LOCOMOTIVES

Neil Cunningham (cunningn) has produced a new fantastic locomotive pack to bring the popular D16/3 locomotives into Train Simulator. The first Clauds were built in 1900 and then in batches of ten in the years following. They were admired for both their graceful appearance and their performance – running the premier services on Great Eastern lines. In the decades that followed they were upgraded and rebuilt several times culminating in the Gresley Rebuilds that were classified D16-3. A total of 104 D16/3s had been rebuilt by 1949 when the rebuilding ceased. From 1924, Clauds were occasionally seen on GNR routes into King's Cross for special passenger services. Typically these would be Royal Trains to Cambridge or King's Lynn. King's Cross to Cambridge workings were greatly extended in 1932 with five Claud-hauled expresses per weekday. A total of 117 Clauds survived to Nationalisation (1948), of which fourteen were D15s. The remaining D15s and D16/2s were quickly withdrawn, with both variants becoming extinct in 1952. Withdrawal of the D16/3s started in 1945. During this period of withdrawal, the Clauds continued to do useful work. They could still be seen on the evening expresses from Liverpool Street to Yarmouth, as well as Saturday extra services. Locomotives from Cambridge were also regularly seen at King's Cross, and the March engines often hauled stopping services to Doncaster. After 1950, the Oxford-Cambridge line was transferred to the Eastern Region and started to be worked by both Clauds and B12s. An odd allocation was that of eight Clauds to the Cheshire Lines in 1949. Seven were allocated to Trafford Park where local ex-LNER men disliked the ex-LMS (London Midland Scotland) types that were being forced upon them. Although the drivers were used to Great Central Railway (GCR) types, they remained loyal to the LNER and liked the unfamiliar D16/3s. They quickly mastered the firing of the shallow Claud fireboxes which contrasted with the deeper fireboxes on the GCR locomotives. One of the main problems with using Clauds on the Cheshire Lines was that it took lengthy periods of time to obtain spare parts from Stratford Works. Reliability of the ageing Clauds began to become a problem in the mid-1950s, and a steady programme of withdrawal started in 1955. No. 62613 was the last D16/3 to be withdrawn in September 1960 from March shed.