Was a Deltic Engine Operated Differently?
The locomotives were operated very differently to any other machines in the British Rail fleet. They were the first locomotives expressly designed to be maintained by component replacement. Up until that time, a locomotive had an associated engine and generator. If it broke, it went into the local repair shop and was fixed. The locomotive then returned to service days or weeks later. The Deltic was designed to be diagrammed for a high availability. Thus, 44 engines were ordered for the locomotives themselves, along with 13 further spare engines. When a power unit developed a problem, the locomotive would enter Doncaster Plant, the power unit was exchanged, locomotive tested and released. Often an engine change could be accomplished in only a day. This method of repair-by-replacement enabled the Deltic locomotives to achieve higher mileages than other locomotive classes. Indeed, in less than 12 years D9010 /55010 became the first Deltic to achieve 2 million miles.
