Deltics Through The Lens by author, K H Chadwick, describes how English Electric developed diesel traction and introduced it as an alternative to steam engines. Following the life of the Deltics, the author covers the ups and downs of creating diesel engines powerful enough to take on the tasks previously performed by the Pacific type steam locomotives. He then describes their demise, which came about with the introduction of the InterCity 125s. Information covered also includes the delivery dates and allocations for the production fleet of 22 vehicles, names, withdrawal dates and details of disposal.
In his words “my first encounter with a production-series Deltic was in the spring of 1961, while I was on an engine-spotting expedition at Doncaster. I must say that I was certainly impressed. The Deltics were marvellous machines and worthy successors to the iconic L.N.E.R. Pacifics, it’s a great pity that we can’t say the same for the Deltics’ successors.
For me the ultimate in rail travel was riding in Mark 2D stock hauled by a Deltic, in my opinion the mark 2D stock was far superior to the Mark 2E, Mark 2F, Mark 3, and Mark 4 which all came along later. However, we do have six production-series Deltics preserved which gives us some consolation. Furthermore, early in the twenty-first century the Deltic Preservation Society began the re-building of an English-Electric “Type Three” (or Class 37), into a “Baby Deltic” (Class 23). If this project is successful, and I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be, we will also have an example of one of those, which will be very welcome”.
138 colour and 34 black & white images. 120 pages