Westinghouse Electric Locomotives (Oakbank Oil)

British Westinghouse built these three electric locomotives, at their Trafford Park factory, for the Oakbank Oil Company in Mid Calder, West Lothian in the early twentieth century for use on the company's private narrow gauge (762mm) railway. The locomotives had DC series-wound motors with reduction gear drive and coupling rods to the wheels. The first two locomotives had 50hp motors with a single reduction gear. The third had a 95hp motor and double reduction gear. This allowed for the motor to run at higher speeds and the electrical equipment to be placed above the wheels allowing for easier maintenance as well as higher power. The higher centre of gravity and spring suspension also improving riding on poor quality track [1].

Locomotive on test at Westinghouse works [1]

Information
Number built:	3
Built:	1908
Builder:	British Westinghouse
Motor:	Westinghouse electric motor (500v DC third rail)
Power:	50 hp (37 kW) / 95 hp (71 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	0-4-0

The third locomotive was able to haul coal trains weighing over 145 tons. The illustration above demonstrates the access panels for the motor and electrical equipment. The locomotives could take electricity from a trolly pole or a third rail (which was used by Oakbank Oil).

[1] A.C. Kelly, "A new electric locomotive", The Electrician (May 15 1908) p. 108

Class 201/202/203 (Hastings DEMUs) 6S/L/B

The Class 201 (also known by its SR Alpha code as 6S) diesel-electric multiple units were built for the modernisation of the London to Hastings route, allowing the replacement of steam hauled trains. Narrow tunnels on the route and the resulting reduced clearance meant the line had not been not electrified like much of the rest of the Southern Region network and special multiple units with a narrower body were needed [1] - these units were 2.74m wide, for comparison a contemporary "normal" DMU like the Class 101 was 2.82m wide.

Preserved 1001 at Leamington Spa

The Class 201s were similar in style, and in many ways technically, to the large Southern fleet of EMUs but power to the traction motors was provided from the two diesels instead of from a third rail. Unlike the DMU fleet elsewhere the Class 201 and other early Southern Region DEMUs has a single large engine mounted above the floor per power car instead of smaller motors mounted below, and electric instead of mechanical (or hydraulic) transmission [2].

Information
Number built:	(201/6S) 42 cars (in 7 6-car sets) (202/6L) 54 cars (in 9 6-car sets) (203/6B) 42 cars (in 7 6-car sets)
Built:	1957
Builder:	BR Eastleigh
Engine:	English Electric 4SRKT diesel per DMBS
Power:	1, 000 hp (746 kW)
Formation:	(201-202) Driving Motor Brake Standard (DMBS)+Trailer Standard (TS)+Trailer Composite (TC)+TS+TS+DMBS (203) DMBS+TS+TC+Trailer Restaurant Buffet (TRB)+TS+DMBS

The seven 6-car Class 201 sets were later supplemented by the similar Class 202 (6L) and 203 (6B) which used full-length carriages (the 201s had shorter than normal coaching stock) and the 203 included a buffet [3] though these were later withdrawn reducing the 203s to 5-car sets [4]. The units made the Hastings route their own for the next thirty years and could also be found on other Southern routes. Some 201 units were disbanded in the 1960s to form part of the Class 206 "Tadpole" DEMUs which unusually mixed the narrow profile Hastings units with normal profile stock from elsewhere [5] hence the "tadpole" nickname!

The Hastings route was finally electrified in 1986 and most of the 201/2/3 fleet was withdrawn though a small number remained in service on other routes in the early 1990s. One complete set of the Class 201 has been preserved and is mainline certified. A number of other cars have also been preserved. One of the buffet cars from the Class 203 was rebuilt in the late 1960s to help develop tilting and active suspension technology for the APT and known as QXA RDB975386 Laboratory 4 [6] and also has been preserved.

Another 1001 as it heads off on a rail tour

RDB975386 when at the now-closed Electric Railway Museum

1001 approaches

Side view of a DMBS

Another view of RDB975386

[1] Colin J. Marsden (ed.), Modern Locomotives Illustrated No. 218 April-May 2016 (Southern Region DEMUs and Class 210) p. 4
[2] Brian Haresnape, Diesel Multiple Units: The Second Generation and DEMUs (Ian Allan, 1986) p. 6
[3] Colin J. Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 96
[4] Gavin Morrison, British Railway DMUs in Colour (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 21
[5] Haresnape p. 26
[6] Colin J. Marsden, Departmental Stock (Ian Allan, 1984) p. 30

Class 35 (Beyer Peacock 1,700 hp Type 3 Diesel-Hydraulic) Hymek

After building hundreds of Type 1s and 2s diesel locomotives (with power ratings below 1, 500 hp), British Rail saw that it needed a more powerful set of Type 3 locos (in the 1, 500 to 1, 999hp range) to bridge the gap between the smaller locomotives (which often needed to double header) and the large Type 4 locomotives in it's fleet. The Class 35 was the Western Region diesel-hydraulic version of the Type 3s which began to fill out the BR fleet in the mid-1960s. It was seen as the true diesel replacement for types like the famous GWR Hall class of mixed-traffic locomotives [1].

D7029 at Kidderminster Town

Information
Number built:	101
Built:	1961-64
Builder:	Beyer Peacock (Hymek)
Engine:	Maybach MD870 diesel
Power:	1, 700 hp (1, 270 kW)
Power:	B-B

The Class 35s, which became known as the Hymek - a name derived from the Mekydro hydraulic transmission it used - were true examples of BR's second generation of diesel locomotive with as much effort being taken in the exterior design as well as the interior. The design had input from Ted Wilkes [2] who also advised on the Class 47 hence the similarity in their cab front look [3].

The Class 35 served throughout the Western Region and proved versatile locomotives, however they suffered with problems with the hydraulic transmission early on which led to the fleet requiring modifications until they could reach acceptable levels of service [4]. After these modifications they quickly became amongst the most popular and reliable diesel-hydraulic locomotives with the Class 52 Westerns [5].

Unfortunately for the Class 35 by the late 1960s British Rail's Western Region was ending its experiment with diesel-hydraulics and withdrawals of the Hymeks began in the late 1960s. By the mid-1970s the Class 35 had been withdrawn from revenue service [6]. Four have been preserved.

D7076 at Kidderminster Town

D7029 alongside the sole surviving Class 17 D8568

D7079 lurks in Kidderminster Town yard

Another view of D7029

[1] Brian Haresnape, Western Region Diesel-Hydraulics (Ian Allan, 1982) p. 52
[2] John Jennison & Tony Sheffield, Diesel Hydraulics in the 1960s and 1970s (Ian Allan, 2014) p. 12
[3] Haresnape p. 11
[4] Colin J. Marsden (ed.), Modern Locomotives Illustrated No. 212 April-May 2015 (Class 35 'Hymek') p. 11
[5] Michael Welch, Diesels on the Western (Capital Transport, 2013) p. 68
[6] Jennison & Sheffield p. 88

The Wakefield and District Light Railway

The Wakefield and District Light Railway was a tram network which opened in 1904 [1] and was taken over by Yorkshire (West Riding) Electric Tramways soon after. The Wakefield tram network was centred the Bull Ring and had three lines. It also linked to other tram networks covering a wide area of the West Ridings. Together with it's sister network, the Yorkshire (West Riding) Electric Tramway based in Castleford, the tramway eventually comprised nearly forty kilometres of track. The network was closed down in 1932, the services taken over by motor buses [2].

Standard car [1]

Information
Number built:	55
Built:	1904
Builder:	Electric Railway Carriage & Wagon Company
Motor:	2 Dick, Kerr electric motors (550v DC OHLE)

Fifty five double decker trams were built by the Electric Railway Carriage & Wagon Company of Preston. The trams had a single Brill 21E truck and had oak and pine floors for strength. The trams had Dick, Kerr electrical equipment.

Tram shed [1]

Bull Ring [1]

[1] "The Leeds, Wakefield & West Riding Tramways", Street Railway Journal (Vol. XXIV No. 23) Dec 3 1904, p. 986
[2] Charles Knapper, The Golden Age of Tramways (David & Charles, 1974) p. 307

John Fowler 4200019 / BR ED2-6

Industrial locomotives often had long service lives and, thanks to rebuilds, could end their careers quite different to how they started! John Fowler 4200019 was built in 1947 with a Fowler diesel and mechanical transmission for Batchelors Foods in Sheffield. In 1960 it was rebuilt by Thomas Hill with a Rolls Royce engine and hydraulic transmission [1]. The locomotive is now preserved at the Heritage Shunters Trust as BIGGA, after Batchelors Food's well known processed peas!

BIGGA at Rowsley South

Information
Number built:	1
Built:	1947 (Rebuilt 1960)
Builder:	John Fowler & Company (Rebuilt by Thomas Hill)
Motor:	Fowler diesel (Rebuilt) Rolls Royce C6 diesel
Power:	(Original) 150 hp (112 kW)
Formation:	0-4-0DM (Rebuilt as 0-4-0DH)

Five very similar locomotives (John Fowler 4200041-5) to this one were built for the LMS in 1947 though by the time they entered service it was for British Railways [2] as ED2-6. They worked for BR's Engineering Department until being withdrawn in the late 1960s [3].

Another view of BIGGA

[1] Heritage Shunters Trust Stock List (2016) p. 13
[2] Brian Haresnape, Diesel Shunters (Ian Allan, 1984) p. 77
[3] Paul Smith & Shirley Smith, British Rail Departmental Locomotives 1948-1968 (Ian Allan, 2014) p. 22

London Underground 1983 Tube Stock

The 1983 Tube Stock must rate as one of the least successful types of train London Underground has operated in recent decades. While most types of stock have long careers (usually into their fourth decades at least) the 1983 Tube Stock entered service in 1984 but only lasted until 1998 with some stock only having about ten years service. The trains were built for the new Fleet Line which became the Jubilee Line by the time it opened in 1979. The stock was built in two batches with fifteen 6-car sets ordered in 1982 and a second batch of sixteen and a half in 1986 [1].

Preserved DM 3734 at the London Transport Museum Depot Acton

Information
Number built:	189 (31½ 6-car sets)
Built:	1983-86
Builder:	Metro-Cammell
Engine:	Brush LT122 traction motors (630v DC fourth rail)
Power:	960 hp (720 kW)
Formation:	Driving Motor (DM)+Trailer (T)+DM+[DM+T+DM]

The 1983 Tube Stock was based on the near contemporary sub-surface D78 Stock in some ways including the use of single leaf doors [2]. When the trains were being designed, passenger levels on the tube were in decline but levels picked up dramatically after the trains were built. The single-leaf doors proved to be a problem for slow unloading and loading at stations, the resulting increased dwell times causing numerous problems on the line. There were also problems with reliability of the electrical equipment. The 1983 Tube Stock bought with it a number of technical innovations such as Kiepe design traction equipment [3], unfortunately some of them proved to be unsuccessful.

When the Jubilee Line Extension through to Stratford was being planned in the 1990s the initial plan was to refurbish and upgrade the 1983 Tube Stock to match the new 1996 Tube Stock then being designed for the Jubilee. In the end however it was thought cheaper to withdraw the older trains and just run 1996 Tube Stock on the line. The 1983 Tube Stock was withdrawn from the Jubilee in the Summer of 1998.

There were attempts to re-use these (relatively) new trains. One plan was for them to go to the Piccadilly Line but this proved to be too expensive. They were also considered for the Isle of Wight Island Line but were considered too "digital" and the Island Line decided to hold out for 1973 Tube Stock instead though ultimately this was in vain. However the Island Line will get ex-D78 Stock instead.

Some cars have been preserved including four cars used as artists studios on top of a building in Shoreditch. Others are used for emergency services training in Sunderland and Derbyshire. Some stored stock was only removed and scrapped in 2015 though it had been badly vandalised by then.

Cab of a 1983 Tube Stock train

Aboard 3734

Former 1983 Tube Stock cars in Shoreditch

[1] John Glover, ABC London Underground (Ian Allan, 1997) p. 63
[2] J. Graeme Bruce, The London Underground Tube Stock (Ian Allan, 1988) p. 120
[3] D.K. Ware, "London's 1983 Tube Stock", Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers Vol 198D:11, p. 158

Windhoff Overhead Line MPV

The Windhoff Overhead Line MPV is a specialised version of the Multiple Purpose Vehicle (MPV) used for a number of duties by Network Rail and derived from Windhoff's Cargosprinter platform. As the name suggests the Overhead Line MPV is used to maintain overhead lines on electrified routes.

DR 98009 heads through Stafford

Information
Number built:	16
Built:	1999-2000
Builder:	Windhoff
Motor:	2 Railpac diesels with hydrostatic drive
Power:	710 hp (530 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	Bo-Bo

The trains were ordered in 1999 for renewing equipment on the West Coast Main Line. The single cabbed MPVs usually operate in pairs with different equipment carried in between depending on the job. A formation can consist of five sub-trains with existing wire removed, replaced and checked by the different parts of the train. The MPVs are fitted with hydrostatic drive to allow for slow speed control.

DR 98003 heads through Stafford at the head of a train