to Swindon was a start in repairing these bad ordered machines. To provide Swindon with a source of spares 25111/147/252 were withdrawn during March and consigned there (25111 was the first to arrive on May 6th), not surprisingly two of these machines were in the batch long overdue for repairs.

On August 7th the 13.40 Manchester Victoria - Llandudno Town was worked by 25191 & 25107.

On September 15th the 19.41 Leicester - London St Pancras was worked by 25191 & 45132.

25191 was noted passing Hasland on October 2nd with a lengthy train of coal wagons.

1981
On March 3rd 25090 & 25191 were stabled at Buxton depot.

25191 was stabled at Kingmoor on June 27th.

25191 received an E exam at Kingmoor during December.

1982
On a miserably wet January 2nd 40033 & 25191 were light engines at Wigan North Western.

On February 12th 25190 & 25191 were noted at Shap with the Heysham - Leith pipe empties. 25191 was noted at Gloucester on February 27th assisting the 09.10 Worcester -Swindon diesel multiple unit forward from Gloucester.

25191 worked a Bescot - Gloucester freight on April 7th.

On May 11th 25242 & 25191 worked the early morning Ellesmere Port - Exeter bitumen tanks. On May 28th 25191 worked the 12.50 Carlisle - Glasgow Central throughout. 25191 was stabled at Ayr on June 5th.

On October 3rd 25191 was noted at Watford Junction with an electrification train.

25191 was stabled at Cricklewood depot on December 29th.

1983
On the afternoon of July 6th a diesel multiple unit from Chester failed at Northwich, 25278 came off Northwich depot but couldn't couple up to the unit, so 25191 came off the depot and took the train forward.

On August 21st 25191 & 25173 dragged one WCML service between Bletchley & Rugby due to the power being off for engineering work.

25191 assisted the 2E72 08.55 Carlisle - Newcastle diesel multiple unit on September 7th. On September 10th 25191 was on display at Workington Open Day.

25191 was stabled at Birkenhead on October 21st.

An unusual arrival at Follingsby on December 6th was 25191 on a freightliner working from Trafford Park. Two days later (8th) it assisted a failed 47459 between Leamington Spa & Banbury, here both were replaced by 25185 taking the ex-Wolverhampton service all the way to Paddington! On December 14th 25191 was noted heading west through Port Talbot.

25191 was stabled at March depot on December 18th.

1984
On January 6th 25191 was noted at Helsby with a loaded ballast train signalled for the Hooton line. 25191 was stabled at Bletchley on January 14th.

25191 was stabled at Tinsley on March 3rd. 25191 was noted at Stonebridge Park on March 23rd. The end of March saw much continued activity of Class 25s in the North East including 25191 & 25205 on the Stranraer Speedlink and Carlisle cement workings on 30th.

25191 & 25145 were noted passing Church Stretton on May 3rd with an oil tank train. 25191 & 25195 were stabled at Llandudno Junction on May 27th.

On June 1st 25191 was noted at Chester with a parcels train and also northbound at York on a ballast train (ten loaded wagons and four brake vans). The aging diesel multiple units on the Crewe - Lincoln service, already way beyond their best provided a number of diesel locomotives with additional passenger mileage, either dragging them or substituting with rakes of coaching stock. Typical of this was 25191 working the 14.20 Crewe - Cleethorpes, from Stoke on Trent (?) as far as Derby on June 19th, for the remainder of the year diesel substitutions would continue, using Classes 20/25/31/47. On June 20th 25191 was noted passing through Settle with a loaded ballast train. On June 30th 25191 & 25189 were noted at Watford Junction.

On July 2nd 25189 & 25191 were shunting parcels stock at Northampton. On July 4th 25191 was at Northampton with a parcels working. A Northampton - Blackpool excursion on July 11th featured 25191 roundtrip between Preston & Blackpool, it was used later that day on a returning Edinburgh - Manchester Victoria forward from Preston. The following day (12th) it was back in action on the Blackpool North - Preston leg of a returning excursion to Birmingham. A week later (19th) it was more local action, firstly between Preston & Barrow on an ex-Crewe service returning south throughout with the 18.21 Barrow - Liverpool. On July 25th 25191 was noted at Blackburn Fogerty's yard with five bulk tankers and a brakevan. On July 29th 25196/25201/25231/25283 were at Willesden depot whilst 25058, 25191, 25285 + 25249 were nearby on permanent way trains.

A round trip between Carlisle & Glasgow was worked by 25191 on August 21st, working the 06.05 ex Carlisle and the return 15.50 ex Glasgow Central.

On September 6th 25191 was southbound at Settle Junction with a loaded ballast train. 25191 & 25054 were noted passing Hooton on September 16th with a train of empty ballast wagons. On September 18th 25154 & 25191 were noted southbound through Penrith with bogie steel coil (?) wagons. On the afternoon of September 29th 25191 was northbound at Delamere with bogie oil tanks for Stanlow.

On October 17th 25191 & 25193 were noted light engines at Crewe. On October 9th 25191 worked a Liverpool - Red Bank empty vans.

On December 9th 25191 & 25258 were noted arriving at Rugby with a crane, possibly for the permanent way work taking place that day.

On December 18th travellers on the 07.28 Hereford - Birmingham New Street diesel multiple unit had the delights of 25191 forward from Stourbridge Junction after the unit failed.

1985
On January 21st the diesel multiple unit working the 15.00 Whitehaven - Carlisle failed requiring assistance throughout from 25191. On January 31st 25191 was noted passing Point of Ayr sidings with an engineers train of turbot wagons.

On February 6th 25226 & 25191 were noted southbound at Hereford with what is believed to be the 6V32 Ellesmere Port - Severn Tunnel Junction bitumen tanks.

25191 was noted at Severn Tunnel Junction on March 13th.

April 5th saw the 21.00 Euston - Stranraer Harbour with 47483 piloted by 25191 between Ayr & Stranraer Harbour. On April 8th the 07.30 Stranraer Harbour - Glasgow Central failed behind a Class 47, 25191 assisted throughout. A convoy of southbound locomotives at Rugby on April 27th included 25206, 25191, 25282, 31212 & 31282, presumably for weekend engineering work.

25191 was noted southbound at Warrington Bank Quay with coal hoppers on May 22nd. 25191 & 25245 were noted at Severn Tunnel Junction on May 25th.

On June 20th 25191 was noted eastbound at Newport (?) with empty HEAs. On June 22nd 25191 & 25230 worked the 13.40 Aberystwyth - Shrewsbury forward from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton when the train was extended due to late running. Two days later (June 24th) tragedy befell 25191 working the Shrewsbury - Bristol vans after striking and killing a lady at Leominster. The police investigation delayed the following services, with 25191 held later at Hereford.

25191 was stabled at Toton on July 13th and at Bescot on July 27th.

On September 5th 25191, 25296 & 45146 were light engines at Prestatyn. On September 6th the afternoon Dalston - Grangemouth tanks was worked by 25201 & 25191. On September 19th 25200 & 25191 worked the 6S51 06.50 Stanlow Refinery to Bishopbriggs Oil Terminal bogie tankers. On September 25th the 06.05 Carlisle - Glasgow Central and the 15.45 Glasgow Central - Carlisle were worked by 25191. Just over a week later on October 3rd 25191 worked the 10.46 Preston - Liverpool, the 13.05 Liverpool - Preston and the 14.33 Preston - Liverpool.

Another diesel multiple unit failure on November 3rd found 25191 assisting the 13.00 Wolverhampton - Chester service forward from Shrewsbury.

1986
25191 was stabled at Hereford on February 22nd and light engine there on 24th.

25191 was stabled at Newton Heath on April 19th.

During May 25191 moved to Crewe - its last transfer. On May 1st 25191 was noted at March with a lengthy train of merry-go-round wagons. On May 2nd 25191 worked the 3V20 Manchester - Bristol parcels train, being still noted at Bath Road on May 3rd. An unusual working for 25191 during the afternoon of May 12th was to haul a broad gauge replica of 'Iron Duke' from Tyseley to Didcot with three bogie flats and a brakevan.

25191 was stabled at Bescot on June 7th and Leicester on June 15th.

25191 was noted working the a Northampton - Bescot SLK trip on July 1st. 25191 was noted at Bristol Bath Road on July 4th, at Severn Tunnel Junction on July 5th, at Machynlleth on July 18th before working the Aberystwyth - Stanlow oil tanks, at Shrewsbury on July 21st and noted passing Crewe station light engine on July 22nd.

More adventurous was the F & W 'Coastway Crusader' excursion (1Z36) on July 27th, from Wolverhampton to Bognor Regis/Littlehampton, via Bristol and Westbury. The trip started behind 50050, 45128 taking over at Birmingham for the run to Bristol. Here 25181/191 took over reaching Ludgershall, via Andover where 25181 failed with oil pressure problems. The machine was partially revived but unfortunately ran back down the branch with its handbrake on. At Andover and now with bad wheel flats the unfortunate Class 25 was detached and replaced with 33011 for the run via East Putney, Tulse Hill, Wimbledon and Epsom to Littlehampton. On the return trip it had been intended to replace the Class 25/33 combination with 37046/117 at Westbury, however in an unusual move 25191 remained on the train, tucked in behind the 37's, running in this fashion back to Bristol where 45128 was waiting for the run home. With 25181 having bad wheel flats it was hauled to Eastleigh using a wheel skate on August 5. This was its last trip however as it was condemned here and would be broken up by Vic Berry on site during July 1988.

On the evening of July 28th 25034 & 25191 were noted at Bristol Temple Meads with a northbound parcels train (for Derby or Newcastle?)

The 06.30 Wolverhampton - Shrewsbury local service was hauled by 25191 on August 12th. On August 15th 25191 worked the 5H75 Peterborough - Cambridge formed of one coach, then worked the 6E07 Foxton Exchange Sidings - Toton/Shirebrook merry-go-round coal empties from the Rugby cement works at Barrington.

On September 4th 25191 was noted unloading RIV registered vans at Lawley Street. On September 9th 25191 worked the 7G25 Blodwell - Bescot ballast. Due to engineering work 25191 was used to drag three services the short distance between Glasgow Central & Shields Road on September 28th.

The limelight fell on 25191 on October 2nd, when it hauled 89001 on its first ever outing, from Crewe to Derby Research Dept. 25191 was stabled at Rhyl on October 12th.

25191 was stabled at Toton on November 30th.

A visit to Llandudno Jct on December 6th found 31176 present for driver training, with three of the 'old guard' present, 25191, 25213 & 25903.

1987
25191 was noted at Crewe Depot over the New Year attached to 25059. It was noted stopped at Crewe on January 7th with flat batteries, these were fixed in time for its January 10th visit to Machynlleth attached to 25109, no doubt for permanent way work. By 17th it was back in the Crewe area. On January 21st 25191 was noted through Hereford with a van train for South Wales. 25191 was at Carnforth on 24th & Skipton the next day. towards the end of the month it was at Toton for an 'A' exam with attention to its brake blocks and a low power problem.

The beginning of February found it back in the Crewe area, noted eastbound at Chester on 7th with loaded ballast wagons, by the 11th it was at Manchester Victoria, then to Guide Bridge to work the 6K37 to Nuneaton Hartshill. For the remainder of February 25191 seems to have been active mostly in the Crewe area. On 27th 25057 & 25191 were in charge of a Ravenhead Jct – Oakamole sand empties.

March began with 25191 in the Stoke area, by the end of the first week it had made a trip to Buxton, possibly assisting a diesel multiple unit on 7th. At lunchtime on March 12th 25191 was at Manchester Victoria. On March 13th 25191 was noted at Buxton.

On Sunday March 15th 25191 was working an overhead line train between Kidsgrove & Longport whilst on March 16th it ran out to Llandudno to work the 9T77 11.50am to Crewe Gresty Lane permanent way train. It remained in the Crewe area until withdrawn from service on March 18th. It was one of six Class 25's to be withdrawn this day - 25191/265/279/313/903/910.

25191 was withdrawn on March 18th 1987.

25191 would escape the scrappers torch and be sold to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway during August 1987.

During 1997 D7541 worked 554 miles on the NYMR.

Distinguishing Features.
No.1 cab front: horizontal rust patch to right of center lamp bracket: May 1984 until withdrawn.
No.1 cab front: circular rust patch below center lamp bracket: May 1984 until withdrawn.
No.2 cab front, 2nd man's side, wonky cabfront handrail: (not present Dec 1983), June 1984 until withdrawn.
No.2 cab front: damaged valencing on driver's side: (not present Feb 1982), Dec 1983 until withdrawn.
Three-piece miniature snowploughs: Nov 1979, Mar 1980, Feb 1982, April 1982, (no ploughs June, Oct 1982), Dec 1982, (no ploughs July, Sept - Oct 1983), Dec 1983, Jan 1984, May 1984, (no ploughs June - July 1984 or Sept/Oct 1984), Jan 1985, Feb 1985, Mar 1985, (no ploughs May - Sept 1985), Feb 1986, April 1986, May 1986, June 1986, July 1986, (no ploughs Aug - Nov 1986), Jan 1987, Feb 1987.

41/3306
flk 1221 (4)

Not all known passenger workings are recorded on this page.

Page added October 23rd 2004.
Last updated June 18th 2022.

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