DIESEL
LOCOMOTIVES PREVIOUSLY AT BLAENAVON
Page first uploaded 17June 2006
Restructured
This
page, which describes the diesel locos that have left site, needs photographs
to complete it. Further information is
also needed
on some of the locos. If you can help please email webmaster@pontypool-and-blaenavon.co.uk
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Class 73/1 Electro-diesel No.73133 Locomotive details:- Built:1966 at Vulcan
Foundry. Wheel Arrangement: Bo-Bo Power unit: Third rail
electric yielding 1600hp or diesel 4SRKT, Mk2 engine yielding 600hp Transmission: Electric Traction motors -
4xEE546-1B These
are primarily electric locomotives, and were designed to work normally on the
Southern Region third rail electrified lines.
However in order for them to work into those few areas where the
third-rail had not been laid, they were also fitted with relatively small
diesel engine and generator sets. The
first six of this class were built at Eastleigh in 1962, when they were
called class JA, but so successful were they that many more were ordered from
English Electric at Newton-le-Willows.
These were called class JB. In
the later TOPS scheme they were referred to as class 73/0 and class 73/1
respectively.. It once carried the
nameplates 'The Bluebell Railway' but currently works without them, but is
finished in overall blue. 73133, which
was hired for six-months arrived on 12 June 06 and left on |
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This photo, scanned from our 1990 Stockbook, may appear with a regular
patterning, due to the printing process used in the original stockbook. If this is a problem, changing the
magnification of the image will sometimes improve matters |
Drewry 0-6-0DM Locomotive
Details:- Builder'. Vulcan Foundry
Ltd . Newton-le-Willows. Built: 1948. Wheel Arrangement; 0-6-0
Diesel Mechanical. Power: 204 H.P . Works No. : 2252/D78. Although this locomotive was
built by the Vulcan Foundry Ltd. at their works in Lancashire it was designed
by the Drewry car Company Ltd. of London.
This particular locomotive design is of interest in that it is a
forerunner of the BR 0-6-0 DM class 04 shunter ordered in 1950. The 204hp 8 cylinder Gardner BL3 engine
installed in this locomotive was used extensively by British Rail and
industrial companies in small shunting locomotives. Named
‘Gwent’ while owned by A.R. Adams of Newport Docks, the locomotive was hired
out to various concerns during the l970s. By 1982 the locomotive had lost its
name but had gained a light blue livery.
Soon after arrival at Blaenavon green livery was applied and vacuum
exhausters fitted to enable it to operate on passenger trains. Whilst it was mainly used on work trains
it also worked the passenger trains during the 1985 season. It left Blaenavon shortly after for Mangapps Farm Railway
Museum where she is currently
operational. There she sports the
spurious number 11104, and is adapted to resemble a BR 'Wisbech and Upwell'
Tram Engine. |
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No photo available |
0-4-0 English Electric ‘Inco’ D1205 Locomotive
Details:- Builder'. Vulcan Foundry
Ltd . Newton-le-Willows. Built: Not known. Wheel Arrangement; 0-4-0 Power: Not known. Ex-Inco
(Newport) steelworks loco. Removed
from site around 1998. Whereabouts
currently unknown, but it is reported to have been seen at Barrow Hill. We have recently heard that this loco was
scrapped in early 2006. l |
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No photo available |
John Fowler 0-4-0DM ‘Woodpecker’ Locomotive
Details:- Builder: John Fowler & Co (Leeds) Ltd. Wheel Arrangement; 0-4-0
Diesel Mechanical. Works No.22871. This tiny locomotive arrived at Blaenavon in the early days
of the railway having previously worked for Bulmer’s Cider at Hereford. She left Blaenavon in the mid-eighties
having been overcome by engine problems.
She has now been cosmetically restored and can be viewed at Causeway
Hotel, at Hurn in |
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Class 50 English Electric Co-Co 50029
‘Renown’ Locomotive Details:- Builders: English Electric Co Ltd at
Vulcan Works, Newton-le-Willows Build
Dates: 1967/1968 Numbers: 50001 - 50050 Original
Numbers: D400 - D449 Engine: EE 16CSVT 16 Cyl. Pressure Charged Engine
BHP: 2700 @ 850 RPM Main
generator: EE840/4B Aux
generator: EE911/5C Traction
Motors: Six EE 538/5A nose suspended Max
Tractive Effort: 48,500lb ft Brake
Force: 99 tons Length: 68ft 6in Width: 8ft 10in Height: 12ft 9in Weight: 115 Tons in working order Fuel
Tank: 1055 Gallons Coolant
: 200 Gallons Oil
Tank: 130 Gallons Max
Speed: 100 mph Route Availability: 6 This
class of 50 locomotives was built for services on the Crewe-Glasgow section
of the West Coast Main Line (WCML), which included the famous banks over Shap
and Beattock. They worked this route
until electrification was completed in 1974, when they were transferred to
the Western Region, and to a lesser extent to the Southerm Region for
Waterloo to Exeter services. They were
all rebuilt at Doncaster between 1979 and 1984, but to the end were plagued by
main generator failures due to problems with the ventilation systems, and to
their complex control gear. Many
examples were preserved. Both
50029 ‘Renown’ and 50030 ‘Repulse’ arrived in the early 1990s as part of the
‘Operation Collingwood’ initiative.
Unfortunately this plan foundered and the locos both left Blaenavon in
early 2002. They were was purchased by
Renown Repulse
Restoration Group, and taken to Peak Rail, at
Rowsley in Derbyshire, where the locos are undergoing energetic restoration. 50043
‘Eagle’ also arrived in the early nineties.
During the next decade she had a number of owners, and there was
frequently confusion as to just who her owner was. She changed hands for the last time in
2001, and was subsequently cut up in early 2002 at Blaenavon. The loco’s
bogies were stored at Blaenavon and finally left in May 2005 for Renown Repulse Restoration
Group at Rowsley. photos: Ross Aitken |
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Hunslet 0-6-0DH ‘John Roden’ Locomotive
Details:- Builder: Hunslet Engine Company (Leeds). Built: not known, works no.
D5511. Wheel Arrangement; 0-6-0
Diesel Mechanical. This loco, privately owned by the two-man
‘Hunslet Owners Group’ worked at Blaenavon from the mid-nineties until it
left Blaenavon in December 2002 for the Gloucester and Warwickshire railway
at Toddington, still with the same owners.
That said, there is no mention of the loco on their website, nor on
any other relevant website. The loco was built as a ‘demonstrator’ loco by
Hunslet and previously worked at the Thomas Ness Tar works at
Caerphilly. As a demonstrator she had
a rather novel and complex gearbox which gave trouble throughout her stay at
Blaenavon. Restored to a high cosmetic
standard, she was popular at galas on short demonstration freight trains with
the steady throb of her six cylinder Gardner engine much appreciated. Being remarkably light on her feet was able
to cross the rail-over-rail bridge and shunt the bottom yard, the only loco
other than Sentinel able to perform the task around this time. |
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Hibberd ‘Planet’ 3832 Locomotive
Details:- Builder: F Hibberd Co. Ltd., of Park Royal, Built: 1957, works no. 3832 Wheel Arrangement; 0-4-0
Diesel Mechanical. Engine: Dorman of 117HP Weight: 23 tons This chain-driven loco originally worked for
Dorman Long at their foundry in Middlesborough. Around 1974 it was acquired Frank Berry of Leicester,
who then sold it on to Vaynor Quarries Ltd for use at their Machen Quarry.
1986 saw it pass through dealer Thomas Hill Ltd of Kilnhurst in South
Yorkshire, to British Industrial Sand Ltd at Redhill, Surrey. It returned to Wales in the mid –nineties
when it was stored at Blaenavon for the Bridgend Valleys
Railway until they recovered it in 1999.
A year later, when
the BVR decided to standardise on the hydraulic version, 3832 was purchased
by the Torridge Diesel Locomotive
Company, who have based it at their associated Bideford and Instow
Railway. Although we normally try and
present images of locos at Blaenavon, we simply couldn’t resist this photo of
3832 all-spruced up at Bideford. Photo: Clive Fairchild |
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Hibberd ‘Planet’ 4006 Locomotive
Details:- Builder:
F Hibberd Co. Ltd., of Park Royal, Built: 1963, works no. 4006 Wheel Arrangement; 0-4-0 Diesel Hydraulic. Engine: Dorman of 117HP Weight: 23 tons This loco – the hydraulic version – so far as
we can determine also worked at BIS Redhill, until, in the mid-nineties it
was stored at Blaenavon for the Bridgend Valleys Railway. They recovered it in 1999. It was joined by Planet 3890 of 1958 (which
replaced 3832, noted above), and so far as we are aware, both locos remain
there, at Pontycymmer. Image reproduced from: http://members.aol.com/Walesrails/bvrs.htm |
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No picture available |
Class 50 English Electric Co-Co ‘Illustrious’ Barely
qualifying for entry here, but a class 50 cab was at Blaenavon for several
years. Believed to be from 50037
‘Illustrious’, it was removed by a private owner for restoration in
Sheffield. |
