The British Rail Class 14 is a type of small diesel-hydraulic locomotive built in the mid-1960s. Twenty-six of these 0-6-0 locomotives were ordered in January 1963, to be built at British Railways' Swindon Works. The anticipated work for this class was trip working movements between local yards and short-distance freight trains. The good all-around visibility from the cab and dual controls also made them capable of being used for shunting duties. The order was expanded from 26 to 56 in mid-1963, before work had started on the first order. They were numbered D9500-D9555.

Technical details In July 1964, the first of a class of 56 locomotives appeared from Swindon Works. These were later designated as TOPS Class 14 by British Railways. They are known as 'Teddy Bears' by enthusiasts, following a comment by Swindon Works' erecting shop foreman George Cole who quipped "We've built The Great Bear, now we're going to build a 'Teddy Bear'!"

In outline they have a cab offset from the centre with bonnets at each end, with a fixed 0-6-0 wheel configuration rather than bogies as seen on all the other Type 1 classes. The locomotives were powered by a Paxman 6-cylinder Ventura 6YJXL engine with a Napier turbocharger producing , connected to a Voith L217U hydraulic transmission and Hunslet final drive. The axles were connected by coupling rods and driven by a jackshaft located under the cab, between the second and third axles. The plate frames were of inch steel and deep buffer beams almost to rail level. One was of similar thickness to the frames, the other of thick steel to act as ballast and to even out weight distribution.

Operations and preservation Originally all were allocated to depots on the Western Region of British Railways, but in January 1967 twenty were sent to Hull (Dairycoates) on the Eastern Region (ER), followed by thirteen more later the same year. At Hull they were intended for work around the docks, but the tasks were beyond the capabilities of a single locomotive; and since two locomotives required two sets of crew, they were not popular with the region. In 1968, all 33 ER locomotives were placed in storage, and were subsequently withdrawn on 1 April that year.

The Class 14s, like many other early diesel types, had an extremely short life with British Railways – in this case not because of poor reliability, but because many of its envisaged duties disappeared on the BR network as a result of the Beeching cuts. BR started to dispose of members of the class from mid 1968, and the entire class had been sold to industry or scrapped by the end of 1970. Many had a working life two to three times longer in industrial use than that with British Railways. The industries they worked, such as coal mining, declined during the 1970s and the class again became surplus to requirements. Many have since been preserved on heritage railways where they are ideal for both light passenger work and with works trains on the maintenance of permanent way.

Unusually, D9504 was leased in 2005 from its preservation group and found itself in revenue-earning service on the newest mainline in the UK – High Speed 1 (known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link during construction) – mainly in marshalling and stabling the , 22-wagon concrete-pumping train on the final stretch to St. Pancras Station.

D9524 was re-engined under the ownership of BP Grangemouth. It was later re-engined again under the ownership of the Scottish RPS who, following BR practice, gave it the number 14901. It now operates with a Rolls-Royce DV8TCE (640 bhp) power unit.

The last of the class to be built, D9555, was the final locomotive constructed for British Railways at Swindon Works, in 1965; today it is privately owned and operates on the Dean Forest Railway, Gloucestershire – its original route.

In July 2014, the East Lancashire Railway hosted ten preserved members of the class as a celebration of the 50 years since their entry into service.

Fleet +Distribution of locomotives,July/October 1967Code Name Quantity50B Hull (Dairycoates) 2582A Bristol Bath Road 686A Cardiff Canton 1787E Landore 8Total:56 Key:PreservedScrappedExported LocoFinal depotIndustrial careerIndustrial Number DatesDisposalD950086ANCB Ashington111/69–?Preserved at Peak RailD950186A — – —Scrapped at C F Booth, Rotherham (June 1968)D950286ANCB Ashington –07/69–?Preserved at East Lancs RailwayD950350BBSC Harlaxton BSC Corby Steelworks6511/68–07/74 07/74–09/80Scrapped at BSC Corby (09/80)D950450BNCB Lambton NCB Philadelphia NCB Bolden NCB Burradon NCB Ashington50611/68–08/73 08/73–12/74 01/75–09/81 09/81–?Preserved at Kent & East Sussex RailwayD950550BAPCM Hope, Derbyshire –09/68–05/75Exported to Bruges, Belgium (05/75)D950686A — – —Scrapped at Arnott Young Ltd., Parkgate (05/68)D950750BBSC Corby Steelworks5511/68–09/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (09/82)D950887ENCB Ashington 903/69–01/84Scrapped at D. Short, North Shields (01/84)D950986A — – —Scrapped at G Cohen Ltd., Kettering (11/70)D951050BBSC Buckminster BSC Corby Steelworks6012/68–06/72 06/72–08/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (08/82)D951150BNCB Ashington –11/68–07/79Scrapped at NCB Ashington (07/79)D951250BBSC Buckminster BSC Corby Steelworks6312/68–09/72 09/72–02/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (02/82)D951386AArnott Young Ltd., Parkgate NCB Crigglestone NCB Astley NCB Ashington 3807/68–11/68 11/68–09/69 09/69–10/73 01/74–?Preserved at Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam RailwayD951486ANCB Ashington 407/69–12/85Scrapped at NCB Ashington (12/85)D951550BBSC Buckminster BSC Corby Steelworks Hunslet Ltd6211/68–09/72 09/72–12/81 12/81–07/82Exported to Charmartin, Madrid, Spain (07/82)D951650BBSC Corby Steelworks5611/68–10/81Preserved at Didcot Railway CentreD951786ANCB Ashington 811/69–01/84Scrapped at D. Short, North Shields (01/84)D951886ANCB Ashington 706/69–??/87Preserved at West Somerset RailwayD951986A – – –Scrapped at G Cohen Ltd., Kettering (11/70)D952050BBSC Corby Steelworks BSC Glendon4512/68–03/81Preserved at Mid-Norfolk RailwayD952187ENCB Ashington 303/70–11/84Preserved at Dean Forest RailwayD952286A – – –Scrapped at Arnott Young Ltd., Parkgate (05/68)D952350BBSC Corby Steelworks BSC Glendon 4612/68–10/81Preserved at the Wensleydale RailwayD952487EBP Grangemouth –07/70–09/81Preserved at Peak RailD952550BNCB Lambton NCB Philadelphia NCB Ashington50711/68–03/75 03/75–10/87Preserved by Heritage Shunters TrustD952686AAPCM Westbury –01/70–04/80Preserved at West Somerset RailwayD952786ANCB Ashington 607/69–01/84Scrapped at D. Short, North Shields (01/84)D952886ANCB Ashington 203/69–12/81Scrapped at D. Short, North Shields (12/81)D952950BBSC Buckminster BSC Corby SteelworksBardon Hill Quarry6108/68–09/72 09/72–03/81 02/09–06/10Preserved – normally at Nene Valley RailwayD953086AGulf Oil Co.Ltd., Waterston NCB Mardy CollieryNCB Tower Colliery –09/69–10/75 10/75–08/82 08/82Scrapped at NCB Tower Colliery (08/82)D953186AArnott Young Ltd., Parkgate NCB Crigglestone NCB Burradon NCB Ashington3107/68–11/68 11/68–10/73 10/73–04/74 04/74–?Preserved at East Lancashire RailwayD953250BBSC Corby Steelworks5711/68–02/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (02/82)D953350BBSC Corby Steelworks4712/68–09/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (09/82)D953450BAPCM Hope, Derbyshire –10/68—05/75Exported to Bruges, Belgium (05/75)D953586ANCB Burradon NCB Backworth NCB Ashington 3711/70–01/76 01/76–09/80 09/80–01/84Scrapped at NCB Ashington (01/84)D953687ENCB Ashington 503/70–02/85Scrapped at NCB Ashington (12/85)D953750BBSC Corby Steelworks5211/68–11/82Preserved at Ecclesbourne Valley RailwayD953887EShell-Mex & BP Ltd., Shellhaven BSC Ebbw Vale BSC Corby Steelworks –04/70–02/71 02/71–04/76 04/76–09/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (09/82)D953950BBSC Corby Steelworks5110/68–02/83Preserved at Ribble Steam RailwayD954050BNCB Lambton NCB Philadelphia NCB Burradon NCB Ashington 3611/68–11/71 11/71–06/72 06/72–01/84Scrapped at D. Short, North Shields (01/84)D954150BBSC Harlaxton BSC Corby Steelworks6611/68–08/74 08/74–08/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (08/82)D954250BBSC Corby Steelworks4812/68–08/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (08/82)D954350B — – —Scrapped at C F Booth, Rotherham (11/68)D954450BBSC Corby Steelworks5311/68–09/80Scrapped at BSC Corby (09/80)D954550BNCB Ashington –11/68–07/79Scrapped by D. Short, North Shields (07/79)D954650B — – —Scrapped at C F Booth, Rotherham (11/68)D954750BBSC Corby Steelworks4912/68–08/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (08/82)D954850BBSC Harlaxton BSC Corby SteelworksHunslet Ltd6711/68–08/74 08/74–11/80 11/80–07/82Exported to Charmartin, Madrid, Spain (07/82)D954950BBSC Corby SteelworksHunslet Ltd6411/68–11/81 11/81–07/82Exported to Charmartin, Madrid, Spain (07/82)D955050B — – —Scrapped at C F Booth, Rotherham (11/68)D955150BBSC Corby Steelworks5012/68–06/81Preserved at Severn Valley RailwayD955250BBSC Buckminster BSC Corby Steelworks5909/68–06/72 06/72–09/80Scrapped at BSC Corby (09/80)D955350BBSC Corby Steelworks5411/68–?Preserved at Vale of Berkeley RailwayD955450BBSC Corby Steelworks5811/68–08/82Scrapped at BSC Corby (08/82)D955587ENCB Burradon NCB Ashington –03/70–02/75 02/76–??/87Preserved at Dean Forest Railway

Models Hattons Model Railways commissioned Danish company Heljan to produce a limited run in OO gauge in three liveries. Since then, they have announced plans for further examples, still in limited numbers, but in a wider variety of liveries.

In 2010, Graham Farish introduced a BR blue Class 14 in British N gauge.

Minerva Model Railways announced the production of a ready-to-run O gauge (7mm Finescale) model in May 2019. Delivery commenced in February 2022 following delays due to incorrect cab colour on the initial supplies.

In 2011 a 7 1/4" gauge model of D9522 won best locomotive and best model in show at the national model engineering exhibition in Harrogate.

References

Further reading

External links

D9531.com website Website covering D9500 and 14901 (D9524)