Title: British Rail Class 23 - Wikipedia
Headings: British Rail Class 23
British Rail Class 23
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents
Introduction and service history
Operation
Technical, design and reliability problems
Modification
Withdrawal
Preservation
Models
References
Sources
Online sources
Further reading
External links

Content: They were based at Hornsey, although at weekends were usually located at Hitchin engine shed. It had been British Rail 's original intention to work the locos across London on the widened lines but the locomotives were found to be too heavy. The first of the class was held at Vulcan Foundry whilst EE tried to reduce the weight but this could not be completed to a satisfactory standard. Operation
The locomotives were put to work on King's Cross outer suburban duties such as the Cambridge Buffet Express as well as services from Kings Cross to Moorgate sub-surface platforms via the 'widened lines' (more recently, part of Thameslink ). The locomotives were later banned from Moorgate because of excessive exhaust smoke in the tunnels. Other services entrusted to the class were race specials run from King's Cross to race meetings at Newmarket. Technical, design and reliability problems
Initial problems with the locomotives were minor and varied, although a problem with cracking in the cylinder liner around the injector hole required the engine to be changed. By November 1959, seven engines had been changed and this reduced availability first raised comparisons with the better reliability of the British Rail Class 24 Type 2. The Type 2s were averaging 30–40,000 miles per failure, the Baby Deltic less than a quarter of this. Although they suffered problems with the cylinder liners that were not dissimilar to those of the Class 55 Deltics, most of the Class 23's early problems were a variety of failures with the engine ancillaries.