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D0260, named Lion, was a prototype Type 4 mainline diesel-electric locomotive built in 1962 by a consortium of Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, Sulzer the engine maker and Associated Electrical Industries, at BRCW's Smethwick works near Birmingham.
The locomotive's number was derived from its works number, DEL260.
Lion was a private venture to meet a requirement from British Railways for a powerful locomotive of Co-Co wheel arrangement, as a substitute for the earlier 1Co-Co1 locomotives such as the Peak classes. The specifications were revealed by the British Transport Commission (BTC) at a meeting on 15 January 1960. [i] Train heating was to be by both steam and electric train heating (ETH). [1] [ii] Unlike the earlier Pilot Scheme, the BTC expected that these prototypes would be funded by the makers, rather than bulk orders being placed sight-unseen. [1] For the Type 4, that gave rise to three prototypes: Falcon, DP2 and Lion, the latter two leading to the Class 50 and Class 47.
Lion used a more powerful development of the same engine as the Class 44 Peaks, [2] but lighter overall [iii] and with a more reliable bogie design. [4] It was of Co-Co wheel arrangement and was fitted with a twin-bank Sulzer 12LDA28C engine of 2,750 hp (2,050 kW). It was a development of the 2,300 hp (1,700 kW) 12LDA28A used for the Peaks. [iv] At that time, the Sulzer engines were favoured over English Electric's V12 option, despite their greater cost of £45,000 vs. £26,000, and their weight of 22.3 tons vs 19.4 tons. [6]
The locomotive had a design maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) and weight of 114 long tons (116 t; 128 short tons). The design dimensions of both Lion and the Class 47 were the same, although the Class 47 ended up a few tons overweight. [7]
Lion's overall construction was as a truss from bufferbeam to bufferbeam, using the full height of the body to cant rail level as the structure. It was built from welded thin steel sheet, as either sheet or pressings. This gave a structure which was stiff and strong, yet avoided the weight of heavy underfloor girder sections. Truss structures had been used previously for the Peaks, although with the channel underframe as well, but these had been the diagonally-braced Pratt truss, which limited access through the sides [v] and made access for maintenance difficult, often requiring an overhead crane. Lion used the uncommon Vierendeel truss, which is characterised by its rectangular openings. [8] Although an inefficient structure for bridges, owing to the restricted bracing, the openings allowed better access through the body sides and Lion had central access doors for servicing. The driver's doors were also openings in the truss, which could extend to the full length of the bodyshell and cabs. [vi]
Engine cooling was performed entirely in the roof section above the cant rail, explaining the lack of large cooling grilles in the body sides. The cooling group was provided by Serck and used two radiators in a removable pack in the roof over the Nº1 end and the Spanner Swirlyflow steam heating boiler. Air was drawn in from the sides, through the panels, and exhausted upwards in the centre by two electric fans. [10] The main roof section, above the engine, was unusual in that it was a translucent fibreglass moulding, which provided light into the engine room, despite the body's small windows. This lightweight moulding could be raised upwards by pneumatic cylinders when stationary, to act as an air vent before needing access to the engine. The roof could then be slid lengthways, allowing fairly major engine servicing such as piston replacement, without needing a large overhead crane to remove a metal roof. [10] The oil-wetted engine air filters were also mounted in the roof section, leaving more space in the body. [11]
The external styling, particularly the cab design and its fibreglass roof panels, resembled the Class 35 Hymeks, as they shared the same designer. [12] The outer cladding skin was a load-bearing steel sheet. As such skins otherwise tended to show uneven ripples, Lion had this stiffened by five lengthwise fluted ribs. The livery stood out from other locomotives, although also showed dirt, as it was painted white overall with the side ribs picked out in gold.
BR tested it initially on Western Region services out of London Paddington based at Wolverhampton Stafford Road Shed. Later it moved to Finsbury Park on the Eastern Region for services London King's Cross. However, BR decided to purchase its new Type 4 fleet from Brush Traction (the Class 47) and so D0260 was withdrawn in February 1964.
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Full details of Lion's final withdrawal have never been fully made public, and even the BRC&W workforce were not informed of its fate. But at some time after withdrawal, Lion was moved to AEI's works at Attercliffe where AEI became responsible for stripping the locomotive, primarily to recover their electrical components. During this process Sulzer recovered their 12LDA28C power unit and radiators (the engine was sent to be reconditioned at Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness, and was subsequently installed into an unknown production Class 47). What remained, principally the body shell and bogies, were scrapped at the Attercliffe yard of scrap merchant Thos. W. Ward. The date on which Ward finally cut up the remains is unclear. One report puts it as late as 1965.
D0260 Lion available as a kit and ready-to-run in 00 gauge by Silver Fox Models. [13] [14]
There is now a limited edition, of 4,000, 00 gauge model of Lion in its white livery produced by Heljan. [15]
D0280 Falcon was a single prototype diesel-electric locomotive, built for British Railways in 1961. It was one of a series of three prototypes: Falcon, DP2 and Lion, eventually leading to the Class 47 and Class 50. A requirement was expressed by the BTC at a meeting on 15 January 1960 for new Type 4 designs of Co-Co arrangement, which would be lighter than the earlier 1Co-Co1 locomotives such as the Peak classes, produced under the Pilot Scheme.
The Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRC&W) was a railway locomotive and carriage builder, founded in Birmingham, England and, for most of its existence, located at nearby Smethwick, with the factory divided by the boundary between the two places. The company was established in 1854.
The British Rail Class 47 or Brush Type 4 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Brush's Falcon Works in Loughborough and at British Railways' Crewe Works between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British mainline diesel locomotive.
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The British Rail Class 26 diesel locomotives, also known as the BRCW Type 2, were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRCW) at Smethwick in 1958–59. Forty seven examples were built, and the last were withdrawn from service in 1994. Like their higher-powered sisters, the BRCW Classes 27 and 33, they had all-steel bodies and cab ends with fibreglass cab roofs. They were numbered D5300-D5346.
HS4000 Kestrel was a prototype high-powered mainline diesel locomotive that was built in 1967 by Brush Traction, Loughborough, as a technology demonstrator for potential future British Rail and export orders. The locomotive number is a combination of the initials of Hawker Siddeley and the power rating of its Sulzer diesel engine (4,000 hp), making it the most powerful locomotive built by the company.
Although prototype diesel locomotives ran in Britain before World War II, the railways of both the Republic and Northern Ireland changed over much more rapidly from steam to diesel traction than those in Britain, due to the island's limited coal reserves and an ageing steam locomotive fleet.
DP2, meaning Development Prototype number 2, was a prototype Type 4 mainline diesel locomotive, built by English Electric in 1962. DP2 was effectively the prototype for the later Class 50; it trialled the engine and electronic systems later used in that class of locomotives.
A road switcher locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive designed to both haul railcars in mainline service and shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar types have been used elsewhere.
The British Rail Class 44 or Sulzer Type 4 diesel locomotives were built by British Railways' Derby Works between 1959 and 1960, intended for express passenger services. They were originally numbered D1-D10 and named after mountains in England and Wales, and, along with the similar Class 45 and 46 locomotives, they became known as Peaks.
The British Rail Class 45 or Sulzer Type 4 are diesel locomotives built by British Railways' Derby and Crewe Works between 1960 and 1962. Along with the similar Class 44 and 46 locomotives, they became known as Peaks.
The British Rail Class 20, otherwise known as an English Electric Type 1, is a class of diesel-electric locomotive. In total, 228 locomotives in the class were built by English Electric between 1957 and 1968, the large number being in part because of the failure of other early designs in the same power range to provide reliable locomotives.
The British Rail Class 17 was a class of 117 Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives built 1962–1965 by Clayton Equipment Company and their sub-contractor Beyer, Peacock & Co., on behalf of British Railways (BR).
The British Rail Class 25, also known as the Sulzer Type 2, is a class of 327 diesel locomotives built between 1961 and 1967 for British Rail. They were numbered in two series, D5151–D5299 and D7500–D7677.
The British Rail Class 33, also known as the BRCW Type 3 or Crompton, is a class of Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives, ordered in 1957 and built for the Southern Region of British Railways between 1960 and 1962.
The British Rail Class 46 is a class of diesel locomotive. They were built from 1961 to 1963 at British Railways' Derby Works and were initially numbered D138–D193. With the arrival of TOPS they were renumbered to Class 46. Along with the similar Class 44 and 45 locomotives, they became known as Peaks.
Co-Co is the wheel arrangement for diesel and electric locomotives with two six-wheeled bogies with all axles powered, with a separate traction motor per axle. The equivalent UIC classification (Europe) for this arrangement is Co′Co′, or C-C for AAR.
The British Rail Class 27 is a diesel locomotive built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRCW) during 1961 and 1962. They were a development of the earlier Class 26; both were originally classified as the BRCW Type 2. The Class 27s were numbered D5347-D5415.
British Railways 10800 was a diesel locomotive built by the North British Locomotive Company for British Railways in 1950. It had been ordered by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1946 but did not appear until after the 1948 nationalisation of the railways.
The Condor was an overnight fast freight train service operated by British Railways between London and Glasgow from 1959 until 1965 with all freight carried in containers. The name was derived from 'CONtainers DOoR-to-Door'.
