BRDatabase

Built by a consortium of three leading rail traction companies - Birmingham RC&W, Sulzer Brothers and Associated Electrical Industries, the Lion project was a privately sponsored 'prototype'. It was assembled at the BRCW works as a showpiece in the hope that the newly formed BRB would favour the design in projected second generation Type 4 orders.

Lion, painted in a staggering white livery with gold lining emerged from the BRCW Smethwick works in Spring 1962, visiting Marylebone for a BRB inspection on 28th May. After its acceptance onto BR tracks the locomotive was allocated to Wolverhampton Stafford Road shed, from where it was used on West Midland - Paddington line services. After minor teething problems during the early summer of 1962 the locomotive was returned to its builders for modification, but the machine resumed main line testing on the WR in July with trains often including the Swindon dynamometer car.

One of the most significant test programmes was on 14th August 1962 when the locomotive complete with 16 Mk 1 coaches and the dynamometer car traversed the South Devon banks to Plymouth. By the end of September a number of technical problems had been experienced with the locomotive and in addition a number of BR recommended modifications led to Lion being returned to BRCW for several months. lt did not reappear on the main line until April 1963 when further tests were effected on the WR. From September 1963 the locomotive was transferred to the ER being housed at Finsbury Park depot.

Once on the Eastern Region the locomotive operated local services out of King’s Cross in addition to main line duties such as the "Master Cutler" and "Yorkshire Pullman" trains. In late 1963 a number of major power unit problems were identified which necessitated the locomotive's transfer to BR Doncaster Works. After a short period there the machine was transferred to the BRCW works. Regrettably the BRCW Company was by now having grave financial problems, and with BR’s decision to opt for a Brush built second generation Type 4 this led to the scrapping of Lion at the end of 1963, after only 18 months in service. In addition to its name the locomotive carried the number D0260, which was derived from its builder's No. 260.