BR Class 14 D9551
| BR Class 14 D9551 | |
|---|---|
 D9551 in May 2017 | |
| Built By | BR(W) Swindon Works |
| Configuration | 0-6-0 |
| Power type | Diesel Hydraulic |
| Status | In service |
| Loco Number | D9551 |
| Other Numbers | 50, 8311/29 |
| History | |
| Built | 1965 |
| Designed By | BR(W) |
| Type | Class 14 |
| 1968 | Withdrawn by BR |
| 2013 | Arrived on SVR |
| Technical | |
| Weight | 48½t |
D9551 is an 0-6-0 Class 14 650hp diesel hydraulic locomotive. 56 of these locomotives were built by BR’s Swindon Works between 1964 and 1965. Locomotives of the class were given the nickname “Teddy Bears”, after a comment by Swindon Works foreman George Cole "We've built the Great Bear, now we're going to build a Teddy Bear!"[1] Their planned use was short-distance freight trains and working movements between local yards, but a lack of such work led to the entire class being sold to industry or scrapped by the end of 1970. 19 have survived into preservation.[2]
Contents
D9551 in service
D9551 entered BR service in September 1965 at Cardiff Canton. Following a move to Hull Dairycoates shed in January 1967, D9551 was withdrawn from BR service in April 1968 after less than 2 years 7 months BR service.[3]
D9551 went on to work for the British Steel Corporation as locomotive no. 50 at Gretton Brook and Corby.[4]
D9551 in preservation
D9551 was purchased for preservation in 1981 by 'Railway Power Services', a group formed from a consortium of West Somerset Railway and DEPG members. It arrived on the WSR from BSC Corby and entered service on 7 June 1981. Over the next few years it saw duty on works trains and passenger services, particularly 'Quantock Belle' dining trains.[5]
In 2003 the locomotive moved to the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society at Milton of Crathes[4] where preservation had begun in 1996.[6] In the early stages of preservation D9551 was the only locomotive present.[7]
The locomotive was acquired from Deeside by the SVR Class 14 Company Limited, arriving on 25 November 2013.[8] Following arrival, an overhaul of ‘Angus’ took place at Bridgnorth. On 30 April 2016, D9551 underwent its first test run on the SVR between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster, assisted by 50049. A loaded test run took place on 26 October 2016, after which the locomotive was classified as servicable[9], although further work and testing took place before its debut at the Spring Diesel Festival in May 2017.
On 5 May 2018 D9551 was called in to action to haul a passenger train following the failure of visiting locomotive 6023 King Edward II on arrival at Bridgnorth. Unfortunately D9551 failed in turn and the passenger service eventually left Bridgnorth behind BR Class 08 D3586. Following repairs, D9551 was rostered for the weekday passenger services between 18-22 June 2018.
Until 2023 D9551 carried a non-original 'golden ochre' livery, originally an experimental livery carried by BR Class 52 D1015 Western Champion. In August 2022 it was photographed carrying its BSC number 50. In 2023 it was repainted in BR green.
See also
References
- ↑ The Railway magazine, December 2006
- ↑ BR Class 14 on Wikipedia (retrieved 18 June 2018)
- ↑ BRDatabase website
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 UKLocos.com
- ↑ DEPG Archive Snippets (retrieved 18 June 2018)
- ↑ Royal Deeside Railway on Wikipedia
- ↑ Preserved Diesels (retrieved 18 June 2018)
- ↑ SVR News 185
- ↑ SVR diesel locomotive status retrieved 6 November 2016
Links
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