The Daily Diary

   1965 would see the first major changes to the fleet. With continued problems of availability, BR decided on a refurbishment programme for the loco's with Brush Electrical Equipment. The four year contract for this was handed to Brush Electrical Machines at Loughborough. D154 entered Works in February and emerged on 1st October. Externally the loco lost its split centre headcode panel in favour of the integral centre style. The loco also had a small four-sided grille added to the lower bodyside. All loco's in the D138 - D173 batch were fitted with the centre headcode panel, which D174 - D193 had at construction, and all 56 locos had the bottom grille added.

The above official Brush Electrical Machines photo shows eight of the class at various stages of the refurb. Left to right on the near row are D168, D182, D176 and an unidentified member which can only be D146, given the larger warning panel and lack of taillight grabrails, and the fact that this photo is taken very late in 1965. In the second row is another one of those with the larger yellow panels, probably D165, the remaining three are likely to be from D138, D141, D155, D169, D188 and D189, possibly D156 or D193.

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   Late Spring and Early Summer saw the twilight of workings on the through route from Derby to Manchester via Bakewell, a sad loss was this line that featured in the very first workings of the fleet. The chance to have a big diesel through the stunning scenery of the White Peak, as seen in David Hills' photo of an unidentified loco heading south over Monsal Head viaduct in 1967, would be gone forever.

The fleet itself continued to work to Manchester, via the Hope Valley Line, and overall the same duties as the previous two years were still in place, with further incursions being made as far as Paignton in the Summer.

Class 45 refurbishing continued apace, albeit without the changes to headcode panels and bottom grille addition. The first class 46s started their next Light Overhauls and were not repainted, leaving the remaining green members as such until their next overhaul in the early 1970's.

The end of steam on the network in August laid the way for a change in numbering policy with depots ordered to remove D prefixes from diesels. Only Holbeck seems to have adhered to this with their locomotives having the D painted out during the autumn. However, Derby Works would send all repainted locos out with no D, 111 and 134 being the first to appear as such on 6th September.

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   In 1969 the 45s continued to go through the refurbishment programme, as with D125 seen on 30/08, above, with only a handful not completed by the end of the year, thus all class 45s were running in BR Blue . The first BR blue 46s would arrive in Works for their Light Overhauls and would be sent out unpainted, thus keeping their D prefixes. 

In traffic there would be little change to the daily destinations with the exception of The Waverley Route, sadly, closed early in the year. At the very end of the year D151 appeared at Laira for crew training into Cornwall, an indicator of things to come.

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At the start of 1971 eight 44s and ten 46s(plus one in Works for painting into BR Blue) were still running in green on 1st January.

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At the start of 1972 six 44s and four 46s(plus one in Works for painting into BR Blue) were still running in green on 1st January. D165 would be the last 46 turned out in BR Blue on 8th December, leaving just D3, D6 and D7 in green at the end of the year. 

In November D51 would enter Derby Works for General Repair, followed in December by D96. During these Overhauls it was decided that fifty class 45s would be fitted with Electric Train Heating, and thus these two locos would be the first so converted.

1 SCAFELL PIKE is seen at Toton MPD on 26/03/1972

photo Anthony Peacock

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The big news in 1973 was the arrival of the first TOPS renumbering, 45 101 at the end of March. All overhauls to class 45, whether non-converts(45/0) or converts to Electric Train Heating class 45/1 from this date would see the loco renumbered, but in the meantime a class 44 and several class 46 were turned out still pre Tops, until September when 46 045 and 44 006 appeared. 44 006 was the final Peak to be turned out in blue, and thus the only of the 193 locos never to appear in blue with its Pre TOPS number.

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January 1973  February 1973