The British Rail Class 01 diesel locomotive is a short

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

0-4-0 diesel-mechanical design intended for use in areas with tight curves and limited clearance.

History

Four examples were built by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. of Kilmarnock (

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

) in 1956. They were numbered 11503-11506, then D2953-2956, and two survived long enough to become 01001 (D2954) and 01002 (D2955) on the

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

system. Their original depot allocation was to Stratford (30A). A fifth locomotive with detail differences was built in 1958 for departmental use at Peterborough Permanent Way Depot. It was originally No. 81 but was renumbered D2956 in July 1967 after the original D2956 had been withdrawn. The locomotives were very versatile, despite having only available, and were small enough to operate on any railway on the BR standard gauge network — except for the small problem that they were limited to . For a fleet of just five locomotives, they were also very reliable, although Stratford Docks, where they originally worked, was not noted for creating very hard labour. Two examples, D2953 and D2956 were sold in 1966 and a third locomotive (the second D2956) followed in 1968. D2954 and D2955 survived in BR service because they were required to service the

Holyhead Breakwater Holyhead Breakwater is situated at the north-western end of Holyhead in Anglesey in North Wales. The Victorian structure, which is long, is the longest breakwater in the United Kingdom. The breakwater, which is accessible in good weather, has ...

, being the only locomotives light enough for that track, the pair were used by William Wild & Sons Ltd. They were renumbered 01001 and 01002 under

. 01001 was not used after 1973 but was cannibalised for spare parts to keep its sister loco in service. 01001 was withdrawn in 1979, and 01002 followed in 1981. 01002 had last run when the Breakwater Railway closed in July 1980. Both locomotives were cut up on site still carrying their original livery of British Railways black with black-and-yellow "wasp stripe" warning ends and the original British Railways " unicycling lion" emblem; they were the last locomotives in BR service to do so.

Fleet list

Technical details

Class 01 locomotives had a Gardner 6-cylinder in-line, 4-stroke 6L3 engine of 153 hp (114 kW) at 1,200 rpm connected to a Wilson SE4, 4-speed epicyclic gear box with a Vulcan-Sinclair type 23 rigid hydraulic coupling, and a Wiseman 15LGB reverse and final drive unit. The wheels were connected by

coupling rod A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have them. The coupling rods transfer t ...

s and driven by a

jackshaft A jackshaft, also called a ''countershaft'', is a common mechanical design component used to transfer or synchronize rotational force in a machine. A jackshaft is often just a short stub with supporting bearings on the ends and two pulleys, gear ...

Preservation

Two pre-TOPS members survive in preservation: * D2953 by

Heritage Shunters Trust Heritage Shunters Trust (HST) is a trading name of ''The South Yorkshire Railway Co. Ltd.'' which was founded in 1989. Overview HST is a railway preservation society and is the only preservation society that specialises in the preservation of ...

at Rowsley South, Peak Rail * the first D2956 on 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 ...

Re-use of the '01' TOPS code

More recently, the sub-classification 01/5 has come into use to refer to small, privately owned shunters certified to run on the

national network The National Network (or National Truck Network) is a network of approved state highways and interstates for commercial truck drivers in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States ...

. As such, 01/5 is a collective grouping of a number of very different locomotives, having in common only that they are small, hitherto unclassified shunters of designs never given a BR classification.

References

* *

External links

More images of 01002 shunting on the breakwater
*
Page of photos of 01 002 on Holyhead Breakwater on the Breakwater's official page
{{British Rail Locomotives 01 Andrew Barclay locomotives B locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1956 Standard gauge locomotives of Great Britain