DIESEL RETROSPECTIVE: Class 47 (Ian Allan Diesel Retrospective Series)

The first of the Brush-designed Type 4s, later Class 47s, appeared in 1962. Between then and 1968 a total of 512 examples were built by Brush at Loughborough and by BR itself at Crewe Works.

Designed for both passenger and freight services, the class was to be seen in operation nationwide, from merry-go-round coal trains in the Midlands and Yorkshire to express passenger services on the East Coast and Great Western main lines. Stalwarts of the BR network for almost 50 years, the class has been much reduced since privatisation, with the introduction of new freight locomotives and by the arrival of new passenger stock, such as Virgin’s fleet of Voyagers. However, despite these reductions, Class 47s, and the recently introduced modification, the Class 57, remain operational today.

As the Class 47s gradually approach the end of their long and distinguished careers, interest in the class has increased. In the second volume in our new series, Diesel Retrospective, John Vaughan pays a pictorial tribute to the class from its origins in the early 1960s to the present day. Drawing upon his own work, as well as that of other well-known railway photographers, he has selected some 250 mono and colour illustrations recording the great variety of operations that the class has been involved with since the first of the type appeared in September 1962.

With these locomotives now entering the twilight of their careers, heritage interest in the class continues to grow. With its superb pictorial content and well-informed captions, Diesel Retrospective: Class 47 is certain to be an essential read for all those interested in the history of this locomotive type. It will be of particular interest to modellers, since virtually every layout featuring the BR era from 1962 onwards, must feature at least one example of this class. It will also appeal to preservationists as more members of the class enter preservation.