The English Electric Co. Ltd - FresnoSubber/Fresno-and-Co.-Trainbuild-Tomfuckery GitHub Wiki

EE

Formed in 1918 by merging 5 different companies, English Electric would start off with the Aviation Industry, but it would not be just that alone by the time the 1920s came around. Starting in 1923, EE introduced its very first locomotive, the electric New Zealand Railways EO Class. They would follow up on this with the Canadian National Z4a Class Electrics between 1924 and 1926. The production of electric locomotives were EE’s sole locomotives until 1936.

In 1936, EE began offering its first diesel locomotives in the form of "Do-It-Yourself" kits, where they send the locomotives in pieces for the customer to assemble. Take the SAR 900 Class built in 1951 for example. This was how EE made its diesels for 11 years.

In 1947, EE standardized its diesel locomotive line. They didn’t stop making the kits (see the aforementioned SAR 900 Class), but after EE standardized its locomotives, it was more few and far between.

Cut to 1968 and oh that’s the General Electric Company of Britain consuming EE. GEC continued producing EE locomotives until 1976, when EE Rocklea was closed when the last engine, Tasmanian Government Railways’ ZA6, came out of the factory.

British Railways

  • Gronk (Class 08/09/11/12/13.etc)
  • Class 20 (EE Type 1)
  • Class 23 (EE Type 2)
  • Class 37 (EE Type 3)
  • Class 40 (EE Type 4)
  • Class 50 (EE Type 4)
  • Class 55 (EE Type 5)

The English Electric Company Of Australia

Export Locomotives

North American Market Locomotives ⛔

So, let's go into personal lore here by StocktonSubber/FresnoSubber/AlecTheP40/A Genesis Engine/Alec/whoever the fuck you call me revolving around the lore of the "SSEverse" as I put it. You can come up with whatever lore you want, but this is how West and I would handle such. It's the mid-1930s, and then president and CEO of the Shasta Route, Nigel Cornwallis, wants to rid the railroad of steam locomotives. Only a couple minor issues: He does not want to electrify the railroad due to costs, and most of the diesels that were being produced around that time in the form of boxcabs and the HH series were not impressing him. That's when he hears that English Electric wants to do a couple of things: make diesel locomotives through kits and expand their range into the United States. Visiting EE's workshops in Preston, Mr. Cornwallis was interested and ordered a test kit for America. The parts arrived in Downieville, California on December 9th, 1936, with assembly of the locomotive that would later become the SASR's 1740 finishing in early 1937. 1740 proved satisfactory and, along with 19 other units, other kits would be mass ordered by the SASR to replace the steam engines on its roster. This brought enough morale to EE to set up shop in the United States, doing so as they standardized in 1947 with a plant in Edmond, Oklahoma, just outside of Oklahoma City. A second plant in Susanville would later be built in 1954. Many years go by, and by 1976, when GEC left the locomotive market, they sold SASR the North American assets of EE. SASR would continue to manufacture EE parts and even their own locomotives in cooperation with Ruston-Paxman until SASR was bought by and merged into the SSE in 1981. Manufacturing of locomotives and parts continued under SASR's subsidiary until 1983.

Many of the North American products of EE are basically that of the Australian products that EE put out either in Preston or in EE's Australian facility at Rocklea, Queensland, just outside of Brisbane, though some British designs, namely the Class 08, were also offered as those were also produced for Australia as Victoria Railways' F Class. Below you'll see how EE over the years designated their locomotives as they were built.

Nomenclature

Pre-1947

All locomotives built before EE fully entered the locomotive market themselves received very basic names such as 0-6-0DE or A1A-A1ADE. Locomotives such as the ubiquitous Gronks that used "ganged up" wheels (i.e. using side rods to join all the wheels together, making them all turn in unison) used the Whyte classification method for locomotive wheelbases while those that have bogies/trucks underneath use the UIC classification system. Because these locomotives were usually tailor made to order, for clarification, the reporting mark of the customer would be added to the end of the name (e.g. A1A-A1ADE-SASR) so as to differentiate between models that otherwise would have the same name. It's safe to say that this system was not futureproof and would be mostly dropped in 1947.

Wheelbase Description
0-6-0 Six-coupled wheels and no leading or trailing wheels
A1A-A1A Two bogies/trucks, each with two powered axles and one unpowered axle in the middle
Bo-Bo Two bogies/trucks, each with two powered axles
Co-Co Two bogies/trucks, each with three powered axles
Suffixes Locomotive Type
BE Battery-Electric Locomotive
DE Diesel-Electric Locomotive
OE Overhead-Electric Locomotive
RE Third Rail-Electric Locomotive

1947-1956

During this time period, it became clear that the rail industry worldwide was convinced that diesel and electric locomotives were the future. Knowing this, EE would start designing and building their own locomotives in-house for their native British market as well as the then untapped export markets.

These locomotives use a much more detailed nomenclature system to define each model. The prefix (usually DE) determined the locomotive type, which was followed by the rated power output (gross power output, not for traction) and the suffix denoting the wheel arrangement. It was replaced in 1957 as part of EE's revamped locomotive catalogue introduced that year. The reason for this system being short lived is due to what would later be defined as the Road Switcher models reaching similar horsepower ratings of the pre-1953 mainline units, potentially confusing customers and their management teams as to what locomotive was which. It can be said that once again, EE failed to create a naming convention for their locomotives that was futureproof.

Prefixes Locomotive Type
BE Battery-Electric Locomotive
DE Diesel-Electric Locomotive
OE Overhead-Electric Locomotive
RE Third Rail-Electric Locomotive
Power Output Gross Horsepower Rating (Engine Type)
600 600hp (4SRKT Mk II)
660 660hp (6SRKT Mk I)
750 750hp (6SRKT Mk II)
880 880hp (8SVT Mk I)
1100 1,100hp (8SVT Mk II)
1290 1,290hp (12SVT Mk I)
1395 1,395hp (12SVT Mk II)
1760 1,760hp (16SVT Mk I)
2045 2,045hp (16SVT Mk II)
Suffixes Wheel Arrangement
A A1A-A1A
B Bo-Bo
C Co-Co

An S suffix, added after the wheel arrangement letter, would be used to denote a locomotive fitted with a steam generator.

Post-1956

As part of their 1957 locomotive catalogue revamp, EE changed their nomenclature again. This time the prefixes used were a big improvement compared to how they were previously, reducing potential confusion from customers and eliminating conflicting model names for two or more different types of locomotives of similar power outputs. Locomotives are now categorised in the type of bodywork they possess and/or the role they're intended for while they retained their horsepower rating and wheel arrangement designations from the previous system (the former had dropped the last digit as it was considered not necessary). EE finally had a futureproof naming convention as far as they were concerned, and would serve them right to the very end.

Prefixes Locomotive Type
C Cab/Cowl Unit
CB Cab/Cowl Booster Unit
M Mainline Hood Unit (High Short Hood)
MB Mainline Cabless Booster Hood Unit
ME Mainline End-Cab Unit
ML Mainline Hood Unit w/ Low Short Hood
RS Road Switcher
S Shunter/Switcher (rigid wheelbase)
T Transfer
Power Output Gross Horsepower Rating (Engine Type)
75 750hp (6SRKT Mk II)
95 950hp (6CSRKT Mk II)
110 1,100hp (8SVT Mk II)
127 1,270hp (6CSRKT Mk III)
137 1,370hp (8CSVT Mk II)
139 1,395hp (12SVT Mk II)
153 1,535hp (12SVT Mk II)
188 1,880hp (8CSVT Mk III)
195 1,950hp (12CSVT Mk II)
204 2,045hp (16SVT Mk II)
255 2,550hp (12CSVT Mk III)
270 2,700hp (16CSVT Mk II)
303 3,035hp (16CSVT Mk II)
342 3,420hp (16CSVT Mk III)
376 3,762hp (16CSVT Mk III)
Suffixes Wheel Arrangement
A A1A-A1A
B Bo-Bo
C Co-Co
Additional Suffixes Description
H Head-End Power
S Steam Generator

Road Switchers

1947 Series

1953 Series

1957 Series

  • RS75A/RS75B/RS75C
  • RS95A/RS95B/RS95C [1962-1967]
  • RS110A/RS110B/RS110C

1968 Series

  • RS95A/RS95B/RS95C
  • RS137A/RS137B/RS137C

1973 Series

  • RS127A/RS127B/RS127C
  • RS188A/RS188B/RS188C

Mainline

Pre-1947

1947 Series

1953 Series

  • DE1395B/DE1395C
  • DE2045B/DE2045C

1957 Series

  • M139B/M139C [1957-1959]
  • M153B/M153C [1960-1967]
  • M195B/M195C [1960-1967]
  • M204B/M204C [1957-1961]
  • M270B/M270C [1962-1965]
  • M303B/M303C [1966-1967]

1968 Series

1973 Series