North British 0-6-0DH

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The sheer size of the North British locomotive company in Glasgow meant that in order to be profitable, they had to manufacture as much as possible of the locomotive in-house. In steam production days, this was perfectly practical, but the development of diesel and electric propulsion after 1945 resulted in locomotive manufacturers buying-in much of the locomotive as finished components (i.e engine, transmission components, cooler groups, etc). NB addressed the problem by visualising building such components themselves under licence, and entered into manufacturing agreements with MAN  for engines and Voith for transmissions. Their first such loco - "Coronation" (1953) - used a Paxman engine and German-made Voith, and was formerly part of Andrew's collection.

Sadly, the conventional view is that applying "steam loco" manufacturing standards and practices did not suit the more finely-engineered engines and transmissions, while NB's locos for BR under the 1955 Modernisation Programme spectacularly failed to impress. With Britain having lost many of its traditional locomotive markets thanks to wartime priorities, the volume of locomotive work at NB dropped and the company struggled to survive.

When the North British company finally collapsed, its goodwill was aquired by Barclays but the “population” of NB diesel locos reduced as many parts became unobtainable. There were tales in the locomotive industry of engines running with pistons removed or "You want a valve spring? We'll send you a selection, pick the right one and send the rest back..."  indicating that NB's policy of making main components themselves left a legacy of problems for operators that resulted in otherwise rugged locomotives being scrapped before their time.

Showing signs of heavy abuse, it will require considerable work including a new fabricated cab, but more worryingly when being shunted the wheels are liable to lock-up and slide, suggesting that the final drive stage (the forward/reverse jackshaft at the back of the Voith) may have a problem - e.g. broken gear teeth. Since the condition of the Voith unit itself is an unknown, and seriously limits the possible engines that can be fitted to match with it, Andrew is planning instead to use the more familiar Twin Disc converter/RF11 final drive route when the locomotive reaches its turn in the priority queue. (The MoD, who had a class of 0-4-0DH North British locos, adopted a similar approach and had two rebuilt with 6RPH Paxmans driving a special version of the CF11500 converter and Hunslet gearbox, but unfortunately the conversion was judged too expensive to continue through the remainder.)   Nonetheless the external outline and chassis of the NB loco will be retained.

More photos of this loco can be found in the Gallery section, here