British Railways, Swindon 0-6-0DH

D9524 (14 901)

The manufacture, by BR Swindon workshops, of 56 48ton 0-6-0DHs using Paxman engines and Voith transmissions in the mid 1960s is generally perceived as a wasteful mistake. The duties the locos were designed to perform (they were envisaged as the diesel equivalent of an 0-6-0 pannier tank) were disappearing fast under the effects of modernisation and Beeching-closures.

1. the Paxman engine was removed and a Dorman 8QT engine fitted
2. as the Dorman maximum revs were 1800 rather than the 1500 for the Paxman, the Voith input gearing was changed in order to maintain transmission performance. The Voith hydraulic control unit was plugged to limit the loco's speed to the lowest range.
3. all the 110V electrical system was removed, in favour of dynamo-direct lighting (24V) and air start.
4. The vacuum brake system was removed and twin-pipe air braking fitted, resulting in re-arrangement of the control desk to suit the non-electric controls and new braking systems.
5. compressors which had previously been driven by 110V motors were replaced by BroomWade compressors which were belt driven.

In this form it operated at Grangemouth until c.1981, but the Dorman Q range had a propensity to "put a leg out of bed" and that in D9524 was no exception. With more oil being transferred by pipe-line than by rail, and flameproofing standards having been made more stringent, BP donated the loco to the Scottish RPS, then based at Falkirk.

The SRPS removed the Dorman and installed a Rolls-Royce DV8TCE engine, aquired as a stand-by generator from the GPO in a basement of a Glasgow Post Office. It is thus unique in being the only Class 14 to be R-R powered. (An ironic twist - in 1978 Thomas Hills were expecting an order from BSC Corby Minerals to repower an initial 3 of the class from Paxman to DV8. The refusal of BSC to approve the expenditure caused the Corby Chief Engineer to say - "That's it, they're closing us down" and within months its closure was announced.  Thomas Hills had been so confident of the business that they had already ordered the engines from Rolls-Royce Diesel Division - their parent company - and could not cancel.  The engines languished at TH's Kilnhurst works for several years.)

Having got D9524 to work on the Rolls' engine and having found and removed the transmission plugs that prevented the loco from "changing up", it seems the volunteers at Falkirk hit snags - not the least of which was the neccessity of relocating to B'oness part way through -  and the project stalled, as anecdotally they could not get it to haul more than two carriages and that at low speed. The loco was last trialled c.1998 and offered for sale.  Because of its uniqueness and stories of its poor performance it attracted little interest but eventually was sold in 2006 to Middle Peak Railways and then on to RMS Locotec, coming south first to RMS' Wakefield works and then to Elsecar, at which place it was later acquired by Andrew. Some unexpected publicity resulted when during initial examination, it was found to be home to a family of feral cats. Recovering the mother and kittens proved to be rather problematic, attracting press and tv coverage and resulting in an award from the RSPCA for Andrew!

Assessment showed that much work would be required to improve the pneumatic and electrical installations before any attempt to run the loco could be made. Months were spent during 2008 replacing air pipes, and installing traywork to carry flexible piping and cabling. By early 2009 attempts were made to start the engine - eventually revealing that somewhow the locomotive had arrived at Elsecar with fuel injector pipes in the wrong order. As received the loco had only one starter motor (and that with defective clutches) and although Rolls-Royce claimed that a DV8 could be started on one motor at temperatures down to freezing point, that did not take account of the loads imposed by compressors and Voith. A second starter was fitted before the engine finally ran, followed by successfully having the output shaft of the Voith turning. At this point it was apparent that the forward/reverse selector shaft of the Hunslet gearbox was seized from 10 years of dis-use. Two weekends spent pumping the shaft to-and-fro with an enerpac however freed it off and during March 2009, it powered itself down the line from Elsecar on a clearance run, escorted by Andrew's WD 72229 0-4-0DM which provided additional air capacity. By April 5th, the air leaks and compressor on D9524 had been sorted and it ran solo to Hemingfield (where pictured below). You can see film clips of its first start, and early test runs, on You tube - see the Weblinks section of this site.

Following acceptance inspection in late August 2009, the locomotive was in passenger traffic on the Elsecar Heritage Railway. During the Diesel Gala on August 31st, it suffered from a primary fuel filter blockage. The fuel tanks were therefore opened up and cleaned, taking the opportunity to replace a defective fuel gauge and modify two tank breather pipes. The loco entered the Elsecar workshops for bodywork attention and repainting in March/April 2010, appearing in an interpretation of BR's 'large logo' livery (top of page).

It performed at the Elsecar Diesel Gala (May 2nd/3rd, 2010), passenger services on the 16th  and moved on the 18th  to the Midland Railway at Butterley for the Diesel Gala in May (see "Utterley Butterley -1") and the Shunter Gala in June (see "Utterley Butterley -2").

On 1st July it moved to Peak Rail and will remain there until the autumn - see the "Anything Goes"  news here. The loco is expected to carry out works trains and be stand-by passenger loco, but first it was deemed essential to cure excessive vibration.

Note on the number: Class 14s were allocated the TOPS class code but none carried the TOPS number or 'corporate blue' livery in BR service. (We find it easier to call them "14s" than "D95'ers" - their other epithet). Several Class 14s now sport blue and at least one the 14-0XX number that it would have carried had it remained longer in service. The "14-901" was applied by the SRPS, reflecting BR practice of creating a "sub-class" when mods were carried out to one or more in a class of locos. It has, of course, now carried the 14-901 number longer than its D9524 or BP Grangemouth numbers - so which is more appropriate?

Was the engine now in 14 901 ever fitted to a class 17 ("Clayton")? According to an SRPS member involved at the time, the history of the engine was that the GPO bought it from St Rollox works at the time the '17s were being scrapped there, but then had it overhauled for fitment to their alternator. With no engine number or other data plate on the DV8, the exact identity cannot be established, and it may have been used as an "old unit" for service exchange purposes. Undoubtedly the engine now in 14 901 had been 'dressed' as a gen-set/constant speed engine would be, whereas a loco engine is normally variable speed and have other differences. The important point, that as a "stand-by" generator the engine had been maintained but had few accrued hours, so hopefully will have many years at the heart of 14 901. 

See more pictures in the Gallery section, here..