Sir
Kenneth
Grange, who
designed
the
appearance
of
British
Rail’s
first
High
Speed
Trains
in
the
1970s,
has
died
just
four
days
after
his
95th
birthday.

The
novel
appearance
of
the
InterCity
125
power
cars
quickly
became
a
symbol
of
British
Rail’s
increasingly
successful
InterCity
business,
after
the
first
had
entered
public
service
on
the
Western
Region
main
line
in
October
1976.

Although
HSTs
were
limited
to
125mph
(200km/h)
in
service,
the
prototype
train
had
set
a
world
speed
record
for
a
diesel
locomotive
of
143.2
mph
(230.5
km/h)
in
1973
during
trials
on
the
East
Coast
Main
Line.

Sir
Kenneth,
whose
industrial
designs
spanned
a
wide
range
of
objects,
including
the
Kenwood
Chef
food
mixer
and
the
Anglepoise
lamp,
had
been
commissioned
to
design
the
InterCity
125
livery,
but
he
decided
to
redesign
the
appearance
of
the
power
car
without
telling
British
Rail.

He
worked
with
an
aerodynamic
engineer,
and
they
tested
a
model
in
a
wind
tunnel.

He
later
said
BR’s
original
design
‘was
rather
quite
brutal,
rather
clumsy.
I
thought
“Oh
I’d
like
to
get
my
hands
on
that”,
although
the
brief
was
nothing
to
do
with
the
shape,
absolutely
not
at
all.’

In
the
event
his
revised
design
was
accepted,
and
the
fleet
quickly
grew
in
size.
Because
the
HSTs
could
run
at
125mph,
which
was
25mph
faster
than
previous
diesel
express
trains,
British
Rail
marketing
used
the
tag
line
‘The
Journey
Shrinker’,
while
British
Transport
Films
made
a
demonstration
film
without
a
commentary
entitled
‘Overture
One-Two-Five’.
This
showed
the
new
trains
speeding
along
the
Western
Region
main
line,
and
included
a
dramatic
musical
score
by
David
Gow.

In
later
life,
Sir
Kenneth
was
honoured
at
various
railway
events.
The
first
production
power
car,
43
002,
was
repainted
by
Great
Western
Railway
in
the
original
livery
and
named
by
him
on
2
May
2016
at
St
Philip’s
Marsh
depot
in
Bristol,
to
mark
the
40th
anniversary
of
the
HSTs
entering
service.
He
later
visited
York
in
October
of
the
same
year,
and ‘signed’
a
power
car
with
spray
paint.

He
was
also
the
Honorary
President
of
the
125
Group,
which
has
restored
the
original
prototype
power
car.

The
Group
said:
‘Sir
Kenneth
became
a
good
friend
of
the
Group,
an
advocate
of
our
aims
and
has
been
our
Honorary
President
for
the
last
ten
years
–
visiting
us
at
events
on
numerous
occasions.

‘We
pass
on
our
deepest
condolences
to
his
wife
Apryl
and
all
his
family.’

Sir
Kenneth
Henry
Grange
CBE
PPCSD
RDI 


17
July
1929
–
21
July
2024