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By Mark Green on

Picture of the week: Diesel locomotive, 1957

Our staff and volunteers reveal their favourite images from our vast photography collection.

Peter Thorpe, Search Engine Visitor Assistant, explains why he picked this photograph:

This is a Brush Type 2 diesel, later to become known as the Class 31 and one of the many classes of diesel loco that were introduced as part of the British Railways Modernisation Plan of 1955. I like the image because it is the first Class 31, D5500, which now lives just below the Search Engine balcony in the Great Hall carrying its later number of 31018 – so everyone researching in Search Engine sees this engine.

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You can explore more images from the railway photos section of our website, with over 3,500 Creative Commons-licensed images from our collection, our staff are choosing some one of their favourite photos for this blog.

4 comments on “Picture of the week: Diesel locomotive, 1957

  1. Errr………… If it’s the picture of a man leaning out of a cab with a bonnet in the foreground (which is what I can see) that’s not a Class 31 – it’s some sort of shunter! Besides, Class 31’s were Diesel electric…………..

  2. They were originally called “Brush type 2”
    The photo is obvioulsy just outside LIverpool Street station, and it is probably a Cambridge express, or possibly an East Suffolk line train.
    At that time, the Norwich expresses were hauled by either “Britannia pacifics, or, later, “EE 4” (D200-series / class 40) locomotives.
    The leading coach appears to be a Gresley brake 3rd

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