The earliest main line electric locomotive to run in the UK, North Eastern Railway bo-bo Electric No 1, built for use on the Newcastle Quayside branch where it and identical No 2 served for almost sixty years, is now in preservation as part of the National Collection owing to it's importance in railway history. It has been covered before on the blog here;
However I was able to take these photographs inside the locomotive, with thanks to to Anthony Coulls at the National Railway Museum. The end with the control panel of switches running down the centre of the cab windows is 'A' end. If anyone would like larger copies of any of these please let me know and i'll e-mail them over. It struck me how similar the controls are to that of a Tram of the period.
From what i've read, the location of the controls changed since it was first built - I have no definite date for this but presume it was when the ES1s were changed from the large bow pick-up mounted on a wooden beam half way across one of the bonnets to the roof mounted pantograph before they entered service in 1905.
A end is the front, which is also the unobstructed front of the locomotive as viewed in the museum, this is the left hand side looking forwards
B end
A end
The electrical resistances in one of the noses - the interior of the other nose is identical. The two vertical cylinders at the end are the sandboxes, filled from the two noticeable circular lids on each nose
B end controls
Control panel on A end - for example in this position, the pantograph or 'trolley' is lowered, so the locomotive is not getting it's power (current) from overhead wires, and is being powered from the third electrified rail from the shoes mounted on the locomotive's wheeled bogies, which it would do during the tunnel linking Trafalgar Yard near Manors Station and the Newcastle Quayside. It would also use the third rail to transit back to it's shed
Inside the box for B end on the control panel
The handle for the pantograph - this is in the 'down' position
Interior of the box between the cab windows at B end
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