I always remember a comment in a rail book about dieselisation after the war about all sorts of designs were tried out, many of them being quite unsuitable. Many of them had a very short life on BR, like many of these class 14s lasting barely 5 years before withdrawal. Wiki mentions that unlike other classes it was not because of unreliability, but because the roles they were built for - presumably shunting - were disappearing on the rail network. However most of them were sold to private industry where they worked for a decade or so, a few were sold for roles abroad and 34 of them, over half the class, ended up being preserved on heritage railways where they became Really Useful.
Even the beautifully balanced Class 17 Clayton was not quite what it should have been. Not made reliable in time. And the crime of there only being one left in the whole world. Fortunately, only a 40 minutes drive away from me.
@@fortheloveoftrains The Forest of Dean Railway has a D9555, which is a Class 14 diesel. Chinnor and Princes Risborough has a D8568, which is a Class 17, and therefore is a REAL Clayton. Class 14's were never called The Clayton. Therefore, there is only ONE Class 14 in the world, and it is 9 miles away from my home.
I always remember a comment in a rail book about dieselisation after the war about all sorts of designs were tried out, many of them being quite unsuitable. Many of them had a very short life on BR, like many of these class 14s lasting barely 5 years before withdrawal. Wiki mentions that unlike other classes it was not because of unreliability, but because the roles they were built for - presumably shunting - were disappearing on the rail network.
However most of them were sold to private industry where they worked for a decade or so, a few were sold for roles abroad and 34 of them, over half the class, ended up being preserved on heritage railways where they became Really Useful.
as a diesel hydraulic it was considered "non standard". BR standardised on diesel electric.
Nice to see the mesh behind the steps there, nothing like footy choppy offy with the connecting bar :D
I've always wondered why they have that connecting bar ??
@@AndreA-ke2id more power and better traction, only one of the wheels has to be geared. So instead of 1 powered axle it can have 3 :)
Thanks for explaining.
Even the beautifully balanced Class 17 Clayton was not quite what it should have been. Not made reliable in time. And the crime of there only being one left in the whole world. Fortunately, only a 40 minutes drive away from me.
There's a lot more than one !!
@@AndreA-ke2id Where? In Britain?
@@Demun1649 In the UK. Most of these are still there......
m.ruclips.net/video/-PhSVdLCLuo/видео.html&pp=ygUPQ2xhc3MgMTQgbGFzaHVw
Forest of Dean Railway
@@fortheloveoftrains The Forest of Dean Railway has a D9555, which is a Class 14 diesel. Chinnor and Princes Risborough has a D8568, which is a Class 17, and therefore is a REAL Clayton. Class 14's were never called The Clayton. Therefore, there is only ONE Class 14 in the world, and it is 9 miles away from my home.