Last Friday I spent much of the day in Pickering at the station of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. I have for several years spent a day there for the steam locomotive gala when locomotives from other preserved railways visit to operate the services.
This year, for the first time for a number of years, the railway has also run a diesel locomotive gala and I was there for the first day. There were five visiting locomotives, and this locomotive was one of them.
This locomotive was one of 56 ordered in 1963 and delivered in 1965 & 1966 for use on the Western Region to replace former Great Western Railway pannier tanks on local goods and passenger services. Sadly, that work was disappearing, so over half of the fleet was moved to Hull for use in the docks and on local freight.
Once again that work was disappearing as well, and only around 4 years after they were built they were declared surplus to requirements. Many were sold to private industry and used at steelworks and coal mines for around 20 years, before they once again became surplus to requirements.
They were ideal locomotives to work on recently established preserved lines, and many of them were preserved - around 20 of the original 56 survive.
This one is painted in the typical colour scheme of the early 1950s, almost 15 years before it was built, but quite a distinguished result. It was painted in two shades of green whan it was first built.
I haven't seen one of these locomotives at work before, so I was pleased to get photos of it at Pickering - despite having to briefly stand in the rain to get photos! Fortunately the rain didn't last and conditions were much better for the rest of the day.
A steam locomotive gala sounds like fun. We donât have anything like that here. I think I know how that diesel locomotive feels, Iâm pretty sure my wife considers me âsurplus to requirementsâ :-)
I think I will be in the catagory "surplus to requirements" when I complete the list of jobs she has for me - but I should be safe for a while since she is adding to the list faster than I am getting them done!
Ian
June 19th, 2024
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Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
Fortunately, this shot was taken not long after I got to Pickering, and after that the day became less wet - and for brief periods dry.
Ian
I think I will be in the catagory "surplus to requirements" when I complete the list of jobs she has for me - but I should be safe for a while since she is adding to the list faster than I am getting them done!
Ian