WL1-WL5 shunters
The WL1-WL5 shunters (Works Locomotive 1-5) are the five 36-ton 0-6-0 diesel-electric locomotives manufactured by Brush Traction in 1977 and 1978 (works numbers 801-805) for the construction of the Metro network. They were also used for maintenance work on the operational system before being replaced by battery-electric locomotives in 1988.[1]
Design
[edit | edit source]They all originally shared a yellow livery. They use Rolls-Royce DV8N engines, initially rated at 445bhp and 1800rpm, and provided with water-wash exhausts for use in the tunnels. The engines were later de-rated to 427bhp to reduce smoke emissions, and the water-wash exhausts were subsequently abandoned in favour of fume diluters, although the reservoir tank for the water-wash under the cab floor was retained. They have a large, two-tier NiCad battery in an enclosure behind the fuel tank, where the rear walkway would otherwise be, to provide sufficient battery power to run the cab heater for several hours and still have sufficient power to restart the engine.[1]
Post-Metro
[edit | edit source]After being replaced by battery-electric locomotives in 1988, all five locomotives were serviced by RFS then sold to TML for construction work on the Channel Tunnel at Cheriton, then in 1996 to Insulated Services for Round Oak Steel Terminal.[1]
Each shunter was reportedly subject to overloading during their time at Round Oak. For WL3 in 2005, this resulted in a flashover and subsequent fire that had to be extinguished by nearby mainline railway loco crew. The necessary repairs were estimated to cost thousands of pounds and it was destined to be scrapped. Instead, Andrew Briddon negotiated to buy it, and stored it with Peak Rail in Derbyshire. Modifications made at Peak Rail include the removal of the large battery enclosure. Plans exist to also remove the water-wash reservoir tank. As part of the servicing done by RFS, WL3 received Class 08 pattern buffers at the rear end, but these have been replaced back to the original Oleo-pattern buffers at Peak Rail.[1]
WL4 was acquired by Great Eastern Traction in Norfolk where it was given a blue livery, then later moved to the Wensleydale Railway in North Yorkshire in summer 2022[2] and repainted into its original yellow livery[3]. WL4 worked a passenger train for the first time on 10 May 2025[4].
WL1, WL2 and WL5 are believed to have been scrapped.
Sources
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Andrew Briddon Locos, "Brush Traction 0-6-0DE: 803" (accessed 29 January 2026)
- ↑ Wensleydale Railway (30 November 2024). "Ex Tyne & Wear Metro shunter WL4 sits quietly in the yard at Leeming Bar, facing off against Ex LMS Black 5 locomotive No. 45212!" (accessed 30 January 2026). Facebook
- ↑ Roots, Trevor (September 2022). TRACKS: September 2022 (accessed 30 January 2026). Inter City Railway Society, p. 54
- ↑ Wensleydale Railway, "2025 Model Railway Weekend" (archived)
