slilley

Not so. naming was a devolved power to the regions and when the LMR were considering names for the first ten Peaks, the LMR Board was asked by David Blee to consider instead names of RAF aircraft such as Vampire, Mosquito, Beaufighter etc. he also asked them to consider a series "Battle" names including Alamein, Arnhem, and Monte Cassino. The mountain names were very much an after thought in his memo, but as we know was the subject the LMR Board settled upon. Simon

To add something to the original question, in 1956 when the BTC was considering names for diesels and electrics, an adhoc committee was set up to provide suggestions.This group comprised of D.S.M. Barrie the BTC’s Chief Public Relations Officer, E.S. Cox BTC Assistant Chief Mechanical Engineer, G. Dow London Midland Region Public Relations & Publicity Officer, and C.J. Rider Western Region Public Relations & Publicity Officer. They reported back in March 1957. For the ten Type C (Class 40) locomotives for the Eastern Region they suggested the same types of names as have proved popular with the Britannia steam locomotives used by the Eastern Region, names of famous people and indeed places associated with the region. One name suggested perhaps would not have stood the test of time very well, especially after the events of 11 November 1965, they suggested one locomotive be names Cecil Rhodes. Naming was something develoved to the regions, and the names suggested by the adhoc committee were not binding. Simon

Part of the raison d' etre of the Standard Type 4 design was the ability to traverse humps. Something that Peaks and 40s could not do given their bogies. One of several reasons why the Eastern Region rejected taking Peaks when they were offered them. Simon

This was used in The Peaks Class 44/45/46. Loco yet to be refurbished.

The latter half of the summer in 1975 was dry. This is the England v Australia test match played at the end of August. See how parched the outfiled is.

This is all covered in the book Class 47 50 Years of Locomotive History. To summarise very briefly, The ER decided it did not want the last 20 Peaks. With the new Type 4 specification in place JF Harrison the BTC CME decided in February 61 that building Peaks no longer represented value for money. Hence it was decided that these locomotives would be built instead to the new Type 4 specification using Brush equipment ordered originally for the Peaks. It is more detailed than that but I did promise to be brief. Simon Langley

It is not clear, Robson did leave a number of gaps in the list, so it is possible they were intended potential future use. Simon

There was never a Class 41 Warship. It is a myth. The two digit class nos were prepared by the CR (T&RS) AE Robson in March 1968 after the D600 Warships had been withdrawn. I have a copy of the list and can assure everyone that those locos do not appear. Simon

I dont know if this had been mentioned before, but has anyone based a model of 6202 the "turbomotive" on a Triang Princess? Seems a straightforward conversion to me. Simon

Recently myself and Mrs L have been watching the excellent BBC Miss Marple series. Plenty of rail content the 4.50 from Paddington notwithstanding. Sometimes though they are a tad confused as the films are obviously set in the early 1950, but the liveries even allowing for the fact that some locos and vehicles were slow in losing their previous identities, often show GWR markings. Several heritage railways got used I can tell. Simon

STC had a large factory next to the ECML just north of New Southgate station.

Post 1960 as it mentions just AEI not the two main halves of the company BTH and Metrovick. In 1960 Lord Chandos the Chairman decided he was going to unify things after relatively serate operations since AEI was founded in 1928. Simon

The Brush Type 4 was D1946 now preserved as 47771. Simon

There were instances of them running without a pantograph, often if it had needed to be removed because of damage. The locomotive would be diagrammed for work that was third rail only until a replacement was fitted. On 13 April 1964 the pantograph on E5009 raised itself whilst the loco was working the Golden Arrow through Petts Wood striking a footbridge. An overheight device was fitted afterwards to prevent a recurrence. Suprisingly as late as December 1973 BR boughtsix new pantographs at a cost of £11,280 with a lead time of 12 months. Quite how much use they got is a moot point. Simon

A bit of an update. I was at the National Archives yesterday looking at the minutes of the Railway Executive in the early 1950s, and even then they were thinking about locomotive preservation. Riddles met with the SLS and the Newcommen Society to put together a wish list if you like of locomotive types that should be preserved. It was quite short initially.They had concerns about where the locos would be kept and so thought about having models made of key examples of steam locomotives which could be used to illustrate the story. The list was in two parts, locos already withdrawn and put to one side which included 41000 the Midland compound, and Ben Alder. Of possible locos to preserve an ex LNER K3 was listed. Simon

The National Archives catalogue is online. See link below. If you put into the search function "preservation" you get a list come up. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=preservation&_p=1950&_hb=tna&_d=AN AN 172/262 Preservation of historical locomotives 1946 Jan 01 - 1964 Apr 30 seems to be the file most likely to provide the must fabled list though AN 104/4 Transport Act 1962: papers on schemes for relics and records could also prove useful. Simon

I could add data of similar power BR locos, but as regards overseas locomotives obtaining that data could be much more difficult. Simon

Not my area of expertise but I will have a go, having raided the library!! I am using the LNER class designations for ease of reference. B1 (later B18) GC green B2 (later B19) 6 locos. First three in GC green. The other three in goods black. all six in green by Grouping. B3 GC green B4 GC green but black before Grouping B5 Black B6 Black B7 Black B8 Black B9 Black Fingers crossed I have read the Yeadon's Register correctly. Simon

Hi Peter Fair comments and apologies for the typos. It was checked several times, but obviously some slipped through. I know I asked for 2 captions to be swapped and this clearly did not happen before the book went to print. As for your comment about Arkle andthe original names, I have seen this quoted but as nothing apeared in the archives it was difficult to say definitively quite what happened. I understand your comment about critical analysis, and there is plenty in there about availability and their miles per casualty, they were not the best diesel class by any stretch. Analysis can lead to writer's voicing their own opinions and no one is going to be interested in my opinion on one class or another. My prefered option is to present the facts and let the reader draw their own conclusions. That said with hindsight I could have added some comparative data of similar classes say the Class 40s or 47s to help readers make up their minds and it is something should I write anything else in future that I will bear in mind. Simon

To answer question 2 I do not believe they ever did. Their appearences on the SE division were very rare, and dont forget that once the Class 71s took over the NIght Ferry, they were ETH fitted whereas the Co-Cos were steam heat.

The trio were used mainly on freight work. Only the first diagram refered to in the WTT as Schedule 1 included passenger work which was the Newhaven boat train.

Yes the word "back" was missing from my original comment.

The booster equipment could be used to move the loco and a 100 ton train when not in contact with a power supply. At its maxiumum this was just over 500 feet, reducing to less than 100 feet seven minutes after losing contact with a power supply. Please see page 16 of Southern Way Special No 11. There is a graph showing this.

The three Co-Co electric locos were built with boat train working in mind. As others have said there are customs and luggage requirements to take on board. Not all the sidings at new haven were electrified as I recall, so the booster function was used to get them to a 3rd rail. The book Southern Way Special No 11 available from Crecy Publishing is devoted to the unique locos and includes plenty on their work on the Newhaven boat trains. Simon

The four purple locomotives were as follows 60024 Kingfisher 60027 Merlin 60028 Walter K Wigham 60029 Woodcock Hope this helps. Simon