Paxman 2-car Diesel-Electric
Operations
Thankfully with the unit being an unusual sight the trials were reasonably well recorded in the enthusiast press, particularly in Railway Observer.
1956
The unit was photographed in Chinley on 15 September waiting to return to Derby via the Peak Forest route. The image is just over halfway down on the ER Morten page on the David Heys Collection website.
Another at Chinley on the same day can be found on the Diesel Multiple Units page on the same website, along with another on an unidentified stretch of main line.
The unit at Derby on 14 October 1956.
Photograph courtesy of and © Paxman Archive Trust - negative 6359.
In the week beginning 1 October trial runs were between Derby and Chinley via Chesterfield[1].
On 30 October the unit ran from London Euston (departing 10.30am) to Rugby Midland (scheduled to arrive at 11.50am) carrying members of the Lightweight Diesel Trains Committee.
On 20 November they were noted having an electrical fault repaired at Leeds Holbeck shed[2].
In November/early December trials were run over the Settle and Carlisle line. Sadly on the 6 December the unit struck and killed two pemanent way men between Shipton and Keighley. The set was kept at Keighley for a few days afterwards[3].
On 11 December the LWTC meeting noted that "tests have had to be postponed owing to Christmas traffic".
1957
In January the set ran trials from Derby C&W to Carlisle on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Departure from Derby was at 8.18am, arriving at Carlisle at 12.29pm. The return departure was at 2.08pm, reaching Derby at 5.50pm[4]. The route taken was via Leeds[5]. The January LWTC meeting noted the test runs had been reduced to save fuel (there was a fuel crisis underway) which may explain why it was only running three-days a week.
By 12 March it had ran 19,000 miles without any serious trouble.
On Tuesday 19 March it was noted as still running trials between Derby and Carlisle[6].
By 8 April it had ran 22,000 miles, still with no major issues.
In early June (the week before Whitsun) the trials were between Leeds Central, Bradford Exchange, Manchester Victorian and Liverpool[7]. Based at Holbeck, it achieved a 12 minute run start to stop between Leeds Central and Bradford Exchange, and 91 minutes start to stop for Bradford Exchange - Liverpool Exchange over the L. & Y. route[8].
On 10 July 1957 - the pair were photographed in Carlisle Citadel station[9].
Later in July the unit visited the Paxman works at St Botolph's in Colchester and did high-speed runs on various GE lines. On Thursday 25 July it did a return trip from Colchester to Norwich calling at principal stations on the outward journey but a faster schedule for the return. On Friday 26 July it again ran Colchester - Norwich but this time it only stopped at Ipswich and the up run between Norwich and Ipswich was timed for 45 minutes. On Monday 29 July it ran between Norwich and Ipswich but this time the outward journey was via Reedham, Lowestoft and Beccles and returning via Yarmouth South Town, Gorleston, Lowestoft and Reedham. On Tuesday 30 July its travels took it from Norwich to Cambridge then Peterborough East via and Ely and March, and back to Norwich via March and Ely North Curve[10].
In was running trials from Lincoln on the week ending 10 August, and was noted having a minor defect being rectified in Sheffield Victoria on the 7th[10].
25 October 1957 - pictured in Kings Cross after a 60mph run from York[11]. Another image of the unit[12] with no date/location had a caption mentioning that it had ran high speed trials on the East Coast Main Line on two succesive days. The first day involved Lincoln - Sheffield - Kings Cross - Sheffield - Lincoln, on the second it was Lincoln - York - Kings Cross - York - Lincoln. The 161 1/2 miles from Sheffield - Kings Cross was scheduled for 2 hr 41 min, 9 minutes faster than the previous best timing, and it even allowed for a stop at Retford to pick up a pilot driver for the section to Kings Cross.
From early December it daily (except Saturdays) return trips from Derby to Carlisle for several weeks[13].
1958
By 15 January all the trials had been completed and Paxman had asked for the return of their equipment.
No disposal details are known for the vehicles, it is presumed they were broken up at Derby C&W Works.
References
- ⋏ p317 November 1956 Railway Observer
- ⋏ p346 December 1956 Railway Observer
- ⋏ p14 January 1957 Railway Observer
- ⋏ p52 February 1957 Railway Observer
- ⋏ p163 March 1957 Trains Illustrated
- ⋏ p97 April 1957 Railway Observer
- ⋏ p195 July 1957 Railway Observer
- ⋏ p446 August 1958 Trains Illustrated
- ⋏ Image by John N Faulkner, p8 "BR DMUs and Diesel Railcars" by Brian Morrison
- ⋏ a b p246 September 1957 Railway Observer
- ⋏ Image by JR Besley, it appeared on p47 of the Summer 1958 Ian Allan DMU ABC and p54 July 1982 Rail Enthusiast
- ⋏ p216 November-December 1957 The Locomotive
- ⋏ p39 February 1958 Railway Observer
The Railway Observer is the journal of the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society