The Tale of the Diesel Hydraulics

Greetings! :D

Once a much beloved part of the British Railways locomotive scene, the diesel hydraulics of the Western Region, ranging from the original and seldom remembered pilot scheme classes to the venerable Warships, Westerns and Hymeks, took what was originally a German design and tailored it to the unique characteristics of the former Great Western mainline out of London Paddington, proving in many ways that diesel-hydraulic traction was a superior form of locomotive design thanks to their marriage of lightness and sheer horsepower.

Sadly, the diesel-hydraulics would prove to be only a fleeting part of Britain's railway history, as from the moment they entered service in the early 1960s, it became apparent that their very existence illustrated the disjointed and disorganised execution of the Modernisation Plan for which they had been developed, and within a decade standardisation had taken over as order of the day for British Rail's long-term future, meaning all of these formidable locomotives were swept out of service after working lives of, at most, 15 years.

Chapters:
0:00 - Preamble
1:06 - D600 and D6300
8:35 - D800 Warship
12:53 - D1000 Western
17:40 - D7000 Hymek
23:34 - Service and Withdrawal
30:35 - Preservation
31:43 - Conclusion

The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.

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Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D

References:
- Key Model World (and their respective sources)
- Western Locomotive Society (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[ed_menno]

The Modernisation Plan was not ill conceived. It came at a time of great change technological innovation. Long established norms were being ripped up and a whole new world of opportunity was out there - locos that didn't need turntables, could be started at the touch of a button, and huge competition from road and bus and eventually from air.

The plan tested and challenged the capabilities of British industry when Britain was broke and in decline. Although many of the locomotives designed and built were not up to the job, lessons were learned in the process. You mention the Class 20 which saw 50 years service, ditto the Class 47s. The 37s are still going. The Class 08. The AL1-AL5 electrics were the testbeds that gave us the incredible Class 86s, 87s and 90s - note that (as far as i am aware) we never imported an electric locomotive until the class 88 in 2016.

Sure in hindsight things could have been done better, but if i was told the future is not the norm and all i have was a blank canvas and nothing to paint, i'd ask a number of creative people to paint that future.

[pizzaplanettruck]

One additional fact worth mentioning is that a diesel-hydraulic, Class 52 No. D1015 "Western Champion", got to pull the funeral train of Winston Churchill on the return trip. This, together with the Western Farewell, saved five of the seven preserved Westerns.

[laurie]

My Dad, who started work as an engine cleaner on the GWR in 1930, became a driving tutor on Warships, Westerns and Hymeks at the start of the introduction of those three classes. I still have driving instructions and fault finding manuals for various sub groups of the Warships.

[Rog]

The Hymeks were certainly the best performers, despite being of a lower power output. To put it bluntly, they were put on workings that required a more powerful unit and thrashed.
However, they took the thrashings and delivered a performance that could only be expected of a Western class.

[michellebell]

Just loved Westerns, always exciting to see them at Paddington and Reading during train spotting days. To me, like their Eestern Region counterparts Deltics, they have star quality.

[BJHolloway]

It is clear why there are no longer any British locomotive manufacturers left in the UK. It is not because of the lack of competent engineers but political interference. These diesel hydraulics locos in the UK were obviously retired too early due to the choice to of diesel electric. A strategy employed to try to shore up the UK suppliers. It should be noted that the final design in Germany the V218 began service mid-to late 1960s still can be seen on mainline IRE and RE services today some 60 years later. The Germans seem to know how to build railway equipment, after all the HST eventually relied on their competence.

[Galacticmaster]

Love listening to these periods of history

[johnnyrvf]

Between 1968 and 1974 I went to boarding school in Bideford, N. Devon. I remember some of the named Western class locomotives pulling the trains to and from Exeter from Paddington at the beginning and end of each miserable term. Oh such happy memories of my childhood and teens!

[fuzzwork]

The best looking and the most interesting BR Diesel, IMO

[sjsadler]

Another cracking presentation from one of my favourite documentary makers .... Good stuff!

[sski]

Well done on 100k Subs! It's work like this video right here that earned every single one. Cheers!

[rayaspo]

No begging for subscribers or likes just quality videos every time. Best channel on YouTube

[s]

Your level of research and quality of your vids is outstanding!

[DKS]

Another desirable clip to celebrate having 100k subscribers. Congratulations Rory you deserve this.

[Msfiona]

Thank you so much for this video.. I remember the class 52s etc when I went to Dawlish with my Parents on holiday .. Looking and listening to those locomotives on full power going past me on the sea wall was a sight to behold.. Memories I still have now, as I went behind 1015 Western Champion in May 2016 from Paddington to Plymouth Non Stop . It was a fantastic day.. 💞💞

[thedude_]

I was just googling around about diesel hydraulics the other day and wondering if you had a video. Thank you for your time and dedication!

[feski]

Richly and informatively written and narrated.

[richardananedickinson]

As a fireman at old oak common at the time of the change over at the time I personally felt that they were introduced without any proper and although nobody ever seems to mention it there were a high number of failures in the warship and western class where a steam loco was required to be called upon as a tow truck . I appreciate that there are a lot of enthusiastic people that admire this type of loco but in the cab doing 90 mph they were not a good ride

[stevecooksley]

I wonder if anyone on the Modernisation Plan committee thought that wiring up the entire network was the best way to go, not running portable power stations.

[VFR]

I was amazed how much German manufacture or German technology you mention at a relative short time after WW2.
Then I recall, having been born just after the war a German going to my Dad's place of work about 1954 to set up a Heidelberg printing press.
We were still on rations, sugar I think was the last one, so whereas we won the war we seemed to.lose the peace.
As always an interesting story you tell.