Heavy freight haulage

The latest in the series of Railways of Britain bookazines is a comprehensive review of heavy freight haulage on Britain’s railways during the diesel and electric era. In the early days of British Railways, its policy was for all diesel locomotives to have a mixed traffic function but, as freight trains became heavier, this policy failed as a real need for dedicated locomotives capable of handling the heaviest trains emerged.

Categorised as Type 5 by BR, those locomotives of 3,000hp and above, were late in development, with the Class 56 becoming Britain’s first, dedicated heavy-haulage freight locomotive.

This 100-page, perfect-bound, A4 bookazine charts the development of these heavyweight machines through BR’s Class 58s and 60s, and the subsequent invasion of American-built machines such as the Classes 59 and 66.

The Class 57s, rebuilt from Class 47s, and the ‘Super-powered 37/9s’ are discussed in this new publication, together with the new generation of Classes 68, 70 and 88, plus the dual-voltage Class 92s that all helped to revolutionise freight haulage in Britain.

Edited by Paul Appleton, with contributions from leading authors Chris Booth, Evan Green-Hughes and John Chalcraft, Heavy Freight – Diesel & Electric is on sale now for just £8.99, and can be ordered direct from the Kelsey Publishing online shop by clicking here.