Mather and Platt Electric Mining Locomotive

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

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

Class 97

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

Mather and Platt Electric Locomotive for Sweden

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

Central London Railway 1903 Stock

The Central London Railway (which eventually became the London Underground's Central Line) was the first true "tube" railway in London [1]. It initially used electric locomotives hauling trailers but as soon as the railway opened in 1900 it was drawing complaints from property ownes above the line about excessive vibration, this was found to be caused by the heavy locomotives and their large unsprung weights [2]. The locomotives were replaced in 1903 by electric multiple units, known as 1903 Stock, some of which were new build and some converted from the loco-hauled trailers.

Preserved Sleet locomotive ESL 107 at LT Museum Acton

Information
Number built:	259 (88 motor cars, 99 trailers, 72 control trailers)
Built:	1900-03, 1913
Builder:	Ashbury Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company (later Metro-Cammell) Brush
Engine:	(Original) 2 British Thomson-Houston traction motors per motor car (Ealing) 2 GE212 traction motors per motor car (550v DC third rail)
Power:	(Original) 500 hp (372 kW) (Ealing) 960 hp (720 kW)

The new motor cars were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company (BRCW) and Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company, the original trailers having been built by the Ashbury Railway Carriage & Wagon Company and Brush. In 1908 some trailers were converted to control trailers to allow for shorter trains in the off-peak [3].

The fleet was augmented in the 1910s with the extension of the line to Ealing, extra stock was built by Brush with more powerful traction motors (the original stock was found to be underpowered when used in a lengthy formation). In the 1920s all stock was retrofitted with air-doors.

The CLR became part of London Underground in 1933 (and was renamed the Central Line soon afterwards). The 1903 Stock was replaced by Standard Stock as the CLR's central third rail system was replaced by the standard LU fourth rail.

Some 1903 Stock lived on as sleet locomotives. One of these locomotives, ESL107 has been preserved, it is the only 1903 Stock to have survived.

1903 Stock in service [5]

Interior view [5]

Another view of ESL 107

Cab of ESL 107

[1] Paul Moss, London Underground (Haynes, 2014) p. 29
[2] J. Graeme Bruce & Desmond Croome, The Twopenny Tube (Capital Transport, 1996) p. 15
[3] Brian Hardy, Underground Train File Tube Stock 1933-1959 (Capital Transport, 2001) p. 5
[4] John Glover, London Underground Rolling Stock in Colour (Ian Allan, 2009) p. 31

[5] "Fireproof cars on the Central London", Street Railway Journal Vol. XXII No. 9 (Nov 7 1903) p. 851

Halifax Corporation Tramways

Halifax Corporation Tramways began operations in 1898 with a 1068mm gauge electric tram system, within a few years they had over sixty kilometres of track and nearly one hundred tram cars. The steep gradients of the town made operating a tram difficult, and some accidents were caused thought to attributed to the use of narrow gauge trams. In the early 1920s the network reached it's maximum extent and the Corporation began constructing it's own tramcars. However, in the next decade the motor bus began to replace the tram and in 1939 the system was shut down.

G.F. Milnes built 14 [2]

Information for 124-127
Number built:	4
Built:	1928-29
Builder:	Halifax Corporation Tramways

Early tramcars were built by G.F. Milnes and Brush Traction. From 1925 Halifax Corporation began to build it's own Standard Cars. Halifax used it's own version of the Peckham 8A truck, only one other tram in the country used this design [1]. Many tram cars were built as open top double deckers though later received a top cover. No trams received covers for the top balconies.

[1] R.W. Rush, British Electric Tramcar Design 1885-1950 (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 109

[2] Alexander Hume Ford, "Trolly cars in other climes", The Electric Age Vol XXXIII No. 2 (August 1904) p. 88