Railway Herald
The 'pilot scheme' of the 1960s undertook trials on a number of different types of locomotives types and builders, some being deemed less successful than others and were very short lived. In the case of the Class 14s a number of these found later use with the NCB at various collieries or with the BSC whereas the Class 17 'Claytons' had much less luck with only one surviving into heavy industry - in this case into the cement industry. Class 14 No. D9551 lasted less than 3 years in BR service before sale to British Steel, Class 17 No. D8568 had a little longer with BR, before its sale into the concrete industry and its later move within the industry to Clitheroe Cement from where it entered preservation in the early 1980s'. D8568 is the only survivor of the once 117 strong ranks of the Class 17's. This combination of power are seen arriving double headed into Arley on 5th October 2019, with the 1020 service from Bridgnorth.
David Bissett
