| British Rail Janus | |
 Typical Janus locomotive at a Steelworks. |
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| Builder: | |
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| Maximum speed: | 36 mph |
| Operators: | British Railways |
Janus and Taurus were two shunting locomotives by the Yorkshire Engine Company and loaned to British Railways for demonstrations. Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, "making by hand" is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" The Yorkshire Engine Company (YEC was a small independent Locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" However, BR did not buy any production versions after testing. At least one other Yorkshire Engine Company locomotive was loaned to British Railways in the 1960s. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways"
The names are class names, not the names of specific locomotives.
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The Janus
The Janus locomotive was of 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, diesel-electric, weighed 48 tons and had a maximum speed of 23 mph. The Whyte notation for classifying Steam locomotives by Wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte Other classification schemes like A number of vehicles use a diesel-electric Powertrain for providing locomotion. The two Rolls Royce 2xC6SFL diesel engines gave a total of 400 hp. The locomotive demonstrated on British Railways was second of this type built (works number 2595/56), both the first two locomotives being demonstrated to potential customers before going to the Appleby-Frodingham Steelworks in Scunthorpe. Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire Unitary authority It is thought to have been in use there until being scrapped 1982.
Eventually just short of 100 Janus locomotives were built (one even being built for operation in India), some of which are still in industrial use in 2005. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country
The name Janus is from the two-faced god Janus: the locomotive was symmetrical with two 'faces'. In Roman mythology, Janus (or Ianus was the god of Gates Doors doorways beginnings and endings Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically-pleasing proportionality and balance such that it reflects beauty or The similarity in power and speed would indicate that this type of locomotive could have been use in a similar role to the British Rail Class 08 shunter. The British Rail Class 08 is a class of Diesel locomotive designed for shunting In recent years Class 08 shunters owned by EWS have replaced Janus locomotives on some industrial railways. The British Rail Class 08 is a class of Diesel locomotive designed for shunting English Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd ( EWS) is the largest British rail freight company
The Taurus
The Taurus locomotive was an 0-8-0, diesel-hydraulic, weighed 56 tons and had a maximum speed of 36 mph. A Diesel locomotive is a type of Railroad Locomotive in which the prime mover is a Diesel engine. The two Rolls-Royce 2xC8SFL diesel engines gave a total of 600 hp. The transmission of this locomotive worked on a similar principle to that of the Fell diesel tested during the early 1950s. In this case, at low speeds only one engine was used, the second being engaged to increase to allow higher speeds. The maximum speed with one engine was 12 mph while the minimum speed with both engines was 3. 5 mph.
It would appear that the name came from Taurus the bull while maintaining the ‘…. Taurus (it looks like a bull (ˈtɔrəs bull, symbol, Unicode ♉ is one of the Constellations of the Zodiac. us’ theme of Yorkshire Engine Co locomotive types (Janus, Olympus, Taurus, Indus).
The Taurus was demonstrated and tested on British Railways during 1961 and 1962. It was a ‘trip’ locomotive intended to carry out shunting work and hauling local (short distance) goods trains. This was the duty for which the British Rail Class 14 locomotives were built in 1963. The British Rail Class 14 is a type of small Diesel-hydraulic locomotive built in the mid-1960s
Following the trials, the Taurus was returned to the manufacturer's works in Sheffield and was dismantled, leaving only the chassis (which was scrapped in 1965). Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England A chassis (plural "chassis" (ˈʃæːsiː ˈtʃæːsiː consists of a framework that supports an inanimate object analogous to an Animal 's A second Taurus locomotive was built for use in Spain to a gauge of 1674 mm (5 ft 6 inches). Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is possible (but not proven) that all the components from the British Rail demonstrator were transferred onto the wider chassis built for Spain.
A works number is allocated to the chassis/frame, so it is appropriate that the demonstrator no. 2875 has a different works number from the Spanish locomotive no. 2892), even if many parts were reused.
The Spanish Taurus locomotive survives in a railway museum in Madrid. Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. Photographs of it there have been published on the internet [1].
Other locomotives
In July 1961 an 0-6-0 diesel-hydraulic locomotive was demonstrated on British Railways. A Diesel locomotive is a type of Railroad Locomotive in which the prime mover is a Diesel engine. It weighed 40 tons and was powered by a single Rolls Royce C8SFL engine giving 300 hp. The design was similar to a lengthened British Rail Class 02. The British Rail Class 02 were a class of twenty 0-4-0 Diesel-hydraulic shunting Locomotives built by the Yorkshire Engine Company The locomotive was tested near Derby for four days, and following the demonstration was delivered to Llanwern Steelworks, Newport. Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dˈɑːbɪ/ is a city in the East Midlands of England. Newport (Casnewydd is a city and principal area in Wales, in the United Kingdom.
References
- Colin Marsden - A Pictorial Record of the Diesel Shunter. 1981
- Stephen J Chapman - The Era of the Diesel Prototype – Railway World Annual, 1981
- The Industrial Railway Society - Various records and publications
- Yorkshire Engine Co. - Various records and publications