British Rail class 22 and North British type 2

The class 22, also called North British Type 2, was a diesel-hydraulic locomotive built for BR's Western Region between 1958 and 1962. It was technically closely related with the class 41 “Warship”, but had only one engine and gearbox and was thus called “Baby Warship”. The MAN V12 engine delivered 1,000 hp in the first six locomotives and 1,100 in the following 52. On the outside, these locomotives looked similar to the diesel-electric class 21.

They were introduced into service in 1959 and in the first years, North British had to remedy some teething problems. After this, they had an availability of around 85 percent. But while production was still running, new diesel-hydraulics with much more power were built and displaced the class 22 into secondary duties. They were withdrawn between 1967 and 1972.