Class 31 / Brush Type 2 31125 on a p.w. train at Liverpool Street station
<b>London Termini - Liverpool Street</b> 
The scene at Liverpool Street station, on a quiet Sunday morning, and Class 31 [Brush Type 2] 31125 is on light duties with a weekend p.w. [Permanent Way] train. A bit of a light balancing exercise with this exposure, taken in the gloom of the station with the sun shining outside :)

After the closure of Broad Street station in 1986, Liverpool Street went through a huge refurbishment which completely transformed the station. I was passing the time before joining the 'Class 46 Tribute' railtour which departed on time at 08.15 headed by celebrity locomotive <b>46026 'Leicestershire &amp; Derbyshire Yeomanry'.</b>

I was never a fan of the <b>Brush 2s</b> as, despite making a fine old racket, they had very little power - hence their 1980s bashers' moniker of 'Peds' (Pedal Cars?) - in the 1970s we referred to the disc headcode versions as 'blind Brush 2s'.

<b>Locomotive History</b>
<b>D5543 / 31125</b> 
D5543 was built at the Brush Works, Loughborough, during 1959 and allocated new to 32B (Ipswich) in July of the same year. It became 31125 in March 1974, then allocated to Finsbury Park TMD. The loco was put to store in December 1994 and cut-up at European Metal Re-cycling, Kingsbury, in May 2001. [Courtesy Paul Bettany]

And an expanded history here: The first ten class 31/1’s D5520 – 29 (31102 – 11) where built with headcode discs with D5530 (31112) being the first built with headcode boxes, however due to supply difficulties, in order to maintain locomotive deliveries to British Railways Brush fitted ten of the next thirty two locomotives D5535/39/43/47/51/52/55/56/59/62 (31117/21/25/29/33/34/37/38/41/44) with headcode discs. All the class 31/1 locomotives were built with a Spanner Swirlyflow Mk I steam heating boiler and it is still operational on 31125 on this grey wet Saturday morning. It is highly likely that I had a ride behind 31125 down the East Coast at least as far as Peterborough in a nice warm steam heated Mark I carriage. 31125 was built at the Brush Falcon works, Loughborough in 1959 as D5543 and I first saw this engine at Doncaster on the 23rd August 1969. It gave thirty five years service before being withdrawn in December 1994. Dumped in Bescot Yard following withdrawal it would survive for another six years before being dispatched to Kingsbury and breaking up, being disposed of in May 2001. Courtesy of <a href="/photos/pics-by-john/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">John Woolley Photos</a>  who's fabulous steaming photo can be seen in the Comments section below :)

<b>LIVERPOOL STREET STATION REDEVLOPMENT</b> - In 1973 the British Railways Board, London Transport Executive, Greater London Council and the Department of the Environment produced a report examining the modernisation of London's transport. It recommended high priority given to reconstructing Liverpool Street and Broad Street stations and recommended financing this through property development on the site. <b>Liverpool Street</b> had a number of design and access issues, many of which derived from the 1890 extension which had effectively created two stations on one site, with two concourses linked by walkways, booking halls, and inefficient traffic flows within the station. Additionally the rail infrastructure presented limitations; only seven of the platforms could accommodate 12-carriage trains, and the track exit layout was a bottleneck. In 1975 British Railways announced plans to demolish and redevelop both stations. The proposed demolition met considerable public opposition and prompted a campaign led by the Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman, leading to a public inquiry from November 1976 to February 1977.

In the autumn of 1980,  the overhead electrification system was converted from 6.25kV ac to the standard supply of 25kV ac. The inquiry recommended the western (1875) train shed roof should be retained in new development; consequently it was repaired and reinforced between 1982 and 1984, followed by repairs to the main roof completed in 1987. Initial plans included the widening of the station's exit by two tracks to make eight, with 22 platforms in a layout similar to that of Waterloo station; the combined Broad Street and Liverpool Street station was to be at the level of the latter, with relatively low-rise office developments. Poor use of land value caused the development to be reassessed in 1983/4, when it was decided to retain the existing six-road exit throat and 18-platform layout, in combination with re-signalling; this resulted in a station confined to the Liverpool Street site, with ground space from Broad Street closure released for development. British Railways signed an agreement with developers Rosehaugh Stanhope in 1985, and work on the office development, known as Broadgate, began.

Railway work included the construction of a short link from the North London Line to the Cambridge main line, allowing trains that had previously used Broad Street to terminate at Liverpool Street. The station was reconstructed with a single concourse at the head of the station platforms, and entrances from Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street, as well as a bus interchange in the south west corner. The Broadgate development was constructed between 1985 and 1991, with 330,000 m2 (3,600,000 sq ft) of office space on the site of the former Broad Street station and above the Liverpool Street tracks. Proceeds from the Broadgate development were used to help fund the station modernisation. More on Liverpool Street here: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Street_station#Nationalisation_" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Street_station#Nationalis...</a>(1946–91)

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL SLR camera and standard lens. <b>Scanned from the original negative with no digital restoration.</b>

You can see a random selection of my railway photos here on Flickriver: <a href="http://www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/</a>
31125 d5543 5543 class31 diesel liverpoolstreet london station