301 : December 1986
25034 CD

December proved to be a quiet month for Class 25 withdrawals, it was not until December 22nd that the elder statesman of the class, 25034 succumbed leaving the approaching New Year with just twenty six active Class 25's remaining in service. With the withdrawal of 25034 it would be left for 25035 to become the elder statesman of the Class, an honour it would not relinquish.

A typical line up of locomotives at Haymarket depot, led off by 25034, another Class 25, a Class 20 and a Class 40. Photograph courtesy Ian Mawson

302 - 305 : January 1987
25037, 25190, 25201, 25249 all CD

With the New Year came the fact that it had now been over six years since any of the remaining Class 25's had received classified repairs. Many had acquired components from long gone sisters to keep them running, however from the condition of the bodywork of these final few it was clear that the end was near. Seven years of your average English weather had clearly taken its toll.

	Happier times for 25037 & 25230 at Shrewsbury on August 25th 1984. Photograph collection of Ian Hammond
	25190 Tinsley October 28th 1984. Photograph courtesy Phillip Moore
	Looks like a chilly overcast February 15th 1986 at Saltley as 25201 stands by itself. Photograph courtesy Ian Hammond
	25249 & 25256. Photograph courtesy Ian Mawson

306 - 308 : February 1987
25058, 25199, 25288 all CD

The trickle of withdrawals continued on into February. The withdrawal of 25058 broke up the last consecutively numbered block of Class 25's, 25057/58/59. Two pairs would remain in service until the end: 25278 & 25279 and 25912 (25322) & 25323.

	25058 & 25177 Cockshute February 6th 1982. Photograph courtesy Jerry Glover.
	25199 Speke Junction. Photograph courtesy Ian Mawson.
	25288 Bidston Dock. Photograph courtesy ??

309 - 327 : March 1987
25035, 25057, 25059, 25109, 25173, 25176, 25191, 25213, 25265, 25278, 25279, 25313, 25323 all CD
25901, 25902, 25903, 25904, 25910, 25912 all KM

And so it was that in March 1987 the word came down from the BRB that the remaining members of the Class 25 fleet were to be taken out of service. Several had already fallen by the wayside prior to the decree from the BRB being issued.

March 3rd 1987
25902 (25268)

25902 Arpley Yard, Warrington. Photograph collection of Ian Hammomd.

March 6th 1987
25176

25176 Bletchley August 28th 1982. Photograph courtesy Jerry Glover.

March 9th 1987
25323

25323 York October 17th 1985. Photograph courtesy Tony Sayer.

March 11th 1987
25109

5259 Springs Branch August 27th 1973. Photograph collection of Ian Hammond.

March 15th 1987
25035 & 25057

	25035 Watford Yard 1986. Photograph courtesy Ian Hammond.
	25057 Thornaby December 13th 1981. Photograph courtesy Jerry Glover.

March 16th 1987
25279 & 25901

	25279. Photograph courtesy Ian Mawson.
	25901 Arpley Yard, Warrington. Photograph courtesy Ian Hammond.

March 17th 1987
25278 & 25213

	25278 & 25324 Mossend September 27th 1985. Photograph courtesy Phillip Moore.
	25213 & 25089 at Carstairs on July 8th 1985 covering the last leg of the 13.50 Birmingham - Carstairs. Photograph courtesy Richard Howat.

March 18th 1987
25059, 25191, 25265, 25313, 25903 & 25910

	25059 Prestatyn. Photograph courtesy John Powell.
	25191 & coal train. Photographer unknown.
	25265 Cockshute February 6th 1982. Photograph courtesy Jerry Glover.
	25313. Photograph courtesy Ian Mawson.
	25903 & 25904 Warrington Bank Quay. Photograph courtesy Ian Hammond.
	25910, 25903 & 26015 Motherwell August 16th 1986. Photograph courtesy Ian Hammond.

March 19th 1987
25173

25173 Manchester Victoria January 8th 1987. Photograph courtesy Ian Hammond.

March 23rd 1987
25904 & 25912

	25904 Warrington Arpley, June 1st 1986. Photograph courtesy Tony Sayer.
	25912 Warrington Arpley, March 22nd 1987. Photograph courtesy Tony Sayer.

Well as usual this series of pages started off as a bit of a lark, with the serious intent to record in chronological order the demise of the Class 25's, and then of course to see whatever things might develop from this task. As usual it went from strength to strength and tended to be a bit of light relief between other major projects I was working on. But late in 2006 there seemed to be a sense of urgency to get this thing finished. So I ploughed on and when I got to the sixth page (withdrawal of the 251 - 300 Class 25's) it occurred to me that maybe I ought to make sure that my calculations & research was correct and that when I reached the 327th withdrawal it would be the right one! After all the project had started of somewhat unplanned and unstructured. After several recounts and checking of the withdrawal listings all was found to be in order and no Class 25's were unaccounted for!!

Then somewhere along the line it suddenly dawned on me that this project could be completed in time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last members of the Class 25's from revenue earning service on BR. This event took place during the third week of March 1987, so here is the final piece of this project as some sort of memorial to that event.

Please forgive some of the sparseness of the information and photograph captions - these will be added to shortly.

Page added March 23rd 2007
Last updated April 11th 2007

Back to Class 25 withdrawals, Part 1 (1 - 50)
Back to Class 25 withdrawals, Part 2 (51 - 100)
Back to Class 25 withdrawals, Part 3 (101 - 150)
Back to Class 25 withdrawals, Part 4 (151 - 200)
Back to Class 25 withdrawals, Part 5 (201 - 250)
Back to Class 25 withdrawals, Part 6 (251 - 300)

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