Saltley TMD - Shunters

The Saltley depot was an early user of diesel shunters with the first allocations by the LMS in 1947 when they allocated a diesel shunter powered by an English Electric engine that was eventually classified by British Rail as Class 11 These locomotives were very much the precursors to the far more numerous Class 08 shunters. By the early 1970s the Class 11 diesel shunters had been withdrawn and Saltley depot had an allocation of Class 08 that lasted until the mid 1980s when the diesel shunters in the Birmingham area were concentrated at Tyseley depot

Class 08 Shunters

During the 1970s many of the 08 shunters in the West Midlands area moved a number of times between the three local depots of Saltley, Bescot and Tyseley until by the 1980s many of the shunters were based at Tyseley Depot who by then covered all the key duties like station pilot duties at Birmingham New Street. After the beginning of the 1980s Class 08 shunters became a less and less common sight at Saltley TMD. However, even after the locomotives were reallocated there was some re-fuelling of the locomotives at the depot.

Class 08 shunters known to have been allocated to Saltley Depot

The following lists show the various duties for the Class 08 shunters that were allocated to Saltley TMD at this period.

Class 11 Shunters

Saltley Shed became an early users of diesel locomotives beginning before nationalisation when the LMS ran the shed with several 0-6-0 diesel electric shunters being allocated to replace 0-0-0 steam shunting locomotives. These new diesel engines went on to be classified Class 11 shunters under the BR TOPS coding of the early 1970s though none of the locomotives ever caried these numbers but confusingly in BR days all the locomotives carried 5 figure number beginning with 12 which in later years led some to believe they were Class 12 shunters.  An initial batch of twenty locomotives was built during World War II, fourteen of which were built for the War Department, with the first ten of these (70260–70269) subsequently going to the Nederlands  post-war, as NS 501–510. Post war the LMS started building more of the locomotives at their Derby Works and these carried the numbers 7120–7126 went straight into LMS stock and a follow-up batch was built, with 7129 being the last diesel shunter to be built for the LMS. British Railways continued to build the class from 1948 to 1952, using numbers M7130–M7131 and 12045–12138. 7120–7129 and M7130–M7131 became BR numbers 12033–12044. The whole class of 12033–12138 became Class 11. Locomotives up to 12102 were built at LMS/BR Derby and 12103–12138 at BR Darlington. Saltley Shed became an early user of the locative type from August 1947 and subsequently 18 of the type operated from the shed with the last leaving in October 1968. The locomotives were replaced by similar Class 08 shunters.

The Saltley Quartet

When four of the Class 11 shunters 12041, 12042, 12043 and 12044 were all withdrawn from Saltley Shed on 19th October 1968 instead of going straight for scrap or resale into industrial use the locomotives were put into store in one of the roundhouses where they were grouped around the turntable. The locomotives remained there until they were sold for scrap during the second half of 1969.