Bulleid 1CoCo1 Diesel Electric Locomotive
| In 1949 the frames for Nº10201, a 1Co Co1 loco, were laid at Ashford Works under the supervision of Bulleid. Before the first loco was completed the frames for 10202 were assembled. The last of the trio, Nº10203, was constructed in 1953-4 at Brighton Works. Although 10201-3 appeared after Ivatt's 10000/10001 of the LMS which entered service in November 1947, the Southern design was conceived earlier, in 1946 and essentially complete in 1947, construction is reputed to have been delayed owning to lack of financial approval. |
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Bulleid 1CoCo1 Nº10201 as built.
official BR publicity photograph courtesy of Graham R 'Muz' Muspratt |
| The bolsterless bogie design was similar to that used on
the Bulleid/Raworth electric locomotives, CC1 and 2, introduced in 1941, with
similar bearing pads, wheels and the mounting of the bogies and brakes. To
carry the additional weight an articulated pony truck was included, ingeniously
guided by links fitted to the bogie front plate which also carried the buffers,
this also had the effect of improved riding and reduced track wear. Six
nose-suspended, axle hung traction motors were fitted driving three axles on
each bogie. The profile of the body sides was curved to match the profile of
the Bulleid coaches of the time. Steel panels riveted to rolled steel section
framing was used throughout, apart from the hinged engine covers which were
made from an aluminium alloy.
The driving compartments included a main controller, driver's brake valve, control switches and indicator lights and alarms connected with the automatic control system. The 'deadmans' facility was located in the desk opposite the driver's seat and had two treads to suit either seated or standing driving positions. The engines were fitted for left hand drive. The enginemen were looked after with two seats, an electric cooker, handwash basin and a lavatory. An automatically controlled oil fired boiler provided carriage steam heating. Water filling access was via a small hatch located on the bodyside at the number two end. |
| The second of the three Bulleid 1CoCo1 locos, Nº10202,
photographed on an unidentified train at Waterloo.
photograph: Mike Morant collection. |
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| In February 1953 Brighton Works commenced assembly of the
third member of the fleet, Nº10203, which was completed in March 1954. A
number of technical differences were incorporated in this loco, the most
significant being the installation of a higher powered engine developing some
2,000hp. After its commissioning trials, Nº10203 based at Nine Elms joined
10201/2 on the Waterloo-Exeter line where it demonstrated its superior output.
Nº10203 was fitted with a Mk II engine developing 2,000 bhp at 850 rpm
whereas 10000/1 and 10201/2 were fitted with Mk I versions of 750 rpm rated at
1600 and 1750bhp respectively.
Using steam locomotive designations, the power classifications were 6P/5F for 10000/1 and 10201/1 and 7P/6F for 10203. |
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The third of the three Bulleid 1CoCo1 locos, Nº10203,
passing Basingstoke on 2nd April 1955 whilst hauling the Atlantic Coast Express.
photograph courtesy Jerry Ricketts and stated to be in the
Public Domain when posted on the alt.binaries.pictures.rail newsgroup. |
| Nº10201 was completed in November 1950 and
commenced tests, including some trials on the London Midland region between St
Pancras and Derby. Nº10201 was then displayed at the South Bank, Festival
of Britain Exhibition from May 1951 and was not returned to normal traffic
until the September of that year. From then both engines worked alternately
with a Bournemouth line diagram.
In early 1952 both the locos were overhauled at Brighton Works, returning to the West of England line within a short period. In April 1952 a series of controlled road tests were carried out on the Waterloo-Salisbury route using Nº10202 hauling 11 bogies plus a dynamometer car. In November 1952 both were again taken out of service and sent to Brighton Works for a number of modifications to be carried out, including re-gearing to increase tractive effort. By Spring 1953 both were returned to the Western section and continued main line operations. Nº10201 was unintentionally the only one of the Bulleid diesel engines to run beyond Exeter Central by running away light engine down the 1 in 37 gradient to Exeter St Davids! Despite weighing in at 135 tons, Nº10201 and Nº10202 were given a wide route availability and were actually passed to run to Plymouth through Okehampton, but none ever did so. Bulleid's Nº10201 and Nº10202 were joined in March 1953 by Nº10000 and Nº10001, initially on Bournemouth line turns but from the Summer timetable four interworked diesel diagrams were created. Until their appearance on the Southern 10000/1 had spent most of their time on fitted freights due to being equipped with small and unreliable train heating boilers — although for the summer of 1951 a daily 703 mile duty between Euston and Liverpool was regularly worked when train heating was not required. New boilers were fitted to Nº10000 and Nº10001 for SR duties and along with the re-geared Nº10201 and Nº10202, four regular diagrams worked in Summer 1952 (with acknowledgement to the Southern Electric Group's website for this information). |
| Diagram 1 | 0240 Waterloo—Bournemouth West 0720 Bournemouth West—Waterloo 1100 Waterloo—Exeter Central 1630 Exeter Central—Waterloo |
| Diagram 2 | 0830 Waterloo—Weymouth 1325 Weymouth—Waterloo 1800 Waterloo—Exeter Central 2240 Exmouth Junction—Nine Elms freight |
| Diagram 3 | 0125 Waterloo—Exeter Central 0730 Exeter Central—Waterloo 1300 Waterloo—Exeter Central 1755 Exeter Central—Waterloo |
| Diagram 4 | 0540 Waterloo—Weymouth 1100 Weymouth—Waterloo 1635 Waterloo—Weymouth 2155 Weymouth—Southampton Terminus 0110 Southampton Terminus—Waterloo |
It was normal practice for diagrams 1 and 2 to be worked by Nº10201 and Nº10202 and for diagrams 3 and 4 to be covered by Nº10000 and Nº10001. |
| Diagram 1 | 0930 Waterloo—Bournemouth West 1420 Bournemouth West—Waterloo |
| Diagram 2 | 1100 Waterloo—Exeter Central 1656 Exeter Central—Waterloo |
| Diagram 3 | 0135 Waterloo—Yeovil Junction 0710 Yeovil Junction—Waterloo 1230 Waterloo—Bournemouth West 1634 Bournemouth West—Waterloo 2054 Waterloo—Southampton Terminus 0110 Southampton Terminus—Waterloo |
| Another view of Nº10202, presumably when new.
official BR publicity photograph courtesy of Graham R 'Muz' Muspratt |
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| All four were maintained at Nine Elms, running in if
required off repair on 0720 Waterloo-Salisbury and 1300 return. Overhauls were
carried out at Brighton works with running in after works attention taking
place between Brighton and Tunbridge Wells West. Similar regular duties
continued through 1954, although the locomotive working 1100 Waterloo—Exeter
Central returned to London on milk trains including the evening
Exeter—Templecombe service.
For a period during 1954, Nº10202 was used on all four daily workings of the "Golden Arrow" and "Night Ferry" a "Golden Arrow" headboard with the two words separated by a diagonal arrow was the only embellishment carried by the engine. In April 1955 Nº10201 and Nº10202 were reallocated to the LMR at Camden for use alongside Nº10000 and Nº10001. Nº10203 continued to operate on the SR until July 1955 when it too was reallocated to the LMR. Nº10201 and Nº10202 generally worked double heading services such as the "Royal Scot", while Nº10203 was deployed on Euston-Bletchley workings, but did however on occasions make trips to Manchester, Carlisle and Glasgow. Whilst on the LMR the chime whistle was also replaced by twin air horns. By the end of the 1950s the locos saw less and less work, being used on secondary passenger and freight duties. In November 1962 Nº10201 and Nº10203 were taken out of service and stored at Derby, being joined by Nº10202 in early 1963. At the end of 1963 all three were withdrawn and unfortunately sent for scrap. |
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Now what kind of headcode is that?
The front end of Nº10201 showing well the incorporation of the buffer beam onto the bogie front plate. official BR publicity photograph courtesy of Graham R 'Muz' Muspratt |
| When built all three were painted in black livery with silver lining, including silver frames, whilst the centre of the roof section was matt black. After the locos were allocated to the LMR, Derby Works outshopped all three in BR standard locomotive green and replaced the waist height silver band with orange and black lining. The roof however was painted a really practical primrose yellow! This of course soon ended up a dirty black colour. Near the end of their working lives they sported small yellow warning panels at each end. |
| Text by Graham R 'Muz' Muspratt Bibliography www.southernelectric.org.uk www.therailwaycentre.com Bullied Locomotives, Haresnape, Brian, Ian Allen 1979 0-7110-0794-2 Bulleid Last Giant of Steam, Day-Lewis, Sean, George Allen & Unwin Ltd 1968 0-04-923068-9 Bulleid of the Southern, Bulleid, H.A.V., Ian Allen 1977 0-7110-0689-X |
See our review of the Silver Fox model of these locomotives
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This page was last updated 22 April 2010
