Masterclass: Class 44
Pip Dunn looks at the history and operations of the Class 44s.
BR’S Pilot Scheme of diesel locomotives provided a mixed bag of results. One of the first Type C (later Type 4) designs to emerge was the batch of ten Br/sulzer locomotives that would eventually become the Class 44s. Pip Dunn looks at their history and operations.
British Railways’ Pilot Scheme B
plan of the mid-1950s was a bold move, aimed at eradicating steam traction in favour of diesel and
“
electric power. Initially, the idea was to evaluate a number of different, all-new designs (hence the pilot tag) before committing to large fleet orders.
One of the 14 trial designs was a batch of ten Sulzer diesel-powered
Type C (later Type 4) locomotives to be built by BR’S own workshops at Derby. Construction of what would become the Class 44 began in 1958 and the first two locomotives – D1 and D2 – were delivered in April the following year.
The plan was to test the locomotives against other new Type C designs that were emerging concurrently, particularly another diesel-electric from English Electric (later the Class 40) and two dieselhydraulic designs, one using Maybach engines and the other using MAN power plants.
As is well documented, BR soon discarded the Pilot Scheme evaluation plan and went on to place large orders for new, untried diesel locomotives. This turned out to be ” a costly mistake in some instances, although other designs did prove to be a success.
In terms of the Class 44, repeat orders of similar locomotives, albeit with various modifications, resulted in the Class 45 and 46, as well as, ultimately, the Class 47s.
THE ‘44S’ ARE BORN
BR soon discarded the Pilot Scheme evaluation plan and went on to place large orders for new, untried diesel locomotives. This turned out to be a costly mistake
The Class 44s – the designation did not come into effect until January 1968 – were the first locomotives to employ the 12-cylinder Sulzer 12LDA engine. The power plant’s output was rated at 2,300hp, although this would be boosted to 2,500hp in the Class 45s and 46s, and eventually upped to 2,750hp in the ‘47s’. Not surprisingly, these big engines were heavy and, in order to meet the axle load parameters dictated by the British Railways Board, the locomotives required pairs of substantial four-axle bogies. The 1Co-co1
format meant that each bogie had three powered axles, employing Crompton Parkinson Traction motors, plus an unpowered leading pony axle. This setup was also used on the English Electric Type 4 (Class 40) design. As a result, the Class 44s weighed-in at a whopping 133 tons apiece.
The Sulzer power units, coupled to British-made Crompton Parkinson main generators, were built in Switzerland and shipped to Derby for installation. Back in the late 1950s, BR’S coaching stock was heated by steam and this meant that all early diesels had to have a separate steam heat generator – or boiler – fitted. For the ‘44s’, a Stone Vapor 4625 train heat boiler was installed at the No. 2 end and, like most similar diesels of the period, the boilers would prove to be an Achilles heel and one of the main causes for a locomotive being failed by the crew.
The Class 44s were also fitted with Blue Star multiple working equipment – which was rarely ever used. The cabs featured a short nose, fitted with communication doors to allow crew to move between two locomotives when operating in multiple. Train
The final original ‘Peak’, No. 10 Tryfan, shows off its square-pattern grilles at Toton in June 1970, wearing the austere plain green livery. Boiler access steps have yet to be plated over. COLOUR RAIL identification for signallers was via four folding white discs on the nose ends.
A FIRST ‘PEAK’
D1, named Scafell Pike, was delivered in April 1959. All ten locomotives were named after UK mountains, leading to railwaymen christening the class ‘Peaks’, a name which stuck with the ‘45s’ and ‘46s’ as well, even though they carried very different names.
The first ten were outshopped from new in all-over Brunswick green with red bufferbeams, black underframe, grey roof and a duck-egg blue stripe at solebar height. The outer framework of the large side grille was also picked out in the same duck-egg blue.
The last of the ten-strong fleet, D10 Tryfan, entered into traffic in February 1960, and all were allocated to 1B shed, Camden in North West London. Helping to oust steam on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) from Euston to Liverpool and Manchester, they shared the work with Class 40s during the ongoing electrification.
IMPROVING THE DESIGN
The Pilot Scheme Class 44s were soon superseded by the improved, uprated Class 45s which began to appear from 1960. The original ‘Peaks’, which were deemed non-standard within a short time, had their train heating boilers isolated from 1962 and then removed at their next overhaul and replaced by a concrete block to maintain a balanced weight distribution. Without train heating equipment, they were instantly relegated to freight work.
D2 was delivered with an uprated 2,500hp engine but this seized in operation and was swapped for a 12LDA-B engine – also of 2,500hp, and the same engine destined for the ‘45s’ and ‘46s’. After testing, this engine was also removed in 1961 for use in a Class 45, and D2 regained an original 2,300hp A-series power plant.
Another modification came in 1961 when the locomotives were re-geared: their tractive effort was reduced but it suited them to their new freight-only careers. At this point, all ten ‘44s’ were based at Toton Depot and, unlike the ‘45s’ and ‘46s’, they remained vacuum-braked throughout their lives and were never upgraded with air brake equipment.
OPERATIONS
In the early days, the D1-10 ‘Peaks’ worked as express passenger traction on the WCML, working mostly from Euston to Manchester, Crewe, Liverpool and Carlisle. They did, however, also get as far north as Perth and Aberdeen in Scotland. They worked alongside the Class 40s on this work but, being a small fleet, they were soon removed from the WCML.