#3409· Class 74
British Rail Class 74
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by British Rail· from 1958· class of 10 electro-diesel locomotives rebuilt from Class 71
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 74002 at waterlooo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/camperdown Hugh Llewellyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 2. 74004 at Waterloo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/camperdown Hugh Llewellyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. 74009 with other Class 74's and a Class 33 at Eastleigh Depot Open Day in 1978: Terry Fougler· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 74 was a class of bi-mode electro-diesel locomotive that operated on the Southern Region of British Railways, rebuilt from redundant Class 71 locomotives in the late 1960s. All were withdrawn between June 1976 and December 1977, and scrapped between 1977 and 1981.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 68 years ago, in 1958.
- Top speed is 1.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- 1.9 MW is about 22 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 15.2 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 10 years (1967–1977).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1958–1960
- in service from
- 1967
- retired
- 1977
- status
- retired
- number built
- 10
- kind
- Electro-diesel
- traction
- bi-mode
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- British Rail, Doncaster Works, Crewe Works
- operators
- British Rail, Southern Region of British Railways
- top speed
- 145 km/h
- power
- 1.9 MW
- electric system
- 650–750 V DC third rail
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 15.2 m
- Dutch name
- Class 74
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4970847, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 74 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.