What became of Class 14 D9501?

Diesel Dilemmas - top page

The majority of disposals books give the scrapping of Class 14 D9501 as being conducted at the yard of C. F. Booth, Rotherham in December 1968, some actually quoting June 1968! Whilst this is indeed possible, no sightings or other primary evidence has been identified which would substantiate that. The purpose of this dilemma is to establish beyond doubt what became of D9501 after it departed from Worcester in November 1968.

Following withdrawal, D9501 was stored at Worcester Depot with numerous sightings of it there between 16th April 1968 and 24th November 1968. The only known sighting of D9501 subsequently was referenced in the LCGB Bulletin (January 1969) under a heading of Derby/Birmingham. This stating that "9501 was noted in a train hauled by 1 on 26th November bound for an unknown destination." Unfortunately the precise location and direction are not given.

However, the picture below has been made available on social media.  The photographers comments are.  "Sorry for the poor quality of the image but thought it worth sharing due to the rarity at the time of a Swindon-built 0-6-0 diesel hydraullic No D9501 being hauled by Burton-upon-Trent based 0-6-0 diesel shunter No D4191 at Wetmore in late 1967."  Between June 1967 and March 1968 D9501 was allocated to Landore, so extremely unlikely that it would have reached Burton-upon-Trent during that time.  Thus, it is suspected the photograph was actually taken in late November 1968.  If so, why was it being shunted at Burton-upon-Trent?  Had it been detached from the train hauled by 1 or was it about to be attached to that train? 

D9501 being hauled by D4191 at Wetmore, Burton-upon-Trent. Although the date quoted is late 1967, more likely late November 1968. John Tuffs

Chronoligically the next reference to the disposal of D9501 is in The Railway Observer (p. 294, September 1970) which in a list of Class 14 disposals D9501 is given as believed to have been sold and not reported. This was followed in 'The Railway Observer' (p.47, February 1971) with the comment "B.R. have stated that D9501 was withdrawn from store at Worcester and sold to R. E. Trem of Finningley, near Doncaster in March 1968. It is known that this firm acts as "third party" for C. &. F. Booth, Rotherham and presumably was sold to them". Possibly this is the source of the C. F. Booth disposal in various publications and listings. It should emphasized that at the time it was clearly stated to be a presumption rather than a fact.

Whilst there is no reason to dispute 'The Railway Observer' reference it doesn't quite tally. The withdrawal date for D9501 in archived BR records is from Western Region stock in period-ending 20th April 1968.  Perhaps a clerical oversight, however rather odd that is was sold before it was withdrawn.    If though correct, it suggests that D9501 was not sold by BR through a tender process as the majority of locomotive sales were at the time. Instead the sale was arranged prior to withdrawal and that D9501 was then stored at Worcester pending instructions from R. E. Trem as to were it was to be consigned. The lengthy period of storage suggesting R. E, Trem had a buyer for the locomotive and was not acquired for component recovery and scrapping.  Unfortunately we don't know the actual source of the 'The Railway Observer' reference, however its publication some moths after an appeal does bear 'Zulu' hallmarks.

As many Class 14's passed into industrail use in Great Britain, then perhaps that was the case with D9501. Doubtful though that this would have happenned as if so it would have been widely reported. Whilst not wishing to speculate, but considering that R. E. Tremm appear to have started exporting locomotives to Italy at about this time, could D9501 have actually been exported. If so, the sighting on 26th November 1968 could well have been of D9501 on the way to a port from where it was exported or perhaps a workshop for preperation for export. It is also worth adding that similar intrigue surrounds the disposal of D3193 and that D2231 and D2242 spent lengthy periods in storage prior to shipment in this era.

Did you see or do you know anyone who saw D9501 on or after 26th November 1968? Do you know of any references to D9501 after this date? If so, please contact Peter Hall.

This page is maintained by Peter Hall.