GWR/BR Gas Turbine 18100
GWR/BR Gas Turbine 18100
This locomotive was built by Metropolitan-Vickers for an order from the Great Western Railway in 1946.
Although ordered before the Brown Boveri locomotive it was not delivered until 1951.
It entered directly into British Railways stock.
Like 18000 it was very much an experiment to see if it would be practical to replace steam with gas turbines for express passenger work with a designated max speed 90mph.
The initial services that it worked were Paddington to Bristol then Paddington to Plymouth.
The locomotive last worked in November 1953 as a Gas Turbine in December of that year moved to Duckinfield, Manchester for modifications and manufacturer testing/development.
After a number of modifications and failed attempts to obtain a reasonable time in service for the combustion chamber the end was in sight.
In May 1956 the decision was made to abandon the project and the locomotive officially withdrawn in January 1958.
The story, however, does not stop there as the traction motors and mechanical parts were to be used as the basis for a straight electric locomotive in which guise it emerged in October 1958 numbered E1000 later E2001.
In its electric mode it was used to test over line equipment and for driver training until the production batch of 25kV electric locomotives came on stream.
It was then stored at various locations until its withdrawal from capital stock in April 1968.
The locomotive was cut up at J Cashmore’s in November 1972.
BR number 18100
Last worked as a Gas Turbine in 1953 and withdrawn in 1958.
The gas turbine 18100 sounds are generic as there are none in working preservation.
The sounds are enhanced with archived sounds.
Video not available at this time.
Decoders come with a replacement speaker
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