The story of Type 1s
Hardy perennials: a product of the 1955 Modernisation Plan, a handful of Type 1s remain active on the national network.
Direct Rail Services may be preparing to sell the final members of its long-serving Class 20 fleet, but there are still other examples of the Type 1 active on the main line in 2021, some exceeding 60 years since delivery.
They were designated as Type 1s, that grouping having a nominal horsepower rating of 1,000hp. But the story of the development of the British Railways Type 1s is quite complex, and the Class 20s were not ‘the chosen ones’ in the mid-1960s.
The origins of the type on our railways actually started before nationalisation in 1948. In September 1946, the London Midland & Scottish Railway first identified the need for such a machine, basically having a haulage capability of a Class 3 or Class 4 steam engine to work freight and local passenger duties with a nominal 60mph top speed.
The locomotive was built by the North British Locomotive Company, but despite being ordered in 1946 it was not delivered until June 1950 - some two and a half years after the formation of British Railways.
This early machine had an 800hp Paxman 16RPHXK V16 engine and thus acquired the number 10800. Being a prototype, it spent much of its time under test and on trials - but also (it would seem) under repair.
It worked briefly on the Southern Region on both freight and passenger duties. Following further failures, it moved to the Midland Region in 1955, where it found semi-regular employment before retiring to Derby Works and withdrawal in 1959.
It was later fitted with a 1,400hp engine and became part of the research fleet, but did not operate any further revenue-earning duties. It and all of the subsequent Type 1s had two things in common: they were carried on two four-wheel bogies and had a single cab.
The story then moves to 1955 and the Modernisation Plan that was published in that year, setting out the vision of the elimination of the BR steam fleet and its replacement by both diesel and electric locomotives.
The Plan was the origin of the ‘Type’ designations, with (at the time) the maximum foreseen power required being 2,000hp, which was designated as Type 4.
It was planned that a number of locomotive builders would supply small numbers of locomotives in each power classification, and that once evaluated a decision as to which type would be chosen for bulk building would be made. As history records, that idea was overtaken by events when in 1958 it was decided to speed up modernisation. To achieve that, bulk orders were placed for a number of designs before most of the prototypes had actually turned a wheel.
The 1955 Plan led to orders being placed for three Type 1 designs, with these to be supplied by English Electric, British Thomson Houston Company (BTH) and the North British Locomotive Company. What, if anything, the various builders had learnt from the fortunes of 10800 is not known, although the employment of Paxman engines by some might provide a clue.
The first of the engines ordered under the 1955 Plan to arrive was D8000, in June 1957. Under TOPS, this became a Class 20, and thus of the same design as the Direct Rail Services machines that are with us today.
The main contractor was English Electric,
and its 8SVT Mk II engine was employed with the locomotives built at Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows and at Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns at Darlington. The first batch of 20 had all arrived by March 1958, just in time to influence where a bulk order might be placed - indeed, between 1959 and 1962, 108 further class members were delivered.
The second class to appear were those from BTH. These were rated at 800hp and had a Paxman engine, the first ten with the 16YHXY type and the rest of the class (eventually totalling 44) with the 16YHXL variant, while BTH supplied all of the electrical apparatus. The locomotives were constructed by The Yorkshire Engine Co. (ten) and The Clayton Equipment co.
The first ten were from the 1955 order, with the other 34 arriving between November 1959 and April 1961. They were numbered D820043 with TOPS classifying them as Class 15.
Third into the ring came the North Britishbuilt D8400-9, later classified as Class 16 and delivered between March and September
1958. Given the timing of their arrival, it might explain why there was no immediate bulk order.
These also employed the Paxman 16YHXL engine but matched to GEC electrical equipment.
The three types then worked alongside each other. And with similar duties, initially in and out of the London termini with stock movements and transfer freight duties, fair comparison could be made.
However, with the extra 200hp of the EE type and with fewer technical problems, it would seem that BR made the right choice for its largest order of the Type. While the Class 15 and ‘16’ varieties stayed close to the capital, the Class 20s spread to the East Midlands and Scotland.
The one criticism levelled at all of the Type 1 locomotives was of restricted visibility when working nose-first, as the cab on each of the designs was at one end and the casing covering the power unit was of full height.
As the duties of the Type 1s often required a good deal of coupling/uncoupling, especially on freight work, this was a distinct disadvantage.
Thus, when BR decided that it required more Type 1 locomotives, instead of ordering more English Electric machines it decided on a new design from the Clayton Equipment
Co, which had a centre cab and a low bonnet to improve visibility. The low bonnet was achieved by fitting two 450hp Paxman 6ZHXL engines, giving a total of 900hp with electrical equipment by GEC.
Designated (in due course) Class 17, D8500 was delivered in July 1962. But not all was well from the outset, with a number of locomotives stored pending resolution of technical issues. Nearly 40 were built before the problems were fixed, and it was to be June 1963 before engines were entering traffic straight from the production line.
From D8588 onwards (which formed a new order), Crompton Parkinson traction motors replaced those from GEC. The last of the class (D8616) was delivered in April 1965, although D8586/8587 were fitted with Rolls-Royce engines and delivered out of sequence in late 1964/early 1965.
Most of the class found employment in Scotland, although later deliveries were to north east England and Barrow Hill.
When the initial order was placed for the Claytons, it was stated that they were the new ‘standard’ Type 1. However, in service they were found wanting, with both reliability and operational issues - especially diesel fumes entering the cab.
Thus, perhaps to the surprise and delight of English Electric, BR backtracked and returned to EE to place an order for a further 100 Type 1s. These appeared as D8128-8199 and D830027, with delivery between February 1966 and February 1968 and with D8300-27 being delivered in BR blue.
The Modernisation Plan long preceded the arrival of Dr Beeching. Under Beeching, as well as the notorious line closure programme, came the vision of block freights, which (in combination with the provision of a few large marshalling yards) removed much of the freight work for which the Type 1s had been purchased.
BR also realised that it had a multitude of different locomotive classes, and with surplus power on its books it put in place a rationalisation plan at the end of 1967. Thus, almost to the day of the arrival of D8327, the first of the NBL Class 16s was withdrawn and the class was extinct by the end of 1968. The Class 15s fared little better and all 44 had been withdrawn by 1971.
While some of the BTH machines did complete approaching 15 years of service, the same cannot be said for the Class 17 Claytons. Some managed to receive a coat of BR blue paint, but withdrawals started as early as 1968 and a number of the class failed to complete five years in service. A total of 117 locomotives were involved, and all save one were sold for scrap.
And so, we return to the survivors - the EE Type 1s (and a very different tale to all of the other Type 1s).
They eventually found their niche - in the main working in pairs coupled nose to nose, thus overcoming the visibility problem which had led to the development of an alternative design.
They worked frequently on coal trains, but also found employment on passenger duties on summer Saturdays, with Skegness a favoured destination. In later years, they rarely worked as single engines.
Under TOPS they took the numbers from 20001, and other than a couple of accident victims all gave at least 30 years’ service. Many were scrapped, but others survived into the privatisation era.
The class was also a favourite with preservationists. When it came to building the Channel Tunnel, the preservation movement provided a number of those used on its construction. Clearly built to last (and twice as long as originally intended), the few remaining locomotives may yet soldier on for many more years.