According to this youtube video the legendary screaming valenta made its first return back in 2014 when it was presumed out for good. Their Prototype looks ugly however its functional and its running again. The DLC would feature this new strange design with the screaming valenta engine and a new livery for the MK3's in blue grey with red stripes. It will join the services fleet which will be assisted by the current MTU HST. I'd say this DLC expasion of GWR would sell like hotcakes!
That is one of the prototype HST power cars, it's not new, it's from the 1970s. So in terms of era it would be more suited to NTP, though I don't know if it was ever tested on that route.
Well I found your correction helpful. It's an odd shape. I do hope it was present there if it adds up.
The whole fleet had Paxman Valenta engines originally. MTU units were fitted from 2005. More details in this article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCity_125
I only recall it running on the Western Region, thought it must have made trips to and from Derby. Really, it wouldn't have made sense testing it on any other routes. The line from Paddington to Bristol (both Temple Meads and Parkway) was famed at the time for its excellent riding qualities, and it is of course relatively straight and flat. I think only the East Coast Main Line could have been upgraded without undue difficulty for 125 mph running (which it was, of course, a few years later) but the decision had already been made to introduce HSTs (the InterCity 125 branding came later) on the Western Region first. The class 253/254s (I don't think they were ever actually designated class 43, even though the power cars were numbered in the 43xxx series) had the same Valenta 12RP200L engines as the class 41 prototypes, and their roar ("whine" might be a better description) is familiar to anyone who heard them before they were re-engined around the beginning of the century.
The East Midlands Trains (or East Midlands Railways now) have VP185 engines which sound semi-Valenta.* From my understanding, all HSTs should have had VP185s but First Group had a falling out with Paxman hence they opted for MTU engines. *they inherited 3 sets (6 power cars) from Grand Central a couple of years ago which have MTU engines and buffers at the front. I believe now the East Midlands Railways are going to phase out VP185s power cars now that LNER have released their HST sets.
Hopefully the railtour companies will pick up these vp185’s. Give the enthusiasts a version of Valenta whilst keeping the environmentalists at bay.
Lovely looking train count me in I’d definitely buy like yourself I see plenty of potential to improve the GWR DLC