Class D3/7 (LMS/English Electric 0-6-0 Diesel-Electric)

The Class D3/7 was built for general and hump shunting at Toton (for which they were found to be suited [1]) by the LMS in the late 1930s. The D3/7 did have a notable difference from some of the other pre-war diesel shunters in that it had a long wheelbase jackshaft drive to the wheels.

LMS 7080 on delivery [3]

Information
Number built:	40
Built:	1939-42
Builder:	LMS Derby Works, English Electric
Motor:	English Electric 6KT diesel
Power:	350 hp (261 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	0-6-0

Delivered during the Second World War, the LMS lost many of the class to the War Department. Ten of these never returned from overseas service and survived in the post-war Egyptian and Italian railways. The rest were transferred to British Railways and remained in service until the 1960s. The last was withdrawn in 1967 [2].

Cab view [3]

[1] Brian Haresnape, Diesel Shunters (Ian Allan, 1984)  p. 27

[2] Colin J Marsden, Diesel & Electric Locomotive Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2011)  p. 13

[3] "New LMS Shunting Locomotives", Meccano Magazine (September 1939) p. 554

Class 166 Networker Turbo Express

The Class 166 "Networker Turbo Express" was built alongside its DMU sister class the Class 165 for longer distance routes between London Paddington, Oxford and Newbury. The Class 166 is very similar to the 165 but has a more luxurious interior including first class seating, two toilets, carpeted flooring, air conditioning and more luggage space [1]. They are capable of one hundred and forty five kp/h unlike some 165s which are limited to one hundred and twenty kp/h.

GWR 166 219 at Cheltenham Spa

Information
Number built:	63 (21 3-car units)
Built:	1992-93
Builder:	BREL York
Motor:	Perkins 2006TWH diesel per car
Power:	1, 050 hp (780 kW)
Formation:	Driving Motor Composite Lavatory (DMCL)+Motor Standard Open (MSO)+Driving Motor Standard Lavatory (DMSL)

They were originally operated by Network South East, all 166s are now operated by Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western).



Originally both driving cars had first class accommodation but in 2014 one DMCL was declassified in order to increase the overall capacity [2]. 

GWR 166 202 at Oxford in First Great Western livery

GWR 166 215 at Ealing Broadway

GWR 166 218 at Reading

GWR 166 219 at Cheltenham Spa

GWR 166 203 at Dorking Deepdene

[1] Colin J. Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 152
[2] Colin J. Marsden (ed.), "Class 166 'Networker Express'", Modern Locomotives Illustrated No. 216 December 2015-January 2016 (Second Generation DMUs Classes 165-185). p. 14

Sheffield Corporation Roberts Car

By the late 1930s most British street tram networks were in an irreversible decline, a decline made much worse by the ravages of the Second World War and the austerity which followed. Unlike most tramways, Sheffield Corporation designed and built a fleet of new tramcars post-war, these were amongst the last to be built in the UK. The first and prototype tram was Jubilee 501, it was built at the Sheffield Corporation's own works in 1946 using whatever materials the workers could get their hands on. The result was a streamlined fully enclosed body with a longer than usual wheelbase with rubber mountings and fluorescent lights.

510 is preserved at Crich

Information
Number built:	36
Built:	1946, 1950-52
Builder:	Sheffield Corporation, Charles Roberts & Co.
Motor:	2 Metropolitan-Vickers 102 DR3 electric motors (500v DC OHLE)
Power:	130 hp (97 kW)

In 1950 a fleet of thirty-five trams was built by Charles Roberts in the same style as 501 but with steel frames and aluminium panels instead of wood like 501. They had rubber and leaf spring suspension and resilient drive gearing for very quiet operation. These were the last trams to be built for Sheffield Corporation and can be considered the ultimate example of the traditional British four-wheel truck street tram. 

However, they had short working lives with the Sheffield Corporation tram network closing in 1960. Two Roberts Cars have been preserved including 510 which was one of the trams to operate in the final procession before closure.

510 in the tramshed at Crich

Class 482 / London Underground 1992 Tube Stock (Waterloo & City)

The Class 482 replaced the 50 year old Class 487 units on the short (2.37km long) Waterloo & City Line [1] in 1992. These days the line is part of London Underground but until 1994 it was part of British Rail (and it's predecessor constituents) [2]. The Class 482s are nearly identical to the 1992 Tube Stock ordered at the same time for the Central Line [3], and indeed were among the first of the combined seven hundred cars that were built [4]. They have some equipment differences such as no Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and Automatic Train Protection (ATP) systems unlike the Central Line trains, the Waterloo & City uses tripcock protection instead.

65501 at Bank

Although each Class 482 is a two-car set (one car being powered) they operate in pairs, semi-permanently coupled. As each two-car set only has a cab at one end they operate in pairs of sets with the cabs at the outer ends.

Information
Number built:	20 (10 2-car sets)
Built:	1992
Builder:	ABB Derby
Engine:	4 Brush LT130 traction motors per car (630v DC fourth rail)
Power:	496hp (368kW)
Formation:	Driving Motor Standard Open (DMSO)+Motor Standard Open (MSO)[+MSO+DMSO]

Originally the Class 482 wore Network South East [5] livery but now they are in standard London Underground corporate livery. Their time as part of BR was pretty short though they kept their NSE colours until a major refurbishment in 2006.

The Class 482s are unique in that their line has no overground portions (the Victoria Line has an above ground depot though all passenger services are underground) and if they require heavy maintenance (such as the above mentioned refurbishment) that cannot be performed at the small underground depot at Waterloo they need to be lifted out by crane!

Unlike their predecessors the Class 487 which used 660v DC third rail the Class 482 uses 630v DC fourth rail like the rest of the London Underground. At the time of manufacture the Class 482 (and 1992 Stock) were highly advanced EMUs though have had their fair share of technical problems. One major problem occurred on the Central Line in 2003 when a traction motor broke off the bogie of a train causing a derailment. All of the stock on the Central and Waterloo & City Lines was taken out of service for some time for the replacement of worn and faulty bolts.

The trains will probably be replaced as part of the Deep Tube Upgrade in the 2030s.

The Waterloo depot can be seen in the background

Aboard, note the handrails in Waterloo & City cyan

Arrival at Bank

[1] Ben Muldoon, London Underground Rolling Stock Guide (Ian Allan, 2014) p. 69
[2] John Glover, London's Underground (12th Edition) (Ian Allan, 2015) p. 76
[3] Colin J Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 364
[4] John C. Gillham, The Waterloo & City Railway (Oakwood Press, 2001) p. 388
[5] John Glover, London Underground Rolling Stock in Colour (Ian Allan, 2009) p.88

Class 251/261 Blue Pullman (Metropolitan-Cammell 2,000hp Diesel-Electric)

The Blue Pullman was a luxury train which replaced steam locomotive hauled Pullman carriages. Five sets were built for services in BR's London Midland Region (the Midland Pullman) between London St Pancras and Manchester Central and Western Region services (Western Pullman) from London Paddington to the Midlands, South West and Wales. As a precursor to the High Speed Train in the 1970s, the Blue Pullman consisted of two power cars with coaches in between, though the two power cars at either end did have some passenger capacity unlike the later Class 43 HST power cars.

An LMR 6-car set [3]

Information
Number built:	36 (2 6-car and 3 8-car sets)
Built:	1959-60
Builder:	Metropolitan-Cammell
Motor:	2 NBL/MAN L12V18/21BS diesels
Power:	2, 000 hp (1, 500 kW)
Formation:	(6-car) DMBF (Driving Motor Brake First) + Motor First Kitchen (MFK) + TF (Trailer First) + MFK + DMBF (8-car) DMBF + MS (Motor Parlour Second) + TF + TF + Trailer First Kitchen (TFK) + MS + DMBF

The Blue Pullmans entered service in 1961. The trains were designed to be as luxurious as possible in the long-established (though somewhat old fashioned) Pullman tradition with sound proofing and air conditioning. However, a major problem with the trains was ride quality especially at the train's top speed of 90 mp/h (145 km/h) and engine reliability. One interesting feature of the trains was that only one bogie in the power car was powered, the bogie in the adjacent trailing carriage (an MFK or MS) also being powered.

With the electrification of the West Coast Main Line in the late 1960s the two LMR sets were transferred to augment the WR fleet. These two six-car sets had multiple-unit jumper cables added [1] so they could form a twelve-car train (some seating was converted to second class). The Blue Pullmans were withdrawn in 1973 due to being non-standard and always underpowered. One plan for the Blue Pullmans was to convert them to gas turbine operation in the late 1960s with new bogies but this came to nothing [2]. The power cars were TOPS classified as Class 251, the non-driving motor cars Class 261.

Two WR Pullmans at London Paddington, photo by M. Edwards [4]

Midland Pullman passes through Mill Hill, photo by J.A. Fleming [5]

Midland Pullman approaches London St Pancras, photo by M. Edwards [6]

[1] Brian Haresnape, High Speed Trains (Ian Allan, 1983) p. 30

[2] Ibid. p. 8

[3] Meccano Magazine Vol. XVLI No. 3 (March 1961) p. 76

[4] Meccano Magazine Vol. XLV No.12 (December 1960) p. 604

[5] Meccano Magazine Vol. XVLI No. 11 (November 1961) p. 404

[6] Meccano Magazine Vol. XLVI No. 11 (October 1961) p. 351

Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway

The Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway opened in 1907 (though did not take this name until 1909). It operated an electric tram service between Llandudno and Rhos-on-Sea, with an extension to Colwyn Bay in 1908. The tramway was narrow gauge (1, 067mm) and had a route length of thirteen kilometres. The initial fleet of trams was a batch of fourteen single decker interurban style trams built by the Midland Carriage & Wagon Company of Shrewsbury. These had twin Mountain & Gibson bogies with two passenger compartments (one for smokers) [1]. These trams were replaced in the mid-1930s.

Information for original bogie cars
Number built:	14
Built:	1907
Builder:	Midland Carriage & Wagon Company

Later trams the company operated came from a variety of manufacturers including English Electric who built a couple of toast rack style cars. The company also purchased a number of second-hand tram cars from the Leamington & Warwick, Darwen Corporation and Accrington Corporation tram companies.

The tram network suffered terribly from storm damage in early 1952. More storm damage occurred the following year. The company began to convert to motor buses, despite local opposition, with the final closure of the tramway in March 1956.

Colwyn Bay tram [2]

[1] Stephen Lockwood, Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Tramway (Middleton Press, 2007) Fig. 105

[2] "Colwyn Bay tram" by Geoff Charles, National Library of Wales collection https://www.flickr.com/photos/llgc/16464530624