Profile of the Westerns by Nicholas, D. & Montgomery, S - 1980

Yeovil, Somerset, England: Oxford Publishing Co., 1980. 1st Edition . Laminated Pictorial Boards. Very Good/No Jacket. unpaginated approx 96 pages 163 b/w photos. Photographic profile of this famous class of BR Western Region Diesel Hydraulic Locomotives. British Rail (BR) assigned Class 52 to the class of 74 large Type 4 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964. All were given two-word names, the first word being Western; thus the type became known as Westerns. With the Hymeks and Warships already in service but proving underpowered for top-link services, BR Western Region needed a high-powered locomotive for top-link services - the Western therefore needed two diesel engines to achieve the required power output. In keeping with their policy, a new locomotive with a hydraulic transmission was envisaged. Experience had shown that the Maybach engines in the Hymeks were superior to the MAN engines used in the Warships, particularly in power output. Also Maybach were able to offer their 12 MD engines rated at 1,350 bhp (1,010 kW) allied to a Voith transmission; a Mekydro transmission designed to handle such power could not be fitted into the British loading gauge. Prototypes sited the engines behind the driving cabs but drivers found this too noisy; moving the engines centrally meant making the locomotive heavier, removing some of the design's advantage. In production use, the dual-engine arrangement turned out to have some advantages: in particular, the Westerns were able to continue operating with a single engine running in situations where more conventional single-engine designs would require rescue by another locomotive. This valuable property was intentionally duplicated in the later High Speed Trains and was one reason for them having two power cars.