The BR (British Railways) Class 08 is a shunter of an 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, built from 1952 to 1962. These shunters proved to be incredibly reliable and successful, and were one of the very first major mass-produced types of diesel locomotives in the UK, and are still the main switchers or shunters for the British Railways. A total of 996 were produced.
Fitted with an English Electric 6KT engine of 402 h.p and English Electric traction motors, the simplicity of these locomotives led to their extreme reliability and the large amount of spares for English Electric engines means that the locomotives will likely remain in service for a long time to come.
The first batch of locomotives were mainly built for British Railways, but were soon sold to many other numerous railways throughout the UK and Europe.
Many still exist, and about 82 are still in service in the UK.
Versions[]
Several different versions of the Class 08 were built:
- Class 09 (Geared to have a top speed of 25 m.p.h)
- Class 10 (Blackstone engine, GE traction motors)
- Class 11 (Early batch built 1945 - 1952)
- Class 12 (lighter version)
- Class 13 (A "cabless", "master" and "slave", "slug" or "calf" version of the Class 08.)
Fleet[]
| TOPS number range | Operators | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 08389, 08405, 08495, 08500, 08567, 08593, 08605, 08623, 08653, 08706, 08714, 08735, 08804, 08905 | DB Cargo UK | |
| 08571, 08596, 08615 | Wabtec Rail | |
| 08428, 08578, 08630, 08802, 08865, 08879, 08904, 08924, 08943, 08994 | Harry Needle Railroad Company | |
| 08525, 08690, 08908, 08950 | East Midlands Trains | |
| 08530, 08531, 08575, 08585, 08624, 08691, 08764, 08785, 08891 | Freightliner | |
| 08948 | Eurostar | |
| 08410, 08483, 08641, 08643, 08644, 08663, 08822, 08836 | Great Western Railway | |
| 08616, 08805 | West Midlands Trains | |
| 08754 & 08847 (Norwich Crown Point TMD), 08573 (Ilford TMD) | Abellio Greater Anglia | |
| 08417 | Network Rail | |
| 08502 | Northern | |
| 08308, 08788 | Abellio ScotRail | |
| 08451, 08454, 08611, 08696, 08721, 08790, 08887, 08934 | Virgin Trains | |
| 08418, 08485, 08678 | West Coast Railway Company | |
| 08682 | Derby Litchurch Lane Works | |
| 08441, 08484, 08511, 08580, 08632, 08683, 08703, 08709, 08752, 08886 | Rail Support Services | |
| 08737 | Locomotive Services Limited |
Preservation[]
Many have found an active retirement on heritage railways in Britain, with at around 81 examples being classed as preserved, (although there were 84 preserved examples which were later scrapped), though there may be more yet unregistered Class 08 shunters still working in Britain or abroad. Their low maintenance requirements means that most of them are still in operational condition, with only a small number of examples left unrestored, as of 2015.
Preserved examples[]
| Numbers carried (Current in bold) |
Name | Location | Current Status | Livery | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13000 | D3000 | - | 13046 | - | Peak Rail | Awaiting overhaul; first one built | BR Black |
| 13002 | D3002 | - | avon railway co. | Operational | BR Black | ||
| 13014 | D13014 | - | samson | Dartmouth Steam Railway | Operational | BR Green, Dart Rail insignia | |
| 13018 | D3018 | 08011 | - | Haversham | Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 13019 | D3019 | - | - | - | Cambrian Heritage Railways | Operational | Blue and White |
| 13022 | D3022 | 08015 | - | - | Severn Valley Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 13023 | D3023 | 08016 | - | Geoff L Wright (not carried) | Peak Rail | Operational Last of first Batch | BR Blue |
| 13029 | D3029 | 08021 | - | - | Tyseley Locomotive Works | Operational | BR Black |
| 13030 | D3030 | 08022 | - | Lion | Cholsey and Wallingford Railway | Operational | GuinnessBlack |
| 13044 | D3044 | 08032 | 33 | Mendip | Mid Hants Railway | Undergoing repairs | Yeoman Blue |
| 13059 | D3059 | 08046 | - | Brechin City | Caledonian Railway (Brechin) | Operational | BR Green |
| 13067 | D3067 | 08054 | - | - | Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway | stored awaiting re-wiring | BR Blue |
| 13074 | D3074 | 08060 | - | Unicorn | Cholsey and Wallingford Railway | Operational | GuinnessBlack |
| 13079 | D3079 | 08064 | - | - | National Railway Museum | Operational | Black |
| 13101 | D3101 | - | 3101 | - | Great Central Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 13167 | D3167 | 08102 | - | - | Lincolnshire Wolds Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 11374 | D3174 | 08108 | 3174 | Dover Castle | Kent and East Sussex Railway | Under overhaul | Black |
| 13180 | D3180 | 08114 | - | - | Great Central Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 13190 | D3190 | 08123 | - | George Mason | Cholsey and Wallingford Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 13201 | D3201 | 08133 | - | - | Severn Valley Railway | Under Overhaul | BR Green |
| 13232 | D3232 | 08164 | - | Prudence | East Lancashire Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| 13236 | D3236 | 08168 | - | - | Battlefield Line Railway | Operational; on loan to the Bluebell Railway | BR Black |
| 13255 | D3255 | - | - | - | Private site, Leavening, North Yorkshire | To be restored | N/A |
| 13261 | D3261 | - | - | - | Swindon and Cricklade Railway | Undergoing restoration | BR Green |
| 13265 | D3265 | 08195 | WD40 | Mark | Llangollen Railway | Operational | BR Black |
| 13272 | D3272 | 08202 | - | chuck | North western Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| 13290 | D3290 | 08220 | - | - | Great Central Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| 13308 | D3308 | 08238 | - | Charlie | Dean Forest Railway | Light duties only | BR Blue with Wasp Stripes |
| 13336 | D3336 | 08266 | - | - | Keighley and Worth Valley Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 13358 | D3358 | 08288 | - | - | Mid Hants Railway | Awaiting repair | BR Black |
| - | D3401 | 08331 | - | - | Midland Railway - Butterley | Operational | Black |
| - | D3420 | 08350 | - | - | Crewe Heritage Centre | Scrapped. Early 2009. | BR Green |
| - | D3429 | 08359 | - | - | Chasewater Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D3462 | 08377 | - | - | Mid Hants Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D3411 | 08411 | - | - | Colne Valley Railway | under restoration | BR Dutch grey |
| - | D3503 | 08388 | - | - | Private Site | Undergoing restoration | Trainload Petroleum |
| - | D3551 | 08436 | - | - | Swanage Railway | Operational | Black |
| - | D3558 | 08443 | - | - | Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway | Operational | BR Green (No Logo) |
| - | D3559 | 08444 | - | - | Bodmin and Wenford Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D3560 | 08445 | - | - | East Lancashire Railway | Awaiting repair | Grey |
| - | D3586 | 08471 | - | - | Severn Valley Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D3588 | 08473 | - | - | Dean Forest Railway | Scrapped; source of spares | BR Blue |
| - | D3591 | 08476 | - | - | Swanage Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| 13594 | D3594 | 08479 | - | - | East Lancashire Railway | Operational | BR Black |
| - | D3596 | 08481 | - | - | Vale of Glamorgan Railway | Scrapped EMR | BR Blue |
| - | D3605 | 08490 | - | - | Strathspey Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| D3610 | 08495 | North Yorkshire Moors Railway | Operational | BR Blue | |||
| - | D3723 | 08556 | - | - | North Yorkshire Moors Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| - | 08576 | D3743 | - | - | Battlefield Line Railway | Awaiting restoration | BR Blue |
| - | D3757 | 08590 | - | Red Lion | Midland Railway - Butterley | Operational | Maroon, Black Roof |
| - | D3759 | 08592 | 08993 | - | Keighley and Worth Valley Railway | Operational | EWSMaroon and Gold |
| - | D3761 | 08594 | - | - | Private Site | Awaiting overhaul | BR Blue |
| - | D3771 | 08604 | 604 | Phantom | Didcot Railway Centre | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D3795 | 08628 | - | - | Private Site | Awaiting overhaul | BR Blue |
| - | - | 08631 | - | Betsy | Bombardier Transportation | Operational | BR Blue |
| - | D3800 | 08633 | Churnet Valley Railway | Operational | BR Green | ||
| - | - | 08682 | - | Lionheart | Bombardier Transportation | Operational | Designed by the winner of a children's painting competition |
| - | D3861 | 08694 | - | - | Great Central Railway | Operational | EWS |
| - | D3867 | 08700 | - | - | East Lancashire Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| - | D3871 | 08704 | - | - | Private Site | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D3902 | 08734 | - | - | Dean Forest Railway | Undergoing restoration with parts from 08473. | Blue |
| - | D3918 | 08750 | - | - | Private Site | Operational | Black |
| D3926 | 08757 | Telford Steam Railway | Operational | RES | |||
| - | D3935 | 08767 | - | - | North Norfolk Railway | Undergoing overhaul | BR Green |
| - | D3937 | 08769 | Gladys | Dean Forest Railway | Operational | BR Green | |
| - | D3940 | 08772 | - | Tiny/Camulodunum | North Norfolk Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D3941 | 08773 | - | - | Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| - | D3948 | 08780 | - | Fred | Jeremy Hosking | Operational | Dark Blue |
| D3952 | 08784 | Great Central North | |||||
| - | D3991 | 08823 | - | - | LH Barton | Operational | Hunslet Orange and Blue |
| - | D3993 | 08825 | - | - | Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| - | D4018 | 08850 | 4018 | - | North Yorkshire Moors Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| D4033 | 08865 | East Kent Light Railway | Operational | EWS | |||
| - | D4118 | 08888 | 08888 | - | Kent and East Sussex Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| D4137 | 08907 | Great Central Railway | Operational | BR Green | |||
| - | D4141 | 08911 | - | - | National Railway Museum - Shildon. | Operational | BR Blue (with small NRM logo) |
| - | D4145 | 08915 | - | - | North Tyneside Steam Railway | Operational | BR Blue |
| - | D4157 | 08922 | Great Central North | RAilFreight grey | |||
| - | D4167 | 08937 | - | Bluebell Mel | Dartmoor Railway | Operational | BR Green |
| - | D4174 | 08944 | - | - | East Lancashire Railway | Awaiting repair | Black |
| - | D3854 | 08995 | 08687 | Kidwelly | Shillingstone Station Project | Under Repair | EWS Maroon and Gold |
In Pop Culture[]
- Many diesel characters from Thomas & Friends (such as Diesel, Paxton, Sindey,Arry, Bert and the Mainland Diesels) are based on the BR 08 Class locomotive.