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The Modernisation Plan of 1955 can scarcely be dignified with the word 'Plan'. As someone said it was more like a few rough jottings on the back of an envelope which failed to take into acount the changes occurring on and off the railways as regards transport provision. The government of the day released funds and it then became a free for all for resources rather than a logical, coherent policy; the waste was enormous. Originally, the plan envisaged a pilot scheme to identify the best diesel designs for quantity production, but worsening economic and operating conditions led to a rush to dieselise and of course locomotive manufacturers saw this opportunity as a life line. It seemed that anyone could get an order from B R at the time. It is no coincidence that generally speaking the most successful family of designs came from English Electric with long experience in the field. The experience of North British Loco frantically trying to reorientate their business was quite the opposite. One solution would have been to turn to America for locos, but at the time and for long after this was politically and economically unacceptable. The result over 40 diesel designs introduced ,when probably five would have sufficed, as was the case in other countries.
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