RTC LOCOS – EXTRA POINTS

Your article on the departmental locomotives that were not self-propelled, in the October 2021 issue, was very interesting. However, there are a couple of things I’d like to point out:

■ When 33115 suffered a seized engine, resulting in withdrawal, its conversion to 83301, as a test vehicle for Channel tunnel power equipment, was not undertaken at St Leonards; it was towed from Eastleigh to RFS industries, Doncaster, for this work, as evidenced by news and photographic coverage in the railway press at the time.

■ With regards to 83009, when it was used as a current converter, to provide a switch between the 25kV supply, and the 1500V DC supply at Longsight, it was placed on an isolated piece of track at the depot, and had its pantograph removed. When 1500V DC became obsolete on BR, that might have been the end, but a class 81 loco suffered fire damage in 1985, and 83009 had its pantograph reinstated, and was moved south to work with 82005/8, and 83012/5 on ecs workings between Euston and Wembley; an 81 was often the spare loco at Wembley for such work.

Hope this helps with what was a very good article.

Robert Clark By email