British Rail Class 43
Wait. What? The Class 43 again? Haven't it already been regurgitated on this blog a couple of times already as the locomotive only and the InterCity? Well, this Class 43 ain't our usual Class 43. This Class 43 was a being of the very early 1960s, at the time when TOPS classification still wasn't a thing.
TOPS stands for Total Operations Processing System. It was a computer system to manage and track all locomotives and cars used by a railroad. Although made popular among the railfans by British Railways, this system was actually developed by one of the fallen flags in our neck of the woods and was said to be used by a number of our railroads as well. The TOPS system was developed by the famous Southern Pacific Railroad, now part of railroad giant Union Pacific.
Anyway, so, the Class 43. Well, she really is pretty much the same as the Class 42 I've briefed about last week, based on the same German twin-engined diesel hydraulic locomotive, except built at a later date by a different locomotive company with some different parts suppliers. Like the Class 42, the Class 43s are also named after Her Majesty's Navy's warships. A very good point by Andy last week was that the patriotic naming scheme diminished the resentment of the locomotive because of her Germany origins. However, unlike the Class 42, none of the Class 43 locomotives were preserved after their retirement in 1971.
More on the locomotive can be found, of course, on Wikipedia, linked here.
TOPS stands for Total Operations Processing System. It was a computer system to manage and track all locomotives and cars used by a railroad. Although made popular among the railfans by British Railways, this system was actually developed by one of the fallen flags in our neck of the woods and was said to be used by a number of our railroads as well. The TOPS system was developed by the famous Southern Pacific Railroad, now part of railroad giant Union Pacific.
Anyway, so, the Class 43. Well, she really is pretty much the same as the Class 42 I've briefed about last week, based on the same German twin-engined diesel hydraulic locomotive, except built at a later date by a different locomotive company with some different parts suppliers. Like the Class 42, the Class 43s are also named after Her Majesty's Navy's warships. A very good point by Andy last week was that the patriotic naming scheme diminished the resentment of the locomotive because of her Germany origins. However, unlike the Class 42, none of the Class 43 locomotives were preserved after their retirement in 1971.
More on the locomotive can be found, of course, on Wikipedia, linked here.
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