PILOT SCHEME DIESELS

TYPE 1 and TYPE 2 LOCOMOTIVES

A BRIEF HISTORY

Railway enthusiasts fall into two categories: the self-confessed romantic, who long for the days when life seemed so much simpler then, and the unsentimental scholar, whose interest in railways is firmly rooted in the historical and technical side. I have tried to strike a happy balance between both sides on this website, because no matter where one’s allegiances lay, trains and railways are more than just a mode of transport to us, they are a lifelong passion. Being a stauch steam fan, however, I'm bound to be a little prejudiced but having taken a long hard look at the British Transport Commission's (BTC's) Modernisation Plan of 1955, it reveals a number of strategies that are now widely regarded as being fundamentally flawed, therefore this page is strictly for the scholarly diesel fans...

In order to shed some light on the post-war Fifties, we must go back to 1954 when the Minister of Transport gave British Railways approval for the introduction of eight 2-car diesel railcar units on the local rail services between Leeds Central, Bradford Exchange and Harrogate in April 1954. The 'Derby Lightweights' (a nickname coined by the use of a light alloy and steel in their construction at the Derby Carriage & Wagon Works) were the true forerunners of the first-generation diesel fleet, and I mention them here because their introduction was coincident with the BTC's pilot scheme diesel programme in the Modernisation Plan. At the same time, Rolls Royce's thrust-measuring rig, dubbed 'The Flying Bedstead', was flown for the first time. The jet pipes of two Nene engines were angled downwards at 90° to give the vehicle a vertical thrust and this ultimately led to the launch of the RAF’s famous Harrier Jump Jet some twenty-odd years later. (Top Right) Derby Lightweight vehicle No 79035 is mounted on a plinth at the country's national pride event - the Royal Festival Hall at Battersea in May 1955. The second shot shows the 'Flying Bedstead' being put through its paces in August 1955.

During the Fifties, Britain was stony broke - it had been since early in the war. The emergency conditions imposed by the Government to keep in check the chronic wartime shortage of essential materials continued long after hostilities ceased, although evidence of a post-war revival began when the Labour Government made a start on demolishing our crumbling Victorian cities, the most evocative images being the slum clearance programme and the construction of 'pre-fab' housing.  When the Tories came to power, the BTC was given financial backing for building a new-image British Railways, the hypothesis being that a Modernisation Plan would turn BR's thumping annual losses into a healthy profit. Costing £1.2bn, spread over fifteen years, the principle aim was to breathe new life into a state-owned rail system struggling to recover from the ravages of World War Two, therefore work began on the construction of modern stations, new marshalling yards, track and colour light signalling - and, much to the chagrin of steam fans, an intrinsic part of the plan (in keeping with the modern look) was the decision to replace BR's old-fashioned fleet of steam engines with modern diesel and electric traction.

And that, I have to say, is a moot point, because even today, the row over whether steam's early demise was entirely justified remains unresolved. Indeed, die-hard steam fans will argue that whilst investment of any kind was worthy of praise, by putting the 'diesel cart' before the 'steam horse', British Railways finished up with a motley collection of bits and pieces, rather than one satisfying whole, which served only to deepen our cynicism over BTC's rose-tinted vision for the future. Nonetheless, by 1956 the task of revitalising Britain's ailing railways was getting into its stride, albeit using the same strategy and seemingly driven by the same desire to replace anything regarded as old and outdated. Invitations were sent out to various British manufacturers to build 174 new diesel locomotives, made up of three different power groups; the largest being a Type 'C' locomotive of 2,000hp and over for heavy main line work (later designated Type 4), followed by a Type 'B' locomotive design of between 1,000-1,250hp for mixed traffic work (later Type 2) and Type 'A' machines of 800-

1,000hp for freight duty, later classified as Type 1.

(Left) For serious students of the BTC's 1955 Modernisation Programme, I do recommend visiting the 'BR/Sulzer Type 2 Class 24/25' website compiled by David Hills. In recognition of its historical content, the site is being archived by the UK Web Archiving Consortium - well desrved, if you ask me! (Below Right) The graph gives some idea of the different locomotives ordered in the original 1955 Modernisation Plan. After the plan was announced, however, the BTC revised its original power classification, changing the Type A 800-1,000hp freight locomotives, Type B 1,000-1,250hp mixed traffic and Type C locomotives of 2,000hp upwards for heavy duty to the following: Type 1 (up to 1,000hp) Type 2 (1,000-1,499hp) Type 3 (1,500-1,999hp) Type 4 (2,000-2,999hp) and Type 5 (3,000hp upwards). To add further complications to the BTC's pilot scheme designs, the initial order was followed by orders for basically similar locomotives in the production fleet, which gave rise to many generic types for what was intended to be a standard design. As a result, the diesel classes became sub-divided by reasons of changes in power output, electrical equipment, and coupling systems variations as construction proceeded. For example, the first 151 locomotives of the BR/Sulzer Type 2 Bo-Bo 1,160hp D5000’s were powered by a Sulzer 6LDA-28 engine and classified as Class 24 in the TOPS re-numbering scheme. The remaining locomotives were fitted with the more powerful Sulzer 6LDA-28B engine developing 1,250hp and were classified as Class 25. Similarly, the Brush Type 2 A1A-A1A D5500’s were fitted with the Mirrlees engines became Class 30, while the re-engined machines using EE Co power units became known as Class 31s, subsequently sub-divided as Class 31/0 electro-magnetic-control, Class 31/1 - electro-pnuematic control; and 31/4 for those locomotives fitted with electrical train heating (ETH) equipment. 

Following the abolition of the British Transport Commission (BTC) in the 1962 Transport Act, the newly-introduced British Rail Board (BRB) made a start on a new classification code for its fleet of diesels which survived the National Traction Plan - a scheme devised to rationalise the number of diesel classes considered less efficient and non-standard. Each class was allocated an initial number based on its power classification. For example, in the Type 4 category, the EE Co Type 4 rated at 2,000hp became known as Class 40, whereas the more powerful Swindon-built Warship hydraulics were classif

ied as Class 42 and their NBL-built cousins Class 43. Next came the more powerful 2,300hp pilot-scheme Peaks D1-D10 (Class 44) and the subsequent production Peaks uprated to 2,500hp became Class 45 and 46. Finally the Brush/Sulzer Type 4 Co-Cos rated at 2,750hp ended up as Class 47.  The renumbering was done under the BRB’s new computerised method of train supervision - Total Operating Processing System, or TOPS for short - and it was not unusual to see original green locomotives with their new numbers operating alongside locomotives in the new BR corporate blue livery with their old numbers still in use. With the 'D' prefix now removed, veteran pilot-scheme Type 1 No 8018 is paired with the first production EE Co Type 1 D8020 on a coal train at Morpeth on July 17th 1970. Note the oval buffers and 'Blue Star' coupling code above the buffer beam. Photo © IS Carr.  

In 1955, it was planned that 80 locomotives would go to the Eastern Region, 65 to the London Midland Region, and 29 was to be shared between the Southern and Western Regions. The BTC expected that a series of comparative road tests over a three year period would determine BR's future operating requirements. Sadly, the plan didn’t quite work out that way, for in an attempt to reverse BR’s plummeting finances (a £16.5 million deficit in 1956 increasing to £48.1 million in 1958) a decision was taken to accelerate the elimination of steam as a panacea. At

the beginning of 1959, out of the 174 pilot scheme diesel locomotives ordered, only 140 had been delivered, yet a further order for 900 was placed before the manufacturer's designs had been fully evaluated. This headlong rush to get rid of steam led to BR's heterogeneous collection of new diesel locomotives being acquired by a completely irrational process and, without the benefit of full prototype trials, several early types were quickly eliminated from BR stock. First, we take a look at the Type 1 and 2 pilot scheme diesel locomotives...the Type 4 designs appear on the following page.

When the BTC announced its plan to evaluate the new diesel types under service conditions, the English Electric Company (EE Co) had a long history in rail traction - the EE Co supplied its first diesel engine to a British railway company in 1934 for use in a 350hp shunter - and by 1955 the firm had grown considerably, taken in by amalgamation with several locomotive builders including the Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows and the Teesside-based Robert Step

henson & Hawthorn. This gave the conglomerate the vast manufacturing capacity to deal with the first 20 pilot scheme Type 1 Bo-Bos Nos D8000-19 in 1957. The EE Co used a variant of their  K type engine for its 1,000hp Type 1 Bo-Bos, retaining the ‘V’ form and designating it 8SVT Mk11. The modest size of the engine enabled the makers to construct a ‘hood’ type locomotive with the bodyside inset along the length of the running plate. (Above) Although less glamorous than its larger EE Co relatives in the Type 3-5 power range, the Type 1 was an attractive piece of industrial design. Painted in BR Brunswick Green livery for the main body, with a medium grey roof over the bonnet and cab, black undergear, red bufferbeams and polished handrails and trim. (Right) The second of the batch, No D8001, runs round its coaching stock at Penrith before the resumption of WCML acceptance trials in July 1957. The first locomotive, No D8000, had already been formally handed over on June 3rd 1957. The 20 Types 1s Nos D8000-19 were allocated to Devons Road depot in East London. Photo © GEC-Alstom

(Right) Since the completion of WCML electrification, this view of Basford Hall yard - and, for that matter the EE Co Type 1 Bo-Bos - are now but just a memory. Here, with less than a year of revenue-earning service behind them, a pair of pilot scheme Type 1s Nos D8003 and D8005 is coupled as a 2,000hp unit on August 16th 1958. During early dieslisation, British Railways had a predominance of locos in the 1,000/1,250hp range and relatively few in the 2,000hp group therefore the EE Co Type 1s were working in multiple almost from new. Photo: © ER Morten 

  

In November 1957, the EE Co machines were joined by ten British Thompson-Houston 800hp Type 1 Bo-Bos Nos D8200-D8209 at Devon Roads depot (1D) - the first purpose-built diesel maintenance depot on BR - followed by ten North British D8400s allocated to the ER based at Stratford in July 1958.  When the pilot scheme was abandoned, the BTH company received a contract for a further 34 locomotives. They were powered by the Paxman 16HXL engine, which proved unsatisfactory in service, requiring excessive maintenance, and the single-cab design gave drivers restricted forward vision along the bonnet and, to some extent, the rear. The livery was dark green with pale blue/grey cab ends and red bufferbeams, whilst the bogies and undergear were painted black. Still in grey undercoat, one of the British Thomson-Houston production Bo-Bos, No D8213, hauls three mobile test vehicles past Buxton East during a road test programme over the MR line between Derby and Manchester on December 8th 1958. The driver of No D8202 looks happy to pose for the official photographer at Rugby in the second shot. Photos: © ER Morten, GEC/Alstom

Another major player was the Brush Falcon Works based at Loughborough. Established in 1851, the company had absorbed several firms, notably Mirrlees and the industrial locomotive builders Bagnalls, which gave the Falcon works the capacity to build twenty locomotives in the Type 2 category; the specification being for a double-cab mixed traffic locomotive (fitted with train heating equipment) and designated the diesel equivalent of the LNER B1s and LMS Black 5s. The Brush Type 2 A1A-A1A was largely modelled on the 25 locomotives built for the Ceylon Government Railways, although the six-wheeled bogies (the inner pair were unpowered) was altered to British standard gauge, combining a leaf and helical springing to improve suspension and ease the axle load. During construction of Nos D5500-19 (TOPS Class 30) additional orders were placed with the company that culminated in a production run of a total of 263 locomotives (Class 31) all built to the same basic design, but with the Mirrlees engine uprated to 1,365hp, together with a change-over from the electro-magnetic multiple-unit coupling system to the standard electro-pneumatic (Blue Star) system making the class compatible with most other manufacturers designs at that time. By the end of 1957, the Brush Type 2s were working on the Eastern Region, followed in March 1958 by the arrival of ten new EE Co Type 4 D200s, shared between Stratford and Hornsey depots. 

Prior to construction of the Brush Type B pilot scheme locomotives, the BTC appointed a team of design consultants to advise the company on appearance and  livery. A full-size timber mock-up of the cab was constructed at the works for scrutiny by footplatemen and shed staff, and to allow the designers to make the necessary modifications which inevitably followed evaluation of a new locomotive design by railmen. The BTC stipulated that gangway doors should be incorporated in the front end to allow for crew movement between locomotives when working in multiple, however the provision of doors intruded upon the windscreen area. A neat solution was found by using a 3-piece windscreen with angled edges picked out in eggshell blue (off-white). The livery was standard BR Brunswick green with two bands of lining running the full length of the bodyside and around the front ends. The roof was mid-grey and the bogies black. The second view of the assembly line in 1957 shows the initial batch in various stages of construction. The first, No D5500, is in the centre. The signs read - British Railway 20 Type 2 locomotives. Contract No 0445100, and target date for test. No D5500 was handed over to the BTC on 31 October 1957, and hauled its first revenue-earning train from Liverpool St to Clacton on 13 November Photo © Brush Traction

The Brush Type 2 A1A-A1A was largely modelled on the 25 locomotives built for the Ceylon Government Railways, with the six-wheeled bogies (the inner pair were unpowered) altered to British standard gauge. The bogie combined a leaf and helical springing to improve suspension and ease the axle load, which gave the locomotive the widest possible route availability throughout the BR network. The first of the class, D5500, is on a test run from Derby to Chinley on October 10th 1957.  Still in brown undercoat, the first of the twenty pilot scheme Type 2s Nos D5500-19 has completed its first test run from Derby to Chinley on October 10th 1957. The test equipment was sited in one end cab and the locomotive had to be turned on the Chinley  turntable before returning to Derby.  (Right) The success of the pilot scheme Brush Type 2 led to the production of a further 243 locomotives built of the same basic design, except the Mirrlees engine was uprated to 1365hp and the electro-magnetic control system was changed to the standard 'Blue Star' electro-pneumatic arrangement, enabling the fleet to work in multiple with a wide range of other BR diesels. Following abolition of the headcode disc system for train identification, four-character headcode boxes began to

appear on the cab roofs on the 243 production machines, but supply problems saw this modification fitted at random sequences during construction and old-style roofs continued to appear on some locomotives, dubbed ‘Skinheads’ by enthusiasts. The ER fitted brackets onto the lamp irons of their allocation to allow a named train headboard to be carried. Here the driver of No D5805 awaits the right away with the 07.20 Sheffield Victoria-London Kings Cross 'Master Cutler' at Retford on November 16th 1961. Photo: © Brush Traction.

 

Meanwhile, mention must be made of the troublesome Metro-Vick 1,200hp Co-Bos (later TOPS Class 28) which were introduced on the former MR route between St Pancras and Manchester Central in 1958. Constructed at the Metropolitan Vickers/Beyer Peacock works at Stockton-on-Tees, the Co-Bos were powered by Crossley 2-stroke engines of 1,200hp - which, the makers claimed could produce a higher power from each of its eight cylinders than the conventional turbo- charged four-stroke engines adopted by other manufacturers for their pilot scheme designs. Theoretically, a two-stroke engine is capable of producing a higher power at every revolution, because during the 2-stroke cycle, each cylinder generates power at every revolution of its crankshaft whereas the power from a 4-stroke engine is produced from alternative revolutions. Sadly, the Crossley engine was largely responsible for the Co-Bos inauspicious and very short careers, and the design was not perpetuated beyond the pilot scheme orders.