Class 13 master & slave units

Evening All

i have added the final shunter collection this time featuring the class 13 master & slave units employed at Tinsley yard
13### - Railway-Photography's Photos | SmugMug

Neil

 

Thanks for these. Looking at photo 3's caption, Swindon seems a long way to go from Tinley to be scrapped.
Did it work there or just get towed for scrapping please?

 

Probably towed, Swindon scrapped and overhauled a lot of 08's in the early 1980s, I seem to remember as a little kid seeing the class 13 in the scrap line at Swindon during a works rail tour visit.

 

I'm surprised that no-one has yet attempted to recreate one of these. There are plenty of redundant 08s lying around the country...

P.

 

There has been a similar thread on another forum, I was surprised just how against the idea many enthusiasts were. The opinion that a recreation would not be very useful on a preserved line was far more dominating than the opinion that it would be simply nice to see represented as something a bit different.

 

just noticed the 13s have full length buffer beams, was this for extra wieght for adhesion?

 

More likely to allow for the angle change at the top of Tinsley Hump

 

I would think that it was a standard fit and had not been altered on conversion.
Many shunters have Full Depth buffer beams often with a girder or piece of old rail bolted on at the bottom.

 

Quote from LOCOMOTIVE DIRECTORY,published by the Diesel & Electric Group: "Class 13: 6 Darlington-built locos formed into 3 pairs for hump-shunting at Tinsley 1965. The cab was removed from one loco in each pair, the 'Slave', the whole unit driven from the cab of the other, the 'Master': large buffer beams affixed as ballast weights, and the two locos coupled cab-to-cab, soon altered to both facing the same way, Slave leading Master. Renumbered D4500-2; 700/800hp; TE 70000lb; Weight 120t *(revised to 121t 18c); RA9 (1969: RA8)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_13

For comparison the weight of a class 08 is given as 48t.

As a personal observation the buffer beams look to have been five or six inches thick in the photos.

Hope this helps.

 

Any idea why this alteration was necessary?

 

In a word, no.

 

were the gradients at Tinsley more severe than the likes of Toton, or did Tinsley deal with heavier trainloads with Sheffield having the steel industry, Toton being more for the coal fields. This seems to be the logical theory with more than double the tractive effort and weight.

 

A couple of early photos on here:-Class_13

 

A fascinating class. Would it be possible to re-create a 13 using a couple of 110volt withdrawn 08's? -I take it that there are enough still lying around which would provide suitable raw material. Wouldn't have thought the multiple equipment would cause a great problem and the adhesive weight additions easily engineered. Could a use for them be found in preservation or even on the Network or in industry again?Any other views on this?

 

Yes, you could modify the 'master', removing the ballast weights, and use it as a standard 08, and you could use the 'slave' as a source of spares. ;-)

 

To provide a cab at the end of the units, to improve visibility for buffering up.

 

Given that requirement, why not couple them bonnet to bonnet, leave both cabs in situ and allow them to be driven, single manned, from either end?

Apologies if the reason for not doing this is blindingly obvious to diesel aficionados!

Tom

 

Odd isn't it? I guess having already rebuilt them without one cab (to save money?) then this was the best they could do to improve matters. They were always banking in the same direction over the hump, so I don't suppose it was a major problem.

 

Wikipedia (which is always right!) says that they were chosen to avoid grounding on the Tinsley yard "hump" - a longer wheel-base diesel couldn't be used for that reason. Marshalling yards (and hump shunting) are now lost in the history of UK railways.

Richard

 

I once took a long bus ride out to the yard from home one summer holiday. It was quite a spectacle, but to a non-spotter and steam nut it was all a bit anodyne. The LNER electrics were perhaps the most memorable traction there. Now if they'd kept the Wath Daisies it might have been different