‘47s’ set historical challenge

JOHN CROSSE starts to unravel the Class 47 numbering story and suggests it needs a dedicated team to complete the task

The railway scene is set to be transformed in the coming months, with a vast number of new units entering service. But the locomotive fleet is likely to expand by only ten new Stadler tri-mode Class 93s, based on orders that have been announced.

Therefore, unless there is a contraction of work requiring locomotives, some ‘old-timers’ are set to be with us a while longer.

The Class 47s have a lot of history - some locomotives are set to clock up 60 years of service if they hang around until 2022, the first of the class (D1500) having entered traffic in October 1962.

Other than the Class 08 shunters, the ‘47s’ are the largest class numerically of diesel locomotives to have worked on the network, and with Total Operations Processing System ( TOPS) classification requiring different locomotive class variants to be identifiable

via their numbers, the Class 47s have been the subject of more renumberings than most in their long history. Following all of these changes is likely to be a major challenge when a comprehensive history of the class comes to be written.

If asked to identify the ‘first of class’ before TOPS, some might have gone for D1100, as that had the lowest number.

But D1100-11 were delivered after D1999, so, you might conclude that D1111 was the last of the class to arrive. But that would be wrong, too, as D1961 was in fact the last arrival in January 1968 whereas D1111 was delivered in February 1967.

With the advent of TOPS, D1500 became 47001 (classified ‘47/ 0’) - but actually D1500 became 47401. This was due to the class being sub-divided between steam-heat only locomotives beginning at 47001, no-heat engines at 47301 (‘47/3’), and then the electric train heating (ETH) locomotives (of which D1500 was one) from 47401 (‘47/4’).

Locomotives from the 47001-298 batch were then selected at random for conversion to ETH and renumbered into the 474XX range that eventually reached 47677. However, some of the ‘47/ 0’ numbers were never used as locomotives - they were called to works for conversion before their ‘47/ 0’ number was applied. There were also gaps in the ‘47/4’ series above 47600.

Just to complicate matters further, in subsequent changes some ‘47/7s’ were created as push-pull fitted locomotives, and ‘47/8s’ were long-range (extra fuel capacity) variants.

The 47900 series had two uses: an

Class 47s have been the subject of more renumberings than most in their long history. Following all of these changes is likely to be a major challenge when a comprehensive history of the class comes to be written.

experimental conversion of accident-damaged 47046 via another experiment as 47601 to become 47901, while departmental engines also appeared in the ‘47/9’ series. Many other renumberings also occurred, helping to make the historical unravelling of the class history a nightmare.

And there is one further twist to the story of the class - they were never all in stock at the same time.

The modern railway is justifiably proud of its safety record. Looking back at images of damaged locomotives, and the number of those that exist, reveals that knocks and bumps must have been almost a daily occurrence when British Rail was formed, and more serious incidents were not infrequent. In fact, two Class 47s were condemned before D1961 was delivered.

The first to go was D1734. This engine was new on May 23 1964 and allocated to Bristol Bath Road shed. It was involved in an accident at Shrewsbury Coton Hill on January 11 1965 and was withdrawn on March 19, being cut up at Crewe by the end of April - no doubt with much salvaging of parts.

The next to come to an untimely end was D1671. Despite its lower running number this engine was not delivered until March 1965, being allocated to Cardiff Canton.

It was named Thor that September, but on December 19 it was involved in an accident with Class 37 D6983 at Bridgend which resulted in both locomotives being condemned.

Official withdrawal came on August 25 1966, and it was cut up at nearby RS Hayes by the end of September.

To confuse the unwary, the nameplates were transferred to D1677 in August 1966.

Two other Class 47s failed to make it to the TOPS renumbering. D1562, at the time based at Stratford, was said to have ‘exploded’ while working a Norwich to Liverpool Street service on March 13 1971 and was withdrawn in the following June, while D1908, another Cardiff Canton-based locomotive ‘had an argument’ with AM10 EMU 066 near Monmore Green on April 8 1969 and was condemned the following August.

The story of all the namings and renamings would be enough for a book in its own right, but unravelling the Class 47 story and recording it in an intelligible way would be a task awaiting a very dedicated team.

The aftermath of an accident at Shrewsbury Coton Hill shows D1734 leaning to one side with damage to both cabs in January 1965. Possibly the decision to condemn the locomotive, rather than repair it, was because Class 47s were still under construction, and it was a cheaper option to recover parts from D1734 for use in a new locomotive than attempt a repair.

Thor lives. One for the unwary historian who might have thought that this is D1671. In fact, it is D1677, which was renumbered 47091 and then 47846, carrying at least four totally different liveries along the way to end up as a First Great Western locomotive when seen at Old Oak Common on August 5 2000.

This undated photograph shows D1671 Thor at Bristol Bath Road. This was the engine that came to grief at Bridgend in December 1965. It carries its nameplates, and these were not applied until the September, thus dating the view between late September and early December 1965.