CTRL
Happenings – March 2007
D9529
works an engineers train at Ebbsfleet Station on March 14 2007
Class 14 in BR Service
Work continues apace with the last phase before the
anticipated opening in November 2007. Some venerable diesel shunters from the
British Railways modernisation era of the 1960’s have put in appearance on
works trains in the form of the TOPS Class 14, formerly Type 1, Class D9500.
Their nickname was the “Teddy Bears”
These were the last
diesel-hydraulic class to be built by BR at Swindon Works, during 1964/5
and numbered D9500-D9555. They became the shortest lived BR diesel class with
withdrawals beginning at the end of 1967.
Loco D9529,
current running No 14029, is at present on contract hire for the CTRL phase 2
works. D2529 is one of the 1965 built batch, having worked for the British Steel
Corporation and Victa Rail after withdrawal. In preservation, she was based
among other places at The Nene Valley Railway and Chatham Dockyard. She moved to
Beechbrook Farm in 2000. The loco is currently based at Swanscombe CTRL MPD.
Specification
Engine:
Paxman Six Cylinder 6YXJ (650hp)
Transmission: Hydraulic - Voith
Wheel Arrangement: 0-6-0
Total Preserved: 19
The class 14’s totalled 56, all of which entered traffic. They were introduced to work short trip freights at the same time that this traffic was being lost to road transport. The locos were withdrawn and stored during 1967/1968 and many were subsequently sold into industrial use, mainly with the National Coal Board and The British Steel Corporation, with some going to Italy and Spain .Although designated Class 14 in TOPS none survived long enough to be renumbered and none were ever painted in BR Blue livery while in BR ownership.