British Rail Class 08
No. 08757 Eagle
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Our main diesel locomotive is Eagle. This loco is up for any task and is a rare example of a remote controlled locomitve.
INFORMATION
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Eagle at Lawley Halt |
HISTORY
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Remote Era
This locomotive was built by British Railways at their Horwich Works in 1961. It entered service (numbered as D3925) on 1 February 1961 and was initially allocated to Cockerhill, Glasgow for a number of years, before moving south via Manchester Longsight, Bescot (being renumbered to 08757), Toton and March depots to Cambridge where she was named "Eagle CURC" (Cambridge University Railway Club) in September 1993. Her namplates were removed in August 1995.
08757 was fitted with remote control equipment (reportedly in 2004 but believed to be circa April 2009) for use in Westbury Quarry, where 08757 remained until moving to Didcot for repairs in 2010. She stayed there until 3 April 2013 when she moved by road to Crewe Electric Maintenance Depot (EMD), allocated as stored and assigned to be a spares donor for other locos. |
Eagle at Crewe Works for overhaul |
Eagle under initial overhaul at TSR |
Rapid OverhaulOn 19 September 2016 she was put up for sale by her then owners DB Cargo, and was bought by Telford Steam Railway.
She arrived at the railway on 16 January 2017, and was successfully started just a few days later. The first test run to Lawley and back (twice) took place on 26 February 2017. Now fully repainted in Rail Express Systems (RES) red and grey livery, 08757 is mainly used on our diesel passenger services. |
CURRENT STATUSEagle had been one of the most reliable runners at TSR. It ran many of our diesel passenger services along with being the thunderbird loco for The Polar Express Train Ride.
Unfortunately during Polar 2025, an electrical fault developed and the loco was withdrawn from traffic. Initial inspections have revealed issues with the main generator. Further inspections will take place but for the foreseeable the loco will be withdrawn from traffic |
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SUPPORT THE LOCOMOTIVETSR needs your help to bring Eagle back into operational condition. Initial assessments have been made on the loco to judge the scope of work, along with the removal of certain parts.
To repair the loco will be a very costly and time consuming process, with the final figure in the tens of thousands. If you can help with by either volunteering or donating, it will help bring this loco back to life. |
