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NCB No. 38 (D.9513)
A rarity on the railway - an ex-BR locomotive! The Class 14's were failures in terms of when they
were withdrawn from BR service, but a lot were purchased for industrial use (48 out of the 56
which were built), and had longer careers there. D. 9513 was built in 1964 at BR Swindon, being an
0-6-0 diesel hydraulic (following Western Region practice) of 650hp. However, it only worked for
BR for four years, being withdrawn in 1968. Fortunately it was bought by an industrial concern,
and in its industrial career it became NCB No. 38, eventually based at Ashington Colliery,
Northumberland, until the railway system was closed and it was sold, coming to Embsay in 1987.
On arrival, a number of small defects were attended to, and the loco's
paintwork was tidied up, before it began to be used for shunting. Further
work was carried out and eventually it hauled some passenger trains, as can
be seen in these photographs, taken by Stephen Walker and Dave Outibridge. However, owing
to its wiring and wheel profiles (which were atrocious), it was withdrawn for
a comprehensive rebuild, which is continuing to date. We look forward to
having this loco back in traffic as it can handle the job of rescue locomotive
better than the 04, D.2203.
When it is completed, it will retain its NCB blue livery as it spent most of its working life in industrial ownership, and
also most of the other preserved Class 14s are in the BR livery, or similar.
The loco has now been started up following additional work - see the photo on the right or try
this clip for proof! Thanks to Les for his efforts to assist the rest of the D&P
team. (Video clip requires Quicktime or similar - oh, and could do with being rotated 90 degrees...)
Left photo: (c) Fred Kerr. Many thanks for permission to use this
photo on the website.
The above photos show the Class 14 outside for the first time in quite a while as it was shunted round in the shed to allow
work to focus on its completion. Seeing the sunlight it is seen in the top yard in the company of M.D.H.B.
No.36, the Class 14 is shunted. Work has since seen the loco turn blue and shiny once more and a lot of effort is currently
going into tackling its cooling problems. These stem from the theft of its original radiators before it entered preservation.
The cooler group is in the process of being modified to take elements fitted to other locos (56s or 47s??) which will provide
much better cooling than the truck radiator it initially ran with. Below are some pictures (and a Quicktime clip) of the loco
on test and also performing some shunting in preparationf or the 2008 Steam Gala.
2009's Diesel Gala should see the loco make its proper debut into full service, following the
completion of the cooler group work.
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When it is completed, it will retain its NCB blue livery as it spent most of its working life in industrial ownership, and
also most of the other preserved Class 14s are in the BR livery, or similar.
