The

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

purchased two diesel shunters, and ordered a further seven immediately prior to

Nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

, which were delivered to

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

in 1948–49. The two shunters used by the GWR were numbered 1 and 2, while a series commencing at 501 was planned for the new

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s ordered in the 1940s. British Rail renumbered both its inherited and new locomotives in a series commencing from 15100.

1

This locomotive was built by Fowler in 1933 and was used at

Swindon Works Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835, Parliament approved the construction of the Great ...

. It was an

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

diesel mechanical shunter with a engine, diameter wheels and a

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

of . It was very similar to the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

's (LMS) departmental locomotive number 2, which was built a couple of years later. It was withdrawn in 1940 and sold to the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

2 / 15100

This locomotive was built by Hawthorn Leslie in 1936 and allocated to

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

. It was a

0-6-0 is the Whyte notation designation for steam locomotives with a wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. Historically, this was the most common wheel arrangement used o ...

diesel electric shunter, very similar to the LMS 7069 class (later British Rail Class D3/6), and with a close family resemblance to the Southern Railway Maunsell 350 hp DMS (SR 1 - SR3). It was renumbered 15100 by

in 1948, withdrawn in 1965 and scrapped in early 1966.

501 / 15107

Brush/Petter 360 bhp

502-507 / 15101-15106

English Electric 350 bhp

References

* {{Great Western Railway *Diesel Shunters Diesel locomotives of Great Britain Standard-gauge locomotives of Great Britain Shunting locomotives

1

2 / 15100

501 / 15107

502-507 / 15101-15106

See also

References