Class 53 'Falcon' Profile and Models

D0280 Falcon was a single prototype diesel-electric locomotive, built for British Railways in 1961. It was one of a series of three prototypes: Falcon, DP2 and Lion, eventually leading to the Class 47 and Class 50. No single lightweight diesel engine was powerful enough, so the Falcon project used twin Maybach MD655 engines like those in the Class 52 Western diesel-hydraulic locomotives. These drove Brush generators and traction motors, rather than the hydraulic transmission of the Westerns. The prototype, wearing a livery of lime green and chestnut brown emerged from Brush's Loughborough works in September 1961. Falcon was tested extensively across the Eastern and London Midland regions as well as on the infamous Lickey Incline. Falcon was an evolutionary dead end - it was a functional locomotive, worth keeping in service, but there were never going to be more. In 1975, the locomotive was deemed uneconomic to operate due to its non-standard status and, despite efforts to preserve it, Falcon was broken up in March–April 1976.

(Information provided via Wikipedia)

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Surviving Examples