Class 25/3 D7659 (25309)
Rowsley South, Peak Rail, 7 April 2023
D7659 was the final Class 25 locomotive built by Beyer, Peacock & Co Ltd (in 1966) and had a fairly uneventful pre-preservation career.
Renumbered 25309 under British Rail’s TOPS system in April 1974 and again (to 25909) in December 1985, withdrawal beckoned in September 1986. After asbestos removal the locomotive left Vic Berry’s scrapyard in Leicester on 2 June 1988 for display at Coalville Open Day on 4 June before moving into preservation at the East Lancashire Railway (ELR).
Now owned by pop impresario Pete Waterman, D7659 is based at Peak Rail in Derbyshire and today hauled three return trips between Rowsley South and Matlock, the above pic is of the 13.00 departure from Rowsley South.
Railway Miscellany 