Diesel Locomotives - British Rail Class 31-35: Books

Class 31 Locomotives

A pictorial tribute to the British Rail workhorse, the Class 31. Over 260 of these locos were built by Brush at Loughborough from 1958 onwards, and they would work on most regions for the next forty years, with a few examples still working today.

Working both passenger and freight trains, they were a success, although their original Mirrlees engines would be replaced with English Electric power units in the late 1960s.

They have worn many different liveries, with most being portrayed in this book. Unfortunately most have now gone for scrap, however quite a number have been preserved and can still be seen running on their preserved lines up and down the country.

This book acts as a personal recollection of a favourite class of loco. For those fortunate enough to have experienced the Class 31 locos in their prime, this book will offer a pleasing trip down memory lane. For those new to the class, it will highlight what you may have missed.

British Type 3 Diesel Locomotives : Classes 33, 35, 37 and upgraded 31

The Type 3 Diesel Locomotive album comprises over 200, mainly unpublished, full sized colour photographs of four classes of British engines, developed in the earlier years of the Modernisation Plan.

The Type 3 included four classes of locomotive of medium power output, which undertook a wide range of duties from Main line and local passenger services, various freight duties and departmental work.
Several are still in use on the national network, and can be seen in various parts of the country.

The Book has been compiled by David Cable. The photos illustrate the many duties and colour schemes of the classes in a variety of locations and colour schemes of the classes in a variety of locations, using largely unpublished photographs from his extensive collection.

Class 33s

NEW

In 1960, the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company built a class of 98 locomotives, later to be designated Class 33s. They were capable of operating at up to 85mph and were equipped with a reliable 1,550hp Sulzer engine.
Three sub-classes were subsequently created, classified as the standard Class 33/0, the push-pull Class 33/1 and the narrow-bodied Class 33/2.

These locos were eventually used over a large area of operation, and throughout their careers worked both passenger and freight duties. The south of England saw the main bulk of their workings, with allocations split between Hither Green, Stewarts Lane and Eastleigh. During the 1980s, however, they were also diagrammed on passenger services much further afield, with workings including Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol/Cardiff/Swansea, Cardiff to Crewe/Manchester, and local services from Exeter to Barnstaple/Paignton/Plymouth. Following privatisation, freight company English Welsh & Scottish Railway even transferred Class 33s to Aberdeen, albeit not for very long.

Many of these useful locos have survived into the 21st century, both as attractions on heritage lines and in service with rail tour companies. With over 220 images, this book is a nostalgic pictorial record of the Class 33 locomotives around the UK.

The Class 33s - A Sixty Year History

1960 saw the first BRCW Ltd Type 3s, later TOPS Class 33, enter service on the Southern Region. The 98 locomotives were ordered as part of the Kent coast modernisation scheme. The final 12 locos had bodies 7 inches less wide than the rest of the class to allow them to work through the narrow tunnels between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings.
For many years they were the mainstay of the Southern Region's locomotive fleet and were widely used across the south and west of England and beyond.

This book, the first detailed history of the class for 30 years, tells the story of these popular and successful locomotives from inception, through their design and operations to withdrawal from service. It draws on original source material from a number of archives and sheds new light on many aspects of these locomotives over their 60 years of service.
The story is illustrated throughout with many photographs, almost all of which are published for the first time. Each photograph is accompanied by a detailed caption drawing the reader to particular points of interest such as technical equipment or detail differences.

This is a welcome reappraisal of a long lived and respected class which will be of interest to modern traction enthusiasts and those modelling the post steam era on BR.