Class '76 Loco cab - 76 039 'Hector'

76 039 – one cab from a British Railways Class EM1 Electric Locomotive. At different times it had also carried the numbers 26048 and 76048 and at one period it carried the nameplate “Hector”. It entered service in September 1952 and was withdrawn in July 1981.

WHO DID IT OPERATE FOR?

The Manchester – Sheffield (via Woodhead) steam railway opened in 1845 and was first proposed for partial electrification in 1913, whilst under the control of the Great Central Railway (which also controlled the line outside our Museum) as a speedier and more efficient method of operating heavy trains over the tortuous route with its gradients and twin three mile tunnels. The proposal surfaced again in 1926, by which time the line was run by the London and North Eastern Railway.

The go-ahead was announced in 1936 and a prototype locomotive was built at Doncaster works in 1940 under the management of Nigel Gresley. The Second World War and the nationalisation of the railways led to further delays. 57 of these locomotives were built by British Railways at Gorton, Manchester and the first ones entered service over the eastern part of the route in 1950. Electric operation of the full route did not take place until 1954 as a new tunnel capable of accommodating electric locomotives had to be built.  The long and interrupted development meant that by the time the service was fully operational the power supply and traction technology were considered obsolete and no further schemes of this nature were contemplated. The line became an early candidate for closure under the BR rationalisation plans in the 1960s. Despite several vigorous campaigns the passenger service ceased n 1970. Complete closure followed in 1981.