Bachmann Class 13s

The Class 13 Diesel Shunter is one of the few classes of diesel locomotive never to have been modelled in OO scale, until now! After mastering the Class 08, Bachmann Branchline has been slaving away on models of these enigmatic locomotives which were created from two Class 08s to shunt the Tinsley Marshalling Yard near Sheffield, South Yorkshire, between 1965 and 1985.

The new Branchline model shares a lot of its DNA with its Class 08 cousins, employing the same high mechanical and technical specification for smooth and powerful running, and with advanced electrical features like the Bach-Up Stay Alive system providing DCC users with uninterrupted power and the full suite of lighting which is user-configurable whether you’re running on analogue or DCC. What’s more, both the master and slave units are motorised and fully functional, meaning you’re effectively getting two locomotives in one!

Externally, new tooling has been produced to capture all the hallmarks of the master and slave units that made up the Class 13, from the heavy-duty bufferbeams that were thickened and enlarged to add weight and aid adhesion on the real locos to the drastic changes made to the slave unit with the removal of much of its cab and controls. This external beauty is brought to life by the exquisite livery application which uses true-to-prototype colours, fonts and logos to create the ultimate diesel shunter.

CLASS 13 HISTORY

Although diesel shunters had been trialled by the ‘Big Four’ railway companies as early as the 1930s, it was not until after Nationalisation in 1948 that their use became widespread, culminating in the creation of the British Railways (BR) 350hp diesel electric shunter – or Class 08. Eventually 996 locomotives were built, making the Class 08 the most numerous of all British locomotive classes.

The 08s proved to be strong and versatile machines, capable of most shunting tasks, but there were some unique scenarios where they were not quite up to the job. One such scenario was at Tinsley Marshalling Yard, to the northeast of Sheffield; an enormous freight marshalling yard which opened in 1965 and was essentially a distribution hub where goods trains would arrive, be broken down, and were then reformed for onwards travel to other destinations. To aid the forming of new trains the yard employed hump shunting which allowed wagons to roll into the siding where their train was being assembled, however, to move these trains and propel the wagons up the hump for gravity to take effect, a new locomotive was required.

The solution was the Class 13. Formed of two modified Class 08s, the 13s had a greater tractive effort than any standard locomotive in BR’s fleet at the time, and by using two locomotives coupled together rather than one long-framed bogie locomotive, the risk of grounding on the hump was avoided.

The Class 13s were built at BR’s Darlington Works in 1965, using six standard Class 08s to create three new locomotives each comprising a Master Unit and a Slave Unit. The donor locomotives were fitted with heavy metal plates to their bufferbeams to improve adhesion, visually this resulted in the bufferbeams being both thicker and much deeper. Multi-working equipment was fitted to the two units as well, allowing both locos to be controlled from the master and enabling the cab of the slave unit to be removed. Special in-cab signalling and radio equipment was installed to allow communications with the control tower that presided over shunting operations at Tinsley.

The three Class 13s were delivered in BR Green livery with wasp stripes at the outer ends and were initially formed cab-to-cab, but within a couple of years they had been reformed with the slave leading the master, both radiator first, to improve crew visibility. As a result, the master unit ended up with wasp stripes at each end, meanwhile the shortened former cab sheet of the slave remained plain at first, however wasp stripes were eventually added here too.

Even as Tinsley Yard was opened by Dr Richard Beeching in 1965, British Rail was already feeling a hit on its services from the increasing competition provided by road transport and this only worsened in the 1970s as the decline in wagon-load goods traffic continued. By the 1980s the writing was on the wall for large marshalling yards like Tinsley and in December 1984, the arrival sidings and hump were closed, making the Class 13s redundant and leading to their withdrawal at the start of 1985. By this time only Nos. 13001 and 13003 (originally Nos. D4501 and D4500) remained in traffic anyway, as No. 13002 (D4502) had been taken out of service in mid-1981.

Whilst the Class 13s were destined for a life working at Tinsley Yard, each of the three locomotives was dispatched to Doncaster Works for a major works overhaul once during their careers, and on occasion in their twilight years, it was not impossible to find a Class 13 heading a railtour in the local area. Following withdrawal, Nos. 13001 and 13002 would make their way to Swindon for disposal, while No. 13003 went back to Doncaster to be scrapped, finally succumbing to the cutter’s torch in September 1986, more than 18 months after it last worked at Tinsley.