GG1
Mythical BR Class 80
...don't believe everything you read!
The little known locomotive was a demonstrator from Pennsylvanian Railroad in the United States. In the wake of West Coast Mainline mass-electrification at the end of the '50s, British Rail was trying out different locomotive designs from five different British locomotive builders (which later became classes 81~85), but was also interested in proven technology bought from across the Atlantic. However, it would have been an embarrassment for the Labour government of the time to be buying foreign technology, as a result the locomotive was brought to Britain undercover with close supervision by the Secret Service (the MI5), and testing only took place with heavy freight trains after midnight. In order for the cover-up to work, the locomotive was painted in midnight black to resemble a freight wagon, but with the reflective white stripe so it can be easily identified by the test staff. The locomotive was usually topped by a regular diesel locomotive, and driven with the aid of a signal watch in the front cab of the diesel. The locomotive was fundamentally very different to British designs, including the outragous wheel arrangement of 2-Co-Co-2 accompanied by the ridiculously heavy weight. The design had worked well in North America, however, on British Rail metals it was a total flop. The large number of bends and attempts to test at speeds up to 120mph ensured the bogies did not perform as they were designed, and the locomotive was swiftly placed in store in 1959 after derailing at a switch diamond.
The E2029, as it was then known, was left forgotten by the secret service staff in an MoD Depot near Preston, and all records of it were destroyed by British Rail. It was rediscovered in 1972 when the depot was being demolished, but was found to be in a surprisingly good condition as it had been stored indoors on a secure site, still with functional electrical hardware. It was reinstated in 1973 with the TOPS number 80 929 and saw a further four years' use as a backup locomotive for express passenger services between London and Scotland, but it remained in its midnight black livery with the patch work BR double-arrow logo throughout for reasons unknown
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