BRITISH RAIL CLASS 15

'BR Class 15'
Sole surviving Class 15 no D8233 seen at Baron Street Loco Shed, East Lancashire Railway, February 2006
TOPS numbers	Never Obtained
Early numbers	D8200-D8243
Builder	British Thomson-Houston / Clayton
Introduced	1957-61
Wheel Arrangement	Bo-Bo
Weight	68 te	69 t
Height	12 ft 6 in	3.8 m
Width	9 ft 2 in	2.8 m
Length	42 ft	12.8 m
Wheel Dia.	3 ft 3 in	1.0 m
Bogie Wheel Base	8 ft 6 in	2.6 m
Bogie Pivot Centres	22 ft 6 in	6.9 m
Minimum radius	3 ½ chains	70.4 m
Maximum speed	60 mph	97 km/h
Engine output	800 hp 627 hp at rail	597 kW 468 kW
Max. Tractive Effort	37,500 lbf	167 kN
Cont. Tractive Effort
Brake type	Vacuum
Brake force	31 te	309 kN
Route availability	4
Fuel Tank	400 imp gal	1.8 m³
Multiple Coupling	Blue Star
Heating type	None; through steam pipe
Boiler Water Capacity	None

The British Rail Class 15 diesel locomotives, also known as the BTH Type 1, were built by BTH and Clayton from 1957-61.

Contents

Design History

Technical

Working Life

A Reprive

Preservation

External links

Design History

Originally developed as part of the British Railways modernisation plan, British Thompson-Houston built the 'pilot scheme' ten of the Class, to be used on local freight and empty coaching stock trains on the Eastern Region of British Railways. The design was a large collaboration, with Paxman supplying the power unit and BTH constructing and providing the electrical equipment.
An order for 34 more locomotives was made soon after and was subcontracted to the Clayton Equipment company.

Technical

The engine was a Paxman 16YHXL with 7 in (178 mm) cylinder bore and 7 ¾ in (197 mm) cylinder stroke. The traction motors were4 x BTH 137BZ, nose suspended with single reduction gear drive. The Main Generator was a BTH RTB10858 and the Auxiliary Generator was a BTH RTB7420.

Working Life

The Class was originally allocated to run in East Anglia, however due to the Clean Air Act Of 1956 the locomotives were re-allocated to East London to replace steam locomotives in the area. This class was troubled by poor reliability however, almost alarmingly, for their several problems, these locos were arguably the second most successful Type 1s after the British Rail Class 20s - the other two fleets, British Rail Class 16 and British Rail Class 17, were worse.
With a decline in freight duties in the London area, the Class was considered redundant, and was withdrawn between 1969 and 1971.

A Reprive

Four of the Class (D8203, D8233, D8237 and D8243) were converted into Electric Train Heating units at Doncaster Works, these duties keeping the locomotives 'in service' for another ten years, until again they were rendered redundant and withdrawn. D8203 was scrapped in 1981, D8237 in 1985, and D8243 in 1991. This left one, D8233, which had been bought for preservation in 1984.

Preservation

D8233, as previously mentioned, entered preservation in 1984, originally being moved to the South Yorkshire Railway in Sheffield, later being moved to the East Lancashire Railway in 1986. In 1988, the locomotive was again relocated, this time to the Mangapps Farm Railway, where it remained until 1993. Another move beckoned, and D8233 moved to Crewe following an agreement with the Waterman Heritage Trust, however since its initial preservation the locomotive had received little work apart from cosmetic attention. Some work was carried out by the Waterman Heritage Trust, however the locomotive's restoration remained dormant until the end of 2005, until a reformed owning group, alongside the WHT, agreed the time was right to accelerate the locomotives return to service. With an active plan for work agreed, the locomotive returned to the East Lancashire Railway in February 2006, where its restoration to working order is now underway.

External links

★ Class 15 Preservation Society, Owners of sole surviving Class 15, D8233