More Than Just ‘Devious’… The Enduring Legacy of the British Railways Standard Shunter

[Warbonnet]

The use of diesel traction in the United Kingdom as a viable and effective form of locomotive power really began in the early 1930s, with the London Midland and Scottish (LMS) being at the vanguard of progress. Prototypes manufactured by Paxman, Drewry, Hunslet, Hudswell-Clarke, Harland & Wolff, and Armstrong Whitworth were powered by Allen, MAN, McLaren, Brotherhood, Paxman, Mirrlees, and Armstrong-Sulzer engines, delivering between 150hp and 400hp. However, in 1934, a new manufacturer entered the arena with a design that was to set the standard for diesel shunting locomotives right up to the present day.

In 1934, English Electric delivered Works No. 3816 to the LMS at Crewe South as LMS No. 7079. Designated as Class D3/6, the manufacture of this 0-6-0 diesel-electric shunter was subcontracted out to Hawthorn Leslie of Newcastle and was powered by the English Electric 350hp 6KT prime mover. It proved successful enough that a further ten examples were ordered, in the LMS number range 7069–7078 (albeit with a downgraded top speed of 22mph, against 7079’s 35mph). The word spread among the ‘Big Four’ and further similar examples were supplied to the Great Western Railway (GWR No. 2), the Southern Railway (SR Nos. 1–3), and the LNER (Nos. 8000–8003). The LMS continued to push ahead with its programme of diesel-electric shunter orders, especially so during the war years, with the design being slightly modified into a prototype that was to become the basis for the ubiquitous Class 08.

One of the first priorities for the British Transport Commission, following Nationalisation of the United Kingdom’s railways in 1948, was to design and build a standard large shunting locomotive. With the former LMS fleet amounting to 106 examples of the English Electric 350hp type, much of the design was based on that locomotive, but there was also scope to include some of the best features from the remaining pre-Nationalisation types, as well as adding provision for other engine and generator manufacturers by including alternative engine mounting and equipment positions.

The 1950 BTC plan for the standard shunter was based on a single cab locomotive 29’ 3” long, with an 0-6-0 wheelbase of 11’ 6”. With the Southern Region’s requirements in mind, and to enable better rail clearance, it was decided to increase the wheel diameter to 4’ 6” and the total weight was set at 49 tons, an axle loading of 16.33 tons. Tractive effort was 35,000 lbs, and the top speed was set at 20mph, with vacuum train braking and an air braking system for the locomotive deemed sufficient for traffic at the time.

The first order for the new locomotive was placed during the Spring of 1950, with locomotive numbering set in the 13xxx series. The first of the new class, No. 13000, left BR’s Derby works on October 11, 1952, eventually heading to Tyseley as its home depot. 13000 was the first of what was to become a fleet of 1193 BR standard 0-6-0DE shunters, built over a 12-year period between 1950 and 1962 at BR’s Derby, Crewe, Darlington, Doncaster, and Horwich workshops. The ‘Gronks’, as they have become affectionately known, have since covered every part of the UK railway network, from Thurso to Holyhead, Felixstowe, Penzance, and Dover.

There were three engine and generator pairing variations to the ‘standard’ English Electric combination during the production phase. The first of these paired a Blackstone engine with British Thompson Houston (BTH) electrics, and this applied to the batch built at Darlington between February and October 1955, covering Nos. 13137–13166. The second (and most successful of the test variants), combined a Blackstone engine with GEC electrics, and this was fitted to Nos. 13137–13157, D3439–D3453, D3473–D3502, D3612–D3651, and D4049–D4094 built between 1955 and 1962 at Darlington and Doncaster. The final combination, covering Nos. 13117 to 13126, was built at Derby between June and September 1955 and paired a Crossley engine with Crompton-Parkinson electrics (although 13125 and 13126 were delayed by two years, being built in June 1957). In addition to these variations, the Southern Region requested a version with revised gearing to enable a higher top speed, and these 25 ‘souped up’ locomotives were later to become the Class 09 locomotives.

The last locomotive to roll off the production line was D4192, built at Darlington in August 1962, and it emerged with a very different look to that carried by 13000. In terms of numbering, the 13xxx series was carried by 363 vehicles, up until the Derby built batch of June 1957 that commenced with D3357. The majority of the 13xxx series carried a livery of plain British Railways Black, with red buffer beams, white lettering, and the early BR emblem until June 1956. From this point onwards, locomotives were ex-works in plain British Railways Green with the later crest being carried, although 13298 to 13328 from Darlington works during 1956 appear to have left the works in the older plain black livery.

Visibility of shunting locomotives in yards was an increasing concern for the BTC, and the first experiments in testing a form of high-visibility front and rear ends were applied to the 13xxx series, with white and black horizontal bands first applied to 13297 in February 1957 as a test, followed by the application of a half wasp striped end to D3682 and D3683 in August 1958. Following the success of the experiment, full wasp stripe/yellow ends began to appear during 1959, and by 1962 the new look was gradually adopted across the fleet, along with white handrails and electrification flashes.

By mid-1967, repaints into the new BR Rail Blue were being carried out with locomotives being grouped under the pre-TOPS numeric classification system that created the 08 Class for the majority of the production run, with the exceptions being the creation of the 09 Class for the uprated Southern Region locomotives and the Blackstone/GEC variants being classified as Class 10. By 1974, most of the fleet carried the full five-digit TOPS numbering, although the Class 10s were withdrawn before they could carry TOPS numbers.

From the 1970s onwards, as air-braked trains became the normal, rather than the exception, those surviving members of the 08 Fleet were modified for dual braking. This coincided with a major refurbishment program that covered internal, external, and cab modifications, as well as the later application of high-intensity lighting and the eventual removal of vacuum braking equipment. Modifications even extended into the 1990s, with a major refurbishment plan to upgrade the fleet to Class 09 specification but which, in the end, was only applied to 12 locomotives, creating the 09/1 and 09/2 Classes.

The need for dedicated shunting locomotives declined through the mid-to-late 1980s and into the 1990s, as freight yards were gradually closed and freight locomotives took over terminal shunting duties. BR ownership merged into shadow, then full privatisation, and by 1996 less than half the original fleet survived, with just 500 ‘Gronks’ left in traffic. Since then, the numbers have declined even further, with just 223 Class 08s, 22 Class 09s, and four Class 10s left in traffic, either in service, stored, or in Preservation.

There is still a glimmer of tradition among those survivors of the Class; areas where the venerable ‘Gronk’ is still performing the tasks for which it was designed, nearly 75 years on from 13000 appearing in traffic, and nowhere is this more apparent than under the stewardship of the Freightliner Group, who still retain a fleet of eight Class 08s for depot and terminal shunting. But it is not just in the traditional areas where the Class 08 excels; the design, created with flexibility from the drawing board by English Electric, is now being used to create low-cost freight locomotives that can operate into the future, converted to be powered by green technologies such as Positive Traction’s Class 08e battery-powered conversion of 08308, which has shown that even the oldest of dogs can still learn new tricks.

That core flexibility of design has been utilised before though, with two major variants being produced to suit very specific tasks within the United Kingdom’s railway network.

In early 1965, six of the Darlington built locomotives; D3697, D3698, D4187, D4188, D4189, and D4190 were converted into three ‘Master and Slave’ Class 13 locomotives to serve the specific traffic requirements at Tinsley Marshalling Yards that required wagons to be shunted over ‘The Hump’. The three new locomotives were numbered as D4500, D4501, and D4502 and they were delivered to the yard in July 1965, the only location in which they worked. Renumbered as 13001/2/3 under TOPS, the first of the units to be withdrawn from traffic was 13002 in June 1981, and the last was 13003 in January 1985.

In Wales, British Rail were required to maintain a fleet of reduced height locomotives to operate over the Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley (BP&GV) line, for operations between Llanelli and Cwm Maur. However, when the existing fleet of Class 03s were at the end of their operational life, it was decided to replace them with specially converted Class 08s. Originally, 08203, 08259, and 08592 were converted to Class 08/9 and renumbered and renamed as 08991 Kidwelly, 08992 Gwendraeth, and 08993 Ashburnham respectively, the conversions being carried out in January 1986 at Landore Depot.

The conversion required the lowering of both the cab and the bonnet of the locomotives, with the cab roof being lowered and re-profiled to a much flatter, angular curve, whilst the bonnet was lowered by removing the bottom section. When 08991 and 08992 were withdrawn, a further two 08s; 08462 and 08687, were converted and renumbered as 08994 and 08995, and the names Kidwelly and Gwendraeth transferred over to the new locomotives.

Initially appearing in BR Rail Blue, both with and without the white arrows, they passed through the sectorisation period of BR Railfreight and, once the BP&GV closed in 1996, into the West Wales general shunting fleet. Upon Privatisation, the three locomotives were absorbed into the ownership of EWS and allocated to the common user pool. Fortunately, for us at least, 08993 managed to evade the cutter’s torch and is currently preserved at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

With such a fleet of Class 08s, 09s, and 10s still surviving in service and preservation, we were spoilt for choice when it came to surveying examples of the locomotives, and this has been carried out around the country: from County Durham, North Yorkshire, and Derbyshire, to Kent, East Sussex, Hampshire, Wiltshire, and beyond. However, we must single out the help afforded to us by the Freightliner Group, who arranged for us to spend the day following operations at Southampton Terminal and to experience the ‘Gronk’ in its natural environment. Thanks to Freightliner, and all the other Heritage railways and charter companies, we look forward to bringing the modeller a variety of liveries and variations in the years ahead.

Pre-Order Your AccuraGronk Here!

 

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[Patrick Davey]

Interesting article!

[Georgeconna]

I have the Hornby 08, Happy with that but needs Stay Alive installed at some stage. Sound is a bit naf and no lights so could be an order for my 1sty AS loco!

Looks great and the DCC sound is fair too.

Is there any payment plan set up yet to spread the costs?

Tell me where was this one based please? Nothing on the serial and I have tried a few Databases.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Georgeconna

[Mol_PMB]

12 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

I have the Hornby 08, Happy with that but needs Stay Alive installed at some stage. Sound is a bit naf and no lights so could be an order for my 1sty AS loco!

Looks great and the DCC sound is fair too.

Is there any payment plan set up yet to spread the costs?

Tell me where was this one based please? Nothing on the serial and I have tried a few Databases.

 

It's a class 10, so you may be looking in the wrong list? They were mostly based on the Eastern Region. Grantham / Peterborough area for this one, it seems.

Edited 1 hour ago by Mol_PMB
more detail.