BR SWINDON TYPE 1 0-6-0 DIESEL HYDRAULIC LOCOMOTIVES CLASS 14 THEIR LIFE ON BRITISH RAILWAYS

[Strathwood]

The next great title in this series from Pen & Sword is set for release on 30 March 2022 with a RRP of £30.00 so we thought we would set the internet alight with our special pre-release order price of just £22.99 which appears as of today to be the most competitive price on the web for this book.

 

This price is ONLY for pre-orders and will revert to the RRP of £30.00 for all orders after release.

 

Full details: https://strathwood.co.uk/products/rrp-30-00-due-out-30-march-2022-pre-order-special-price-is-just-22-99-br-swindon-type1-0-6-0-diesel-hydraulic-locomotives-class-14-their-life-on-british-railways

 

 

Kevin

[br2975]

Already ordered...............

 

[Andy Kirkham]

 THEIR LIFE ON BRITISH RAILWAYS - A slim volume, then.

[F-UnitMad]

"216 pages with 280 Colour and black & white photographs printed on high quality glossy art paper, Hardback"

 

Doesn't sound such a slim volume to me.

Duly ordered.

[Enterprisingwestern]

9 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

 THEIR LIFE ON BRITISH RAILWAYS - A slim volume, then.

 

Lost on some!

 

16 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

"216 pages with 280 Colour and black & white photographs printed on high quality glossy art paper, Hardback"

 

Doesn't sound such a slim volume to me.

Duly ordered.

 

 

Mike.

[F-UnitMad]

Just now, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Lost on some!

 

 

 

Mike.

No, actually, I did get the joke, thank you.     

Have marked it with the appropriate smiley, just in case my response is also lost on some.....

[Phil Bullock]

Already ordered… 

[br2975]

10 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

 THEIR LIFE ON BRITISH RAILWAYS - A slim volume, then.

 

The humour was not lost on me.

.

Until now, those writing about the class appear to have conducted little, or no research and relied upon 'word of mouth' and/or 'urban myth' 

.

But, the information is out there, some of which I passed on to the author; and a lot more I have recently come by ( sadly, after the book went to press ) in relation to South Wales operations, especially the Cardiff Valleys.

[MidlandRed]

I took delivery of my copy of this book today. I couldn’t recommend it more highly - it contains a superb set of photographs, including some of the more bucolic haunts of the class, but including the aftermaths of a couple of spectacular runaways involving the class and coal wagons in South Wales.

 

There is a lot of carefully researched info, particularly covering the reasoning and justification of the class (in fact the whole process of agreement of the WR diesel fleet composition, its changes and the apparent googly bowled by the Beeching Plan). It’s very detailed and interesting. This extends to detailed analysis of the class’s problems in operation, including using meeting minutes of the BR user group/ manufacturer meetings set up with Davey Paxman covering the class 14 and other so equipped classes. 
 

For those who’ve ordered it, you’re in for a treat, and if you haven’t, it’s highly recommended if you have any interest in this class and how it fitted into BRs ever changing Traction Plan in the 60s. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by MidlandRed

[Phil Bullock]

Could not agree more! An excellent book. There’s still undocumented information to be unearthed however… for me it’s working from and up to Worcester that are of interest.

 

The book lists 4 as allocated to 85A for a few months in 64. It’s almost as if Worcester didn’t want diesel locos.. prior to the end of steam in December 65 it only had 1 350 shunter on the books …D4118 ….  But had several BR built 204s. Steam did not finish on the appointed day… at least one pannier tank was still working at the beginning on January but their replacements were more 204s …. A batch of Drewrys from Hereford. 85A soon shipped those on too to finally get some more 350s. 
 

But it’s what happened at Gloucester that I think is key as 85B had many more trip workings …. Including up to Worcester and Newlands PAD with conco sleepers from Quedgley. Steam finished there on the same day as Worcester and D95xx took over the trip workings. But there isn’t much evidence of them working north from Gloucester. There are two photos in the excellent Neil Parkhouse books of D9555 and D9502 heading south at Cheltenham and Cleeve respectively on mixed freights with 8Hxx headcodes. The only other traffic source north of Gloucester before Worcester at this time was Ashchurch but these freights don’t look military in origin. There’s also a couple of photos on the web …. D9525 on track panels at Malvern and D9517 on shed at Worcester looking active not stored….. and D9507 was trialled on the Lickey Bank. 
 

So what was going on? When the D95xx finished at Gloucester in 67/8 they were replaced by NBL type 2s as the trip locos …. And they were seen at Worcester, although not commonly. 
 

And why use Worcester as the main storage and transit centre for the class’s demise if there was no expertise locally? 
 

Any thoughts please folks? 

[BR traction instructor]

B&R volume 120 South Wales Archive includes The Forest of Dean and some lovely footage of these on ballast/local trips…the best archive material that I’ve found of them so far.

 

Some great footage filmed from the brakevan.

 

BeRTIe

Edited March 16, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[BR traction instructor]

[BR traction instructor]

2 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Could not agree more! An excellent book. There’s still undocumented information to be unearthed however… for me it’s working from and up to Worcester that are of interest.

 

The book lists 4 as allocated to 85A for a few months in 64. It’s almost as if Worcester didn’t want diesel locos.. prior to the end of steam in December 65 it only had 1 350 shunter on the books …D4118 ….  But had several BR built 204s. Steam did not finish on the appointed day… at least one pannier tank was still working at the beginning on January but their replacements were more 204s …. A batch of Drewrys from Hereford. 85A soon shipped those on too to finally get some more 350s. 
 

But it’s what happened at Gloucester that I think is key as 85B had many more trip workings …. Including up to Worcester and Newlands PAD with conco sleepers from Quedgley. Steam finished there on the same day as Worcester and D95xx took over the trip workings. But there isn’t much evidence of them working north from Gloucester. There are two photos in the excellent Neil Parkhouse books of D9555 and D9502 heading south at Cheltenham and Cleeve respectively on mixed freights with 8Hxx headcodes. The only other traffic source north of Gloucester before Worcester at this time was Ashchurch but these freights don’t look military in origin. There’s also a couple of photos on the web …. D9525 on track panels at Malvern and D9517 on shed at Worcester looking active not stored….. and D9507 was trialled on the Lickey Bank. 
 

So what was going on? When the D95xx finished at Gloucester in 67/8 they were replaced by NBL type 2s as the trip locos …. And they were seen at Worcester, although not commonly. 
 

And why use Worcester as the main storage and transit centre for the class’s demise if there was no expertise locally? 
 

Any thoughts please folks? 

 

…short allocation durations of just a few examples were often to simply maintain traction/maintenance staff familiarity Phil. If drivers didn’t get to drive them within the specified periods they could delete them from their traction card.

 

On paper they may have been earmarked to fill a supposed need that didn’t transpire e.g. the Worcester example.

 

BeRTIe

Edited March 16, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[MidlandRed]

8 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Could not agree more! An excellent book. There’s still undocumented information to be unearthed however… for me it’s working from and up to Worcester that are of interest.

 

The book lists 4 as allocated to 85A for a few months in 64. It’s almost as if Worcester didn’t want diesel locos.. prior to the end of steam in December 65 it only had 1 350 shunter on the books …D4118 ….  But had several BR built 204s. Steam did not finish on the appointed day… at least one pannier tank was still working at the beginning on January but their replacements were more 204s …. A batch of Drewrys from Hereford. 85A soon shipped those on too to finally get some more 350s. 
 

But it’s what happened at Gloucester that I think is key as 85B had many more trip workings …. Including up to Worcester and Newlands PAD with conco sleepers from Quedgley. Steam finished there on the same day as Worcester and D95xx took over the trip workings. But there isn’t much evidence of them working north from Gloucester. There are two photos in the excellent Neil Parkhouse books of D9555 and D9502 heading south at Cheltenham and Cleeve respectively on mixed freights with 8Hxx headcodes. The only other traffic source north of Gloucester before Worcester at this time was Ashchurch but these freights don’t look military in origin. There’s also a couple of photos on the web …. D9525 on track panels at Malvern and D9517 on shed at Worcester looking active not stored….. and D9507 was trialled on the Lickey Bank. 
 

So what was going on? When the D95xx finished at Gloucester in 67/8 they were replaced by NBL type 2s as the trip locos …. And they were seen at Worcester, although not commonly. 
 

And why use Worcester as the main storage and transit centre for the class’s demise if there was no expertise locally? 
 

Any thoughts please folks? 

My guess on storage - Worcester had plenty of space, some of which was undercover, where stored stock would be relatively well protected from the elements, and perhaps quite importantly, out of the public gaze. The book covers the press outcry concerning the class 14s not in use at Hull and the way it reached the national press so this is quite an important factor. Also, Worcester was part of the Bristol Division (along with Gloucester) at this time so would be convenient for the storage of stock which had been used there - I suspect there was a surplus of class 22s by late 1966 with the closures in Devon and Cornwall and elsewhere, enabling the Bristol Division to redeploy them in lieu of class 14s on the Gloucester based work that remained. It’s also notable that some of the later class 22s were built in lieu of the availability of the type 1 design, as Swindon designers were busy on Warships and Westerns.

 

Regarding the four class 14 allocated to 85A, and the tests on the Lickey. The whole process of dieselisation there is quite interesting - I seem to recall reading in one if the railway periodicals of the time a class 37 was tried also (D6938 was allocated new to 82A for several months - presumably that was the one used), before the batch of Hymeks be and the allocation (generally D7021-5). It also appears from the justifications for the class 14 that the WR viewed the 0-6-0 arrangement suitable partially because the steam locos they would replace were of this arrangement - the WR schemes were designed to replace a fraction over two steam locos per diesel locomotive, and even by the early 60s were still predicting a need for 400 of the class 14 (incidentally part of the justification for this new class seemed to be an indication of a requirement for follow on builds). I’m just wondering whether that allocation of four to 85A was actually intended to enable dieselisation of the small loco fleet at Bromsgrove? I was also intrigued by the batch of four allocated to 81A (though outbased at Reading) - although one photo appears of one at OOC. 
 

I’m also intrigued by the photos of class 14 on mixed freights in Neil Parkhouse’s book, at Cleeve and Cheltenham - in both cases the headcodes have slipped (a fault referred to in the new book and indeed present in many pictures), but D9555 is apparently 8H50 and D9502, 8H55 - presumably internal Gloucester district trains. H changed to Birmingham (ex WR) around that time so trains coming from or going to much beyond Worcester would have been V or M respectively. But it does seem that in 1966 the Gloucester based locos found themselves on normal mixed freight workings. I wonder if they ventured towards Honeybourne and Evesham, or further? 
 

Some other points of intrigue from the references in the book to archive material:-

 

1) The standard type 1 diesel electric, which would have been used had the class 14 not come into existence was the class 17 at the time (the mind boggles!!)

2) The 56 class 14s were to meet the outstanding requirements of the Area 1, 2 and 3 dieselisation schemes.

3) The WR Area 4 and 5 schemes didn’t see the light of day as they were subsumed into a national process for planning new build of locos. 

4) The WR had required a further 55 type 1s (class 14) but this was to be allowed for by the temporary allocation of 35 new build class 20 intended for the LMR to the WR, reducing to zero by 1967. 
5) The NTP progress report no 2 (19/1/66) noted closure of all WR steam depots by 31/12/65 (except the S and D) and that a two stage run down of allocation of diesel electric locos on the WR to agreed NTP levels would occur, stage 1 involving 35 new class 20 and 23 new class 47 to the LMR over 12/65 to 5/66, and stage 2 - 107 existing class 37 and 47 to LMR/ER/ScR over 12/65 to 12/66. 
6) The out turn costs at Swindon for the class were 21% higher than estimate - however this was still less than a comparable diesel electric (though they had various other equipment like multiple working equipment which would have improved flexibility). 

It seems the Beeching report along with the 1962 Transport Act had completely changed the landscape as far as operational planning was concerned. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by MidlandRed

[Phil Bullock]

Interesting thoughts @BR traction instructor and @Midland Red - many thanks.

It’s interesting to look at how the arrival of the 650s corresponded with local service contractions…. In Gloucestershire the Hereford line and also the Chalford autos amongst others finished in Autumn 64 just as deliveries were coming through, which would have significant effects on local motive power needs. Worcestershire had nothing like the number of branches and trip workings compared to Gloucestershire and the two most significant branch lines …. Severn Valley and Bromyard … had already closed by that date and Kidderminster and Stourbridge had been ceded to the LMR also in 1964, so need based on service planning would certainly have reduced.

 

The chronology of the Lickey bankers is that steam finished Autumn 64 and was initially replaced by EE type 3s in the batch D6937-9 and 41. D6938 must have been the crew training loco … the others were out stationed from Cardiff, Worcester never had main line diesels allocated. The EE3s continued until 67 although not the same locos - D66xx were the last performers before replacement by Hymeks in 1967, as has been said D7021-5 were commonly used although plenty of others also appeared. They finished in 1972 to be replaced by EE3s although there seems to be a thought that they didn’t get away quickly enough so combinations of EE3s and BR Sulzer type 2s were tried. Although both types were blue star MU fitted and connected up apparently locos adopted independent directions of travel occasionally so was not persisted with! 
 

Enough of the digression ! Although interesting in terms of motive power usage not the primary subject. So 650s working up to Honeybourne and Evesham? Never seen evidence of one north of Cheltenham on the Honeybourne line… Evesham via Ashchurch closed in 63 except for access to MOD. The one reported working of a 650 on a Class 1 is from Cheltenham St James so they certainly got a mile or two up the Honeybourne line,

 

As for the two pictures north of Cheltenham with 650s on southbound freights under 8Hxx headcodes …. There are photos on the Class 14s in BR service Facebook group of them on Forest turns with 8Hxx headcodes which leads me to think 8Hxx were the Gloucester trip working headcodes until they changed to 8Bxx 68/69. If so no help with traffic origin but certainly not excluding Worcester.

 

Fascinating stuff and great that this book stimulates further discussion…

Edited March 16, 2022 by Phil Bullock

[br2975]

"H" was also used on virtually all Cardiff valleys freight turns until at least 1968, including those diagrammed for 650hp and 1750hp traction.

.

Since the author first made contact with me, and after the book had gone to press, I came by quite a bit more operational information on the South Wales allocated 650hp locos, for 1966-1968, including sightings, workings and BR (WR) freight diagrams.

.

It all makes interesting reading, with some intensive diagramming for the 650hp locos, not what one would expect for a perceived 'black sheep'

.

As for storage at Worcester, I cannot think of anywhere covered, and secure in South Wales that would have fitted the bill.

 

I can thoroughly recommend Tony Sayer's book.

Edited March 16, 2022 by br2975

[MidlandRed]

It seems that apart from engine cooling issues, lack of brake force and the main mechanical issue, engine vibration, the real Achilles heel of the class was the reduction in work for them - the Beeching Plan was announced a few days after the approval for the second batch of 30 locos being given. Add this to the removal of the legal requirement to offer freight services in the Transport Act 1962, and the pick up freight and shunting services for which they were designed were doomed to an extent, with, as @Phil Bullock said, a number of branch services closing whilst they were under construction and certainly in the few years after their introduction.
 

However, given the fact their availability levels were relatively high, and many of the mechanical issues were overcome, there seems no reason why they shouldn’t be used intensively, if the work was available. 
 

It will be great if further information becomes available on their diagrams and usage in due course. 
 

On the headcodes, B was the code for trains within the Bristol Division (Bristol District) - which included the previous Gloucester district. 

H had previously been Birmingham and Gloucester area - Newport and Cardiff were T at that time - F was Swansea district. T and F became Cardiff Division (Cardiff District) and Cardiff Division (Swansea District) in the later 60s. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by MidlandRed

[br2975]

11 hours ago, MidlandRed said:

 

It will be great if further information becomes available on their diagrams and usage in due course. 

.

.

.

On the headcodes, B was the code for trains within the Bristol Division (Bristol District) - which included the previous Gloucester district. 

H had previously been Birmingham and Gloucester area - Newport and Cardiff were T at that time - F was Swansea district. T and F became Cardiff Division (Cardiff District) and Cardiff Division (Swansea District) in the later 60s. 

 

In general terms;

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"C" was adopted for local passenger and freight workings in the Cardiff District from the 69/70 WTT - prior to which freight trips were designated "H" 

But

"F" appears to have persisted on inter-divisional workings to the Cardiff/Swansea District until the commencement of the 71/72 WTT

However

"E" was also used in the Cardiff area for certain trip workings, including those performed by the 650hp locos, such as Canton's  '9E76' which served amongst other places, canton Mileage Yard, Penarth Curve North, Ferry Road and Ely Paper Mill.

Swansea / Margam and points west  trips were generally "B" and Newport trips "A"

.

56 years ago today, 17th. March, 1966

D9511 worked "F49" the Margam - Cymmer - Avon Colliery - Duffryn Rhonnda - Maesteg - Tondu - Margam turn.

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Other enlightening turns included Cardiff - Merthyr thence Pontypridd - Cardiff parcels.

.

Trips from Merthyr to Vaynor Quarry, trips along the Rhondda Fawr from Treherbert, others from Abercynon/Stormstown to Lady Windsor (Ynysybwl) and Maritime Collieries.................. 

.

I'll need to delve into my files;

.

 

 

[MidlandRed]

@br2975, do you think these workings would have been class 37s had the large quantity of them not been transferred to the NER and ScR between 1965 and 1966? Noting that Anthony Sayer’s book does refer to lighter workings for some collieries in the Valleys being considered potentially suitable for the class 14s. 
 

Another matter which added to the justification for the class 14s appears to have been the 31st December 1965 end of steam date for the WR, which appears to have been a sacrosanct date - meaning duties would be available between then and later in the 60s.  Yet another factor - the Birmingham and Cambrian areas were moved to the LMR - steam was still operating from Tyseley after the end of 1965, so I guess it’s conceivable class 14s could have taken over some duties in these areas if the boundary changes hadn’t occurred. That they didn’t operate in Devon and Cornwall with the inherited SR lines (which closed in late 66) seems to have been down to duties being covered by class 22s (and DMUs). 
 

Altogether a very interesting class - and series of circumstances and factors which gave rise to them. It’s also clear a decent amount of use was obtained from at least part of the class on BR. The story at Hull is equally perplexing!! 

Edited March 17, 2022 by MidlandRed

[br2975]

7 hours ago, MidlandRed said:

@br2975, do you think these workings would have been class 37s had the large quantity of them not been transferred to the NER and ScR between 1965 and 1966? Noting that Anthony Sayer’s book does refer to lighter workings for some collieries in the Valleys being considered potentially suitable for the class 14s. 
 

Another matter which added to the justification for the class 14s appears to have been the 31st December 1965 end of steam date for the WR, which appears to have been a sacrosanct date - meaning duties would be available between then and later in the 60s.  Yet another factor - the Birmingham and Cambrian areas were moved to the LMR - steam was still operating from Tyseley after the end of 1965, so I guess it’s conceivable class 14s could have taken over some duties in these areas if the boundary changes hadn’t occurred. That they didn’t operate in Devon and Cornwall with the inherited SR lines (which closed in late 66) seems to have been down to duties being covered by class 22s (and DMUs). 

 

There was a shortage of motive power in South Wales created by the move of Class 37s to the North East, and Scotland in an effort to oust the last remaining steam turns in those places.

 

This resulted in Hymeks taking over most, if not all turns west of Llanelli / Caramrthen, and eventually Landore gaining D601, D602 & D604 from Laira, a move which didn't last long.

 

Some of the turns operated by Cl.14s did become Cl.37 duties e.g. the afternoon Tidal - Long Dyke - Llantrisant and return,  and some became Cl.08 trips e.g. Radyr - Treforest - Pontypridd, also Penarth Curve North - Penarth Cement Works, and also Radyr - Penarth Curve North - Ferry Road / Ely Paper Mill.

.

From the jobs they were assigned, I doubt there were many turns in the Valleys where the class ever achieved their 40mph top speed, certainly not up to Ynysybwl, or tripping the Rhondda Valley.

They may have reached 40mph descending 'The Big Hill' returning from Windsor Colliery / Aber Junction to Radyr, but it is interesting to note that at one time, the Aber Junction based diagram,  serving Caerphilly Goods, Wernddu tar plant, Windsor Colliery and the Steetley Dolomite Works at Walnut Tree West worked as either light engine or engine and van from Radyr to Aber Junction up 'The Big Hill', perhaps suggesting the loco may have struggled, as the Walnut Tree bankers ceased with the end of steam in July 1965. 

.

However, I would see the "H58" later "E76" Cl.14 hauled trip heading for Radyr some mornings loaded to 50+ BWU, and whilst the noise was excruciating, the train would be rolling along well, whereas when the diagram went over to Cl.08 haulage, the noise, whilst deeper, was just as loud but the trip crawled along at a snails pace.

.

The attached photo was taken on 29th. April, 1966 from a passing Radyr - Cardiff DMU by Bob Masterman and shows D9520 waiting to come off the Llandaff Loop with "T47" bound for (i) Roath Line Sidings, (ii) Cathays C&W, (iii) Stanton & Staveley.

The length of the train, and its consist (several local staples)  is noteworthy.

"T47" later became a Barry Cl.08 pilot duty, thence a Radyr based Cl.37 turn, serving Aber Junction and the Rhymney Valley, so comparing diagrams by their 'target' is somewhat awkward.

.

As Tony Sayer mentions, redeploying the the 'nine-fivers' would prove difficult as they were proposed, and built, as a low cost, budget production employing mainly 'off the shelf parts' - multiple working and train heating were never an option. 

[MidlandRed]

Excellent photo.
 

Indeed, that’s part of how they were so cheap - although the outturn costs were much closer to the cost of a class 17 than originally estimated (and the class 17 did have the multiple working kit etc etc). 

Edited March 17, 2022 by MidlandRed

[45125]

On 17/03/2022 at 14:38, MidlandRed said:

@br2975, do you think these workings would have been class 37s had the large quantity of them not been transferred to the NER and ScR between 1965 and 1966? Noting that Anthony Sayer’s book does refer to lighter workings for some collieries in the Valleys being considered potentially suitable for the class 14s. 
 

Another matter which added to the justification for the class 14s appears to have been the 31st December 1965 end of steam date for the WR, which appears to have been a sacrosanct date - meaning duties would be available between then and later in the 60s.  Yet another factor - the Birmingham and Cambrian areas were moved to the LMR - steam was still operating from Tyseley after the end of 1965, so I guess it’s conceivable class 14s could have taken over some duties in these areas if the boundary changes hadn’t occurred. That they didn’t operate in Devon and Cornwall with the inherited SR lines (which closed in late 66) seems to have been down to duties being covered by class 22s (and DMUs). 
 

Altogether a very interesting class - and series of circumstances and factors which gave rise to them. It’s also clear a decent amount of use was obtained from at least part of the class on BR. The story at Hull is equally perplexing!! 

The story at Hull is not really perplexing, the class was brought in to eliminate steam in the area, which it did. Having worked with many ex Dairycoates maintenance staff they all told the same story about the Paxmans. The shed master at the time was looking for traction to replace steam, but was looking to reduce some of his maintenance costs mainly in the electrical side so thought the Paxmans would be ideal for trip work in the area. When they arrived the short comings of the class soon became apparent, ie lack of brake force, cylinder head leaks etc. The brake force issue was soon over come by double heading. Most of them did provide some useful service in the short stay at Dairycoates. However like the western traffic for them was disappearing at quite a rate. When they withdrawn in April 68 it was month or so before the replacements arrived in the shape of EE type 1s, six in number. Also there was a reshuffle of EE type 3 diagram, which include Dairycoates loosing six or so type 3s. The NTP is the main reason for the demise of the 33 Paxmans at Dairycoates, even though they were not the problematic and did have quite a reasonable availability figure.

 

I can remember seeing nearly all the local Paxmans out and about in the area, most mainly on the Hessle Quarry to Wilmington turns.

 

Al Taylor

Edited April 3, 2022 by 45125
Spelling

[MidlandRed]

There is coverage of the class in operation at Hull in the book, and as you say, they got some use over the period to withdrawal - however there are a number of other twists in it from what you’ve mentioned, including adverse publicity in the local (and national) press about their non-use in the first few months, some matters based on minutes of a meeting to discuss this subject involving Regional staff and the NTP where it appears steam use had continued. All v interesting! The dieselisation included batches of class 37s as well as the 14s, and then the class 20s. 

[Strathwood]

Just a tip, but the next Diesel Dawn will be on the D9500 Class 14s, and we will be carrying them of course in January.

 

Kevin