Count to 100 using pictures
- Thread starter Starchivore
- Start date
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Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Why am I pedalling these 'craggy faced' locos called 'Westerns'?
Well, they were the last type of Diesel Hydraulic loco to run on BR metals, but that isn't the half of it.
The 74 Westerns (D1000 - 1073) along with their collegues, the 5 'original' Warships (D601 - 605), the 70 Warships (D800 - 870, see the 8XX numbers), the 58 'Baby Warships' (D6300 - 57) the 101 Hymeks (D7000 - 7100) were built in the late '50s/ early '60s, and were already rendered obsolete by 1967 as BR decided to go for Diesel Electric traction.
A bit like a star who dies young, these are held in such high esteem by enthusiasts, and the longest any served was a mere 15 years!!
WIth the exception of the class 14s 'Teddy Bears' (D9500 - 56) which were sold into industry, the remaining 308 locos of the different classes were simply withdrawn and scrapped on site when their time came. Only 12 survived from the different types (2 Warships, 4 Hymeks and 6 Westerns. D821, D832, D1010, 1013, 1015, 1023, 1041, 1062, D7017, 7018, 7029 and 7076).
The Westerns pictured here (named Western ...... Because they served the Western Region) were the very last, being withdrawn in 1977 after a long run down of the class (they were in a terrible state by the end, which only endeared them more to the enthusiasts!).
It is what came after the Westerns were withdrawn that also made them stand out.
You see, they were the most popular by far of the diesel hydraulic types, they were the most powerful, they could give a Diesel Electric loco a run for its money, and most crucially, they looked charismatic, and as such, when it came to preservation, they helped kick start the diesel preservation movement we have now.
Only 6 Westerns survived, but their survival was a message to all that diesel preservation was here to stay, and only 9 years after the end of steam too!
Vastly, vastly important locos.
Well, they were the last type of Diesel Hydraulic loco to run on BR metals, but that isn't the half of it.
The 74 Westerns (D1000 - 1073) along with their collegues, the 5 'original' Warships (D601 - 605), the 70 Warships (D800 - 870, see the 8XX numbers), the 58 'Baby Warships' (D6300 - 57) the 101 Hymeks (D7000 - 7100) were built in the late '50s/ early '60s, and were already rendered obsolete by 1967 as BR decided to go for Diesel Electric traction.
A bit like a star who dies young, these are held in such high esteem by enthusiasts, and the longest any served was a mere 15 years!!
WIth the exception of the class 14s 'Teddy Bears' (D9500 - 56) which were sold into industry, the remaining 308 locos of the different classes were simply withdrawn and scrapped on site when their time came. Only 12 survived from the different types (2 Warships, 4 Hymeks and 6 Westerns. D821, D832, D1010, 1013, 1015, 1023, 1041, 1062, D7017, 7018, 7029 and 7076).
The Westerns pictured here (named Western ...... Because they served the Western Region) were the very last, being withdrawn in 1977 after a long run down of the class (they were in a terrible state by the end, which only endeared them more to the enthusiasts!).
It is what came after the Westerns were withdrawn that also made them stand out.
You see, they were the most popular by far of the diesel hydraulic types, they were the most powerful, they could give a Diesel Electric loco a run for its money, and most crucially, they looked charismatic, and as such, when it came to preservation, they helped kick start the diesel preservation movement we have now.
Only 6 Westerns survived, but their survival was a message to all that diesel preservation was here to stay, and only 9 years after the end of steam too!
Vastly, vastly important locos.
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Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Yeah, they had a career with BR spanning only 3 or 4 years, but disaster was averted as they were sold to the National Coal Board. By the time they were withdrawn, the diesel preservation movement had progressed suffiently, so there are quite a few preserved now!
They were little more than shunters though, they were never like the mainline locos such as the Warships and Westerns.
They were little more than shunters though, they were never like the mainline locos such as the Warships and Westerns.
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flake99please
We all scream for ice cream
- Location
- Edinburgh
CLAG
flake99please
We all scream for ice cream
- Location
- Edinburgh
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
classic33
Leg End Member
Not Rigor Motors!!
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
D1055 Western Advocate,,,, Oh dear!:
D1058, Western Nobleman, the last Western to be scrapped in 1979 (how it was not preserved I'll never know):
D1058, Western Nobleman, the last Western to be scrapped in 1979 (how it was not preserved I'll never know):
classic33
Leg End Member
Running late!
