South Devon Railway Engineering, the contract engineering business of the South Devon Railway, has won a contract from Colas to carry out contract work on former high-speed train (HST) power car 43277.

The unit is one of five power cars that make up Colas’ fleet of vehicles which are used on Network Rail’s test trains that carry out inspections of railway track across Britain.

The power car arrived by road at South Devon Railway Engineering’s base at Buckfastleigh in Devon on Friday, 11th March.

HST power car 43277 after unloading. Credit: South Devon Railway

On arrival, it was transferred straight into the railway’s workshops for overhaul, including component renewal and a repaint.

Unfortunately, most of the time that the power car is at Buckfastleigh, it will not be available to view as it is located in areas of the workshops that are inaccessible to the public.

HST power car 43277 stabled at the workshops. Credit: South Devon Railway

South Devon Railway Engineering’s workshop manager, Rob Evans, said: “This is a great step forward for South Devon Railway Engineering as we branch out into new areas of work for the business and look forward to the new challenge this will bring our skilled team of engineers.”