British Rail Class 53

British Rail Class 53 (Falcon)

Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder Brush Traction Serial number 280 Build date 1961

Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte Co-Co  • AAR C-C  • UIC Co'Co' Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Wheel diameter 3 ft 7 in (1,092 mm) Wheelbase 56 ft 4 in (17.17 m) Length 68 ft 10 in (20.98 m) Width 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) Height 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) Loco weight 115 long tons (117 t; 129 short tons) Fuel capacity 1,440 imp gal (6,500 l; 1,730 US gal) Prime mover Maybach MD655, 2 of Traction motors Brush, 6 of Cylinders 12 × 2 Train heating Spanner Mk III 2,500-pound (1,100 kg) per hour steam generator Loco brake Brakeforce: 59 long tons-force (588 kN) Train brakes Vacuum, later: Air

Performance figures Maximum speed 100 mph (161 km/h) Power output 2,880 hp (2,150 kW) Tractive effort 60,000 lbf (266.9 kN)

Career Operators British Railways Numbers D0280, later 1200 Axle load class Route availability: 7 (6 from 1969) Disposition Sold to BR December 1970, withdrawn October 1975, Scrapped by Cashmore of Newport, April 1976

Type and origin
Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	Brush Traction
Serial number	280
Build date	1961

Specifications
Configuration:	​
• Whyte	Co-Co
• AAR	C-C
• UIC	Co'Co'
Gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Wheel diameter	3 ft 7 in (1,092 mm)
Wheelbase	56 ft 4 in (17.17 m)
Length	68 ft 10 in (20.98 m)
Width	8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)
Height	12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Loco weight	115 long tons (117 t; 129 short tons)
Fuel capacity	1,440 imp gal (6,500 l; 1,730 US gal)
Prime mover	Maybach MD655, 2 of
Traction motors	Brush, 6 of
Cylinders	12 × 2
Train heating	Spanner Mk III 2,500-pound (1,100 kg) per hour steam generator
Loco brake	Brakeforce: 59 long tons-force (588 kN)
Train brakes	Vacuum, later: Air

Performance figures
Maximum speed	100 mph (161 km/h)
Power output	2,880 hp (2,150 kW)
Tractive effort	60,000 lbf (266.9 kN)

Career
Operators	British Railways
Numbers	D0280, later 1200
Axle load class	Route availability: 7 (6 from 1969)
Disposition	Sold to BR December 1970, withdrawn October 1975, Scrapped by Cashmore of Newport, April 1976

British Rail assigned Class 53 to the single Brush Traction-built prototype locomotive Falcon. While not in any sense a failure, the design was the victim of advances in locomotive technology (specifically, the power obtainable from single low-speed diesel engines) and was never duplicated.

The Falcon project began in 1959 to design a new, lightweight diesel-electric Type 4 locomotive to meet a British Railways' requirement for second generation diesel locomotives. No single lightweight diesel engine was powerful enough, so the Falcon project used twin German-designed Maybach MD655 engines like those in the Class 52 'Western' diesel-hydraulic locomotives of the Western Region. These drove Brush generators and traction motors, rather than the hydraulic transmission of the 'Westerns'.

The prototype, wearing a livery of lime green and chestnut brown and bearing the number D0280 after its Brush project number 280, emerged from Brush's Loughborough works in September 1961. Initial testing took place on the Eastern Region, based at Finsbury Park, and the London Midland Region. Subsequently, the locomotive was transferred to the Western Region for power-unit performance testing, where it was tested up the Lickey Incline on 6 February 1962. Returning to Brush in March 1962, it received cast 'Falcon' nameplates during an overhaul and upgrade lasting over a year.

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