Friday 20 April 2012

Battery Powered Locomotive, 1917

Photobucket


This unusual small locomotive was built for the North Staffordshire Railway in 1917. Fitted with batteries supplying electricity to the electric motors, it could run for six hours between charges, and was used for shunting wagons at a factory that produced electrical components and a nearby railway station for forty six years. It is now in it's original paint scheme in the National Railway Museum, York



Photobucket

2 comments:

  1. Hi Richard I have personal interest in this loco. I overhauled it completely in 1953 While I was working in the Derby works. It was used as a shunter in Boultons copper works at Oakamoor. I travelled back with it from Derby towed by a 060 freight loco It was then repaqinted and numbered BEL2. now in York museum I believe. Roy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Roy,
    That's a great story about the trip from Derby to Oakamoor with BEL 2. Many years ago I picked up a photo taken at Oakamoor around that time which shows the loco shed and also a small 0-4-0 diesel loco which looks as though it could be ED 1 which was allocated to Derby at that time. My thoughts are that it was used at Oakamoor while BEL 2 was at Derby. It would be great if you could confirm it.
    John

    ReplyDelete