Class 35 B-B HYMEK diesels

British Railways D7000 Class

Class 35 locomotives are mixed traffic diesel hydraulic locomotives

Class 35 locos are fitted with V16 diesel engines

Class 35 Hymeks have a top speed of 90 mph and maximum tractive effort of 46600 lbf and a continuous tractive effort of 33950 lbf.

Contemporary and Heritage-Preserved, Diesel, Diesel-Electric and Electric Locomotives

My Archive Steam Photos from the 1960s

Due to their Mekydro-design hydraulic transmission units, Class 35 locomotives became known as the Hymeks.

Class 35 was developed for the Western Region of British Railways, which had opted for lightweight locomotives with hydraulic transmission funded under the British Railways Modernisation Plan of 1955.

One hundred Class 35 locomotives were built between 1961 and 1964 at Beyer Peacock in Manchester.

 The Class 35 locomotives suited the need for a medium power diesel-hydraulic design for both secondary passenger work and freight duties ('mixed traffic').

 Class 35 were allocated to Bristol Bath Road, Cardiff Canton, and Old Oak Common locomotive depots.

 They were all withdrawn from service between 1971 and 1975. Their early withdrawal of Class 35 diesels was caused, primarily, by BR classifying the hydraulic transmission as non-standard despite the fact they were quite successful locomotives!

Unless otherwise stated, all the photographs were taken, mainly at Loughborough, at the Great Central Railway Diesel Gala in September 2017.

Class 35 Hymek diesel hydraulic locomotive D7017 at Loughborough (GCR Diesel Gala, Sept. 2017)

The Class 35 builder, Beyer Peacock (Hymek) Ltd, involved a joint venture between Bristol Siddeley Engines (BSE) (licensed to build Maybach engines), Stone-Platt Industries (licensed to build Mekydro transmissions), and the locomotive manufacturer Beyer, Peacock and Company in Manchester.

Class 35 Hymek D7017 in the shed yard at Loughborough, with the works beyond.

When first built, the Class 35 Hymeks were given a more elaborate livery than many of the contemporary British Railways diesel classes. The main body of the Class 35 Hymek locomotive was the standard dark Brunswick green, but with a lime green stripe along the bottom of the bodywork. The roof was medium grey, and the finishing touch was to paint the window surrounds in ivory white. The final livery variation was BR blue with full yellow ends, the yellow being extended around the cab side windows.

Class 35 diesels were initially employed on secondary passenger services based around Bristol, such as Paddington to Hereford and semi-fast services to the west of England and Wales. When the Class 35 Hymeks had proved themselves more than capable of handling these duties, they were also assigned to express Paddington-Cardiff-Swansea services, displacing King-class steam locomotives. However, these duties were heavier than the Class 35 diesel locomotives were designed for, and the Hymeks were displaced when Western and Brush type 4 locomotives became available to allow accelerated timings.

Class 35 D7017 was built by Beyer Peacock (HYMEK) in Manchester in 1961 (Serial number 7911)

 

Class 35 Hymek D7017 leaving Loughborough for Leicester (GCR Diesel Gala, Sept. 2017)

Class 35 Hymeks also worked pickup freights throughout the Western Region as a mixed-traffic design and were used heavily on inter-regional passenger services. Class 35 diesel Hymeks were used all over the Western Region on mixed traffic services from secondary passenger and parcels through express freight to ballast trains. Class 35 Hymek diesels were common in all parts of the region from Paddington to Bristol/South Wales/Worcester/Hereford. Class 35s also worked to Birmingham and the West of England, but were rare west of Plymouth.

 

Hymeks were notably used in multiple (up to three locomotives) as bankers on the Lickey Incline, propelling mainly freight trains from Bromsgrove to Blackwell.

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Unfortunately for the Class 35 Hymek diesel-hydraulics, the National Traction Plan of 1967-1968 decreed that designs proving unreliable, expensive to maintain or non-standard should be eliminated as quickly as possible in order to reduce the number of diesel classes from 28 to 15 by the year 1974. The engineering factions of the British Railways Board, the body that oversaw BR's operations from 1962 onwards, felt that all of the Western Region's diesel-hydraulic fleet should be counted as non-standard and should be withdrawn as quickly as possible. Therefore the entire Class 35 Hymek fleet was withdrawn between 1971 and 1975. The Class 35 Hymeks were replaced by Class 37 diesel-electric locomotives made redundant in other regions as a result of a general decline in rail-borne freight traffic throughout the 1960s.

My Archive Steam Photos from the 1960s

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Good trainspotting 'TRAINSPOTS' Good trainspotting and photographic locations  Barnetby Station, North Lincolnshire  *  Carlisle Station  *  Clapham Junction Station, London  *  Colton Junction, south of York  *  Crewe Station  *  Doncaster Station, South Yorkshire  * Hellifield station - Carlisle to Settle line * Lancaster station  * Newcastle Station  *  Northallerton Station  *  Nuneaton Station  *  Sheffield Station  *  Stratford Station, East London * Warrington Bank Quay station * Wigan North Western - WCML *  York Station

See Also * Class 01 * Class 02 * Class 03 * Class 04 * Class 08 * Class 09 * Class 10 * Class 11 * Class 14 * Class 20 * Class 24 * Class 25 * Class 26 * Class 27 * Class 31 * Class 33 * Class 35 * Class 37 * Class 40 * Class 43 * Class 44 * Class 45 * Class 47 * Class 50 * Class 52 * Class 55 * Class 56 * Class 57 * Class 58 * Class 60 * Class 66 * Class 67 * Class 68 * Class 70 * Class 71 * Class 73 * Class 76 * Class 77 * Class 86 * Class 87 * Class 90 * Class 91 * Class 92 * Class 101 * Class 108 * Class 114 * Class 117 * Class 121 * Class 127 * Class 141 * Class 142 * Class 144 * Class 150 * Class 153 * Class 155 * Class 156 * Class 158 * Class 159 * Class 165 * Class 166 * Class 170 * Class 175 * Class 180 * Class 185 * Class 220 * Class 221 * Class 222 * Class 252 * Class 313 * Class 315 * Class 317 * Class 319 * Class 320 * Class 321 * Class 322 * Class 323 * Class 325 * Class 332 * Class 333 * Class 334 * Class 350 * Class 357 * Class 360 * Class 365 * Class 373 * Class 375 * Class 376 * Class 377 * Class 378 * Class 379 * Class 380 * Class 387 * Class 390 * Class 395 * Class 414 * Class 423 * Class 442 * Class 444 * Class 450 * Class 455 * Class 458 * Class 460 * Class 465 * Class 466 * Class 507/508 * Class 3000 *

IMAGES OF PRESERVED STEAM LOCOMOTIVES