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Class 22 areas of operation


TravisM
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  • 1 month later...

There was usually one parked up in Reading depot on a saturday afternoon, i can also remember one ex works blue in 1971 going through Reading with a small train of milk tanks London bound also on a saturday.

Edited by Tigermoth
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  • 11 months later...
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Martin Loader's excellent website about the Fairford Branch http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/index.htm has several photos of Class 22s at Witney.

 

It also lists the following Class 22s as known to have visited the Branch:

 

D6326 D6328 D6336 D6340 D6442 D6343 D6348 D6351 D6352 D6354 D6357

 

22 at South Leigh Level Crossing with a Witney - Hinksey Freight:

 

http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/History.htm

 

Various 22 at Witney (Goods):

 

http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/Witney_Goods.htm

Edited by Banger Blue
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  • 2 weeks later...

My mates and I used to walk from Greenford to Southall for spotting on the footbridge.When walking past the then rail-served oil depot,we could glance through to Southall shed,and invariably a 22 would be parked there.We probably groaned at seeing one of the Old Oak Common examples again...Saw them often at Paddington,also at Reading,and of course on their home depot. 6356 stands out for being in excellent external condition.All success to the New Build group...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bill's still around Mike. Started his railway service at Kittybrewster before transfering down to Didcot and doing a few years at Marylebone.

I believe I am right in saying that he actually liked the D6100's more than the D6300's and thought they were more reliable and that the class 22 cab layout was inferior to the 21.

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I believe I am right in saying that he actually liked the D6100's more than the D6300's and thought they were more reliable and that the class 22 cab layout was inferior to the 21.

Seems surprising, considering that the D6100's were considered so unreliable that they needed to be re-engined and many had been taken out of service and stored. The D6300's on the other hand led reasonably useful lives. Did the Scottish Region have higher expectations than the Western? 

 

[edit] Also it seems odd that both classes had more-or-less the same engines, and those engines were considered to be the Achilles heel of the one class but not of the other. (thinks a little....) Could it be that by the time the question of re-engining arose, it was known that the 22's had a short life expectancy because policy had turned against hydraulics, whereas the 21's, being diesel-electric, were worth persevering with?

Edited by Andy Kirkham
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I can only offer one, not very good photo of a 22, from Dad's albums - 

attachicon.gifBath Rd Shed Bristol D6357 & D1697 5 2 1964.jpg

The 22's were first allocated to Bath Road in the late summer of 1962 to be completely accurate.When new in 1959 their reliability relegated them to duties which ensured they worked either in pairs or in tandem with other locos....such was their reputation.In fact a pair of then was quite a sight to behold with concertina doors coupled
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Didn't he ScR try to use the 21s or rather more demanding work than the WR did with 22s? Like wonking Glasgow-Aberdeen expresses single-handed? The WR would have used a Hymek for an equivalent duty.

I think that's the crux of the matter. Even early on the class 21's allocated to the ER were being caned up the East Coast route on KX outer suburban services and the CBE and I don't think the Stratford or Ipswich allocation fared much better given the geographical area they had to cover. The 22's seemed to have been given much easier work by comparison so the MAN engine faults were probably more prolific on the 21s. The SCR were hardly gentle on them either. The class 22's did have the benefit of being modified early on during the construction phase to accept either a MAN or Maybach engine and either type of transmission (Voith or Mekhydro) so they could have been easily modified if things got too demanding for the MAN engines.

Edited by Baby Deltic
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The 22s were expected to work over the big Devon banks but never single-handed unless within normal load limits.  They also assisted (and were assisted by) steam in their early days.  The 21/29s were tasked to tackle such arduous duties as the West Highland line solo which is every bit the equal of Dainton or Hemerdon and arguably more taxing under certain conditions.  The line of them I encountered at Eastfield was described by a driver as "Fair knacked" and "Fit ainly fi'scrapper".  Meanwhile the 22s plodded along on the Hemyock milks, the Meeth clays and sundry other duties which were not over-demanding for as long as they could be kept going.

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Didn't he ScR try to use the 21s or rather more demanding work than the WR did with 22s?  Like wonking Glasgow-Aberdeen expresses single-handed?  The WR would have used a Hymek for an equivalent duty.

Certainly later, but the 22s were in traffic for a couple of years before the Hymeks arrived.

 

The 22s were regarded as general purpose machines and it wasn't unknown for pairs of multiple-equipped locos to substitute for a Type 4 'Warship'. 

 

Once the WR had the more powerful and reliable Hymeks in numbers, the 22s mainly ended up on lighter goods trains, banking and passenger turns like Exeter-Barnstaple where loads exceeded the capacity of a 3-car DMu. Also, for some reason, it was quite unusual to see a Hymek west of the Tamar.

 

John

Edited by Dunsignalling
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Also, for some reason, it was quite unusual to see a Hymek west of the Tamar.

Cornish men didn't sign them.  But was that cause or effect?  Were any ever allocated any closer to the border than Bath Road?  Unlike the 22s which had an allocation at Laira and which had daily duties into and within Cornwall.  One of my favourite pics of them is a double-header starting a long van train up from Liskeard siding.

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Cornish men didn't sign them.  But was that cause or effect?  Were any ever allocated any closer to the border than Bath Road?  Unlike the 22s which had an allocation at Laira and which had daily duties into and within Cornwall.  One of my favourite pics of them is a double-header starting a long van train up from Liskeard siding.

 

Weren't some allocation to Laira at one point? Used on the former SR route through Okehampton after the end of steam. 

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Cornish men didn't sign them.  But was that cause or effect?  Were any ever allocated any closer to the border than Bath Road?  Unlike the 22s which had an allocation at Laira and which had daily duties into and within Cornwall.  One of my favourite pics of them is a double-header starting a long van train up from Liskeard siding.

Hymeks have been allocated to at least one depot in devon.

 

"Rivercider" previously posted this elsewhere

 

"The Western's Hydraulics by J. K. Lewis shows four Hymeks with a first allocation to Newton Abbot.

D7075 3/63

D7098 1/64

D7099 1/64

D7100 2/64

These were for Newton Abbot - Rogerstone freight services,"

.

Brian R

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Hymeks have been allocated to at least one depot in devon.

 

"Rivercider" previously posted this elsewhere

 

"The Western's Hydraulics by J. K. Lewis shows four Hymeks with a first allocation to Newton Abbot.

D7075 3/63

D7098 1/64

D7099 1/64

D7100 2/64

These were for Newton Abbot - Rogerstone freight services,"

.

Brian R

Wasn't the majority of traffic from Rogerstone loco coal, Brian? In which case, they wouldn't have stayed there very long.

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Hymeks have been allocated to at least one depot in devon.

 

"Rivercider" previously posted this elsewhere

 

"The Western's Hydraulics by J. K. Lewis shows four Hymeks with a first allocation to Newton Abbot.

D7075 3/63

D7098 1/64

D7099 1/64

D7100 2/64

These were for Newton Abbot - Rogerstone freight services,"

.

Brian R

Going slightly earlier, my disintegrating copy of the 1963 Locoshed Book shows all Hymeks up to and including D7068 divided between to 82A, Bath Road and 88A Canton.

 

Higher numbers show no allocation as at 9th February, the cut off date for WR information, indicating that they had either not been delivered or remained unallocated at that point. 

 

John

Edited by Dunsignalling
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The 22's were first allocated to Bath Road in the late summer of 1962 to be completely accurate.When new in 1959 their reliability relegated them to duties which ensured they worked either in pairs or in tandem with other locos....such was their reputation.In fact a pair of then was quite a sight to behold with concertina doors coupled

I've collected quite a few class 22s copyright photos, and tracked a lot down that are on line. Singleton class 22 (NBL type 2s in old money) operated many diagrams from Bath road including trips to Stoke Gifford and the Fry's factory at Keynsham. I've also seen a photo of a solitary machine at Severn tunnel junction, and they did work demolition trains on the S&D. Many also worked as single units in the Forest of Dean and around Worcester.

The class 22s consistently got bad press for their reliability, but the fact was in the mid 1960s their reliability was better than many of their diesel electric sisters. Indeed at the time they were just as reliable as their eventual class 25 replacements (source Modern locomotives illustrated).

 

Edit one such trip Stoke Gifford - West depot

https://flic.kr/p/9kvR38

 

Neil

Edited by Downendian
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Were the Old Oak one's just used on ECS and PW duties or did they ever venture onto the Southern (In the London area) with Inter Regional freight?

 

Julian Sprott

The Westerns Hydraulics by J K Lewis, mentions the 23 locos that were transferred to Old Oak Common in 1963 and details some of the workings.

As well as internal WR work previously discussed in this thread he also mentions:-

 

"They also assisted with light freight trains across the London Division, ranging from Oxford-Abingdon car trains to block tanker workings

between the oil terminals at Ripple Lane and Staines West." 

 

cheers

Edited by Rivercider
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Hymeks have been allocated to at least one depot in devon.

 

"Rivercider" previously posted this elsewhere

 

"The Western's Hydraulics by J. K. Lewis shows four Hymeks with a first allocation to Newton Abbot.

D7075 3/63

D7098 1/64

D7099 1/64

D7100 2/64

These were for Newton Abbot - Rogerstone freight services,"

.

Brian R

Quite a number of Hymeks were reported allocated to either Newton Abbot or Laira but many seem to be short term transfers. This was possibly to balance seasonal requirements such as more holiday trains vs less coal in summer, or to cover availability shortages in other classes.

Edited by TheSignalEngineer
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Hymeks worked many Paddington\ Plymouth\ Paignton services for one season immediately prior to the introduction of the Westerns and in the wake of the steam ban West of Taunton. A summer Saturday at Paignton could produce half a dozen or more but the delivery of Westerns soon gathered pace. This coincided with some short term allocations to Laira and Newton Abbot however very few went West of Plymouth because of crewing issues. Hymeks were never again seen in numbers in the West, freight produced a few and the Summer dated Oxford to Paignton and the Worcester to Paignton could be relied upon for at least one.

Edited by Garry Morris
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