Electric Pioneers

Electrification as a solution for busy main line railways took some years to gain traction in Britain, thanks to the ready supplies of good quality coal and, in some cases, conservative top-level management at the big railway companies. However, within the industry there were committed advocates of electric traction who recognised the efficiencies it could deliver on busy or steeply-graded lines.

The North Eastern Railway (NER) was one such advocate, developing a small series of prototype electric locomotives for different uses in the north-east of England. As one of the largest and most profitable railway companies in the country, with immense freight traffic from the coal, steel and engineering industries of the north-east, the NER was in a good position to test the new form of traction.

Tyneside pioneers

As part of a 1902 scheme to electrify the North Tyneside suburban network, NER Chief Mechanical Engineer Wilson Worsdell proposed the electrification of a three-quarter mile, steeply-graded and horseshoe-shaped line between Trafalgar Yard and Quayside Yard in Newcastle. Passing through three single-line tunnels, the line had gradients as steep as 1-in-27 and sharp curves that presented a formidable challenge for steam traction. Conditions inside the tunnels were appalling; steam locomotives had to work flat out to conquer the gradient, producing huge quantities of choking smoke that could not be dispersed from the tunnels. Electrification was the obvious answer.

Two steeple-cab locomotives were built to work the line in 1902/03, derived from a 1900 machine designed and built by General Electric and British Thomson-Houston for the Milano-Varese railway in Italy. ES1 and ES2 were built to draw current from both third rail and overhead supply as the Quayside branch featured