Photos and Article Class 31 Diesel Loco British Rail Workhorse

Class 31 31288 on the sidings at Northampton Station    
Photo: Charles Moorhen

Trainspotting Class 31 Locos

The Class 31 diesels, a one-time powerful workhorse of the British Rail network, became one of the railway enthusiasts favourite freight locomotives.

As romantic and evocative as the steam locomotive was, with such impressive names as Mallard, the IronDuke and TheFlying Scotsman, like all good things it was inevitable that the golden age of steam would someday have to come to an end.

And so it was that in the mid-1950’s the dawn of the diesel locomotive, such as the Class31, began to creep over the horizon.

By 1967, the majority of steam locomotives had passed into history, (though fortunately a number were saved by heritage lines in England), superseded by a cleaner more efficient type of motive power – the diesel locomotive.

Although there was a certain amount of initial animosity against these new and powerful machines by railway enthusiasts, one such diesel locomotive - the Class 31 - did eventually become a firm favourite among enthusiast and train-driving crews alike.

                                                                  31306 at Bletchley - late 1980's   

                                                    Photo: Charles Moorhen

As one of the classes of diesels known as the ‘Pilot SchemeLocomotives’, ordered by British Railways to replace their costly and out-of-date steam locomotives, the Class 31  was built by Brush Traction in Loughborough. 

With a top speed of 90 mph (though the majority never exceeded 75 mph) and weighing in at 49 tonnes, the first of the class made its appearance in public service in September 1957.

Incidentally, the building of the full fleet took only five years to complete with the final locomotive leaving the works in 1962.

Originally intended to be used mainly on the Eastern Region, they were soon to be seen frequently on the Western and London Midland regions and eventually across the whole of the railway network performing freight duties; although they also carried out relief passenger work. With a fuel tank capacity of 750 gallons (2409 litres) of diesel, they were ideal for a wide variety of duties.

             

Class 31467 locomotive Entering Bletchley station

     Photo: Charles Moorhen  

The Class 31’s, which were later divided into sub-classes 31/0, 31/1 and 31/4, with a few classified as 31/5 and 31/6, were easily identified by the large head-code boxes on the roof above the cab. 

However, the first twenty examples of the fleet were not fitted with these boxes and were quickly nicknamed ‘Skinheads’ by enthusiasts.  

The sub-class, 31/4, was powerful enough to haul a train of up to eleven BR Mark 3 carriages though in practice the actual number of carriages hauled at any one time was often fewer than five. 

                                                                                                                                                                       

Apart from the day-to-day work that the Class 31’s carried out, four of the fleet made brief appearances on television. 

31233 and 31107 were used in a ‘crash’ scene for the BBC series ‘Top Gear’ on the 21st August 2006, to promote safety at level crossings.

31414 featured in an episode of ‘Casualty’, while 31108 was seen in an episode of ‘EastEnders’ filmed on the Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough – once again involving a railway level crossing.

                                  Class 31462 passing through Banbury in the late 1980's
                                                                    Photo: Charles Moorhen

Like the steam locomotives that they superseded, the Class 31 fleet of diesel locomotives eventually became redundant with many ending up in pieces in scrap yards. However, around twenty-five or so survived this fate and were bought by heritage railway lines up and down the country.

31018, the first locomotive built, is now in preservation in BR Blue livery at the National Railway Museum in York, while the last locomotive to be built is preserved in BR Green livery.

 

With a number of these sturdy locomotives still surviving...the legend of the 31 lives on!

                        Class 31168 in a neglected state on Bletchley sidings in the late 1980's                             Photo: Charles Moorhen

                                      

 

Class 31 Diesel Locomotive Historical Note:

Whilst hauling a train in which Queen Elizabeth II was travelling on 4th January 1961, D5667 (31240), broke down south of Cambridge.  

 

Two onboard Brush fitters, on hand to deal with any mechanical problems that may occur, were unable to fix the problem and a steam loco had to be sent for in order to rescue the stricken diesel adding over an hour to the completed journey.

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Photo Urie Class H16 30517 Southern Railway Steam Loco

Class H16 30517 seen probably stabled at Feltham yard
Photo: Charles Moorhen

One That DIDN'T Get Away

Unlike many steam UK locomotives saved from scrapyards, such as the one at Barry, Wales, owned by Dai Williams, Southern Region Class H16 30517 was not lucky enough to avoid death from the cutter's torch.

Designed by the Scottish locomotive designer, Robert Urie, 4-6-2 30517, and four others of the class, were built at the London and South Western Railway's Eastleigh Works in Hampshire, England over the end of 1921 and the beginning of 1922.

Unlike their sister locomotives, the "G16 "Black Tanks", which were used for shunting duties at the Feltham marshalling yard near Hounslow, West London, the H16 "Green Tanks" were intended for hauling freight trains amongst yards around the London area.

The nickname, "Green Tanks" came about when the locomotives passed to the Southern Railway and were painted in lined olive green livery for limited passenger use.

During World War II, 30517 and the other four of the class were re-painted in a plain black livery; they never regained their Southern Railway green livery.

In the 1950's, the H16's were regularly seen moving empty coaching stock between Clapham Junction and Waterloo station.

With the introduction of diesel motive power rapidly increasing momentum, the final days of the 30517 and the other H16's had arrived.

In November 1962, 30516, 30518, 30519 and 30520 were withdrawn from Feltham, with 30517 following them a month later.  

The complete class of H16's was scrapped.

 

H-16 Class Locomotive Technical Specifications: (British Railways Classification).
Designer: R. W. Urie.
Origin: L.S.W.R.
Introduced: 1921.
Purpose: Heavy Freight.
Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-2.
Number Series: 30516 - 30520.
Driving Wheel: 5ft. 7in.
Bogie Wheel: 3ft. 7in.
Length: 46ft.
Weight: 96 tons 8 cwt.
Water Capacity: 2,000 gallons.
Cylinders: (2) 21 in. x 28 in.
Boiler Pressure: 180 lb. sq. in.
Tractive Effort: 28,200.
Coal Capacity: 3 tons 10 cwt.
Power Classification: 6-F

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Photos & Article Brookwood Station and London Necropolis Funeral Railway History

Victorian Funeral Railway History

Brookwood station, Surrey looking towards London

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Brookwood railway station, Surrey, opened in June 1864, on the former London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) line, between Woking and Basingstoke, is one of those nondescript places to which the average rail passenger would not give a second glance.  

But, in the overall history of L&SWR, later to become the Southern Railway, Brookwood Station played a bizarre and  fascinating role.

Behind the little Victorian-built building, on platform 2 of Brookwood railway station, on the track that runs towards Basingstoke and further on to the west of England, is the largest cemetery in Western Europe - Brookwood Cemetery. It was the brainchild of Sir Richard Brown, in response to the serious overcrowding of London's cemeteries in the 1800's.

In 1849, in order to transport the dead to their final resting place, the London Necropolis Railway (LNR) began running dedicated funeral trains from London's Waterloo station, where the LNR had its own platform with waiting rooms, to Brookwood Cemetery around 27 miles away in Surrey.

Up until the 1930's, any suitable locomotive available was used to haul the funeral trains. After that, and until the LNC officially ceased it operations just after World War Two, the trains were usually hauled by an M7 Class steam locomotive.

Southern Railway Merchant Navy Class Steam Loco Passes Through Brookwood Station Heading Towards Basingstoke - 1950s.       Photo: Ben Brooksbank

The smaller Brookwood station building, (platform 2), specifically built by the London & South Western Railway for use by funeral mourners.
Photo: Charles Moorhen

Satellite image of Brookwood Station     Courtesy:  Google Maps

 

(Red asterisk in photo shows exact location of Necropolis Railway station building on platform 2, Brookwood Station, Surrey, England)

On arrival at Brookwood railway station a funeral train, complete with coffin/s and mourners, would slowly continue on past the station for a few hundred yards, whereupon following a change of track points it left the main line and steamed onto a branch line. 

Once on the branch line the whole train would reverse down an incline, (incline can still be easily traced on the ground), before stopping at one of the two railway stations built in the grounds of the cemetery - Brookwood Cemetery North or Brookwood Cemetery South. 

The former Brookwood Cemetery South station still survives to this day and is privately owned by a religious order.

Former South Station, Brookwood Cemetery 
Photo: Charles Moorhen

The LNC offered three classes of funeral. First Class cost £2 10s (equal to £205 in 2015 terms), Second Class cost £1 (about £82 in 2015) and Third Class cost 10 shillings (.50p) or about £41 today.

However, the above prices did not taken into account travel costs for the funeral mourners. A First Class return ticket to Waterloo cost 6 shilling (.30p), Second Class cost 3/6d (17.5p), while a Third Class ticket would set a mourner back the princely sum of 2 shillings (.010p).

A number of famouspeople were buried at Brookwood Cemetery. Two such people were Robert Knox and Edith Thompson.

Robert Knox was the anatomist who accepted cadavers for dissection from the grave robbers, William Burke and William Hare. Hare saved himself from execution by turning King's evidence against Burke who was hanged and his body dissected.

Edith Thompson was a housewife and milliner whose lover, Frederick Bywaters, murdered her husband Percy. She was judged complicit in the murder of Percy and along with Bywaters, was hanged on the 9th January 1923; she at Holloway Prison; he at Pentonville Prison.

The last recorded funeral party carried on the London Necropolis Railway was that of Edward Irish, a Chelsea Pensioner, who was buried in Brookwood Cemetery on 11 April 1941.

Brookwood Cemetery is open to the public at days and times listed in their website brookwoodcemetery.com which also contains the site's history, notable burials, general information plus details of 'The Brookwood Cemetery Society'. 

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