Class 14 (BR Swindon 650hp Type 1 Diesel-Hydraulic)

The early days of BR dieselisation was littered with mistakes and sometimes outright lunacy, and the sad story of the Class 14 must rank as one of the worst. The Class 14s were built, at BR Swindon - the final locomotives built at the historic old works, as part of Western Region's experiments with diesel hydraulic transmission.

D9551 in yellow ochre livery at Kidderminster Town

However, the Class 14 was doomed from the start. Even as they were being built BR was already moving to standardise on diesel electric transmission and marking the WR diesel hydraulic fleet for early withdrawal. If that wasn't enough the work intended for these small Type 1 locomotives, trip working and inter-freight yard transfers, was quickly drying up [1] in the wake of the Beeching Report.

Information
Number built:	56
Built:	1964-65
Builder:	BR Swindon
Engine:	Paxman Ventura 6YJXL diesel
Power:	650 hp (485 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	0-6-0

BR began withdrawals of the Class 14 in 1968 as work dried up. Some were sent to work outside of Western Region such as at Hull but their lack of power and poor reliability did nothing to delay the inevitable [2]. All were gone by 1970, at most the locos had five years service for BR and most had far less than that.


Luckily, many were sold on to industrial users who eagerly snapped up these nearly new locomotives going cheap! Most of these locomotives went on to have good careers on private metals, with a number going abroad. Nineteen have been preserved, with many in running order.

One preserved Class 14 was even hired by BR's successor to work on the High Speed 1 route then under construction mainly shunting near London St Pancras. The Class 14s have been nicknamed the Teddy Bears.

D9500 at Darley Dale

D9539 at Rowsley South, this was the only livery they carried in BR service

D9551 at Bewdley, the yellow ochre was a "what might have been" livery

D9539 at Rowsley South

D9551 before it's repaint at Bridgnorth

[1] Brian Haresnape, Western Region Diesel Hydraulics (Ian Allan, 1982) p. 74
[2] John Jennison & Tony Sheffield, Diesel Hydraulics in the 1960s and 1970s (Ian Allan, 2004) p. 38