Please note...some photos have been re-sized to fit the page. If the text is illegible - simply click on photo (as you would a thumbnail) to see the original formatted (readable) size.

In an attempt to rationalise the use of different diesels in different areas, the ten North British Loco Co’s pilot-scheme Type 2 Nos D6100-9 (allocated initially to Hornsey for working Kings Cross suburban services) were transferred to the ScR in April 1960. They were accompanied by the BRCW’s ten pilot-scheme Type 2s D5300-D5309, joining the first production models which had arrived on the ScR during May the previous year for working Edinburgh-Aberdeen services. During manufacture of the NBL Co Type 2, the makers utilised some original tools and aluminium castings devised for the company's earlier pilot-scheme ‘Warship’ class A1A-A1A’s Nos D600-D604, which led to the rather odd front-end shape of the D6100s - odd, because the driver’s visibility was impaired by the accentuated curve of the cab windows which were designed to accommodate the central gangway door in the nose end (as stipulated by the BTC to allow crew movement between locomotives when working in multiple). Eventually all the NBL Type 2s were transferred to Scotland. Nos D6124/27 head an Inverness-Edingburgh train through Gleneagles in August 1962

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Left-Middle-Bottom) Such was the success of the ten pilot scheme EE Co Type 4s for the Eastern Region, that by the time the last was outshopped in September 1958, no fewer than five orders were placed for a further 190 machines - the Vulcan Foundry constructing all but 20 of the fleet at the Newton-in-Willows erecting shops. During their early years on the ER, NE, LMR and ScR, the EE Co Type 4s gave a good account of themselves, proving to be a sturdy and reliable machine on express passenger services. The first production EE Co Type 4s destined for the LMR's West Coast Main Line were delivered between May and November 1959. The LMR's first twenty five EE Co Type 4s, Nos D210-D235 (with the exception of D226) received names taken from famous ships belonging to the Canadian Pacific, Cunard and Elder Dempster Lines - all three companies being associated with sailings from the port of Liverpool. Here, three shots of the transition from steam showing EE Co Type 4s working Anglo-Scottish expresses on the WCML at Lamington - a typical ex-Caledonian country station set in the delightful rolling hills of Upper Clydesdale. Today, all traces of the station have been removed. Photos © DP Rowland. 

 

(Below) The earliest candidate in the BTC's pilot scheme orders was the EE Co's 1,000hp Type 1 Bo-Bo Nos D8000-D8019. The production fleet outlived most of its contemporaries. The modest size of the company's 'K'-type engine enabled the makers to construct a 'hood' type locomotive with the bodyside inset along the length of the running plate. Although less glamorous than its larger EE Co relatives in the Type 3-5 power range - Class 37, 40 and 55 Deltics - the Type 1 Bo-Bo was an attractive piece of engineering design. However, the BRB's concern over the poor visibility from the cab of a single 'hood' type unit led to the introduction of the Clayton Type 1s for use of the ScR, but without the benefit of prototype trials the Clayton machines proved to be one of BR's worst buys.