This locomotive was another small electric locomotive built by Mather & Platt in the early twentieth century. The locomotive was intended for use in mines, though was standard gauge unlike many other mining locomotives. The locomotive was able to haul a load of 13 tons up a 1 in 33 incline. The locomotive had a fully enclosed motor on each axle.
The locomotive [1]
Information
Number built:
1
Built:
1904
Builder:
Mather & Platt
Motor:
Two electric motors (500v DC OHLE)
Formation:
4wWE
[1] J.F. Gairns, "Electric locomotives for mining, factory and allied uses", Electrical Age (August 1904) p. 94
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
Class 97 is the designation of locomotives used by British Rail (and it's successors) for departmental and special duties. Most locomotives which have been used for this purpose have been former revenue earning locomotives though some have been especially built. The only Class 97s currently in service are four Class 37s which were converted to test ERTMS radio signalling equipment. They are currently used mainly on the Cambrian Line from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth which uses ERTMS.
97 303 at Derby
Information for 97/3
Number built:
4
Built:
1960-65
Builder:
English Electric (Modifed by Network Rail)
Motor:
English Electric 12CSVT diesel
Power:
1, 750 hp (1, 305 kW)
Wheel arrangement:
Co-Co
Other locomotives which have carried 97 XXX numbers include a quartet of Class 31s which were used to haul test trains for the Railway Technical Centre, one has been preserved and currently carries RTC livery. Class 25s, Class 45s and Class 46s were among the diesel classes also been used by BR for test purposes. One of the latter was 97 401 (46 009) which famously was destroyed by deliberately driving it into an empty nuclear flash to prove the integrity of the latter!
Class 97/6 were five 165 series shunters built by Ruston & Hornsby for departmental duties [1], unlike the mainline locomotives mentioned above, these were purpose built for departmental use. Numerous other shunters have also been transferred to the Class 97 fleet.
Former 97 654 now preserved at Peak Rail
Former 97 403 Ixion at Rowsley South
Side view of 97 303
97 205 at Princes Risborough
97 303 pulls away with a test train
[1] Colin J Marsden, Departmental Stock (Ian Allan, 1984) p. 108
The Class 50 was built in the late 1960s and initially hired by British Rail from English Electric to power the remaining non-electrified portions of the West Coast Main Line from Crewe to Scotland [1] on passenger trains and freight. The Class 50, a development of the English Electric DP2 prototype, often worked these WCML trains in pairs (though they could also work in multiples of three) to provide sufficient performance to match the timings of the electric locomotives that they shared their trains with. The locomotives were bought outright by BR in 1973 but by the mid-1970s were being displaced from the WCML by the completion of electrification and the arrival of the Class 87. They were sent to Western Region to work in the South and South West of England.
GBRf liveried 50 034 at Kidderminster Town
Information
Number built:
50
Built:
1967-68
Builder:
English Electric, Vulcan Foundry
Motor:
English Electric 16CSVT diesel
Power:
2, 700 hp (2, 013 kW)
Wheel arrangement:
Co-Co
At first the reliability of the Class 50 was poor with failures often due to problems with the then-novel electronic systems fitted. Crews joked that they were called the Class 50 as there was only a 50:50 chance they would make it to their destinations! [2] They received a full refurbishment in the late 1970s/early 1980s to improve reliability by removing little used and redundant equipment such as the slow speed control.
Much of their time was spent on West of England express passenger trains out of London Paddington and London Waterloo and other passenger services. This made them vulnerable as multiple units became the favoured mode of people mover in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the supply of work dried up. There were attempts to utilise the class for slower freights and one locomotive was modified with lower geared bogies though the experiment was not a success.
The Class 50 was withdrawn from BR service by 1994, though no less than eighteen have been preserved (thirty six percent of the fleet) and several are mainline certified. The Class 50s were the first class of diesel locomotive to only carry BR blue livery (and later variations) though one preserved locomotive was given a "what might have been" BR green livery! One British Rail exception came in the 1980s when one Class 50 was renamed Sir Edward Elgar and repainted in Brunswick Green to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the GWR.
50 017 at Hampton Loade in early NSE livery
50 033 at Kidderminster Town in BR big logo livery, the fleet carried this livery after refurbishment
50 044 in original BR blue livery
50 007 works a train at Highley
50 026 and 031 at Kidderminster Town
[1] Brian Haresnape, Production Diesel-Electrics Types 4 and 5 (Ian Allan, 1984) p. 67 [2] Michael Welch, Diesels on the Western (Capital Transport, 2013) p. 107
This locomotive was built by Mather & Platt of Manchester for industrial use in Sweden at an iron works. The locomotive had a very similar cab to the locomotives built by Mather & Platt for the City & South London Railway (the first London "tube"). It was also powered by Hopkinson electric motors of the double armature type with a spur gearing to allow for very slow speeds. The locomotive could haul up to seventy tons.
Photo of the locomotive [1]
Information
Number built:
1
Built:
1890
Builder:
Mather & Platt
Motor:
2 Edison-Hopkinson traction motors (300-330v DC third rail)
Wheel arrangement:
4wWE
Preserved CSLR locomotive at the LT Museum, notice the similar body and cab design
[1] J.F. Gairns, "Electric locomotives for mining, factory and allied uses", Electrical Age (August 1904) p. 93
