BR class 55
| BR Class 55 | |
|---|---|
 55 022 Royal Scots Gray
|
|
| Numbering: | 55 001 - 55 022 |
| Number: | 22nd |
| Manufacturer: | English Electric |
| Year of construction (s): | 1961, 1962 |
| Retirement: | 1981 |
| Axis formula : | Co'Co ' |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length: | 21.18 m |
| Service mass: | 101 t |
| Top speed: | 161 km / h |
| Installed capacity: | 2 × 1,230 kW |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1,143 mm |
| Motor type: | 2 × Napier Deltic D18-25 |
| Motor type: | diesel |
| Power transmission: | electric |
The Class 55 of the British Railways was a series of 22 diesel locomotives , the 1961 and 1962 English Electric were built (EE). They were developed for express train passenger transport on the East Coast Main Line between London's Kings Cross Station and Edinburgh and were in service until 1981.
The name "Deltic" of the prototype, DP1, came from the special engine type and was carried over to the entire series. Six locomotives remained in working order.
production
Class 55 was equipped with the particularly powerful Napier Deltic opposed piston engine , which was otherwise only installed on small, fast naval ships. They were also procured under a service agreement with English Electric, with EE also taking care of the maintenance of the motors and generators. In this context, additional replacement engines were produced and provided in order to enable continuous operation of all locomotive units even with complex maintenance and repair intervals.
The original color scheme in the upper part was the dark BR green with a narrower lime green stripe along the underside, the front sections were initially in a creamy white color, later in the usual yellow warning color design. In 1966 the side surfaces of the machines were painted in “Corporate Rail Blue”.
commitment
The "Deltics" were distributed over three locomotive depots. Very soon the machines were given individual names, the locomotives stationed in Gateshead and Haymarket after regiments of the British Army and the machines residing in Finsbury Park in the tradition of the London and North Eastern Railway locomotives after winning racehorses.
The "Deltic" locomotive series replaced more than twice as many (55) of Nigel Gresley's famous steam locomotives of the " Pacific " type in operation.
In the late 1970s, for their part, the Deltics were replaced by express trains of the class 43 High Speed Train (HST) and then operated with reduced maintenance requirements, as maintenance seemed too expensive for this relatively small group of non- standardized vehicles. As a result, these locomotives were increasingly stuck with machine problems. They were transferred to the Doncaster Works for scrapping by 1981. The last regular run of a Deltic was on December 31, 1981. One last nostalgic trip was carried out with the “Scotsman Deltic Farewell” on January 2, 1982 from King's Cross to Edinburgh and back, pulled by the 55.015 “Tulyar” and the 55022 “Royal Scots Gray”.
