This locomotive was the third of the production English Electric Type 4's to enter service on British Railways (D200-D209 being prototypes).

D212 was built by the English Electric Company at their Vulcan Foundry Works, Newton-Le-Willows, Lancashire and entered service on BR allocated to Willesden in May 1959. From the 1st June, she moved to Crewe North, firstly on loan and then permanently before moving to Carlisle Upperby in September 1959. Her next depot was Camden and she was allocated there from December 1960 until December 1965, when she moved to Bescot depot, remaining there until April 1966 when a transfer to western lines was made. August 1967 saw her transferred to Longsight depot, where she remained until June 1968, when she was allocated to D09 Manchester Division. She remained at D09 until June 1972 after which she moved to D10 Preston Division. May 1973 saw her move to Carlisle Kingmoor where she stayed until August of that year before moving back South to Longsight. December 1978 saw her back at Carlisle Kingmoor where she remained until being withdrawn from active service in February 1985.

 

Out of the 25 Class 40's that were named, only three were named at an official naming ceremony, these being D210 Empress of Britain, D211 Mauretania and D212 Aureol. The remaining 22 loco's all had their nameplates fitted at BR workshops, either Crewe or Derby Works. The naming of D212 Aureol was carried out by Mr.M.Glaister, Director of the Elder Dempster shipping line at Liverpool Riverside Station on the 20th September 1960.

 

February 1974 saw her renumbered to 40012 at Longsight depot but unfortunately by then the nameplates had been removed, so she never actually carried the ' Aureol' nameplates with the new 'Tops' number system. The locos last classified overhaul was at Crewe Works in June 1980 and by this time the name 'Aureol' had once again reappeared on the loco's body sides, only this time around it was hand painted on using stencils in red and white paint. The loco was finally withdrawn from traffic at Crewe TMD on the 8th February 1985, due to derailment damage, and dragged to Crewe Gresty Lane sidings for scrap. However, due to the Crewe Station remodelling scheme, she was reinstated to traffic on 20th May 1985 at Crewe TMD and given the departmental running number of 97407 and restricted to a maxium speed of 35 mph for use on engineering trains only.

 

Withdrawal for the second time around finally took place at Crewe TMD on the 4th April 1986 at 14:00 hours, the reason being cracked bogie frames. She was later moved to Crewe Basford Hall Yard for scrap. On the 1st September 1986, 97407 along with sister loco 97408 (ex-40118) moved from Crewe to Carlisle for the sole purpose of providing spares to keep the flagship of the class D200 running to for fill her railtour commitments.

 

97407 remained at Carlisle until 7th September 1988 when she travelled via Workington, Crewe and Nuneaton to Vic Berry's Yard at Leicester for Asbestos removal to be carried out, before moving on to her new home at the Midland Railway Centre.

 

The loco arrived at the Midland Railway Centre on the 3rd March 1989, with the first working party taking place on Sunday 5th March. The full restoration of the loco took just over four years to complete but well worth every hour that was spent on her. So unlike the ship she is named after, this Aureol survives today and is owned by the Class 40 Appeal and is based at the Midland Railway Centre and is often used on a wide variety of services there and frequently appears at various gala events on heritage railways across the UK.

 

Other Preserved Class 40s:

 

D200 / 40122

National Railway Museum (NRM)

www.nrm.org.uk

 

D212 / 40012 Aureol

The Class 40 Appeal (based at the Midland Railway Centre, Butterley)

www.trainweb.org/cfa/

 

D213 / 40013 Andania

Privately owned (based at the Barrow Hill Roundhouse Railway Centre)

www.barrowhill.org.uk

 

D306 / 40106

Privately owned (based at the Nene Valley Railway)

www.nvr.org.uk

 

D318 / 40118

The 16SVT Society (based at the Birmingham Railway Centre Tyseley)

www.40118-web.co.uk

 

D335 / 40135

The Class 40 Preservation Society (based at the East Lancashire Railway)

www.cfps.co.uk

 

D345 / 40145

The Class 40 Preservation Society (based at the East Lancashire Railway)

www.cfps.co.uk

 

Related Websites:

 

The Class 40 Appeal

www.trainweb.org/cfa/

 

The Midland Railway Centre, Butterley

www.midlandrailwaycentre.co.uk

 

The Class 40 Preservation Society

www.cfps.co.uk

 

The East Lancashire Railway

www.east-lancs-rly.co.uk