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LMS Route: Nuneaton to Coventry

Foleshill Station: lnwrf137

Looking towards Nuneaton as English Electric Type 4 No D339 passes the former site of Foleshill goods yard which has now been fenced off

Looking towards Nuneaton as English Electric Type 4 No D339 passes the former site of Foleshill goods yard which has now been fenced off from the railway on 2nd September 1967. British Railways originally ordered ten English Electric Type 4 for evaluation purposes which used the bogie design and power train of the Southern Region locomotive No 10203 almost unchanged on the first ten production Class 40. Sir Brian Robertson, Chairman of the British Transport Commission, was less than impressed, believing that the locomotives lacked the power to maintain heavy trains at high speed and were too expensive to run in multiple units an opinion that was later proved to be correct. Airing his views at the regional boards prompted others to break cover and it was agreed that later orders would be up-rated to 2500 hp although this change was never applied. Direct comparisons on the Great Eastern mainline showed they offered little advantage over the 'Britannia' 4-6-0 class of steam locomotive, and therefore the Eastern Region declined to accept further locomotives as they deemed them unsuitable to replace the Standard Class 5 steam locomotives on the East Coast Main Line preferring to hold on until the 'Deltic' Class 55 diesels were delivered. However the Eastern Region's decision pleased the London Midland Region as it released additional locomotives to replace their ageing steam fleet, The Type 4 locomotives, or Class 40 as they were late denoted, managed Camden bank just north of Euston station with apparent ease. The West Coast Main Line had been starved of investment for many years and the poor track and general lower speeds, when compared to the East Coast route, suited this locomotive as the need to hold trains at speed for long periods simply did not exist and it better exploited their fairly rapid acceleration.

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