British Rail Class 24 - Operation

Operation

Initial deliveries were for operation in the Crewe and Derby areas, but fifteen of the initial twenty were diverted for use on the Southern Region to cover for delays in the Kent Coast Electrification scheme. Here the heavy weight was not acceptable and the locos in question had to have their boilers removed before they were accepted. Later some locos had their boilers re-fitted and these examples could be found, often in tandem with a Class 33 to provide steam heating to the coaches, the 33s only having electric train heat (ETH).

As deliveries continued allocations were made to both the London Midland Region and Eastern Region, and with the class becoming familiar to crews and staff around London they were used on freight trains over the Metropolitan Widened Lines, locos so used being fitted with London Transport tripcocks – although these were removed after closure of this route in 1971. Locos allocated to East Anglia for use on freight soon became redundant due to the run down of freight in that region, and these were in turn moved to Wales and Lancashire.

Class 24s took over the "Condor" fast freight service between London (Hendon) and Glasgow (Gushetfaulds) in 1961, the train having previously been hauled by the metro-Vic Co-Bo locos for which it is best remembered. Thus the class was also used when a second "Condor" fast overnight freight service was introduced, running from Aston to Glasgow. These were the usual motive power from its introduction on 17 January 1963 when D5082 hauled the Down train and D5083 the up train, until replaced by the first Freightliner service in 1965.

The batch D5096–D5113 were all allocated to Gateshead depot in 1966 to replace 9F steam locos on the Tyne Dock to Consett iron ore trains. These workings used a special design of bogie hopper wagon, and these locos had an additional compressor and associated pipework. These workings, typically with loads of around 1,000 tons, were double-headed and continued until taken over by Class 37s in the 1970s, when these locos were reallocated to Scottish depots. Incidentally D5096 was, when delivered in January 1960, the first main line diesel locomotive to be built at Darlington Works.

The next batch of locos, D5114–D5132, were allocated to Inverness, and became synonymous with rail operations in the Scottish Highlands, as did a similar batch of Class 26 locos, the two being considered interchangeable in operation. Single Class 24s operated from Inverness on passenger and freight trains of up to 290 tons, and double-headed on trains up to 580 tons including the Royal Highlander which was regularly made up of 16 coaches. Class 24s and Class 26s were used turn and turn about until all Class 24s allocated to Inverness were replaced by Class 26s in 1975.

The final batch of Class 24s were allocated to the London Midland Region for use on the "Western Lines" which covered North Wales and Mid Wales. In the latter area, particularly on the Ex-Cambrian Railway lines, Class 24s and the similar Class 25s were the only diesel types to be found, and crews from Aberystwyth shed were only trained on these types.