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British Rail Class 40
The British Rail Class 40 is a type of railway diesel-electric locomotive. A total of 200 were built by English Electric between 1958 and 1962, numbered D200-D399.[citation needed] Despite their initial success, by the time the last examples were entering service, they were already being replaced on some top-level duties by more powerful locomotives. As they were slowly relegated from express passenger use, the type found work on secondary passenger and freight services which they hauled for many years. The final locomotives ended regular service in 1985. The locomotives were commonly known as "Whistlers" because of the distinctive noise made by their turbochargers.
The origins of the Class 40 fleet lay in the prototype diesel locomotives LMS No. 10000 and 10001, ordered by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway; Class D16/2, ordered by British Railways between 1947 and 1954); and, most notably, with the Southern Region locomotive no. 10203, which was powered by English Electric's 16SVT MkII engine, developing 2,000 bhp (1,460 kW). The bogie design and power train of 10203 was used almost unchanged on the first ten production Class 40s.
British Railways originally ordered ten Class 40s, then known as English Electric Type 4s, as evaluation prototypes. They were built at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. The first locomotive, D200, was delivered to Stratford Works on 14 March 1958. Following fitter and crew training, D200 made its passenger début on an express train from London Liverpool Street to Norwich on 18 April 1958. Five of the prototypes, nos. D200, D202-D205, were trialled on similar services on the former Great Eastern routes, whilst the remaining five, nos. D201, D206-D209, worked Great Northern services on the East Coast Main Line.
Sir Brian Robertson, then chairman of the British Transport Commission, was less than impressed; he believed that the locomotives lacked the power to maintain heavy trains at high speed and were too expensive to run in multiple – opinions that were later proved to be correct. Airing his views at the regional boards prompted others to break cover and it was agreed that later orders would be uprated to 2,500 hp (a change that was never applied). Direct comparisons on the Great Eastern Main Line showed they offered little advantage over the "Britannia" class steam locomotives when driven well, and the Eastern Region declined to accept further machines as they deemed them unsuitable to replace the Pacific steam locomotives on the East Coast Main Line, preferring to hold on until the Class 55 "Deltics" were delivered.
The London Midland Region was only too pleased, as the Eastern Region's decision released additional locomotives to replace their ageing steam fleet. The West Coast Main Line had been starved of investment for many years and the poor track and generally lower speeds (when compared to the East Coast route) suited Class 40s, as the need to hold trains at speed for long periods simply did not exist and it better took advantage of their fairly rapid acceleration.
Following the mixed success of the prototypes, another 190 locomotives were ordered by British Railways and were numbered from D210 to D399. All were built at Vulcan Foundry, except one batch of twenty (nos. D305–D324) which were built at Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns factory in Darlington. All the locomotives were painted in British Railways' diesel green livery and the final locomotive, D399, was delivered in September 1962.
Batches of the class were built with significant design differences, due to changes in railway working practices. The first 125 locomotives, nos. D200–D324, were built with steam-age 'disc' headcode markers, which were used to identify services. Later, it was decided that locomotives should display the four character train reporting number (or headcode) of the service they were hauling; nos. D325–D344 were built with 'split' headcode boxes, which displayed two characters either side of the locomotive's central gangway doors.
Another policy decision led to discontinuation of the gangway doors, which enabled train crew to move between two or three locomotives in multiple. The remaining locomotives, nos. D345–D399, carried a central four-character headcode box. In 1965, seven of the first batch of locomotives, nos. D260–D266, which were based in Scotland, were converted to the central headcode design.
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British Rail Class 40
The British Rail Class 40 is a type of railway diesel-electric locomotive. A total of 200 were built by English Electric between 1958 and 1962, numbered D200-D399.[citation needed] Despite their initial success, by the time the last examples were entering service, they were already being replaced on some top-level duties by more powerful locomotives. As they were slowly relegated from express passenger use, the type found work on secondary passenger and freight services which they hauled for many years. The final locomotives ended regular service in 1985. The locomotives were commonly known as "Whistlers" because of the distinctive noise made by their turbochargers.
The origins of the Class 40 fleet lay in the prototype diesel locomotives LMS No. 10000 and 10001, ordered by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway; Class D16/2, ordered by British Railways between 1947 and 1954); and, most notably, with the Southern Region locomotive no. 10203, which was powered by English Electric's 16SVT MkII engine, developing 2,000 bhp (1,460 kW). The bogie design and power train of 10203 was used almost unchanged on the first ten production Class 40s.
British Railways originally ordered ten Class 40s, then known as English Electric Type 4s, as evaluation prototypes. They were built at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. The first locomotive, D200, was delivered to Stratford Works on 14 March 1958. Following fitter and crew training, D200 made its passenger début on an express train from London Liverpool Street to Norwich on 18 April 1958. Five of the prototypes, nos. D200, D202-D205, were trialled on similar services on the former Great Eastern routes, whilst the remaining five, nos. D201, D206-D209, worked Great Northern services on the East Coast Main Line.
Sir Brian Robertson, then chairman of the British Transport Commission, was less than impressed; he believed that the locomotives lacked the power to maintain heavy trains at high speed and were too expensive to run in multiple – opinions that were later proved to be correct. Airing his views at the regional boards prompted others to break cover and it was agreed that later orders would be uprated to 2,500 hp (a change that was never applied). Direct comparisons on the Great Eastern Main Line showed they offered little advantage over the "Britannia" class steam locomotives when driven well, and the Eastern Region declined to accept further machines as they deemed them unsuitable to replace the Pacific steam locomotives on the East Coast Main Line, preferring to hold on until the Class 55 "Deltics" were delivered.
The London Midland Region was only too pleased, as the Eastern Region's decision released additional locomotives to replace their ageing steam fleet. The West Coast Main Line had been starved of investment for many years and the poor track and generally lower speeds (when compared to the East Coast route) suited Class 40s, as the need to hold trains at speed for long periods simply did not exist and it better took advantage of their fairly rapid acceleration.
Following the mixed success of the prototypes, another 190 locomotives were ordered by British Railways and were numbered from D210 to D399. All were built at Vulcan Foundry, except one batch of twenty (nos. D305–D324) which were built at Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns factory in Darlington. All the locomotives were painted in British Railways' diesel green livery and the final locomotive, D399, was delivered in September 1962.
Batches of the class were built with significant design differences, due to changes in railway working practices. The first 125 locomotives, nos. D200–D324, were built with steam-age 'disc' headcode markers, which were used to identify services. Later, it was decided that locomotives should display the four character train reporting number (or headcode) of the service they were hauling; nos. D325–D344 were built with 'split' headcode boxes, which displayed two characters either side of the locomotive's central gangway doors.
Another policy decision led to discontinuation of the gangway doors, which enabled train crew to move between two or three locomotives in multiple. The remaining locomotives, nos. D345–D399, carried a central four-character headcode box. In 1965, seven of the first batch of locomotives, nos. D260–D266, which were based in Scotland, were converted to the central headcode design.