British Rail Class 27
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British Rail's Class 27 comprised 69 diesel locomotives built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRCW) during 1961 and 1962. They were a development of the earlier Class 26; both were originally classified as the BRCW Type 2.
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[edit] Usage
Original allocations were to the Scottish Region, the Eastern Region, and the London Midland Region, but all soon ended up in Scotland. For many years they were extensively used on the West Highland Line. The last locomotives were withdrawn from service in 1987, being outlived by the older Class 26s, whose less powerful engines were more reliable.
[edit] Edinburgh-Glasgow
By the late 1960s, the Class 126 DMUs operating the Edinburgh Waverley - Glasgow Queen Street express service were becoming unreliable. They were replaced in 1971 by specially adapted Class 27s fitted with push-pull equipment to "top and tail" rakes of six Mark 2a carriages. At one end would be a Class 27/1, at the other a Class 27/2 (which provided train heating). The 90 m.p.h. "push-pull" service was demanding on the locomotives and reliability started to suffer. The push-pull sets were replaced in 1980 by single Class 47/7s at one end of a rake of Mark 3 carriages and a DBSO. The spare Class 27s were then transferred for use on Edinburgh-Dundee semi-fast passenger services, until their replacement by Class 150 Sprinter DMUs in the late 1980s.
[edit] Technical details
- Introduced: 1961
- Weight: 71-76 tonnes
- Engine: Sulzer 6LDA28-B of 1,250 bhp at 750 rpm
- Transmission: Electric, four GEC WT459 traction motors
- Maximum tractive effort: 40,000 lb
- Driving wheel diameter: 3ft 7in
- Coupling code: Blue star (electro-pneumatic)
- Train heating:
- As built, Steam generator
- Class 27/2, Electric, Houchin 120KW alternator powered by Deutz 8-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine, type F8L413
[edit] Preservation
A number of examples have been preserved, including:
- 27056 (D5401) at the Northampton & Lamport Railway
- 27024 (D5370) at the Caledonian Railway (Brechin).
[edit] Sources
- Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, 1983 edition
- Tayler, A.T.H (1984). BR Locomotives:2 Sulzer Types 2 and 3. Ian Allan ISBN 0 7110 1340 3.
[edit] External links
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