BR Class 52 D1062 Western Courier
BRBritish Rail or British Railways Class 52 D1062 Western Courier | |
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D1062 Western Courier at Kidderminster in 2017 | |
Built By | BRBritish Rail or British Railways Crewe Works |
Configuration | C-C |
Power type | Diesel Hydraulic |
Status | Operational |
Loco Number | D1062 |
History | |
Built | 1963 |
Designed By | British Railways |
Type | Class 52 |
1976 | Purchased by WLAWestern Locomotive Association Ltd. |
1978 | Moved to SVRSevern Valley Railway |
1980 | Attended Rocket 150 |
Technical | |
Length | 68ft |
Weight | 108t |
British Railways (BRBritish Rail or British Railways) assigned Class 52 to the Type 4The British Railways classification for diesel locomotives of 2000 bhp to 2999 bhp diesel-hydraulic locomotives built between 1961 and 1964 for BRBritish Rail or British Railways(W). They carried numbers D1000-D1073, but never carried TOPSTotal Operations Processing System, an American computer system adopted by BR from the late 1960s to number and manage rolling stock. locomotive number. All were given two-word names beginning "Western", hence the type became known as 'Westerns' or 'Thousands'.
D1062 in service
D1062 Western Courier was built at Crewe Works and entered service at London’s Old Oak Common shed on 6 May 1963. D1062 also served at Cardiff Canton, Swansea Landore and Plymouth Laira, and was withdrawn from the latter by BRBritish Rail or British Railways on 23 August 1974 after 1,096,000 miles in service. Courier was an early withdrawal but was lucky enough to share 'mascot' duties with Class 42 Warship 818 Glory, being placed on the turntable at Swindon works and given a repaint by the apprentices.
D1062 in preservation
D1062 was bought from BRBritish Rail or British Railways by the Western Locomotive Association on 4 November 1976, becoming the first class 52 ‘Western’ to be preserved. Following purchase the locomotive was repainted in original maroon livery.
In May 1977 D1062 and sister locomotive D1013 Western Ranger moved to the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway, and following tyre turning at Cardiff Canton depot both arrived on the SVRSevern Valley Railway on 29 September 1978. Western Courier attended the Rocket 150 celebrations at Rainhill in May 1980, the only privately owned diesel locomotive to do so.
The WLAWestern Locomotive Association Ltd. overhauled D1062 between 1998 and 2005 including major rewiring. On 29 April 2005 the HLFHeritage Lottery Fund (National Lottery Heritage Fund from 2019) granted the WLAWestern Locomotive Association Ltd. £45,500 towards Western Courier's overhaul, which was used for sending a defective Voith transmission to the manufacturer in Germany.[1]. In 2017 she was repainted into BRBritish Rail or British Railways blue livery in the Diesel Depot for the first time in preservation. She also made use of the Depot in the winter of 2017-2018 or engine work and a bogie lift, making use of the new jacks.
Gallery
D1062 on Eardington Bank in 2011
See also
Diesel Locomotives
SVR-based diesel locomotives visiting other events
References
SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Ninth Edition
Links
Western Locomotive Association website
British Rail Class 52 on Wikipedia
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