European Railroad Discussion > Brave new world of the 1960's, UK West Coast Electrification

In the mid-1960's, British Rail electrified the "West Coast Main Line" and introduced a series of AC electric locomotives to haul freight and passenger trains on the route. The first image shows AL6 locomotive E3141 and the second shows AL5 E3062 at Manchester Piccadilly in 1968, and the third image shows the cast aluminum "Lion & Wheel" emblem carried by E3141.

In the second image, a railway employee has noticed we have ventured down the end of platform ramp and is about to tell us to return to the platform "right now".

BR heavily promoted the recent electrification, and that day I purchased a travel bag with the motto "Inter City Electric", in the same blue as the electric locomotives.

The locomotives were four or five years old when photographed in 1968, both are now scrapped, E3062 in 1991 and E3141 in 2001. Some AL6's remain in service, over 50 years old. Such is the longevity of electric locomotives.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/17 21:21 by eminence_grise.

Thanks for posting these historical photos.
ALLEN

Nice memories.