BR Class 52 D1062 Western Courier

BR Class 52 D1062 Western Courier
	; D1062 Western Courier at Kidderminster in 2017
Built By	BR 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 WLA
1978	Moved to SVR
1980	Attended Rocket 150
Technical
Length	68ft
Weight	108t
Diesel Locomotives

British Railways (BR) assigned Class 52 to the Type 4 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built between 1961 and 1964 for BR(W). They carried numbers D1000-D1073, but never carried a TOPS 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 D1062 also served at Cardiff Canton, Swansea Landore and Plymouth Laira, and was withdrawn from the latter by BR on 23 August 1974 after 1,096,000 miles in service.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 BR 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 SVR 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.

Western Courier at Rainhill in 1980 (Wikimedia Commons)

The WLA overhauled D1062 between 1998 and 2005 including major rewiring. On 29 April 2005 the HLF granted the WLA £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 BR 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.

The class's method of construction precludes locomotives being winched onto and off road trailers, and so moves off the SVR are exclusively being hauled by rail. The locomotive's TOPS code is 89462.