Service History

Above picture of D6144, off region at Bridge House Junction, near Consett, with thanks to Roy Lambeth

D600 became the first Diesel to run into Edinburgh in November 1957, the short lived small class of NBL Type 4s was based on the heavy engineering of the LMS 10000 with 2 hydraulic drives and 2 power units. For a year, the first 2 starred in 100mph+ Bristolian services, and acheived 120,000 miles in a year. This success led to initial designs for a hydraulic Blue Pullman with disc headcodes, never built but proving a clear success in the electric form, and providing inspiration for the HST, but the design first came from NBL! The 5* 600s were in the end consigned to Cormwall, Swindon obviously preferring its lightweight design and getting NBL to build D833-865 (originally to have been D605-638) as well as the Baby Warships all common in the Western Region, and scheduled for early withdrawal by end 1971.
The Scottish Diesel-Electric design had its share of problems too, initially running in East Anglia, and then reaallocated to Scotland.