From the Bristol Evening Post
DENNIS RULED THE RAILS TO SET SPEED RECORD
10:40 - 31 March 2007
A train driver who set a world speed record during a journey to Bristol Temple Meads has died, aged 83.
Dennis Coates, of St George, was behind the controls of a British Rail InterCity 125 which clocked an average speed of 111.7mph between Paddington and Chippenham on April 10, 1979.
In covering the 94-mile stretch of track in 50 minutes 35 seconds, the High Speed Train crewed by Mr Coates and co-driver Gordon Evans, of Fishponds, took the record - for the fastest average speed between two stations by a diesel train - from the Japanese.
The achievement won the men a heroes' welcome from rail enthusiasts when they arrived at Temple Meads and made newspaper and television headlines.
The Evening Post of the day hailed the record, verified by renowned railway author OS Nock, as all the more remarkable because it was achieved on the Great Western Railway track built in the 19th century by Isambard Kingdom Brunel rather than a line purpose-built for modern trains.
Mr Coates' son Alan, of Longwell Green, said: "They had been planning it for a while. All the stations along the line had to be clear to give them a good run.
"It worked out that it was on our dad's shift that the conditions were met - he happened to be the lucky one.
"When he got to work that day they told him they were going to try to break the record.
"He took it in his stride and was very matter-of-fact about it. It was more or less all in a day's work - but afterwards he ended up in the papers and on TV. He was proud of it - we all had a cutting of the paper."
High Speed Trains are still in service today and the mark set by Mr Coates, who was based at the Bath Road depot near Temple Meads at the time, was bettered six years later by another HST, which averaged 115.4mph between Newcastle and King's Cross.
Mr Coates had started his career working for the GWR as a fireman on steam engines and also worked on the Midland Railway before nationalisation.
Alan said: "Steam was hard work but he liked them all the same - he used to be able to cook his meals on a shovel in the firebox.
"Diesels were much cleaner and he didn't come home covered in grit and grime.
"He never learned to drive a car. He would walk to and from work and cycle or go by train.
"If we went on holiday anywhere he would take the train and we would take the car - and he'd be there before us every time."