The North Eastern electric shunters
The North Eastern Railway was an early adopter of electric traction, creating a third rail network across part of Tyneside that offered a fast and efficient service to commuters. It was also the solution for the steeply graded freight-only branch from Trafalgar Yard in Manors to Newcastle Quayside Yard. Although only three-quarters of a mile long, the line featured gradients of up to 1-in-27 and a sharp curve within deep cuttings and tunnels. As a result, the existing steam traction had to be worked hard up the gradient, giving unpleasant working conditions in the tunnels where thick smoke would linger.
To replace steam, two electric locomotives of the contemporary steeple-cab design were ordered at the end of 1902, with construction being undertaken by Brush with electrical equipment from British Thomson-houston (BTH). Built in 1903/04, these featured third rail pick-ups for use on the branch and a bow collector to work from overhead electrification in the yards at each end. The latter was replaced by a roofmounted pantograph on both locomotives in 1908, three years after the electrification project had been completed.
Under the North Eastern Railway, the two locomotives were simply numbered 1 and 2 and were eventually designated as Electric Shunting 1 or ES1. Under the
1923 Grouping, ownership passed to the LNER with renumbering as 6480 and 6481 coming somewhat belatedly in June 1946. These identities lasted just two years before becoming 26500 and 26501 under British Railways ownership in May 1948.
The duo remained in use until early
1964 when operation of the branch was turned over to diesel shunters and the electrification decommissioned. Following storage at Hellifield, 26501 was scrapped in 1966 but 26500 was set aside for preservation, first going to the AEI (BTH) plant at Rugby, where it remained until 1968. Seven years were then spent at the Leicester Railway Museum before transfer to York in 1975. The electric remained at the National Railway Museum for the next 29 years, with transfer to its present home at Shildon taking place in 2004.