Power type Diesel-electric Build date 1958 Configuration Bo-Bo | Serial number 27671–27680 Total produced 10 | |
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Builder North British Locomotive Company | ||
The North British Type 1 (later known as Class 16) was a type of diesel locomotive ordered under British Railways' 1955 Modernisation Plan. Like other Type 1 designs, they were relatively small locomotives intended primarily for local freight traffic.
Contents
Overview
The design evolved from an earlier prototype locomotive built by North British, No. 10800. Under British Railways' 'pilot scheme', ten locomotives were ordered for evaluation against rival designs from British Thompson-Houston (Class 15) and English Electric (Class 20). The design shared some similarities with Class 15, both being of the road-switcher layout which was uncommon in the U.K., and both being powered by an 800 hp (600 kW) Paxman 16YHXL prime mover.
Delivery
The ten locomotives (numbered D8400–D8409) were completed at the North British Locomotive Company's Queen's Park Works in Glasgow, between May and September 1958. They were delivered to Devons Road depot, Bow, North-east London on the London Midland Region of British Railways for evaluation against the rival designs, but soon moved to nearby Stratford depot on the Eastern Region, where they stayed for the rest of their lives.
Operation
The design was not a success, and no further examples were built. While the Class 15s also suffered problems with the Paxman engines, these were worse on Class 16 because inadequate ventilation resulted in frequent engine seizures. Another problem was coolant contamination of the oil, due to cylinder head failure. They were fitted with a non-standard type of electro-magnetic control equipment (coded "red circle" by BR) which was prone to failure, and they could not operate in multiple with locomotives fitted with the more common electro-pneumatic ("blue star") controls.
Withdrawal
Being non-standard and unreliable, the locomotives were an obvious candidate for early withdrawal. They were withdrawn between February and September 1968, and all ten had been cut up for scrap by the end of 1969.