If this locomotive had been configured while still on the drawing board for 125mph running rather than 100mph (maybe with the 12-cylinder Paxman Valenta engines, running at 1,500 rpm and developing 2,250 bhp) rather than the 1,650 bhp engines they were eventually given would their replacement after just 16 years or so been considered necessary? Could they have remained until the advent of overhead electrification?
The replacement for the Class 55, the Class 43, looked good and could go faster but it was still a diesel just as the Class 55 was,
The replacement for the Class 55, the Class 43, looked good and could go faster but it was still a diesel just as the Class 55 was,