Class 47

Boasting a 2,580hp Sulzer-type power unit and generating a whopping 62,000lbs of tractive force, this is by far our most powerful engine. Built as D1566 at the British Rail works at Crewe in 1964, this engine’s early allocations were to Sheffield, London and Norwich, hauling heavy freight and occasional passenger services on the East Coast Mainline. After this, the loco was moved back to the North-West, eventually settling at the Crewe Depot in 1973. By this time, BR was introducing its computerised Total Operations Processing System (TOPS), which gave D1566 its new designation of 47449, under which it operated nationwide, particularly on the North Wales coast throughout the 1980s. 47449 returned to Sheffield and then London again in the early ‘90s before being formally withdrawn from public service.

47449 was finally acquired for preservation by noted music producer and train enthusiast Pete Waterman, who used it for some years as a Private Charter before selling it on to Llangollen Diesel Group in 1996. It has since earned the name ‘Orion’ in honour of a sister loco (47083) and has been used for pulling our heavier services, as well as being hired to Alstom Traincare Ltd for driver-training purposes in 2001.