Going Dutch -The Class 77 story

Briefly considered as the standard electric express passenger locomotive of the future in the early 1950s, the 1500V DC EM2s/Class 77s almost met the same fate as the Woodhead route on which they ran, but were instead taken on by the Dutch national operator in 1969. Gareth Bayer tells the fascinating tale of these Co-Co electrics.

- Gareth Bayer

THE general story of the 1500V DCEM2 express passenger electrics built for the Manchester-SheffieldWath (MSW) ‘Woodhead’ electrification scheme in the early 1950s is well known. Just seven members strong (preTOPS Nos. 27000-27006), they were declared redundant in 1968 and sold to Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch national railway operator, in 1969 where they gave excellent service until retired for a second time in 1986.

However, it could have been a very different matter had British Railways continued electrification at 1500V DC rather than switching to 25kV AC as the new standard.

Electrification of the former Great Central route over the Pennines, via Woodhead Tunnel, had been mooted for years before the first comprehensive plan was published by the LNER in 1936. Calling for nine express passenger locomotives, plus 69 for mixed traffic and 10 for banking duties, the planned 88-strong fleet would replace 181 steam engines on a more than two for one basis.

Work started on wiring in 1937, and the prototype Bo+Bo EM1 (Class 76) mixed-traffic locomotive, No. 6701, was released into traffic in February 1941. Wearing LNER apple green, it was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and spent some time on test on the 1500V DC Manchester-Altrincham line, which had been electrified in 1931. However, with the Second World War raging, the MSW electrification was shelved and the loco went into store.

The banking locos would be rebuilt from the 10 North Eastern Railway EF1 locomotives constructed for the Shildon scheme in 1914 and 1919. Little is known about what was envisioned for the nine express passenger machines, although a proposal was made by the Swiss Locomotive & Machine Works (SLM) of Winterthur in 1939 for a 55ft-long 4-6-4 design, suggesting an arrangement similar to the NER’s EE1.