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  1. #1
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    Default D-18000 Gas Turbine-Electric Locomotive 25/04/10

    Whilst out and about! we ended up at a "Thomas the Tank Engine Fest" which was taking place at the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway, based at Toddington, Gloucestershire.

    Apart from the usual fun that you get at a TTTE Fest!
    This rare little gem of British Railways Heritage was in the station!
    A Bit of history:

    British Rail 18000 was a prototype mainline Gas turbine-electric locomotive built for British Railways in 1949 by Brown, Boveri & Cie. It had, however, been ordered by the Great Western Railway in 1940, but construction was delayed due to World War II. It spent its working life on the Western Region of British Railways, operating express passenger services from London Paddington station.

    At the end of 1960 it was withdrawn from operation and was stored at Swindon Works for four years. It then returned to mainland Europe, where for more than ten years it was used, in substantially altered (and no longer gas-turbine-powered) form, for experiments concerning the interaction between steel wheels and steel rails, under the auspices of the International Union of Railways. In 1975 it was moved to Vienna and displayed outside the Mechanical Engineering Testing building.
    In the early 1990s it was secured for preservation; and returned to the UK.
    It is owned by Dennis Waterman of "Minder/Sweeney" fame.

    In mid-April 2010 it was delivered to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in order to take part (as a static exhibit) in the celebrations for the 175th birthday of the Great Western Railway which will take place from 29 May to 6 June 2010.



    In service in BR Days



    Rescued and returned to the UK from Vienna, it shows its original Livery of Black with silver lining.



    As a static exhibit at Toddington station. Only two were ever built
    Note: the steam whistle. A nice surviving bit of BR Heritage.
    Last edited by BB; 26-08-2011 at 06:39 PM.
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: D-18000 Gas Turbine-Electric Locomotive 25/04/10

    Thought it looked familiar.



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