British Rail Class 46
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The British Rail Class 46 is a class of diesel locomotive. They were built from 1961-1963 at British Railways' Derby Works and were initially numbered D138-D193. With the arrival of TOPS they were renumbered to Class 46. Fifty-six locomotives were built. The first was withdrawn in 1977 and all of them were withdrawn by 1984.
The Class 46 design was structurally the same as the preceding Class 45 build, and had the same Sulzer engine, but differed in the fitment of a Brush generator and traction motors, in place of Crompton Parkinson equipment as fitted to the Class 45.
On 17 July 1984, 46009 was deliberately crashed into a nuclear waste flask at about 90mph (145 km/h) on the Old Dalby test track. The test, organised by the CEGB, demonstrated to the public that there would be no leak of radioactive material in the event of a rail accident involving a train carrying a nuclear waste flask. 46009 was scrapped on site at Old Dalby later the same month by Vic Berry of Leicester.
Three have been preserved, 46010, 46035 Ixion and D182.
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[edit] British Rail Class 46 in fiction
A Class 46 Diesel was featured in The Railway Series books by Rev. W. Awdry (the original 'Thomas the Tank Engine' stories). D199 was later given the nickname Spamcan by a signalman and only appears in book No.23 Enterprising Engines.
[edit] Technical details
| BR Class 46 | ||
|---|---|---|
| TOPS numbers | 46001-46056 | |
| Early numbers | D138-193 | |
| Builder | British Rail Derby | |
| Introduced | 1961–1963 | |
| Wheel Arrangement | 1Co-Co1 | |
| Weight | 138 tons | 140 tonnes |
| Height | 12 ft 10.13 in | 3.9 m |
| Width | 8ft 10.62 in | 2.7 m |
| Length | 67 ft 11 in | 20.7 m |
| Wheel dia. | 3 ft 9 in | 1143 mm |
| Wheel base | 59 ft 8 in | 18.2 m |
| Minimum radius | 5 chains, later 3½ chains | 101 m, later 70 m |
| Maximum speed | 90 mph | 145 km/h |
| Engine | Sulzer 12LDA28-B 12-cyl | |
| Engine output | 2,500 hp | 1839 kW |
| Max. tractive effort | 55,000 lbf | 222 kN |
| Power at Rail | 1,962 hp | 1463 kW |
| Brake type | Vacuum | |
| Brake force | 63 tons force | 628 kN |
| Route availability | 7 | |
| Fuel tank | 790 gallons | 3590 L |
| Heating type | Steam | |
| Multiple working | Blue Star Removed early on |
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[edit] References
- Sulzer Diesel Locomotives of British Rail, Author Brian Webb, publ. David & Charles 1978, ISBN 0-7153-7514-8
[edit] External link
- Crash! - A short article with photographs about the nuclear flask crash test.
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