A new photograph from Iain Flynn
Class 55 Deltic 55009 ‘Alycidon’ stands at the blocks at King’s Cross, having brought in 1A08, the 08.07 from York, on 8 October 1981. The train is empty behind it now, the locomotive resting under the great arched roof at the end of a journey that began that morning on the East Coast Main Line.
There is a particular quiet that settles over a terminus once a long-distance service has emptied: the doors banged shut, passengers gone through the barriers, and the locomotive left standing at the buffers with nothing left to do but idle. Under King’s Cross’s ironwork, with its twin Napier power units idling with the distinctive, uneven beat particular to the class, 55009 has the stillness of a locomotive between duties rather than one that has finished for the day.
This was one working day in a routine that, by October 1981, kept 55009 largely to the East Coast Main Line out of its home depot at York, where it had been allocated since May of that year. After King’s Cross the locomotive spent the day at Finsbury Park depot, before returning north that evening with 1D08, the 19.40 King’s Cross to Hull passenger service, and the empty coaching stock working on to York afterwards. The routine was not without trouble: Napier’s records show that on 4 October, 55009 was restricted to running on a single power unit, a sign that the class was ageing hard even as it kept its diagrams.
The repairs that followed were more than routine. No.1 compressor was replaced, and on 11 October a repaint was put in hand: preparation, not for further ordinary diagrams, but for the farewell railtours being run as the class approached the end of its work. 55009 had entered service on 21 July 1961. It was withdrawn on 2 January 1982. The Deltic Preservation Society saved it in May that year, keeping the locomotive on beyond the class’s general withdrawal.
Why this photograph?
None of that had happened yet when this photograph was taken: the farewell tours, the withdrawal, the rescue were all still ahead of it. What makes the photograph worth returning to is that distance: a Deltic standing at the blocks on an ordinary October morning, doing an ordinary day’s work on the East Coast Main Line, well before the ending that the class was already moving towards. That the same locomotive is, as of August 2026, undergoing shake-down tests for a return to the mainline gives the photograph a kind of symmetry: the quiet arrival that reads now as simply another working day was in fact part of a longer story that is still being written.
Available as Prints and Frames
| Format | Sizes | Finishes | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 x 9″, 16 x 12″, 24 x 18″ | Lustre, Gloss, Velvet, Photo Rag | £15 | |
| Matted Print | 14 x 11″ mount (12 x 9″ image), 20 x 16″ mount (16 x 12″ image) | Lustre, Gloss, Fine Art Pearl, Photo Rag | £32 |
| Sanctuary Framed Print | 14 x 11″ frame (12 x 9″ image), 20 x 16″ frame (16 x 12″ image) | Lustre, Gloss, Fine Art Pearl, Photo Rag | £109 |
| Fine Art Tray Frame | 16 x 12″, 24 x 18″ | Fine Art Pearl | £150 |
| Limited Edition Fine Art Float Frame | 20×16″ Frame (16×12″ Image) | Fine Art Cotton Smooth | £200 |
Browse the Class 55 Deltic 55009 ‘Alycidon’ at King’s Cross print and framed editions, or see more of our Deltics Class 55 photography.
The photograph
- Locomotive: Class 55 Deltic 55009 ‘Alycidon’
- Location: King’s Cross station, London
- Date: 8 October 1981
- Working: 1A08, the 08.07 York to King’s Cross service
- Photographer: Iain Flynn
Copyright Notice
This photograph is the copyright of Iain Flynn. It is reproduced here by permission and offered as fine art prints and framed editions by Memories of Motion.
The image may not be copied, reproduced, redistributed, transmitted or used in any form, in print or digitally, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.
