WR allocated 47's

[steve fay]

Hi

When did the WR first get its allocation of 47's ?

That's it really

Thanks

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

1682/3 in Oct 63 from Brush according to 'Sulzer Diesel Locomotives of British Rail'.

 

Dave

[jjnewitt]

October 31st 1963 according to class47.co.uk. This was the date the D1682 and D1683 were first allocated to Old Oak Common. Lots of interesting stuff on that website and very good search facilities.

 

Justin

[slilley]

This might be a help as well, from Class 47 50 Years of Locomotive History

 

Apart from the time when No D1500 had been temporarily allocated to Swindon, the WR received its first Brush Type 4 in October 1963. The allocation of No D1682 to Old Oak Common was the first outside of the ER, and was followed over time by Brush-built Nos D1683-D1701 and D1707-D1757. Other WR depots to receive these locos were Oxley (Wolverhampton), Bristol Bath Road, Cardiff Canton and Landore (Swansea). Crew training between Paddington and Wolverhampton using Nos D1682-D1688 began on 4 November 1963. Once completed, the majority of services on this route were taken over by Brush Type 4s on 23 December.

  

   Nos D1583-D1615 were built at Crewe during 1964 and allocated to the Western Region. In 1965, Nos D1636-D1681 and D1962-D1967 also built at Crewe, joined them, as did Brush-built Nos D1901-D1938 in the latter part of 1965 and into 1966. Most went to depots that already had allocations of the class, in particular Cardiff Canton and Landore. These locomotives were put to work on a variety of duties including freight turns from Swansea to Crewe and Carlisle, and block oil trains from Milford Haven to Thornton in Scotland. By the summer of 1966 the WR was also using them on iron ore trains to the steel mills located around Newport.

 

If you are more interested I have some WR documents showing monthly allocations of Brush 4s as they arrived. All hand written stuff.

 

Regards

 

Simon