Crompton No 33103

Visiting the Swanage Railway's 2009 three-day Grand Diesel Gala and Beer Festival, 8th - 10th May 2009, will be 33103 Swordfish. Photo Martin Payne

Crompton No 33103 is owned by "Cambrian Trains"; a group of west Midlands based railwaymen, and is on hire to the Swanage Railway until the end of October 2009.

No 33103 made its preservation debut on the Llangollen Railway in 1997, then moved to Birmingham Railway Museum at Tyseley where work was carried out to restore it to mainline standards. It operated an few enthusiast railtours, some steam special back-up work and additional trains for Rugby and Football specials at Cardiff.

No 33103 became part of the Fragonset fleet in 2002, along with 33108, 33202 & 33021. The Fragonset and FM days saw 33013 work across almost all of the BR network, particularly with the former Southern Region General Managers Saloon "Caroline".

With the demise of FM in early 2007, 33103 lost a lot of its work. Victa Rail continued to operate the Inspection Saloon until Victa withdrew from the mainline market, and 33103 ended up at Barrow Hill. It was used during 2008 as a depot shunter. Its owners welcomed the hire offer from Swanage Railway as a means of getting the loco active again and intend to fit on-train monitoring recorder (OTMR) equipment and return the loco to the mainline spot hire market when it finishes its stint at Swnage.

Enthusiasts can see Class 33s in action in a new 85 minutes duration DVD available from the Swanage Railway On-line Shop here. The DVD is titled "Southern Region Diesel & Electric" priced at £9.75. The DVD contains two programmes looking at diesel & electric power in the last days of BR, covering the late 1980s and early 1990s Includes push-pull services to Weymouth just prior to electrification of the line in May 1988. Also features class 33s, 73s, Hastings units, EMUs and class 33s on the cross country Portsmouth to Bristol line.

Please click on the image on the right to go direct to the DVD ordering page.

Visiting the Swanage Railway's 2009 three-day Grand Diesel Gala and Beer Festival, 8th - 10th May 2009, will be 33103 Swordfish. Photo Martin Payne

Key Facts

• Power type Diesel-electric
• Builder Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
• Build date 1960-1962
• Total production 98
• Nicknames Cromptons
• Configuration Bo-Bo
• Length 50 ft 9 in (15.5 m)
• Locomotive weight 76 tons
• Prime mover Sulzer 8LDA28
• Transmission DC generator, DC traction motors
• Top speed 85 mph (137 km/h)
• Power output Engine: 1,550 bhp (1,156 kW) At rail: 1,215 hp (906 kW)
• Tractive effort Maximum: 45,000 lbf (200 kN) Continuous: 26,000 lbf (116 kN)
• Train heating Electric Train Heat
• Train brakes Dual (Air & Vacuum)

Crompton No 33103 News Updates

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