Transport of Delight

Many electric locomotives seem to have evaded my camera lens during my years of
photography, partly due to the amount of film I could afford and also opportunities.
Sadly, the handsome Southern Railway trio 20001-3 hardly seemed to cross my path
after I started taking photographs, likewise the Doncaster-built E5000 DC units.

I have repeated two shots here from another gallery to show a couple of the overhead
DC locomotives, but most of the gallery is taken up with the versatile E6000 (Class 73)
electro-diesels built for the Southern region and the various 25Kv AC classes which
have dominated the WCML and ECML services.

The electro-diesels were designed to run on third-rail DC, also carrying a 600hp diesel
engine for working away from the electric supply. They could work in multiple with Class
33 and SR EMU units. The first series, E6000-6 (Class 73/0) were built as prototypes in 1962
at Eastleigh and were followed by a production series of 43 units from English Electric,
E6007-6049 (Class 73/1) delivered from 1965-7. Many of the latter were modified to Class
73/2 in the 1980s for the Gatwick Express services.

The first series of 25Kv AC locomotives were 100 units grouped into classes AL1-AL5,
later classified as classes 81-85, built from 1959-62. Class 86 were 100 locomotives
utilising the lessons from the earlier series which were bullt from 1965-66. Class 87
were built from 1973-5 for the extension of services to Glasgow; the main group were
35 locomotives plus one unit (87101) which was fitted with experimental control gear.

Class 90, 50 locomotives built between 1987-90 were intended as replacements for the
original series on the West Coast Main Line, Class 91 were a class of 31 locomotives built
in 1988-92 for the East Coast Main Line electrification scheme while Class 92 were 46
units built 1993-5 for BR and SNCF for services through the Channel Tunnel.

As of 05/09/2010, there are 21 photographs in this section.