This boxy, American-looking locomotive was actually one of three built in Britain for the Ford Motor Company in 1932 for their new car plant at Dagenham in Essex.
The original specification was for a 150hp diesel electric locomotive with a weight of 44 tons and also stated that "all materials will be of British manufacture", something difficult to imagine these days.
The locomotives were fitted with American fixed-pattern buckeye couplers, sanding equipment, automatic bell and air whistles and at the time of building were unique in Britain and attracted considerable interest being regularly seen crossing the former London, Tilbury & Southend Railway mainline that passed between Ford's sidings to the north and the company's jetty on the River Thames to the south.
Built by British Thomson-Houston Co Ltd in Rugby they had bodies and frames made from Sheffield steel by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd and six-cylinder engines supplied by W.H. Allen, Sons & Co Ltd of Bedford thus fulfilling the 'British manufacture' part of the specification.
After 34 years of service at Dagenham, Ford No.1 was acquired by the Kent & East Sussex Railway where I photographed it (at Rolvenden) in 2009 and it still sees occasional use at special events.
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