Related Research Articles
A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as switching (US) or shunting (UK). Switchers are not intended for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains in order for another locomotive to take over. They do this in classification yards. Switchers may also make short transfer runs and even be the only motive power on branch lines and switching and terminal railroads. The term can also be used to describe the workers operating these engines or engaged in directing shunting operations. Switching locomotives may be purpose-built engines, but may also be downgraded main-line engines, or simply main-line engines assigned to switching. Switchers can also be used on short excursion train rides.
The British Rail Class 01 diesel locomotive was a short wheelbase 0-4-0 diesel-mechanical design intended for use in areas with tight curves and limited clearance.
The British Rail Class 05 is a class of 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunters built by Hunslet Engine Company from 1955 to 1961. They were used on the Eastern and Scottish Regions of British Railways. The first two batches were delivered as 11136-11143 and 11161-11176. Subsequent locomotives were delivered, new, as D2574-D2618.
The British Rail Class 08 is a class of diesel-electric shunting locomotive built by British Railways (BR). As the standard BR general-purpose diesel shunter, the class became a familiar sight at major stations and freight yards. Since their introduction in 1952 however, the nature of rail traffic in Britain has changed considerably. Freight trains are now mostly fixed rakes of wagons, and passenger trains are mostly multiple units or have Driving Van Trailers, neither requiring the attention of a shunting locomotive. Consequently, a large proportion of the class has been withdrawn from mainline use and stored, scrapped, exported or sold to industrial or heritage railways.
The British Rail Class 11 was applied to a batch of diesel shunting locomotives built from April 1945 to December 1952, based on a similar earlier batch built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) between 1934 and 1936.
The British Rail Class 12 is a diesel locomotive built primarily for shunting duties around London.
The Hunslet Engine Company was founded in 1864 in Hunslet, Leeds, England. The company manufactured steam-powered shunting locomotives for over 100 years, and currently manufactures diesel-engined shunting locomotives. It is owned by Ed Murray & Sons.
The British Railways Class D3/7 is a class of 0-6-0 diesel electric shunting locomotives built as LMS Nos. 7080–7119. The class were built from May 1939 through to July 1942 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at their Derby Works using a diesel electric transmission supplied by English Electric.
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) pioneered the use of diesel shunting locomotives in Great Britain. The variety of experimental and production diesel shunters produced by the LMS is summarised below.
The Great Western Railway purchased two diesel shunters, and ordered a further seven immediately prior to Nationalisation, which were delivered to British Rail in 1948–49. The two shunters used by the GWR were numbered 1 and 2, while a series commencing at 501 was planned for the new locomotives ordered in the 1940s. British Rail numbered 2 and the new locomotives in a series commencing at 15100.
No. 1831 was an experimental diesel hydraulic shunter built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1931/3, which pioneered diesel shunting in the UK.
LMS diesel shunter 7050 is an experimental 0-4-0 diesel-mechanical shunting locomotive, introduced by the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1934 and which remained in service with that railway for six years. It was later acquired for military use and is now preserved at the National Railway Museum.
The British Rail Class D3/6 were diesel shunters designed in 1934/5 by English Electric for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. (LMSR)
British Rail class D3/12 was a class of three experimental diesel-electric shunting locomotives designed by Richard Maunsell of the Southern Railway in 1937. They quickly proved their effectiveness, and although they were not immediately replicated due to the advent of the Second World War, the class were the basis for a larger class of similar locomotives introduced by Oliver Bulleid in 1949.
The Drewry Car Co was a railway locomotive and railcar manufacturer and sales organisation from 1906 to 1984. At the start and the end of its life it built its own products, for the rest of the time it sold vehicles manufactured by sub-contractors. It was separate from the lorry-builder, Shelvoke & Drewry, but it is believed that James Sidney Drewry was involved with both companies.
London Midland and Scottish Railway diesel locomotive 7051 was built by the Hunslet Engine Company to demonstrate its wares. After public exhibition in February 1932, it was used for trials at a colliery, before being tested by the LMS. After further public exhibition in February 1933, it was at last purchased by the LMS in May 1933. It was loaned to the War Department from August 1940, which numbered it 27. During 1941–1944 it was returned to the LMS, but in August 1944 it returned to the WD, now numbered 70027. After the end of World War II it was returned to the LMS, but was withdrawn in December 1945 and resold back to Hunslet. Hunslet used the locomotive as a works shunter, but it was also available for hire, and spent time at oil refineries in Essex and with British Railways.
LMS diesel shunter 7053 carried its original number of 7403 only within the Hunslet Engine Company's works, and was delivered as LMS number 7053. It was of almost exactly the same size and shape as LMS diesel shunter 7052, but had different internal fittings. It was loaned to the War Department between 1939-1942, which numbered it 23. Immediately upon return to the LMS, in December 1942, it was withdrawn from stock and sold back to Hunslet. No further use was found for it and it was eventually dismantled during the mid-1950s.
LMS diesel shunter 7054 was initially allocated the number 7404 but this number was never carried. It was supplied by the Hunslet Engine Company in 1934. Testing started in October 1934 and it was taken into LMS stock in November 1934.
LMS diesel shunter 7057, later to become NCC Class 22, was built by Harland & Wolff. Testing started in July 1934 and the locomotive was taken into LMS stock in February 1935. It was loaned to the War Department between 1941-1943, which numbered it 233. It was withdrawn from LMS stock in January 1944 and sold back to Harland & Wolff, which rebuilt it with a new 225 hp (168 kW) engine and converted it to the 5 ft 3 in gauge. It was then sold to the Northern Counties Committee, which numbered it 22. It was finally withdrawn in April 1965 and scrapped at the close of that year.
The War Department ex-LMS Fowler Class 3F consisted of 8 LMS Fowler Class 3F 0-6-0T steam locomotives requisitioned in 1940 from the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS).
References
- Marsden, Colin (1981). The diesel shunter: a pictorial record. Oxford: Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0860931080.
- Strickland, David C. (September 1983). Locomotive Directory: Every Single One There Has Ever Been. Camberley: Diesel and Electric Group. ISBN 978-0-906375-10-5. OCLC 16601890. OL 27959920M. Wikidata Q105978499.