British Rail Class 77
The British Rail Class 77, also known as Class EM2, is a class of 1.5 kV DC, Co-Co electric locomotive. They were built by Metropolitan-Vickers in 1953 and 1954 for use over the Woodhead Line, between Manchester and Sheffield.
Description
Seven locomotives of this type were constructed. They represented the first Co-Co type of overhead electric locomotive built for use in the United Kingdom. The design was based on that of the smaller Class EM1, which dated from 1941. Initially, 27 locomotives of this type had been planned, but by the early 1950s, the benefits of using the 25 kV AC system had been demonstrated, which meant that the Woodhead Line would be an isolated electric system. Consequently, the order was reduced to just seven locomotives.The locomotives were initially numbered 27000 to 27006 and were painted in British Railways' black livery. Construction took place at Gorton Works, Manchester with electrical equipment supplied by Metropolitan-Vickers. In 1959 and 1960, all seven locomotives were given names from characters from Greek mythology. The engines were primarily used for express passenger trains between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield Victoria. To heat the carriages, the locomotives were each fitted with a Bastian & Allen electrically-powered steam generator. In 1957, the class was renumbered with the addition of an "E" prefix to the number. In the early 1960s, the class started to receive the standard BR green livery. At least one of the class, E27002, received the electric blue livery carried by the AC electric locomotives.
The class was withdrawn en masse in September 1968. They were stored at Bury by BR in the hope of sale to a foreign railway. The passenger service for which the Class 77s were built continued to be operated by Class 76s, until its withdrawal on 5 January 1970. The Woodhead Line was closed as a through route in 1981, leaving just stubs between Manchester Piccadilly and Hadfield in the West and Sheffield Victoria and Deepcar in the East.
In the mid-1950s, forty new and more powerful 46 class electric locomotives were built by Metropolitan-Vickers for the New South Wales Government Railways. The 46 class was based on the EM1 and EM2.