Auran BR Class 52 Blue Original

Auran BR Class 52 Blue Original

Class 52 Western

The British Rail Class 52 is a class of 74 Type 4 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964. All were given two-word names, the first word being Western and thus the type became known as Westerns. They were also known as Wizzos and Thousands. The final Class 52 locomotives were withdrawn from service in 1977.

When switching to diesel traction as part of the Modernisation Plan of the 1950s, British Railways (BR) designed, and commissioned designs for, a large number of locomotive types. At this time BR's regions had a high degree of autonomy, which extended as far as classes of locomotives ordered and even the design criteria for those locomotives. Whilst almost all other diesel locomotives were diesel-electric, the Western Region employed a policy of using diesel-hydraulic traction, originally commissioning three classes of main line locomotives: a type 2 and two type 4s (later designations Class 22, Class 41 and Class 42). With pressure to increase the speed of the transition from steam to diesel, volume orders for the Class 22 and Class 42 (along with a similar design Class 43) followed in 1957, a mere two years after the original orders and well before any idea of performance or reliability could be gained.

At the same time it was realised that all the existing orders (diesel-electric and diesel-hydraulic) were for types 1, 2 and 4; thus orders were placed for 101 Type 3 diesel-hydraulics (later Class 35). However the increasing demands for more powerful locomotives prompted a further order, in 1961, for 74 diesel-hydraulics of 2,700 hp (2,000 kW); so when the first locomotive was outshopped from Swindon Works in December 1961, less than a year after the order was placed, the Westerns were born.


Model: Class 52 Western
Horsepower: 1350
Engine: 2 × Maybach MD655
Max.Speed: 90 mph
Built: 1973–1977

Auran BR Class 52 Blue Original
class52_original_alpha_numbers
alphanumber_0.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_1.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_2.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_3.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_4.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_5.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_6.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_7.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_8.tga 4.04KB
alphanumber_9.tga 4.04KB
class52_original_art
class52_original_art_512.texture.txt 115 bytes
class52_original_art_512.tga 1.00MB
class52_original_art_icon.texture.txt 117 bytes
class52_original_art_icon.tga 32.53KB
class52_original_body
class52_body1.texture.txt 36 bytes
class52_body1.tga 768.04KB
class52_original_body.im 408.13KB
digit_1.texture.txt 30 bytes
digit_1.tga 3.04KB
digit_2.texture.txt 30 bytes
digit_2.tga 3.04KB
digit_3.texture.txt 30 bytes
digit_3.tga 3.04KB
digit_4.texture.txt 30 bytes
digit_4.tga 3.04KB
digit_5.texture.txt 30 bytes
digit_5.tga 3.04KB
digit_6.texture.txt 30 bytes
digit_6.tga 3.04KB
env_glass.texture.txt 32 bytes
env_glass.tga 12.02KB
env_metal.bmp 192.05KB
env_metal.texture.txt 32 bytes
roofeature.texture.txt 33 bytes
roofeature.tga 96.04KB
topfront.texture.txt 31 bytes
topfront.tga 1.54KB
class52_original_shadow
black.texture.txt 28 bytes
black.tga 786 bytes
class52_original_shadow.im 434.91KB
• config.txt 14.96KB
• dls_thumbnail.jpg 34.50KB
• vehicle-thumbnail.tga 32.04KB