British Rail Class 55

The British Rail Class 55 is a class of diesel locomotive built in 1961 and 1962 by English Electric. They were designed for the high-speed express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh. They gained the name "Deltic" from the prototype locomotive, DP1 Deltic, which in turn was named for its Napier Deltic power units. Twenty-two locomotives were built: they dominated express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) particularly London – Leeds and London – Edinburgh services until 1978 when InterCity 125 'High Speed Trains' were introduced. 1978–81 saw them gradually relegated to semi-fast or newspaper–parcel–sleeper services along the ECML (destinations including Cleethorpes, Harrogate, Hull, Scarborough and Aberdeen) plus occasional forays 'offline' – York - Liverpool Lime Street semi-fast and Edinburgh - Carlisle via Newcastle stoppers. Withdrawal came at the end of 1981. Six locomotives were preserved and are still running today.

Production
Following trials with the prototype DP1 Deltic locomotive, an order was placed with English Electric for a production fleet of 22 units (reduced from the originally-planned 23 ), replacing more than twice that number (55) of Gresley Pacifics. A first, was that the locomotives were purchased under a service contract, English Electric agreeing to maintain them, including their engines and generators, for a fixed price. Additional Deltic engines were produced to enable engines to be swapped out regularly for overhaul while keeping the locomotives in service.

The locomotives were assigned to three locomotive depots: Finsbury Park in London, Gateshead over the Tyne from Newcastle, and Haymarket in Edinburgh. They arrived from the manufacturer painted in two-tone green, the dark BR green on top, with a narrower strip of a lighter, lime green along the bottom. This helped to disguise the bulk of the locomotive body. The cab window surrounds were picked out in cream-white. Although delivered without it, they all soon sported the bright yellow warning panel at each end common to all British diesel and electric locomotives, to make them more conspicuous. Very soon, all were named; the Gateshead and Haymarket locomotives after regiments of the British Army, while Finsbury Park followed the LNER tradition of naming locomotives after winning racehorses.

By 1966 they began to be painted in corporate Rail Blue with yellow ends, the change generally coinciding with a works repair and the fitting of air brake equipment, the locomotives originally having only vacuum braking (the first so treated was D9002; the last to be painted blue was D9014). In the early 1970s they were fitted with Electric Train Heating (ETH) equipment to power the new generation of air-conditioned coaches, while a couple of years later, with the introduction of BR's TOPS computer system, they were renumbered 55 001 to 55 022. In 1979 Finsbury Park restored the white cab window surrounds to their remaining (6) Deltics, making them distinctive although these were later painted over when the locomotives were transferred to York during the rundown of the depot at Finsbury Park.

Performance
The introduction of the Deltics was a step change in locomotive performance on the East Coast Main Line. The recently introduced class 40 diesels had an absolute maximum drawbar horsepower of 1450 and this could be exceeded by a Pacific steam locomotive if worked hard. On one of O. S. Nock's first Deltic runs (the down Heart of Midlothian loaded to 13 coaches 530 tons gross) he states "once the tail of the train was over the 60 mph restriction the throttle was opened to the full, and the surge forward could be felt in the cab. Never previously had I felt a positive thrust in my back when in the second man's seat!" Nock went on to estimate that at 80 mph the locomotive was producing about 2750 drawbar horsepower. As early as 1963 Deltics were recorded exceeding 100 mph, Nock recording 100 mph for 16 miles south of Thirsk with a maximum of 104 mph, he went on to say that such speeds in 1963 were "terrific".

By the mid 1960s the Deltic hauled Flying Scotsman was achieving a 5 hour 55 minute time from King's Cross to Edinburgh with one stop at Newcastle and this was the fastest ever timing, beating the pre war A4 hauled "Coronation" service's 6 hours, and without the priority over other traffic accorded to the earlier LNER train. As the East Coast Main Line was upgraded times dropped still further and by the mid 1970s the Flying Scotsman was reaching Edinburgh in 5 hours 30 minutes, still with one stop at Newcastle.

The ultimate Deltic performance came on 2 February 1978 with a run on the 07:25 from Newcastle to King's Cross. In some respects the run was set up (the driver was about to retire) but the speeds were record breaking. The locomotive was 55 008, it was hauling 10 coaches (343 tons gross) and on the leg from York to London it achieved a timing of 137 min 15 sec. This included various signal stops and other enforced speed reductions, the nett time is estimated at 115 min 45 sec, an average of 97 mph start to stop. The train achieved 113 mph on the flat between Darlington and York, 114 mph at Offord and 125 mph whilst descending Stoke bank.

The Railway Performance Society estimate that on modern infrastructure (the Selby diversion etc.) a realistic Deltic hauled schedule from King's Cross to Edinburgh would be around 4 hours 57 minutes (a theoretical unchecked run being around 4 hours 40 minutes). This would be for a train of 11 coaches and include a stop at Newcastle, the latter city being reached in a scheduled 3 hours 6 minutes.

Replacement


In the late 1970s the Deltics began to be supplanted by the next generation of express trains, the Class 43 High Speed Train (HST), branded as InterCity 125 and the Deltics began to take on secondary roles. British Rail at this time had a general policy of not maintaining small non-standard fleets of locomotives, thus the class had a limited future. When the Intercity 125 fleet took over on the main East coast services it was never likely to be economic to maintain a small non-standard class of locomotive for secondary services and the end of the decade saw the first withdrawals from service. Deltics were generally run with only limited maintenance until they became unable to continue running and required rescue by other locomotives after breaking down. Typically the cause would be engine failure although some Deltics were withdrawn for other reasons. They were then taken to Doncaster Works for scrapping. For a time the Deltic scrap line was a draw for railway enthusiasts. The final service run was the 16:30 Aberdeen-York service on 31 December 1981, hauled from Edinburgh by 55 019 Royal Highland Fusilier, arriving in York at just before midnight. The last train was an enthusiast special, the "Deltic Scotsman Farewell" on 2 January 1982, from King's Cross to Edinburgh and back, hauled by 55015 Tulyar northbound and 55022 Royal Scots Grey on the return. Following the farewell, the surviving Deltics were put on display at Doncaster Works before their final journey to the scrap line.

Preservation
Six locomotives were saved after their withdrawal:


 * D9000 (55 022) Royal Scots Grey was purchased by the Deltic 9000 Fund and was handed over in fully running condition after work and a repaint by BR. Its first base was the Nene Valley Railway. It now resides in Bury at the East Lancashire Railway and is owned by Beaver Sports (Yorks) Ltd, who have heavily modified the locomotive away from its original English Electric design, are committed to its preservation in running order with main-line certification. It completed an 18-month overhaul and was re-certified for running on the main line in August 2006. Royal Scots Grey has been re-allocated visually to York (YK depot) and York City coat of arms crests above the numbers as done in 1981. It is the first out of the Class 55 to carry York coat of arms crest since 1982
 * D9002 (55 002) The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was donated to the National Railway Museum, York and was the first preserved Deltic to return to the main line when it worked light engine to York after participating in the Doncaster Works Open Day on 27 February 1982.
 * D9009 (55 009) Alycidon was purchased by the Deltic Preservation Society Ltd (DPS) and has been mostly based at the DPS depot at Barrow Hill.
 * D9015 (55 015) Tulyar was purchased by a private buyer, Peter Sansom; in 1986 it was sold to the Deltic Preservation Society. It has led an itinerant existence on many preserved railways.
 * D9016 (55 016) Gordon Highlander was purchased by the Deltic 9000 Fund, with the intention that it would be restored to running condition, whilst acting as a 'twelve wheeled mobile source of spares'. As of November 2007 the locomotive was based at the Peak Rail (Heritage Railway), near Bakewell, Derbyshire, where it could sometimes be seen hauling trains (especially on 'diesel weekends'). In July 2008, this loco was sold by a private individual to HNRC as a business venture. In spite of previous announcements to the contrary, HNRC put the loco up for sale at the end of September 2008. Bids from the Gordon Highlander Preservation Group and Martin Walker (the owner of 55 022) were rejected by HNRC in favour of a higher offer from Direct Rail Services (DRS) Ltd. Direct Rail Services (DRS) Ltd kept D9016 (55 016) at Barrow Hill for a year with intention of a full overhaul but these plans never surfaced. The loco was sold year later to Martin Walker (the owner of 55 022) and his team and is now based at East Lancashire Railway with 55022. 55 016 donated one of its two engines to 55 022 in April 2010 as one of 55 022's engines was not one of the original Napier-Deltic engines fitted in 1959.
 * D9019 (55 019) Royal Highland Fusilier was purchased by the Deltic Preservation Society. In April 2005, it became the first Deltic to be fitted with TPWS equipment.

Two Cabs were saved after their withdrawal:

Cabs from D9008 (55 008) The Green Howards and D9021 (55 021) Argyll and Sutherland Highlander are both owned by the DPS. Both are currently located at the DPS depot at Barrow Hill.
 * D9008 (55 008) The Green Howards was acquired when the locomotive was being scrapped at Doncaster Works in August 1982. 55008 is mounted on a road trailer and has been fitted out with computer simulation equipment which allow anybody to take the controls.


 * D9021 (55 021) Argyll and Sutherland Highlander 55021 was scrapped at Doncaster in September 1982 but the cab was saved and bought by DPS member. The cab was in later years given to the DPS society where it has been put on display at the DPS depot.

Operations after BR withdrawal
Despite the ban on privately owned diesel locomotives operating on BR tracks, railway enthusiasts did not have to wait that long after the final withdrawal of the class to see a Deltic back on the mainline. Following participation in the hastily arranged 'Farewell to the Deltics' open day at BREL Doncaster Works on 27 February 1982, 55 002 left Doncaster under its own power and ran back up the ECML to the National Railway Museum light engine; it was to be some years before a Deltic was officially allowed to run again on the mainline.

The next opportunity to see a Deltic back on the mainline and running under its own power was in April 1985 when D9000 was sent (at the request of ScotRail management) light engine from Haymarket Depot to Perth for an open day. Following newspaper comments by Chris Green of ScotRail around that time there was hope that D9000 might see regular work north of the border. Chris Green's move to the management team at the newly created Network South East in 1986 put paid to that. However, that did not end his involvement with D9000 and when he moved on to head up Virgin Trains the Deltic was used on many Virgin service trains.

With the changes taking place on Britain's railways in the 1990s, the outlook changed for preserved diesel locomotives. In British Rail days, no privately owned diesel locomotives were allowed to operate on its tracks. With privatisation came open-access railways&mdash;the track and infrastructure were owned and operated by Railtrack, who for a fee would allow approved locomotives and trains to operate on their track. Suddenly, the owners of preserved locomotives were on an equal footing with everyone else. In fact, the characteristics of the Deltic locomotives, powerful and capable of cruising at 100 mi/h, enabled them to fit more easily onto the modern rail network than other, slower, preserved diesels.

In 1996, the Deltic 9000 Fund reformed itself as Deltic 9000 Locomotives Ltd (DNLL) in order to return its locomotives to main-line service and on 30 November 1996 D9000 Royal Scots Grey hauled the 'Deltic Deliverance' charter from Edinburgh to Berwick. Although this tour ended prematurely, D9000 went on to haul many charter and Virgin service trains until 2003. Subsequently DNLL's other Deltic, D9016 Gordon Highlander returned to main-line working (it was temporarily painted in the garish purple livery of Porterbrook Leasing, who helped finance the restoration and was called the 'Purple Peril' by enthusiasts), as did the Deltic Preservation Society's D9009 Alycidon and D9019 Royal Highland Fusilier. Between 1997 and 2003 all four main-line certified locomotives saw frequent charter and locomotive hire use, including on the Venice Simplon Orient Express.

In 2003, DNLL went into liquidation with the result that D9000 and D9016 were sold to private individuals. From July 2003 to March 2005 no Deltics hauled a train on the main line. After a brief return to the main line in 2005 the DPS withdrew their last Deltic (55 019) at the end of 2005, having run three tours during the year. The other two preserved Deltics, D9002 The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and D9015 Tulyar, are currently (September 2008) non-runners. D9015 Tulyar is undergoing a full bodyside restoration at Barrow Hill and D9002 The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry is currently painted in BR blue and is undergoing full restoration to running operations at NRM. 55 019 remains in full working order along with 55 009, whilst 55 016 is currently able to operate on one engine only. On 23 September 2006, 55 022 (D9000) Royal Scots Grey returned to the main line after a lengthy and extensive restoration at Barrow Hill by the DPS. It successfully hauled the SRPS 'Moray Mint' railtour from Edinburgh to Inverness, via Perth on the outward trip and back via Aberdeen. On its second working two weeks later, severe damage occurred to the number 2 end engine. The engine suffered from a leg out of bed, a term which means the engine con-rod breaks out of the engine. This left Royal Scots Grey still able to operate but on one engine only. By January 2007, the faulty power unit was removed from 55 022, put into storage and replaced by an ex-marine Napier Deltic engine modified for rail use; work was complete by Royal Scots Grey's dedicated team in August 2007. After extensive testing at the East Lancs Railway the locomotive hauled its first tour since the previous engine malfunction on RTC's 'Autumn Highlander' with 50 049 and 40 145 in October 2007. 55 022 successfully hauled a number of charter tour services during 2008 but the replacement marine sourced engine gave rise for concern following the discovery of oil in the coolant, and at the end of August the loco was then removed from future large railtour duties. The loco continued working mainline duty by visiting other preserved railway and dragged other non-mainline registered locos.

In mid January 2007, an agreement was reached between heritage railway Peak Rail and the owner of 55 016 (D9016) Gordon Highlander which entailed the move of the locomotive from Barrow Hill to the preserved line for a period of three years. It had been thought that D9016 would receive certain maintenance and restoration while on the railway. However, the sale of the locomotive to the Harry Needle Railroad Company and subsequent announcements indicated that the weekend runs of 27 and 28 September 2008 might be its last prior to component recovery and eventual scrapping. Despite previous indications to the contrary, HNRC put the locomotive up for sale during the last week of September 2008 and although the Gordon Highlander Preservation Group submitted a substantial bid it was not accepted and the immediate future (and owner) of the locomotive was clouded in some mystery.

Subsequently, in October 2008 DRS announced in a press release that it had acquired 55016 (D9016) Gordon Highlander from Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC). The company is working with HNRC to return the locomotive to operational condition, although at the time of writing (June 2009) the locomotive is still stored at Barrow Hill awaiting attention. While the locomotive is not been planned for an immediate return to service, DRS is confident that the locomotive will be returned to mainline service in the future. DRS intends to retain the locomotive's name. On 29 December 2009, it was announced that 55016 had been purchased by Martin Walker, and is currently without a working engine, its complete engine being placed into sister engine 55022 to enable it to return to mainline use. The plan is to return 55016 to one, and eventually two engines, and the possibility of a mainline return. The Royal Scots Grey team late 2010 focused work on D9016 and in January 2011 the locomotive returned to service and is planned to continue work on the ELR. 2011 will see the locomotive receive much needed body work attention.

In April 2011, 55022 was chartered by GB Railfreight for bauxite freight working between Blyth and the Lynemouth aluminium smelter. This charter was scheduled to last from April to July.



In film/TV

 * The opening titles of Get Carter (1971) feature shots of the journey to the north on the East Coast Main Line, filmed from the front of a Deltic, and the interior of the rolling stock. Another Class 55 in rail blue livery passes in the opposite direction. Some of this footage is shot at Selby as the train passes the BOCM factory.
 * In the same film during the scene in which Carter is checking his late brother's car in a scrapyard, one end of a Deltic can be seen leaving shot over the viaduct in the background.
 * In the Yes Minister episode The Official Visit, the main characters take a sleeper from London to Edinburgh. The train is hauled by a Class 55, with a brief shot of the locomotive starting out from King's Cross. The distinctive engine sound of the Class 55 is especially evident as the train accelerates.
 * In the British children's TV show, Chuggington, "Brewster", one of the main characters, resembles a Class 55

Proposed Deltic locomotives
A 72 ton Bo-Bo locomotive, using a single 18 cylinder Deltic engine, was proposed as an alternative to what became the British Rail Class 37 Type 3 locomotive introduced from 1960.

A Co-Co "Super Deltic" was proposed but not built. There were three potential designs between 4000hp and 4600hp weighing between 114 and 119 tons with a maximum axle load of 19 LT. The locomotives would have looked very similar to the eventual Class 50s, though slightly longer. All three designs would have had two 18-cylinder turbocharged engines, based on the 9-cylinder turbocharged engine used in the British Rail Class 23 "Baby Deltic" and the locomotive would have been designated Class 51. The Class 55's engines were not turbocharged, although they did have centrifugal scavenging blowers.