Diesel Makes its Mark

As events such as the global economic depression of the 1930s and the steady growth of competition from road transport ate into the dominance of railway companies, they inevitably looked for ways to save costs and find more efficient ways of working.

The success of the early diesel and petrol railcars in Ireland and elsewhere did not go unnoticed and as engine technology improved, the potential of larger locomotives for heavier work became apparent.

As well as saving staff costs by eliminating the fireman, diesel shunters offered the potential for working almost 24 hours a day, whereas small steam locomotives needed to stop much more regularly for water, coal and servicing.

Although the principles of internal combustion had been known since around 200BC, and various inventors had experimented with piston engines since the 17th century, it was not until the late-19th century that engineers such as Gottlieb Daimler and Rudolph Diesel created successful lightweight, fast-running and powerful engines running on petroleum, kerosene or, in Diesel’s case, heavier fuel oil.

The world’s first oil-engined railway locomotive was built by Priestman Brothers of Hull in 1894. This small four-wheel standard gauge vehicle had a vertically mounted twin-cylinder 12hp marine type engine driving the wheels via a crankshaft and large flywheel. It was tested by the Hull & Barnsley Railway, shunting wagons at Hull’s Alexandra Dock although it was limited to hauling just one wagon at a time.

Over the next two decades, oil-engined locomotives were limited to small industrial and narrow gauge types due to their low power. Richard