Invention and Engineering

British Rail 10800

British Railways 10800 was a one-off diesel locomotive built by the North British Locomotive Company for British Railways in 1950. It had been ordered by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1946 but did not appear until after the 1948 nationalisation of the railways. The locomotive was designed by George Ivatt as a possible replacement for steam locomotives on secondary and branch lines. It was the first British road switcher locomotive. The single-cab layout (long bonnet forward) gave the driver a poor view of the road ahead. However, the driver's view was no worse than that from a steam locomotive cab, so it would have been acceptable at the time. During its brief time on the Southern Region between 1952 and 1954, 10800 gained the nickname 'The Wonder Engine', from the locomotive department's daily query, 'I wonder if it will go today'.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸0-8-4T
• ▸History of African Americans in Detroit
• ▸Bissel truck

Uncatalogued shelf

Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.