65th anniversary highlights progress on Baby Deltic Project Class 23 recreation
THE BABY Deltic Project has provided an update on the ongoing project to recreate one of the long-scrapped Class 23 Type 2 Baby Deltic locomotives at Barrow Hill Roundhouse to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the first of the original locomotives entering service with British Railways. As part of the 1955 British Railways Modernisation Plan, the British Transport Commission ordered 10 locomotives, numbered D5900-D5909, which commenced test runs on the BR network in April 1959. D5903 was the first example to be delivered to Doncaster Works from English Electric’s Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-willows.
The Class 23s only enjoyed a relatively short-lived working life on BR; they were withdrawn from traffic between September 1968 and March 1971 and subsequently scrapped. However, in 2001, the BDP purchased the sole-surviving Napier Deltic T9-29 engine and generator from the National Railway Museum and seven years later, in October 2008, the engine was successfully started for the first time in preservation, having been fully refurbished by a dedicated team of volunteers. Two years later, the BDP announced its intention to recreate a Class 23, with a Class 37 destined for scrapping identified (37372) as being a suitable basis for modification into a Baby Deltic and it was subsequently bought by the BDP. Since then, the BDP has shortened the underframe and both nose ends of the donor locomotive, replaced the superstructure between both cabs and at both ends, built new roofs, and have designed and installed an adapter to enable a pair of Class 20 bogies to be fitted beneath (Class 20 bogies are indistinguishable from the Class 23 bogies). The two bogies have been overhauled by sub-contractors and temporarily fitted to allow the locomotive to become mobile. Internally, the auxiliary machines, control cubicle, and cooler groups have all been temporarily installed, both to allow the locomotive’s weight to be measured and to confirm that the proposed locations of the parts allows them to be accessed for maintenance.
While work is reaching an advanced stage, there is still quite a lot of work to be completed before the locomotive can be considered as being complete. This includes the permanent installation of the auxiliary machines and cooler group and the installation of all air and vacuum pipework, along with the power and control cabling. The air receivers are still to be installed, the cabs need to be fitted-out, and the locomotive needs to be repainted into BR green livery with a cream lower-body stripe and red stripe above the buffer beams, as applied to the Baby Deltics when first built.
The BDP has published an updated edition of its book, Baby Deltic: The Rebirth of an Engine, which tells the story to date in detail. Copies can be purchased from www.babydeltic.co.uk, which is also regularly updated with progress on the locomotive and where details can also be found as to how enthusiasts can support the project.