The Clayton Type 1 Bo Bo Diesel Electric Locomotives British Railways Class 17

This informative, illustrated guide to the British Railways locomotive series covers its full production lifespan, from 1962–1965. In the early 1960s, the Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotive known as The Clayton was conceived as the new standard for British Railways, superseding other Type 1 classes. While the early classes suffered from poor driver visibility, the Claytons were highly successful and popular with operating crews. However, the largely untested high-speed, flat Paxman engines proved to be highly problematic. As a result, the Claytons were eventually withdrawn from BR service by December 1971. Anthony Sayer draws on considerable amounts of archive material to tell the full story of these ‘Standard Type 1’ locomotives and the issues surrounding their rise and fall. Further sources provide insights into the effort and money expended on the Claytons in a desperate attempt to improve their reliability. Supported by over 280 photographs and diagrams, dramatic new insights into this troubled class have been assembled for both historians and modelers alike.

The 'Claytons' were originally conceived as the British Railways "standard" Type 1 diesel-electric locomotive, superseding other Type 1 classes delivered as part of the 'Pilot Scheme' fleet. The early classes suffered from poor driver visibility, and the plan from 1962 was for subsequent trip-freight and local yard shunting locomotives to be centre-cab machines with low bonnets to dramatically improve visibility.To this extent the Claytons were highly successful and popular with operating crews. However, the largely untested high-speed, flat Paxman engines proved to be highly problematical, resulting in deliveries being curtailed after 117 locomotives. Further requirements for Type 1 locomotives after 1965 were met by reverting to one of the original 'Pilot' designs! Deteriorating traffic levels ultimately led to the Claytons being withdrawn from BR service by December 1971.Considerable amounts of archive material have been unearthed to enable the issues surrounding the rise and fall of the 'Standard Type 1' locomotives to be fully explored. Further sources provide insights into the effort and money expended on the Claytons in a desperate attempt to improve their reliability. Individual locomotive record cards, together with personal sighting information, allow histories of each class member to be developed including allocations, works visits, liveries and disposal details.Supported by over 280 photographs and diagrams, dramatic new insights into this troubled class have been assembled for both historians and modellers alike.

A thorough history of the Metropolitan-Vickers locomotive, also known as “Class 28,” featuring 160 color and black & white photos. This book provides an in-depth history of the Metropolitan-Vickers diesel-electric Type 2 locomotives, more frequently known collectively as the “Co-Bo’s” due to their unusual wheel arrangement. Twenty locomotives were constructed during the late-1950s for use on the London Midland Region of British Railways. The fleet was fraught with difficulties from the start, most notably due to problems with their Crossley engines, this necessitating the need for extensive rehabilitation work during the early-1960s. Matters barely improved and the option to completely re-engine the locomotives with English Electric units was debated at length, but a downturn in traffic levels ultimately resulted in their demise by the end of 1968 prior to any further major rebuilding work being carried out. Significant quantities of new archive and personal sighting information, supported by over 180 photographs and diagrams, have been brought together to allow dramatic new insights into this enigmatic class of locomotives, including the whole debate surrounding potential re-engining, their works histories, the extended periods in storage, together with in-depth reviews of the various detail differences and liveries.

The British Railways ‘Pilot Scheme’ orders of 1955 included ten BTH and ten NBL Type 1 locomotives, these being introduced during 1957-61 for use in East London, and on the Great Eastern and London, Tilbury & Southend lines. The BTH fleet subsequently expanded to forty-four, as a consequence of their light axle-loading and the availability of spare manufacturing capacity which BR chose to exploit in their quest to eliminate steam traction. Further construction of these two classes ceased after the fifty-four units, with preference being given to the highly reliable English Electric product which by mid-1962 had proliferated to 128 examples. The NBL fleet survived until 1968, being withdrawn after ten years of indifferent performance. The BTH locomotives followed by 1971, although four lingered on as carriage pre-heating units. Dramatic reductions in goods traffic during the 1960s/70s particularly impacted local trip and transfer freight duties, the ‘bread and butter’ work for the Type 1s, and it was inevitable that the less successful classes were retired from traffic first. This book looks at the short history of these two classes, making extensive use of archive sources, combined with the primary observations of numerous enthusiasts. Previously unpublished information, covering the introduction, appearance design and performance issues of the locomotives, form a central focus, and, allocations, works histories, storage and disposals, liveries and detail differences are covered in the same level of detail as previous volumes in the ‘Locomotive Portfolio” series.

A “profusely illustrated” and “impressively informative” look at the end of the steam locomotive era on one of UK’s Big Four railway lines (Midwest Book Review). After the Second War, Britain’s railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernization. The Big Four railway companies were nationalized from 1948, and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a program of building new Standard steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951. This program was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselize and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the Standard types was built in 1960 and the steam locomotives had been swept entirely from the BR network by 1968. This series of books, The Geoff Plumb Collection, is a photographic account of those last few years of the steam locomotives, their decline and replacement during the transition years. Each book covers one of the former Big Four, the Southern Railway, London Midland & Scottish Railway, Great Western Railway and London & North Eastern Railway, including some pictures of the Scottish lines of the LMS and LNER. Though not a complete history of the railways, the books bring a sense of occasion to the last run of a locomotive type or a stretch of line about to be closed down. Pictures are of the highest quality that could be produced with the equipment then available, but they do reflect real life and real times. In simple terms, a look at a period not so long ago but now gone forever. “An evocative collection of views of the twilight of BR steam.” —Railway Modeller

In 1957 the Western Region of BR identified a need for 400 Type 1 diesel locomotives for short-haul freight duties but it was 1964 before the first was introduced. General-purpose Type 1s were being delivered elsewhere but WR management regarded these as too expensive for their requirements. After completion of design work on the ‘Western’ locomotives, Swindon turned to creating a cheap ‘no-frills’ Type 1. At 65% of the cost of the Bo-Bo alternative, the Swindon 0-6-0 represented a better ‘fit’ for the trip-freight niche. Since 1957 the privatised road-haulage industry had decimated BR’s wagon-load sector; whilst the 1962 Transport Act released BR from its financially-debilitating public-service obligations, the damage had been done, and the 1963 Beeching Plan focused on closing unprofitable routes and associated services. By 1963 the original requirement for 400 Type 1s had been massively reduced. Fifty-six locomotives were constructed in 1964/65. Continuing traffic losses resulted in the whole class becoming redundant by 1969. Fortuitously, a demand for high-powered diesels on the larger industrial railway systems saw the bulk of the locomotives finding useful employment for a further twenty years. This book covers the life of these locomotives on British Railways; a companion volume will provide an extensive appraisal of "Their Life in Industry" for the forty-eight locomotives which made the successful transition after withdrawal from BR

This comprehensive history of these unique locomotives covers everything from performance issues to sightings, detail differences and liveries. The Type 2 Bo-Bo Diesel-Electric Classes 21 & 29 locomotives were constructed by the North British Locomotive Company in the early 1960s. Used in the Scottish region of British Railway, they ran into numerous problems and were withdrawn from service within a decade. Due in part to their short careers, these locomotives remain something of a mystery to train enthusiasts. The scant information available on them is very often riddled with misinformation. This authoritative volume corrects the record, presenting the most comprehensive and accurate account of the NBL Classes 21 & 29. Fully illustrated with photographs and detailed line drawings, this volume offers individual locomotive histories, complete technical specifications, accident and fire damage reports, storage histories, and a complete account of their disposal at both private companies and Glasgow Works.

A supplemental textbook for middle and high school students, Hoosiers and the American Story provides intimate views of individuals and places in Indiana set within themes from American history. During the frontier days when Americans battled with and exiled native peoples from the East, Indiana was on the leading edge of America’s westward expansion. As waves of immigrants swept across the Appalachians and eastern waterways, Indiana became established as both a crossroads and as a vital part of Middle America. Indiana’s stories illuminate the history of American agriculture, wars, industrialization, ethnic conflicts, technological improvements, political battles, transportation networks, economic shifts, social welfare initiatives, and more. In so doing, they elucidate large national issues so that students can relate personally to the ideas and events that comprise American history. At the same time, the stories shed light on what it means to be a Hoosier, today and in the past.