A pair of Germans that thought they were Hydraulic, but found themselves spinning a Genny ! And outrageously stuffed inside what many thought was a Class 47 bodyshell. You know Maybach engines also powered the Tiger & King Tiger German Panzers of world war two, and I'm probably the last person alive who's worked on both ! (The worlds only working Tiger with original Maybach engine today, is part of the British National Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset. It was captured by the British from under both German and American military noses at the Kasserine pass in Tunisia).

The days when Britain used to build fantastic locos and aircraft. Sadly just a memory now. Very interesting video.

Flacon: The diesel that flew high, but never really left the nest. I wish she was preserved.

Such a shame this unique and good looking (and sounding!) locomotive wasn't preserved. Even more of a shame that the section of line through Derbyshire shown was closed.

I was based at Old Oak common from 1969 as fireman/second man after transferring from Crewe..I'm sure got to work this about 1970 from Paddington to Birmingham new street, I pushed this through the 100mph to about 108, my regular driver and I shared the driving he drove one way and me the other...This was a regular practice at that time anyway,I preferred the class 47 to all he rest they were a good loco....However the westerns class 52 were another powerful and comfortable ride, the class 47s were 2750HP at the time but they reduced them to 2500 for a reason that now escapes me...I left the railways about 1975 as the shifts were brutal and seriously interfered with my love life...

@tim7099

6 жыл бұрын

I believe the de-rating was introduced in because of failures in the crankcases due to overstress. Must have worked OK are there are still a few about :-)

@keithdawson4804

6 жыл бұрын

Dermot McGlinchey I hope that love life was worth all that effort to save it, versus the joy of driving those locos! ;)

@CFRTrainSpotter

6 жыл бұрын

I believe ALCO engines also had a similar issue? One locomotive series here (only 2 examples, Romanian Railways class 61) had ALCOs fitted and initially 3000HP untill they were limited at 2600HP... maybe it was the same reason, or ALCOs had other issues? (apart from consumption, misery they generated, etc)

@nevillebond2169

6 жыл бұрын

Dermot McGlinchey e

@markturner4219

6 жыл бұрын

She was allocated to Bristol Bath Road for the bulk of her time on WR - finally ending up in Ebbw Junction. OOC must have 'borrowed' her for that turn. That sort of thing did happen from time to time. In 1970 she had just had a major overhaul at Swindon, once run in she would have been in fine fettle for high speed running.

Saw her when fresh out of the Brush at Loughborough also Kestrel being a Loughborough lad and keen train spotter at the time

I worked on this loco at Bristol Bath Road, if I remember correctly she was a cow to maintain.

load 19 up the Lickey from a standing start! that is impressive!

Love the sound of non welded track. Takes me right back.

@100SteveB

8 жыл бұрын

+Graham Bentley I miss that sound, used to send me to sleep when i used to travel on the Brighton/Victoria line, lol, lost count of the time i missed my station because i had fallen asleep, a mixture of the old jointed track, and the soft comfortable seats of the old class 421's.

I saw Falcon twice, the first time was in Paddington when I realised the headcode wasn't in the same position as the Brush 4 beside it. The second time was a couple of years later when I saw it run through Didcot. Pity it wasn't preserved.

I was a freight guard at Ebbw jcn MPD in the early seventies ,the Falcon was based on that depot , it was only used on the branch to Uskmouth power station dropping off and picking up at various foundry and steel works on the way . A local enthusiast got on the loco and unbolted the falcon emblem the police found it on his bedroom wall ! In the video its only a "picture" when we had it the falcon was a hefty casting. The loco spent more time under repair than working and as a one off there were no spares

@paulnolan1352

Жыл бұрын

Should have been spares around as it used the same engines as the Westerns.

@mt5144

4 ай бұрын

The Weston’s were mainly Laira based when I was a spotter between 1973-79 although they were withdrawn early 1977, the last 2 I saw passing Canton Depot bridge was 1013 & the final Paddington to Swansea normal service Western I saw was 1023 Western Fusilier still going strong in early 1977, I was lucky to get around Swindon Works in 1974 /75 to see earlier types being cut up Along with lots of 08,24 & 25’s few 31’s & the odd class 40 & plenty of Class 52 in various derelict States.

I love British trains.. I'm Moroccan.. We have mostly French trains here Japanese one "Hitachi" electric loco was built only for Morocco.. and some American diesels.. And some Italians and Belgium EMUs. I love them too.. And the TGV project is going to be done soon.. We already bought some TGV duplex units.

@beeble2003

4 жыл бұрын

El Othemany I’m British, these days, we mostly have American, Japanese, Spanish, ... trains here. Very little built in the UK, now.

@DMJ52

4 жыл бұрын

El Othemany you have a Brush loco in Morocco ! It’s a Bo-Bo built in 1990.

@toainsully

4 жыл бұрын

The United Kingdom has a huge history of railways

@mirvids5036

Жыл бұрын

@@toainsully Yep, we invented them.

@adammoss5284

Жыл бұрын

Our engines had soul too 👍🏻

I actually saw Falcon once sitting alone in a platform at Kings Cross. I searched my Ian Allan book but it wasn't there it was so new! Sadly, I didn't have a camera with me.

@preservedthumpers

8 жыл бұрын

+batman51 I saw it at the very end of its life pulling a coal train through Cardiff station, I was about 6 at the time and couldn't work out why everyone was going mad about it

Travelled two times from Paddington to Cardiff 1967/68 with Falcon . I used to persuade my mum and ask " can I look at the engine " thats how I remember Falcon .

A fantastic and nostalgic film. Awesome loco. thanks

Fantastic film.

During the 70's this Loco FALCON (Class 53) was always to be found on Ebbw Junction Shed in Newport Gwent until 1976 & always carried the old number 1200 as it was not allocated a TOPS number, it was in the old BR blue colour scheme, I believe it was scrapped @ Newport in Cashmore's scrap merchants, just a shame it was not saved to put into York Railway Museum.

Extremely rare sight at 4:00. As this is a special test, (no passengers) permission for the banking engine, a class 94xx ex GWR design 0-6-0PT tank, has been instructed to follow the train, at a given distance, should the test train grind to a halt. This is normally totally forbidden as you effectively have two trains in section, and a crash between two trains becomes a possibility. Normal banking in steam days allowed the banker to push without being coupled up, and to drop back at the top of the gradient, either in sight of a signalbox, or at a point where a plunger communication could indicate to the signalman you had stopped safely but where still occupying the section. The banker in most cases where banking was necessary, would then crossover to return to a layby siding at the bottom of the hill.

Boris Johnson to British manufacturers... "I want a new diesel electric loco capable of 3000hp , please submit tenders (excuse the pun) for a fleet of 500 units." How many British companies could fulfill this request entirely within our shores ?

@alexbonham2361

4 жыл бұрын

Brois Johnson oh our party privatised and then sold them for a cost prise. Damn why did Labour win and then I could a theacher all over again.. I know just mable some right wing clap trap and John and Jane Smith lap it up.

@paulnolan1352

Жыл бұрын

Your assuming Boris Johnson was capable of such a decisive order!.

@22pcirish

Ай бұрын

None today.

I remember in the sixties when this loco was sheded at Bristol Bath road it was often rostered on the summer school holidays bucket and spade relief ( not time tabled) Bristol to painton and evening return, also appeared to be used for traction training , it certainly made some spirited runs. TC.

A good powerful loco but by then BR was prejudiced against twin-engine locos.

i find it amazing how the british could squeeze so much power into the locos despite the tiny loading gauge.

@markturner4219

6 жыл бұрын

The most powerful of the diesel prototypes was HS4000 Kestrel completed in '67. As the number implies she had 4000 hp. She ran trials for approx 3 years and then was sold to Russia. At that time, she was really more powerful than the British Railway system had operational requirements for.

@kevinwilliams1602

5 жыл бұрын

That is because we had the best engineers in the world

@bobtudbury8505

Жыл бұрын

@@kevinwilliams1602 joining the eu did away with all that

@kevinwilliams1602

Жыл бұрын

@@bobtudbury8505 true we were a world leader up to the sixties, the degenerate politicians joined that awful institution without our consent, just look at the state of education today absolutely woeful, I gather the reason those new degenerate pilitcians are happy to let the illegals in is because we have no workforce who can make anything, build anything or repair anything, thanks to 50 years almost of cowardice in high government

@kevinwilliams1602

Жыл бұрын

@@markturner4219 And today we are scrapping 6,000 hp locomotives, the world is wierd

The Derbyshire footage appears to be showing the old Monsal Head viaduct over the River Wye. Now closed but developed into a brilliant cycle and walking route. This stretch of line was about three miles south of the busy countryside junction at Millersdale which forms part of the same cycle and walking route. Sad we've lost this stretch of line and a magnificent loco but all is not lost with this wonderful location.

Some have commented that it looks like a 47. In fact it was built utilising a pair of Class 31 cabs with a lower headcode panel and two piece windscreen instead of three. It even utilised the same bogie type as Class 31.

@russellgxy2905

Жыл бұрын

Definitely a Brush product in all but the engines. I didn't know about the bogies though. Does that mean the 47's have the same bogies as the 31's. or did the former take its wheelset from Lion?

@22pcirish

Ай бұрын

The cab is nothing like a class 31, certainly has a family resemblance to a class 47. The bogies were similar but had 3 traction motors per bogies compared to the 31’s two.

I love these locos but I am a ‘Western lover’ at heart! The class 52’s had such short lives 😪 47’s still run today! Lickey incline either makes or breaks a new loco! Many modern locos struggle on it!

Maintaining speeds of 100mph. Today's trains can only dream of that.

What an absolute beast! A shame she was lost to history.

@Shelfandtabletoplayouts00gauge

Жыл бұрын

My sentiments exactly

3:59 Hey wait for me!

@fredrich9841

4 жыл бұрын

Kyan Koh 🤣

Very surprised to see it entering Cambridge station, must have been part of its trial period at King's Cross.

Good old Richard Baker.....

@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome

2 жыл бұрын

@@stokes8626 His accent? Yeah, definitely not regional enough. You have to be Scottish or Irish to speak on TV these days.

I believe the loco never got over 95mph and was happiest below that, it was powerful and often favoured fir the evening run to Wales with heavy weight passenger work it was smooth, powerful but not fast

I remember this at Sheffield Victoria Station around 1964 or '65.

Falcon is a nice looking locomotive. Too bad she wasn’t able to be preserved.

Falcon: I’m a good machine, please build my sisters so I’m a class of 53s! British Railways: No! No! That will never do! Build over a hundred Class 17s instead! Falcon: :(

Some lovely Western-style rumble in a few shots here.

Ah, that my favourite this train aren't! Beautiful.

@rhysglover3743

6 жыл бұрын

Alan Deutscher ,

Often saw it coming through Slough. Couldn't mistake that Falcon emblem on the side.

Falcon was like a 47 on Steroids. We used to watch it go though Didcot and it was a bit special, almost a Western. The two other oddities in those days were the Blue Pullman and double headed 37's. A pair of Warships on the Cornish Riviera on Reading West curve were pretty awesome too.

I'm interested that the designers took the trouble to equip the loco with a scoop to replenish the heating boiler from the water troughs. Surely they knew that water troughs wouldn't be around for long and would disappear within a few years when steam engines were withdrawn? It must have been part of the B.R. spec. I doubt there was ever a plan to keep and maintain water troughs just so that diesel locos could top up their train heating boilers?

Interesting beast. Looks like a 47 mixed with a 35 with the insides of a 52.

I saw Falcon at Reading in the summer of 1968. By then, the engine had a metal nameplate falcon motif. The 94XX salutes the cameraman on the Lickey Incline! Falcon was great but Sulzer not Maybach got the job! Life can be so unfair.

@kevinwilliams1602

5 жыл бұрын

Sulzer engines were more reliable than Maybach

It's such a shame that she wasn't a success. Imagine a preserved one!

i love that old fasioned way they talk...

Wonderful film.

If only "Falcon" would be a possible candidate for preservation, which never happened.

Great video

At about 3.20 liked it when the commentator mentioned the gradient on the "Lickey Incline" as being 1 in 38,when the film shows the gradient as being 1in 37.75

@mikecawood

5 жыл бұрын

So?

@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome

2 жыл бұрын

Oh no, he rounded it up by a whole quarter, the world is ending I tells ya ... ENDING !!!

Did anyone notice the tender less A3/A4

@sangheiliwarrior86

6 жыл бұрын

Judging from the number (80131), I think its a BR 4MT.

i saw this at newport railway station a few times.

@cleanerben9636

5 жыл бұрын

Well well well look who it is

Do you live in a town? lol surely Kestrel was more powerful? but I have to say I am somewhat taken with this loco

Touting the latest of British industry, all the while an old reliable steamer is chuntering along happily just behind.

Whats the modern equivalent and how do todays engines compare?

@markturner4219

6 жыл бұрын

There isn't a modern equivalent as she was a 'one off' and British Rail decided against twin engined units although she was a good locomotive. Modern british railway diesels have around about the same horsepower but advances in technology make them far more efficient in getting that horsepower down onto the rail, than locomotives being designed and built in the late 50's early 60's could ever be. The most powerful of the diesel prototypes was HS4000 Kestrel completed in '67. She ran trials for approx 3 years and then was sold to Russia. At that time, she was really more powerful then the British Railway system had operational requirements for.

Did they make a similar film for the Kestral, I was surprised when I checked it, but that proceeded this design, but strangely despite its success in trials was handed back to Brush after little more than a year, while they kept the Falcon for five years before breaking it up.

@simonlilley

5 жыл бұрын

I wrote a piece for Railways Illustrated back in 2010 I think it was, explaining why BR said thanks but no thanks to HS4000.

@grahamariss2111

5 жыл бұрын

@@simonlilley Thank you, what was the reasoning?

@simonlilley

5 жыл бұрын

@@grahamariss2111 Mainly that BR policy was moving away from mixed traffic locos and to specialist freight and passenger ones. HS4000 was packed full of stuff which made maintenece hard, and there was no production line for the Sulzer engine, which by then EE had the rights to develop.

@johnkeepin7527

2 жыл бұрын

They might have done. I can vaguely remember seeing some footage as an item in a TV programme in the 1960s; maybe it was a death sentence appearing on 'Tomorrows World'! Couldn't find any Brush footage, but this is useful: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_HS4000

Closure proposed for meadow lane site after 2021

at 4:00 what type of GWR pannier is that

@Satters

4 жыл бұрын

94xx

Shame it was scrapped, apparently it was not allowed to be preserved?

@RFSA180

5 жыл бұрын

Why?

@EM-yk1dw

5 жыл бұрын

RFSA180 I read somewhere that in the contract for this locomotive was that it must be scrapped when BR had finished with it. A real shame.

@eddypowell1297

5 жыл бұрын

@@EM-yk1dw They sold it to the USSR at a cut price. I worked at Brush Electrical Machines Ltd. for 45 years from 1965.

@muttt.whopull3252

4 жыл бұрын

@@eddypowell1297 are you sure that wasn't HS4000 'Kestrel' that was sold to the Soviets?

@dessmith1387

3 жыл бұрын

That's right

Was this the Falcon that was based on Ebbw Jcn MPD around 1974? if so it was used on mundane trip workings on the branch to Uskmouth power stn and factories and a foundry en route

@albertoubaldi1301

6 жыл бұрын

Indeed it was ! Its best years were behind it by then so it just pottered about the Newport area on steel trains and the workings that you mention . It was scrapped at John Cashmores yard at the end of the Dock St. branch in Newport more or less right under my nose as I lived very near to it .

@markturner4219

6 жыл бұрын

Her prime function at ebbw junction was working the air braked iron ore trains, for which her extra horsepower was useful. She finally went to Cashmore's in March 76

Saw this on Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_53 it is a shame not preserved.

Why didn’t they build more than the one prototype??

I saw it many times, as D0280 and D1200.

what class loco was this

@1258-Eckhart

5 жыл бұрын

TOPS classification 53 001, but I believe she never wore the number, keeping the old D-number till the end.

I assume this was the prototype for the Brush type 4's (later Class 47) locos but with more power? Looks very similar but production class 47's only had 2,500hp with a TE of 60,000lbs. Lovely film I remember seeing class 47's coming out of Crewe works in undercoat paint in early 1960's.

@patmcdermott4832

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks I wasn't sure as "Falcon" resembled Class 47's but as you said Class 47 had Sulzer engines. Still prefer look of "Falcon" :-)

@laowaiross3357

7 жыл бұрын

I too would have guessed it was the prototype for the BR Class 47, merely going by how it looks haha! I know there is more to it than the shell. Did not like Lion, why was it painted that awful off white colour?

@timwattison4419

6 жыл бұрын

Falcon was a prototype based on the Class 52 but using electric transmission with Brush electrics. You can see the similarities with the Class 47 style power handle. Was a great loco and a shame it got cut instead of preserved.

@markturner4219

6 жыл бұрын

Lion was not the 'prototype' for the Brush Type 4 anymore than Falcon was. Lion was built by BRC&W collaborating with AEI. The only thing in common was the Sulzer engine, just as Falcon shared the same engine (s) as the Westerns - which is why the bulk of Falcon's operational life was spent with the 'Western' fleet, because the depots they used had the knowledge and equipment for servicing the Maybach engines. The Brush type 4 (class 47's) never had a prototype, but insyead had a batch of twenty built straight off the drawing board for evaluation before Lion even started trials - which led to further orders from Brush and also batches built at Crewe works.

@simonlilley

5 жыл бұрын

The story of how the Class 47s came to be built is laid out in detail in Class 47 50 Years of Locomotive History published in 2012. It explains how Falcon and indeed Lion fit into what happened. Its a complicated tale for sure.

hhhhmmmm. good clean lines... :-)

@robtyman4281

4 жыл бұрын

The Deltic had good clean lines.......a cleaner design than the Falcon imo. The Falcon looks very like class 47. Was it preferred (class 47) over the Falcon?

❤

As much as I like this prototype, you can't really say 19 coaches were started successfully from a standstill when you clearly see a 9400 Pannier behind the train, both as it's climbing and as it crests the incline.

@billcobbett9259

8 жыл бұрын

But the tank was attached to the train- it followed in case of problems.

@russellgxy2905

8 жыл бұрын

Bill Cobbett It wasn't attached you mean. So it was basically there as backup.

@michaelnaisbitt1639

7 жыл бұрын

Russell Streak If it was so good and as powerful as stated then it wouldn't,t need a steam banker on the Lickey

@DiggerEvans

6 жыл бұрын

it was still being trialled at that time so the pannier was there just in case

@dessmith1387

3 жыл бұрын

@@DiggerEvans Nah it pushed it !

what class number is this loco?

@andyrigby5010

5 жыл бұрын

Class 53 Daniel

In 1971 Steam Pinner tank GWR Helping The BR Class 47 Up the Hill. 4:00

The end, er yes

What tank engine was that at 4:00

@billcobbett9259

4 жыл бұрын

GWR Pannier, possibly 1600 class

@harrymcandrew1447

4 жыл бұрын

great western pannier tank not sure of the class it is though

@rayswann7618

4 жыл бұрын

Thomas the tank

@cjstibitz2130

4 жыл бұрын

@@rayswann7618 clearly

@dessmith1387

3 жыл бұрын

Thomas the bank

interesting to note it used German engines.

@simonlilley

5 жыл бұрын

Made under licence here by Bristol-Siddeley. Brush used them as it kept things "in house" so to speak, both part of the Hawker Siddeley Group.

@simonlilley

5 жыл бұрын

@Cj Schneider The loco used Maybach engines correct. These engines were built under licence by Bristol - Siddeley and were used by Brush as it meant they kept everytjhing "in house" as both they and Bristol Siddeley were part of the Hawker Siddeley Group.

@DiggerEvans

4 жыл бұрын

The original Maybach engine wasn't up to the job and was having metallurgy problems, when Siddley got involved they used different materials that were being used in aero engines, these new materials made it possible to use the Maybach engine with relatively few adjustments, as there was only ever one loco built they really didn't have any spares for maintenance, such a terrible shame it was a great loco

Is it just a 47

47?

@scrapsurvivors6671

5 жыл бұрын

It was the prototype

The falcon is a class47

@seamusellis1450

6 жыл бұрын

crnmessina it's what became the 47 after some tweeking...

@preservedthumpers

6 жыл бұрын

its basically a hybrid between the 47's and Westerns. It had twin Maybach engines where as the 47's just had one Sulzer engine. apparently the electric bits were similar

@markturner4219

6 жыл бұрын

It was not a prototype for the class 47's. The 47's had no prototype, but they built a pilot batch of 20 straight off the drawing board. Falcon was an attempt to use the the light weight high revving Maybach engines of the Western Hydraulics with electric rather than hydraulic traction. However, the BTC decided against high revving and twin engined units so it wasn't developed further.

Touting the latest of British industry, all the while an old reliable steamer is chuntering along happily just behind.