Britain's Most Powerful Diesel - HS4000 Kestrel

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In a bid to develop a 125mph diesel locomotive for the British railway network, Hawker Siddeley, in collaboration with Brush Traction, created the 4,000hp HS4000 Kestrel, a unique prototype that became Britain's most powerful single-engined diesel upon its launch in 1967, but would sadly never see a subsequent production fleet released in its wake due to the changing policies of the BR management towards the APT and the HST of the 1970s.

Instead, the HS4000, despite its incredible technology that was leaps and bounds beyond BR's contemporary locomotive roster, as well as its sheer power, would lead a short and inauspicious life in the UK before being shipped to the Soviet Union, where its power unit was found to be more useful than the locomotive itself, thus resulting in this formidable machine being reduced to an engineless shell rotting in a yard outside Moscow.

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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References:
- Derby Sulzers (and their respective sources)
- The Railway Magazine (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[Nick-zjtr]

I worked at the Brush factory in Loughborough during the build of the Kestrel. There’s not many of us left (I’m 84)
What I’d like to say is that initiatives like funding and building by a private enterprise on speculation a new locomotive is a thing of the past. It relied on a few farsighted individuals to champion the project.
They are long gone but need to be remembered.
Freddy Beasant the head of Brush Traction at the time, a great character parties at his house were legendary, Mac Durber the Production Director, Pat Fordham Commercial Director, and most importantly Geoff Smith the head of Rotating Machines design. He always built in what was known as the GS factor knowing that the commercial and sales people would always be pushing him to reduce weight and so the GS factor would gradually be used bit by bit. He was one of Europe’s greatest rotating machines designers.
He Anyone else out there who can fill in more names from that most enterprising era?
I went on to look after Brush Traction’s interests in Australia in 1966 leaving them in 1979 to pursue a new career.

[TheHylianBatman]

She's a beaut, shame we lost her.

[KRFTWRK]

When you first went over the performance figures, I thought to myself "Man that's a lot of power. I wonder how they managed to fit that onto 20 ton max axle loading"

[jenniferhoughton]

When DB bought EWS in 2007 a group of engineers from Cottbus works in Eastern Germany visited Toton. The engineers commented in DDR days they studied in the USSR and were very familiar with Kestrel ! There were a few withdrawn class 47s in the yard which amused them.

[davehanson]

My Grandad who was a Blacksmith and engineer at Derby works sat me in tbe cab of HS4000 when it was on display at Derby's locomotive works open day, I was only 5 years old at the time, and my grandad said I wasn't keen on the large crowds that surrounded the loco at the time ....happy memories

[wednesdayblues]

I remember seeing Kestrel a few times at Tinsley Sheds in Sheffield around 1970. As kids we used to sneak around the sheds trying not to get caught and thrown out.

[Shark]

This diesel was a prototype and shame it was not preserved

[WS-]

Some very interesting facts here relating to this unique locomotive . Kestrel also serves as a reminder that our once proud and advanced railway engineering sector has now all but gone . Great video !

[andyhinds]

As a train driver myself, much of what the narrator was saying has completely baffled me. I'm referring to the traction motor mountings, etc. They don't teach us that on the traction course. In 1988 I was trained on classes 81 to 87 and I still couldn't explain what an Alsthom quill drive is.

[dilwich]

The days of monster engines . . . .Fantastic!

[flemmingsorensen]

Such an elegant machine 👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 Great video - as always!

[SDfruitbat]

As you were reading through the technical description, I thought, "I really want to hear Ruairidh read the 'Turbo-encabulator' script!"

[marksinthehouse]

The cab area always reminds me of the sidewinder from thunderbirds episode 2 pit of fire it’s a truly late 60s design and still looks cool

[BegudMaximan-zptc]

What a machine that was!
Way ahead of the competition for sure.
Although a little heavy it had what was needed and proved to be a fabulous test bed for things to come.
A great pity several more were not built alongside it.
Hats off to all who participated in its creation.🙂👍

[Tom-Lahaye]

A beautiful locomotive! The design has striking similarity with the DB class 103 electrics. Keeping in mind how long it would take to electrify the ECML and SWML this locomotive would have had a place in the traction envelope even despite the introduction of the HST. The engine type Sulzer LVA24 but as a 12 cylinder was tested in a batch of 47s which were then reclassified as class 48.
These tests weren't that successful but that seemed to be caused by a locating pin to avoid the lower and upper big end bearing shells being fitted the wrong way round, that was discovered by the French National Railways who used the same engine in the class A1A-A1A 68000, only after a BR senior engineer visited a SNCF workshop where he was told that the French had done away with this pin and the hole in the lower shell reliable operation could be achieved, Also Kestrel was struck by a big end failure because of this. The locating pin caused a pressure point and uneven wear of the bearing.
The 16LVA24 and the AC/DC traction equipment from Kestrel led eventually to the locomotive class TEP70 in the Soviet Union, however the engine 5D49 used in this class was not a straight copy like some of the earlier Soviet Diesel engines copied from US designs.

Further noteworthy is that the Belgian railways had their own experimental 4000hp single engine diesel locomotive built 3 years after Kestrel, it was a class 51 diesel converted from its 8 in line Cockerill / Baldwin 608A to the the newly developed Cockerill 16TR240, a V16 with an AC alternator. it was tested four years and although the tests were a success also NMBS decided that there was no need for a diesel of such power, the engine was removed and placed in a canal ship and the locomotive built back to its original configuration.

[mickb]

Very interesting video. Now that was a magnificent machine, perfect balance of form and function. Although the 4000hp was a headline grabber, the electric traction equipment was also state of the art. Today it hasn't been equaled in terms of diesel locomotive power output, and, as for designers of modern traction, I think they attended the crashed skip school of design for the class 68 and 70s.

[chefchaudard]

French Railways CC72000 were of a similar concept.
There were slightly less powerful (3600HP), but lighter (114t), and were also of CC design, used an alternator, diode rectifiers and DC motors.
These engines were a success and were phased out only recently after 50 years of service.

[PadisherCreel]

Was lucky enough to see it at full speed on a passenger service at Danby Whiske, so either 1969 or 1970 (memory fading)

[davidmccall]

Brilliant video about HS4000, I saw this diesel locomotive several times, noteably on the east coast main line at Durham on a Kings Cross to Newcastle service.

[strudders]

That was fascinating for a Saturday. Thank you.