D0280 "Falcon" on the ER in 1961/62

[nathan70000]

I've just become the very happy owner of a Heljan model of this locomotive, one of the very first run models with the painted Falcon emblem and name.

 

From what little information I can find online it was based at Finsbury Park during the period the model depicts, after completing trials on other parts of the rail network. Did the locomotive actually haul revenue earning passenger trains before it received the cast "Falcon" emblem? I've found a photo at Cambridge, and information to suggest the loco was used on ex-GE lines during this time as well. What work did it do, did it ever work out of Liverpool Street?

 

Unlike Kestrel and even Lion there doesn't seem to be much on the Internet about D0280's early career. Its later workings on the WR seem to be a bit better documented.

[Derek 19B]

The January 1962 edition of Modern Railways notes that D0280 Falcon was trialed on the former GER lines in November 1961 on the Liverpool-Norwich .

Info from LNER web site.

Returning to Brush in March 1962, it received cast Falcon nameplates during an overhaul and upgrade lasting over a year.

Returning to British Railways in 1963, Falcon spent six months working out of Darnall shed, Sheffield, on passenger and freight trains, after which its testing was completed. 

Edited August 5 by Derek 19B
Extra info

[Jeremy Cumberland]

1 hour ago, Derek 19B said:

The January 1962 edition of Modern Railways notes that D0280 Falcon was trialed on the former GER lines in November 1961 on the Liverpool-Norwich .

Liverpool Street - Norwich?

 

1 hour ago, Derek 19B said:

Returning to Brush in March 1962, it received cast Falcon nameplates during an overhaul and upgrade lasting over a year.

Returning to British Railways in 1963

This is widely quoted (it appears in the Wikipedia page) but it is quite clearly wrong. There are many pictures of Falcon with cast nameplates working passenger trains between King's Cross and Sheffield in Summer 1962. The earliest I have found is dated 12 June 1962.

 

The Brush promotional film (link below) shows the locomotive at King's Lynn with the clearest view I know of of an  original "nameplate", and on the Derby-Manchester line. The voiceover refers to it hauling express passenger trains, and the implication is that this is in revenue earning service. This was followed by dynamometer car testing on the Lickey Incline, also still with the original "nameplates". On this page, a photo of the Lickey tests is dated February 1962.

 

In addition to the video and the Cambridge photo you've seen, there is one of it at Finsbury Park in about October 1961 on Flickr (embedded link):

 

[stewartingram]

I have seen a picture from the R.Carroll collection showing Falcon on an up express leaving Cambridge, Headcode is 1-84, which is the LST-K.Lynn route. It should be easy to roughly date the pic, as these trains went through the sequence of "A", "1-84", "1A84" in a fairly short period. (My trainspotting notebooks would probably show this, but I really can't spend the time looking, sorry).

I actually saw this loco, possibly the same day as the pic was taken, at the same spot as well (I was in school though). I think it did the run for a couple of days. It was a regular on 1B66 Cambridge Buffet Express for a while, and I also saw it numerous times on the ECML Master Cutler Pullman.

Edited August 5 by stewartingram

[ColinK]

Thanks for the film link, very interesting and enjoyable.  I’ve a blue Falcon, but heavily weathered as that’s how it was when I saw it. Mine is fitted with a Howes sound chip which is very good.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

I really don't know how I've managed it, but I have 5 different Falcons!

 

Mike.

[Bill Radford]

On The Master Cutler/Sheffield Pullman (early afternoon) at Sheffield Victoria pre-small yellow end - ?61 maybe 62.

 

[Halvarras]

Falcon was returned to Brush in late 1963 with its testing phase completed, still in original livery without yellow panels, and wasn't seen again until July 1964 when a single photo taken at the rear of the works shows it with added small yellow warning panels. The next time it emerged was in January 1965 by which time it had been repainted into BR dark green.I

 

Judging from its overall condition in July '64 I'd assume that the yellow panels were applied not long after it arrived, in the expectation that it wouldn't remain idle for an entire year, but in the end it never ran in service in lime green syp livery........so the Heljan model in this scheme is only appropriate for models of the Brush Loughborough Works set in 1964 😁!

 

Or 'Rule 1' of course 🤭!!

[nathan70000]

Well, it looks like I can get away with running my Falcon alongside Britannias, J15s and N7s (and B17s and D16s with a little modeller's license 😉)! Thanks for the information everyone.

 

It is such a shame the locomotive did not survive. It would surely be one of the most in-demand diesel locomotives in preservation were it not for Brush Traction's scrap clause. I'm quite surprised there are no books about D0280 considering it had a relatively long life (longer than several WR production diesel hydraulics) and was an enthusiast favourite.

 

Come to think of it, it's a shame how many of those one-off prototypes came close to preservation but didn't quite make it. Had Kestrel survived a few more years, it might have been returned to the UK, albeit as an empty shell.

 

Were it not for the tragic collision at Thirsk, DP2 would surely have survived in to the TOPS era (Class 49?) and then would have become an excellent candidate for preservation give the commonality of parts between DP2 and other EE products.

 

Poor Lion was doomed, though.

Edited August 8 by nathan70000

[jcm@gwr]

27 minutes ago, nathan70000 said:

Well, it looks like I can get away with running my Falcon alongside Britannias, J15s and N7s (and B17s and D16s with a little modeller's license 😉)! Thanks for the information everyone.

 

It is such a shame the locomotive did not survive. It would surely be one of the most in-demand diesel locomotives in preservation were it not for Brush Traction's scrap clause. I'm quite surprised there are no books about D0280 considering it had a relatively long life (longer than several WR production diesel hydraulics) and was an enthusiast favourite.

 

Come to think of it, it's a shame how many of those one-off prototypes came close to preservation but didn't quite make it. Had Kestrel survived a few more years, it might have been returned to the UK, albeit as an empty shell.

 

Were it not for the tragic collision at Thirsk, DP2 would surely have survived in to the TOPS era (Class 49?) and then would have become an excellent candidate for preservation give the commonality of parts between DP2 and other EE products.

 

Poor Lion was doomed, though.

 

At least we still have Deltic, and the Kerosene Castle!

[John Isherwood]

Just now, jcm@gwr said:

 

At least we still have Deltic, and the Kerosene Castle!

 

Don't forget D0226!

 

John Isherwood.

[Wickham Green too]

On 05/08/2024 at 21:55, Enterprisingwestern said:

... I have 5 different Falcons!

Falco tinnunculus

Falco columbarius

Falco subbuteo

Falco peregrinus

Falco vespertinus

 

 

 

Yes, I had to look them up in the RSPB Handbook !

[Jeremy Cumberland]

16 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Falco tinnunculus

Falco columbarius

Falco subbuteo

Falco peregrinus

Falco vespertinus

I, too, took a look at what five falcons a railway modeller could have. LNER A4s will get you four (or you could have Peppercorn A1s as an alternative for a couple of those), but I couldn't find a Hobby or a Gyrfalcon to make up the fifth, not anywhere.

 

I don't know where you expect to find a red-footed falcon.

[Halvarras]

1 hour ago, nathan70000 said:

Well, it looks like I can get away with running my Falcon alongside Britannias, J15s and N7s (and B17s and D16s with a little modeller's license 😉)! Thanks for the information everyone.

 

It is such a shame the locomotive did not survive. It would surely be one of the most in-demand diesel locomotives in preservation were it not for Brush Traction's scrap clause. I'm quite surprised there are no books about D0280 considering it had a relatively long life (longer than several WR production diesel hydraulics) and was an enthusiast favourite.

 

Come to think of it, it's a shame how many of those one-off prototypes came close to preservation but didn't quite make it. Had Kestrel survived a few more years, it might have been returned to the UK, albeit as an empty shell.

 

Were it not for the tragic collision at Thirsk, DP2 would surely have survived in to the TOPS era (Class 49?) and then would have become an excellent candidate for preservation give the commonality of parts between DP2 and other EE products.

 

Poor Lion was doomed, though.

 

I've often wondered too what the future would have held for DP2 - if 'Falcon' could survive that long without the commonality of parts DP2 enjoyed (I think it was the diminishing number of functioning traction motors which did for 'Falcon' in the end) the success which was DP2 would surely have lived on even longer. With all Class 50s on the WR it would have made sense to allocate DP2 there as well (if it was still going by 1976), and the thought of a Deltic-shaped loco regularly arriving at Penzance was enough for me to consider grabbing a Heljan model from Hattons when they were having a £70 stock clearance (imagine that now!) for repainting into a 'might-have-been' BR-owned 49001........but considering was as far as I got!

 

When I got a Heljan 'Lion' my Other Half looked at it and said "That's nice - what colour are you going to paint it?" Well, I mean, she was astute enough to realise that white was a stoopid colour for a locomotive so nobody would deliberately paint one white all over, right? - so it must be in primer......I tried not to laugh too much because she's from Northern Ireland with temperament to match 😉!

[russ p]

Shame, it didn't work it didn't work in East anglia in late 60s as I could have run one on my layout 

[Matt37268]

2 hours ago, nathan70000 said:

 

Were it not for the tragic collision at Thirsk, DP2 would surely have survived in to the TOPS era (Class 49?) and then would have become an excellent candidate for preservation give the commonality of parts between DP2 and other EE products.

 

 

One of the 50’s that was at Booths in Rotherham in the ‘90s was reputed to have the Engine block from DP2, from my time with the Fifty Alliance as a yoof, it was looked at trying to acquire it when it was realised ‘operation Colingwood’ was going the shape of the pear. 

Edited August 8 by Matt37268
Buggered up the editing

[Matt37268]

duplicate post 

[Derek 19B]

On 06/08/2024 at 11:39, Bill Radford said:

On The Master Cutler/Sheffield Pullman (early afternoon) at Sheffield Victoria pre-small yellow end - ?61 maybe 62.

 

The Master  Cutler 1B20/21 after March 62. The Sheffield Pullman was1G60.

[Wickham Green too]

2 hours ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

... I don't know where you expect to find a red-footed falcon.

Found in my RSPB Handbook - 2014 edition so it's getting a bit long in the beak : "Over 700 have been seen in Britain, with nearly 130 since 1992." ............ but, no, I don't suppose anyone goes out expecting to see one. 🤓

[Michael Hodgson]

On 05/08/2024 at 21:55, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I really don't know how I've managed it, but I have 5 different Falcons!

 

Mike.

Wow - a whole mini class!   Or are you just an ornithologist?

Peregrine Falcon, Eleanora's Falcon, New Zealand Falcon, Aplomado Falcon, Saker Flacon.

[25kV]

15 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

I've often wondered too what the future would have held for DP2 - if 'Falcon' could survive that long without the commonality of parts DP2 enjoyed (I think it was the diminishing number of functioning traction motors which did for 'Falcon' in the end) the success which was DP2 would surely have lived on even longer. With all Class 50s on the WR it would have made sense to allocate DP2 there as well (if it was still going by 1976), and the thought of a Deltic-shaped loco regularly arriving at Penzance was enough for me to consider grabbing a Heljan model from Hattons when they were having a £70 stock clearance (imagine that now!) for repainting into a 'might-have-been' BR-owned 49001........but considering was as far as I got!

 

When I got a Heljan 'Lion' my Other Half looked at it and said "That's nice - what colour are you going to paint it?" Well, I mean, she was astute enough to realise that white was a stoopid colour for a locomotive so nobody would deliberately paint one white all over, right? - so it must be in primer......I tried not to laugh too much because she's from Northern Ireland with temperament to match 😉!

 

Reminds me of a couple of things I prepared (much) earlier... 

 

 

(Also available in two-tone green, plain blue, and INTERCITY swallow. 😉 )

[Bill Radford]

15 hours ago, Derek 19B said:

The Master  Cutler 1B20/21 after March 62. The Sheffield Pullman was1G60.

Thanks for that, I had read on here that there were differences and as it did not have a headboard I'd hedged my bets!

 

Must have been summer '62 then. Visiting grandparents in Worksop - Derby Midland to Sheffield Midland - walk over to Sheffield Victoria for DMU to Worksop.

[slilley]

7 hours ago, 25kV said:

 

Reminds me of a couple of things I prepared (much) earlier... 

 

 

(Also available in two-tone green, plain blue, and INTERCITY swallow. 😉 )

Of course as we know, the above image of D0260 in BR livery came within a gnats crochet of actually happening. The AEI/Sulzer/BRCW tender from the summer of 1960 was the one originally accepted by the BTC,though an order for some 70 locomotives of which D0260 would have been the first locomotive was never placed. 

 

Simon