The British Rail Class 45 or Sulzer Type 4 are
diesel locomotives built by
British Railways'
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
and
Crewe Works
Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...
between 1960 and 1962. Along with the similar
Class 44 and
46 locomotives, they became known as ''Peaks''.
History
The Class 45s became the main traction on the
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...
from 1962, and their introduction allowed considerable acceleration of the previous steam-powered service. The Class 45s remained the main source of power on the Midland Main Line up to 1982, when they were relegated to secondary services following introduction of
HSTs on the route. From 1986 Class 45s virtually disappeared from the line. From the early 1980s until their withdrawal c.1988, the class were regular performers on the North Trans-Pennine line working services from
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
or
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
via
Manchester Victoria
Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was co ...
,
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
and
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
. These trains were usually formed of early
Mark 2 carriages, of up to seven in a typical train.
Naming
26 Class 45s were officially named by BR after various British Army regiments and the Royal Marines. Additionally, several were unofficially named.
Engine
The engine of the Class 45 was a marine-type, slow-revving diesel, a
Sulzer 12LDA28B with a
bore of (hence the 28 in the engine designation) and a
stroke of . This gave per cylinder, or for the whole engine. The unit was
turbocharged and
intercooled
An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines.
Internal combustion engines
Most ...
and gave at 750
rpm
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
. The engine was of the
double bank type with two parallel banks of 6 cylinders, geared together to a single output shaft. Six-cylinder versions of the engine were fitted in the
Class 25 locos (amongst others) and eight-cylinder versions in
Class 33s. Class 45s were the updated versions of the
Class 44 locomotives, the latter having a non-intercooled version of the same engine; i.e. the 12LDA28A. The later
Class 47 had a modified version of the same engine, a 12LDA28C.
Train heating
When initially put into service, the locomotives were fitted with
multi-unit working and
steam-heating boilers for passenger service. In the early 1970s, fifty were fitted with
electric train supply
In rail transport, head-end power (HEP), also known as electric train supply (ETS), is the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive (or a generator car) at the front or 'head' of a train, p ...
in place of their steam-heating boilers and assigned to work services on the
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...
from
London St Pancras
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...
to
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
,
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
and
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
. These locomotives were renumbered as Class 45/1.
Auxiliary machines
The Class 45 is unusual in having a 220
volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827).
Defin ...
electrical system for driving auxiliary machines and battery charging. Most British Railways diesels of the same era had 110 volt auxiliaries.
Accidents and incidents
* On 26 August 1976 locomotive No; 45 149 while hauling coal derailed near Winchcombe due to 'unusual' activity on the line.
* On 16 January 1982, locomotive No. 45 074 was hauling a freight train that was derailed at
Chinley
Chinley is a rural village in the High Peak Borough of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 2,796 at the 2011 Census. Most of the civil parish (called Chinley, Buxworth and Brownside) is within the Peak District National Park. Historical ...
,
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
.
![45147 at Patricroft after the Eccles rail crash](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/45147_at_Patricroft_after_the_Eccles_rail_crash.jpg)
* On 4 December 1984, locomotive No. 45 147 was badly damaged in the
Eccles rail crash, and subsequently moved to Patricroft where it was cut-up in March 1985.
* On 9 March 1986, locomotive No. 45 014 ''The Cheshire Regiment'' was one of two light engines that were hit head-on by a passenger train at Chinley due to a signalman's error. One person was killed. Lack of training and a power cut were contributory factors.
The locomotive was consequently withdrawn from service and scrapped.
* On 24 April 1988, locomotive No. 45 041 split a set of points and was derailed at
Edale
Edale is a village and civil parish in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, whose population was 353 at the 2011 Census. Edale, with an
area of ,
is in the Borough of High Peak.
Edale is best known to walkers as the start, or southern end, ...
, Derbyshire.
Withdrawal
The great majority of Class 45s were withdrawn between 1981 and 1988 after class 43 HSTs were introduced to their routes, and the last was withdrawn from service by 1989.
Fleet details
Preservation
![D100 at Bournemouth Open Day](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/D100_at_Bournemouth_Open_Day.jpg)
Eleven locomotives survive in preservation with examples from both batches. The majority of the preserved engines were built at
Crewe Works
Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...
but two of the preserved engines including the spares donor engine were built at
Derby Works
The Derby Works comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities designing and building locomotives and rolling stock in Derby, England. The first of these was a group of three maintenance sheds opened around 1840 behind Derby station. Th ...
. A summary of these follows (more details in the table above):
* 45041 – In operational condition at the
Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, ...
* 45060 – Undergoing engine overhaul at
Barrow Hill Roundhouse
* 45105 – Undergoing restoration at
Barrow Hill Roundhouse
* 45108 – In operational condition on loan at the
East Lancashire Railway
East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat and Ramsbottom, with ...
* 45112 – Stored at
Nemesis Rail
Nemesis Rail is a railway maintenance and spot-hire company. It is presently based in a depot on Derby Road, Burton upon Trent, that was formerly a British Rail wagon works that had been closed in the 1990s.
Nemesis Rail was founded in January ...
,
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...
* 45118 – Under overhaul at
Barrow Hill Roundhouse
* 45125 – In operational condition at the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
* 45132 – Under overhaul at the
Epping Ongar Railway
The Epping Ongar Railway is a heritage railway in south-west Essex, England, run by a small number of paid staff and a team of volunteers. It was the final section of the Great Eastern Railway branch line, later the London Underground's Centr ...
* 45133 – Under overhaul at the
Midland Railway – Butterley
The Midland Railway – Butterley is a heritage railway at Butterley, near Ripley in Derbyshire.
History
Overview
The ''Midland Railway – Butterley'' lies on the Ambergate to Pye Bridge line of the old Midland Railway, a line once con ...
* 45135 – Under heavy repair at the
East Lancashire Railway
East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat and Ramsbottom, with ...
* 45149 – In operational condition at the
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWR, GWSR or Gloucs-Warks Steam Railway) is a volunteer-run heritage railway which runs along the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border of the Cotswolds, England.
The GWSR has restored and reope ...
A twelfth example, 45015, was also sold into preservation, but not restored. Withdrawn in March 1986 with a seized traction motor, for which repair was not authorised, 45015 was heavily cannibalised for spares to keep other Class 45s working. It remained at
Toton
Toton is a large village in the Borough of Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, England. The electoral ward of Toton and Chilwell Meadows population of this ward was 7,298 in the 2001 census. It increased to 8,238 at the 2011 census.
Until 1974 Toton ...
, its home shed, until at least 1999. The locomotive was moved to Shackerstone, on the
Battlefield Line Railway, in 2002, still with the intention of restoration to mainline standard, despite requiring a replacement engine to be found. In 2010 the host railway gave notice to the locomotive's owner that the still-unrestored 45015 needed to move to a new site. Having failed to find a buyer, 45015 is in the process of being scrapped.
Model railways
Mainline Railways introduced
OO gauge
OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard-gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to 1 foot, ...
Class 45s in 1983; D100 ''Sherwood Forester'' in BR green and 45048 ''The Royal Marines'' in BR blue.
References
Further reading
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External links
Photos of Class 45s in action from 1970s to withdrawal and in preservationwww.45133.co.uk
{{British Rail Locomotives
45
1Co-Co1 locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1960
Standard gauge locomotives of Great Britain
Diesel-electric locomotives of Great Britain