Class 47 diesel locomotive No. 47 077 NORTH STAR is to be resident on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) for the next two years.

As D1661, NORTH STAR was built by BR at Crewe Works in 1965, and has the distinction of being the last locomotive scheduled to haul a cross-country express service on the UK network on 19th August 2002.

At various times in its career it has been numbered 47 077, 47 613, and 47 840.

On Bank Holiday Monday, 28th May 2007 the loco, bearing the number D1661, worked a final special charter train from Derby to Minehead.

At about 14:30 the train rolled to a stand at Minehead at the end of a mainline career, and a new one beginning in the hands of the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group (D&EPG) on the West Somerset Railway (WSR).

The Diesel and Electric Preservation Group (D&EPG) purchased the loco in 2007 from British Rail for preservation. After leaving mainline service, the loco went to Brush Traction at Loughborough for a light overhaul, repainting into its original two-tone green livery, and for reinstatement of dual braking.

D1661 saw regular service on the WSR and was a reliable performer until it was withdrawn from service at the end of the 2018 season due to deterioration of the bodywork, in particular the roof.

It has since been repaired and has been outshopped in BR blue, carrying the TOPS designation 47 077 and the familiar BR double-arrow logo and red-backed nameplates, replicating the livery that it carried when allocated to Cardiff Canton depot in the late 1970s.

On 21st June 2021 47 077 left its home at the Old Goods Shed at Williton, to Bishops Lydeard, on the WSR.

More information about the history of the loco is available on the owning group’s website: The Diesel and Electric Preservation Group