IN 1983, the Deltic 9000 Fund successfully purchased No. D9000/55022 Royal Scots Grey, which had been languishing at Doncaster Works since withdrawal in January the previous year. The loco, along with classmate No. D9016/55016 Gordon Highlander acquired in 1984, was initially based at and operated on the Nene Valley Railway.
From the outset, its new owners were always keen to run on the main line if the opportunity arose – in the Fund’s newsletter dated August 1985, the late Michael Timms wrote: “If and when main line diesel running does return, and only British Rail can decide when that is to be, then 9000 will be available.” Ironically, the loco had made a solo outing in the ‘big railway’ four months earlier, running light engine from Haymarket to Perth in April that year, in advance of its display at Perth Railfair.
Hopes that ScotRail would use No. D9000 on special trains came to nothing, and it was 1994 before a preserved diesel would gain main line certification. That loco was Pete Waterman’s Class 46 No. D172 Ixion. Discussions between the Deltic 9000 Fund and Waterman Railways regarding the possibility of No. D9000 being leased to and operated by the latter organisation took place during 1993/94, but in the event this did not go any further. Instead, a new firm Deltic 9000 Locomotives Ltd was set up to take over ownership of Nos. D9000 and D9016 and oversee their main line operations.
Main line return
August 1996 saw No. D9000 arrive at Glasgow Works (Springburn) for work to bring it up to main line standard, initially to operate at a maximum speed of 90mph. Just over three months later, it undertook two test runs in advance of its first booked charter train, ‘The Deltic Deliverance’ on November 30.
Sadly, things did not go as planned with the tour. No. D9000 was booked to haul the 393 miles from Edinburgh to King’s Cross, but a collector drum fire saw the loco declared a failure at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Fortunately, the failure was not a major one and, after attention at Springburn, the ‘Deltic’ was ready for its next booked tour, ‘The Deltic Reunion’, taking it from King’s Cross to Hull, Harrogate and York – a trip which was accomplished without any of the calamities of November 30.
