GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Knowle & Dorridge: gwrkd2808

Brush Diesel Electric Type 4 D1745 arrives at Knowle and Dorridge with the 11:45 am Birkenhead (Woodside) to Paddington service on 20th September 1964. The enamel station name sign, more correctly described as a 'running in board', is in Western Region colours despite the station being now controlled by the London Midland Region. Built by Brush Traction at their Loughborough works in July 1964, D1745 was to remain in service until July 2003 when it was withdrawn from LE Landorn MPD to be scrapped by Southampton Steel. It was classified under TOPS as a member of British Rail's Class 47 and given the running number 47152.

A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush's Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British mainline diesel locomotive. They were fitted with the Sulzer 12LDA28C twin-bank twelve-cylinder unit producing 2,750 bhp (2,050 kW) - though this was later derated to 2,580 bhp (1,920 kW) to improve reliability - and have been used on both passenger and freight trains on Britain's railways for over 50 years. Despite the introduction of more modern types of traction a significant number are still in use, both on the mainline and on heritage railways. As of July 2015, 82 locomotives still exist as Class 47s, with further examples having been converted to other classes.

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