18000 'Kerosene Castle'

I have added some photos of the W.R. Brown Boveri Gas turbine loco 18000
18000 'Kerosene Castle' Swindon Running shed 29th June 1950
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/1/Pre-TOPS-Locomotives/Prototype-Diesel-Locos/GT3/i-RfWphZ4

Gas Turbines GT3 + 18000 - Railway-Photography
railway photographs from the last 100 years
railway-photography.smugmug.com

18000 unknown location
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/1/Pre-TOPS-Locomotives/Prototype-Diesel-Locos/GT3/i-28fhndS

Gas Turbines GT3 + 18000 - Railway-Photography
railway photographs from the last 100 years
railway-photography.smugmug.com

Neil

 

I always thought "Kerosene Castle" was a term used solely for GT3. On account of it resembling a steam loco.

 

I've never heard the term, but it does suit 18000 given it was allocated to the WR.

 

That was the nickname given by WR crews given the reported equivalence between the 2 classes.

 

...makes sense!

 

Kerosene Castle was the nickname given to 18000, the name was nothing to do with GT3.

I have never heard of GT3 being referred to as anything other than GT3, although I suspect that it may have been referred to as "What the **** is that?" on occasions.

(Congrats to neildimmer for managing to post photos in this section of something that is actually preserved, btw. A first?)

 

I recall there was also a user of that name of this Parish at one stage....

All I know of the locomotive is that is was bloody loud, my dad lived a few miles from Swindon station in the 50's and you could clearly hear it departing from inside his house....

 

There was a long article about it in the Didcot railway centre magazine. Apparently it was very unreliable and was constantly in for repair so interest was soon lost in it and it went back to Switzerland. There was another similar looking locomotive ordered at the same time from I think Metrovic which was scrapped long ago.
Apparently the surviving loco is just an empty shell. None of the internals have survived which is a shame. You can see it at Didcot. Wasn't it owned at one time by Pete Waterman ?

 

Owned by The Pete Waterman Trust. Now stuck at Didcot as it is out of gauge to be moved anywhere else. I have had a tour of the inside......as you say an empty shell. A rusty empty shell. I think I took some photos.....unfortunately it is stuck in limbo regarding any sort of TLC.
If anyone has any of the missing bits...please get in contact!

 

In the second photo 18000 is on the up main line, about to pass Maidenhead station. The branch to Bourne End and High Wycombe can be seen to the right of the loco.

 

That one was later converted to an AC Electric loco and ran as E1000/ E2001.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz........0j35i39.JXrUIq-KC4Q#imgrc=Lm6yegVqnxkHZM:

 

Wasn't there a daft plan to fit a helicopter engine inside it at one point?

 

Getting the rotars in gauge would be a reet bugga!

 

I assume it'd fit on the Nene Valley, as that's Berne Gauge: but mindful of what's happened with 31 271, an operational loco...

 

Blimey looking at those cars there in such a clean state, do you think the then owners could have imagined that 30 or so years later that would have constituted a classic car parade!!

 

A reflection of the days when car ownership was not so common and the owners washed and dried their 'pride and joy' every Sunday morning!

 

So true, was a proud day for me when dad let me clean the family, old style, Ford Popular

 

What was it doing inside your dad's house, let alone departing from there?


Taxi

 

As in 'sit-up-and-beg' Ford Pop?