Diesel 40125

Diesel 40125
Background Information
First appearance	James and the Diesel Engines (RWS)
Last appearance	James and the Diesel Engines (RWS)
Creator(s)	Christopher Awdry
Overview
Gender	Male
Country	England
Relative(s)	Diesel 782 (brother) Class 40 (brother)
Affiliation	British Railways
Technical Details
Basis	BR Class 40
Gauge	4'8½" (1,435 mm; standard gauge)
Power type	Diesel-electric
Vehicle	Locomotive
Fuel type	Diesel
Configuration	1Co-Co1
Wheels	16
Top speed	90 mph (145 kph)
Designer(s)	English Electric
Builder(s)	Vulcan Foundry
Year built	Sometime in December 1960
Year retired	May 1981
Year scrapped	December 1983
Number	BR 40125 BR D325 (formerly)
Railway	British Railways

Diesel 40125, nicknamed "Old Stuck-Up" by James, is a diesel engine who once visited the North Western Railway on loan from British Railways.

Biography

The Railway Series

BoCo was to show Diesel 40125 around, but when he saw steam engines in the shed he refused to go further and insulted the railway for keeping them in service. An angry BoCo left him outside while he went inside the shed himself, and a furious James nicknamed him "Old Stuck-Up".

The next day, Diesel 40125 was about to leave when he remembered that he needed refuelling. He attempted to use BoCo and Bear's part of the shed to be refuelled and cleaned, but slid on the oily tracks and crashed into the back of the shed. He was sent home in disgrace after being talked to severely by the Fat Controller; BoCo noted that while he could not hear everything, he did not think it sounded particularly polite.

Personality

Diesel 40125 is pompous, rude and arrogant like a lot of unfriendly diesels, and believes that steam power is inferior to diesel power.

Technical Details

Basis

Diesel 40125 is based on a British Rail (BR) Class 40 1Co-Co1 diesel-electric engine. Two-hundred members of this class were built from 1958 to 1962, and the last was withdrawn in 1985. They were given the nickname "Whistlers" because of the strange whistling noise their engines would make. Seven Class 40s are preserved at the National Railway Museum including D200, the first Class 40 ever built.

Diesel 782 and Class 40 are also based on BR Class 40s, hence the latter's name.

Unlike most diesel engines in The Railway Series, Diesel 40125's number is not fictional. The real 40125 was built in December 1960 as Diesel 325 and was the first member of the class built with "split" headcode boxes. It was withdrawn from service in May 1981 and scrapped at Swindon Works in December 1983.

Diesel 40125's basis and the real 40125

Livery

Diesel 40125 is painted in the BR Rail Blue livery. He has yellow warning panels on his front and back end. His number (40125) is painted on the sides of his cabs in white. His rooftop is painted dark grey. His buffer beams are painted red with dark grey buffers.

Appearances

• Railway Series

The Railway Series

• James and the Diesel Engines - Old Stuck-Up

Companion Volumes

• 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned)
• 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection

Trivia

• The events of the story "Old Stuck-Up" from The Railway Series book, James and the Diesel Engines likely took place before the real 40125 was withdrawn from service in May 1981 and scrapped in December 1983.
• In the fourth illustration of "Old Stuck-Up", Diesel 40125 is incorrectly seen in a lighter shade of blue.
• Unlike most diesels from British Railways, Diesel 40125 does not have a BR crest or logo on his sides.

Gallery

The Railway Series

Main Series

Diesel 40125 with BoCo and James.

Diesel 40125 at Tidmouth.

Diesel 40125 crashes through the shed.

References

United Kingdom

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* RWS only | ** T&F only