The British gas turbine locomotives have proved popular subjects in recent years. MIKE WILD inspects Rails of Sheffield’s latest exclusive ‘OO’ gauge model of Swiss built 18000 – Britain’s first gas turbine railway locomotive.
I can only imagine the ‘please explain’ from the public debut of pioneering Brown Boveri gas turbine 18000 at London Paddington on May 10 1950. The power of the turbine exhaust dislodged dirt from the roof of the station accumulated from steam locomotives, covering the passengers below in soot.
It was however an indication of the incredible power this locomotive could deliver from its 2,500hp gas turbine engine. 18000 was unlike anything on the rails at that time and made full use of the Great Western Railway loading gauge with its 13ft 4in height and 63ft 0in length. 18000 was the first gas turbine powered railway locomotive for the British Railway network. It was built by Brown Boveri in Switzerland to an order from the Great Western Railway, but wasn’t completed until 1949, so it actually entered service with the newly nationalised British Railways. It was the first of four gas turbine locomotives – the fourth being the Advanced Passenger Train – Experimental in the early 1970s – and you can read its…
