AT a ceremony in Central Station, Glasgow, today a British Rail Class
90 electric locomotive will be named The Herald and its nameplate
unveiled by Herald editor Arnold Kemp.
It will be a brief pause in the locomotive's busy life. The naming
ceremony will take place on Platform One at 11am. Exactly half an hour
later The Herald will pull the 11.30am service as it leaves Central
Station for London Euston.
Class 90 locomotives are the most modern now working on the west coast
services. Fifteen of them work passenger services. The Herald is Number
90003 -- weight a massive 84 tonnes, capable of pulling 400-tonne trains
at speeds of up to 110 miles an hour. Developing 4505 hp, it draws power
from the route's 25kv overhead wires.
BR regard their Class 90s as ''very reliable''. Built by British Rail
Engineering at Derby in the late 1980s, each travels approximately a
quarter of a million miles a year on the west coast route. Servicing is
carried out at Polmadie, Glasgow, and heavy maintenance at Willesden
depot in London.
The timing of today's ceremony has been arranged by British Rail to
allow passengers travelling on the 11.30am service to view the naming of
their engine before boarding for the christening run.
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