The Class 47 diesel locomotive was a mainstay of British Rail, with 512
built in the 1960s. As such, they were a daily sight throughout the UK,
working express passenger and heavy freight trains as well as more
mundane local passenger and wagon-load freight all over Britain.
For rail enthusiasts, 'bashing' emerged as the art of trying to ride
behind as many locos as possible. Largely due to their prolific numbers,
the 47s were often disliked by bashers and the 47s were often given the
disparaging nickname 'Duffs', but to those who followed them, they were
'Brush', an abbreviation of Brush Type 4, which was how BR originally
referred to them. However, as time passed and other classes of
locomotive fell by the wayside, a far greater appreciation of them is
now the norm.
This book records 1982 to 1985 and many days spent trying to travel
behind all 507 of the Class 47s that were still in traffic at that time.
There were triumphs and disasters in the course of these travels, but
you got to go the length and breadth of the country and the book
contains a wide variety of color photographs of Class 47s at work from
Inverness to Penzance.
