Yorkshire Engine Company Janus - The Taurus

The Taurus

The Taurus locomotive was an 0-8-0, diesel-hydraulic, weighed 56 tons and had a maximum speed of 36 mph (58 km/h). The two Rolls-Royce C8SFL diesel engines gave a total of 600 hp (450 kW). 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 allow higher speeds. The maximum speed with one engine was 12 mph (19 km/h) while the minimum speed with both engines was 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h).

It would appear that the name came from Taurus the bull while maintaining the ‘….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.

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). A second Taurus locomotive was built for use in Spain to a gauge of 1674 mm (5 ft 6 inches). 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. Photographs of it there have been published on the internet .