There's no particular story behind this image, which is simply an attempt to capture something of the era when British industry could claim to be builder of the world's railways. This simple adaptation of the standard British Railways Type 1 diesel carries a powder blue and cream livery reminiscent of the prototype Deltic. The English Electric badge on the nose end incorporates the legend 'Vulcan Foundry', the birthplace of many of English Electric's modern traction products (30-Oct-10).
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Tags: diesel demonstration locomotive
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In the days when Britain could justifiably claim to be Builder of the World's Railways, Brush was major supplier of export locomotives. This fictional image was been inspired by the batch of 'Class 47' diesel-electric locomotives exported to Cuba in the early 1960s, although there are significant differences - most notably the latter had American-style draw gear and train reporting numbers, and larger headlights and cooling grilles. Like the Cuban locomotives, the livery is based on the UK Class 47s, although the style of application is slightly different. As depicted, this locomotive could have been destined for mainland Europe or the Republic of Ireland (in with broad gauge bogies). I'm grateful to David Little for the source image of a DRS Class 57 (an uprated 47) photographed at York in 2008 (22-Jun-10).
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Tags: Class 47 diesel
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It’s difficult to suggest a credible reason why this Class 153 railcar should carry the BRE-Leyland demonstrator livery as applied to prototype railbus RB3. The 153 wasn’t a ‘new’ product, but a rebuild of the two-car Class 155 to a client specification. Had it been purpose-designed it would undoubtedly have been different, most notably with regard to the cab design (different at both ends on the 153). Perhaps there was a surplus of 155s beyond operational needs in either original or converted form, which Leyland re-rebuilt speculatively as sales stock? In reality this is a Northern Rail unit photographed at Workington, close to the former Leyland Bus plant (28-Jul-11).
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Tags: Class 153 Leyland Railcar demonstration unit
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I can't work miracles and the truth is that the prototype railbus LEV1 is in a shabby condition at the National Railway Museum's Shildon outpost, hence this rather 'down at heel' rendition in the demonstrator livery carried by the later R3 prototype before the application of full yellow ends. The streamlined fairing above the windscreen took away some of the original Leyland National character (12-Oct-12).
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Tags: Railbus BRE-Leyland demonstration unit
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I believe that the English Electric Company briefly considered modifying the Deltic prototype for demonstration in the USA, but the structural changes would have been too costly. Presumably the major changes would have been in respect of headstock and draw gear. I was fortunate in having a picture of a US locomotive taken from a similar perspective, from which I could clone these details.
I could not envisage English Electric succeeding in the American market, so decided to finish this image in the colours of Victorian Railways of Australia (a personal favourite). It isn't necessarily intended to represent a Deltic - simply a mainline diesel built in a Deltic bodyshell. The background details in the image suggest that this example has been repatriated to the UK for preservation (09-Aug-11).
See my complete set of Worldwide Railways here:
www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/sets/72157626267826...
Strictly Copyright: You are encouraged to provide links to this image but it would be an offence to post it elsewhere (or to publish or distribute it by any other means) without the express permission of the copyright owner
Tags: English Electric Deltic demonstration locomotive
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