Class 31 - 31271 Railfreight Construction

31271 Railfreight Construction
One of just five Class 31s to gain Railfreight livery with Construction sub-sector decals, 31271 also has the distinction of being the only surviving example to retain the iconic Roundel-designed scheme into the present day. Built as D5801 and new to 30A in June 1961, it completed its heavy general overhaul at Doncaster in April 1987 emerging in the soon to be obsolete Railfreight Red-Stripe and was notably the last member of the class to be dual-braked as part of the ‘refurbishment’ programme. Allocated to Stratford’s FAGS aggregates pool in March 1989 it was repainted in triple grey at Vic Berry Limited, Leicester, the same month, complete with that company’s trademark black grilles, receiving embellishments such as decals and depot plaques – but no double arrows – later that year. Having been fitted with miniature snowploughs only a few months earlier it happily retained them throughout the rest of its BR career. It was finally stored unserviceable in May 1997 after being sidelined and reinstated several times and was acquired by A1A Locomotives Ltd exactly a year later as a source of spares for the restoration of 31108. Having survived a proposal to section the bodyside, it was reprieved and followed its ‘skinhead’ partner back into service, hauling its first passenger service in preservation in April 2002, incredibly still in its 1989-applied paint, albeit with a few touch ups and the reapplication of the squadron markings. It underwent extensive bodywork repairs and a full repaint into Railfreight Construction in the first months of 2004 ahead of its naming as Stratford 1948-2001 at the York Railfest event in May, becoming the fourth locomotive to be given a Stratford-themed name after 47007, 37023 and 31165. It is currently based at the Llangollen Railway.