Unusual Diesel Loco

[locojoe]

This photo of a diesel loco was taken at Marylebone,the date says 1951 the front end is unusual, Can anybody throw any light on what type of loco it is.
Alan Locojoe
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...lebone1951.jpg

[Arthur Maunsell]

thats the Fell loco....experimantel numbered 10100 i think

had several small engine driving a steam loco type of chassis...

[locojoe]

That's correct Arthur I looked up fell 10100 and this was the result.
Alan Locojoe

No. 10100 - The Fell Experimental Locomotive
This locomotive was built to the design of H G Ivatt, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London Midland Region of British Railways, in collaboration with Fell Developments Ltd and Ricardo & Company. Fell Developments was set up by Lt Col L F R Fell who was responsible for the concept and design of the unique engines and transmission arrangements. In the late 1940s the railways faced growing competition from the motor car and airlines offering internal flights. To counter the challenge the railways wanted to offer fast passenger train services between the major cities. Thus the term 'inter-city' was first coined and used with reference to rail travel. Developed for the proposed fast inter-city trains, the Fell locomotive was built at British Railways Derby Works in 1949/50, introduced in January 1951, and remained in service until November 1958

[DSY011]

Alan,
In the Aug 2007 Model Rail mag NO.107, there is a write up about the Fell Locomotive No. 10100. It was tested on the Settle & Carlisle in April 1955 and had a 4-4-4-4 wheel arangement. The center drive wheels had a coupling rod but were linked together by an internal gearbox. This ment that the coupling rods never went out of synchronisation with each other. The loco was scrapped in July 1960 at Derby works.
Syd

[locojoe]

Thanks for the information Syd it certainly was unique I've never seen anything like it before.
Alan Locojoe

[Trev]

I would loved to have been privileged enough to see the Fell engine. All of those driving rods flying around...it must have been a hell of a sight!

Didn't it catch fire in the end?

[locojoe]

I don't know if it caught fire Trev but it would seem the loco was plagued with gearbox problems. This is a bit I dug up on the Paxman site.
Alan Locojoe

The failure had relatively small beginnings. The gearbox suffered the failure of a bolt in its upper part. I cannot recall whether this was attributable to faulty design, materials or workmanship but the main point was that the broken bits passed all the way down through the gear train and rendered most of the gear wheels unfit for further service. The locomotive was returned to BR's workshop where it was built and stripped for investigation but that was effectively the end of the project

[Shed Cat]

I am not sure, but insn't a Fell gearbox in the NRM in the "Warehouse" section because I think I remember playing with it (ahem !) when I was last there a couple of years ago.

[paul miller]

There is a great film,I think it was a British Transport Film, about the construction of the Fell Loco.
It shows the gearboxes being built and they look really complicated.
It is only a short film, I have seen it on a couple pf occasions at local railway film nights.
Funnily enough I think the gearbox was its main weakness, though I have read somewhere that it was a very efficient unit.
Someone correct me if I am wrong but I think it had about 4 engines.

[Trev]

Originally Posted by paul miller

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I think it had about 4 engines.

I've heard something similar Paul. Didn't they come on line one after the other as the speed of the loco increased?