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→BR Class 52 locomotives: typo
From introduction the Westerns were used mainly on express passenger work, but also on heavy freight duties. They initially suffered from reliability issues, mainly with the transmission output shaft bearings and final drives. By the late 1960s these had been resolved and the locomotives performed well on the accelerated services introduced to compete with the M4 motorway. However the working life of the class would be relatively short. By 1968 the transfer of freight to roads and the removal of rural networks and branch lines meant BR had too many locomotives. The hydraulics were unpopular with BR engineering, mainly due to the additional maintenance costs, and the 1968 traction plan foresaw their end.
The arrival of class 50s and the air-conditioned Mark 2 stock which required ETH saw the Westerns increasingly used on freight duties. Swindon stopped overhauling Westerns in autumn 1972 and withdrawals began in 1973, with the last members of the Class including D1013 being withdrawn in early 1977. Seven examples are preserved of which three are resident on the SVR; D1013 ''Western Ranger'', [[BR Class 52 D1015 Western Champion | D1015 ''Western Champion'']] and [[BR Class 52 D1062 Western Courier | D1015 D1062 ''Western Courier'']].
==D1013 in service==
