#3597
British Rail Class 53
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Brush Traction· from 1961· class of 1 Co′Co′ 2880 hp diesel-electric locomotive
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4 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. British Rail Class 53 number D0280 (Falcon) at King's Cross station, London: Phil Sangwell· CC BY 2.0
- 2. Brush Class "53" prototype 2,700hp Co-Co No.1200 - 24004841456: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. Class 53 Brush Type 4 D0280 'Falcon' Bristol Temple Meads c1965 (9922334245): Gillett's Crossing from Bristol, United Kingdom· CC BY 2.0
- 4. Heljan British Rail Class 53 Falcon: Timitrius from Great Britain· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
D0280 Falcon was a single one-off prototype diesel-electric locomotive, built for British Railways in 1961. It was one of a series of three prototypes: Falcon, DP2 and Lion, eventually leading to the Class 47 and Class 50. A requirement was expressed by the BTC at a meeting on 15 January 1960 for new Type 4 designs of Co-Co arrangement, which would be lighter than the earlier 1Co-Co1 locomotives such as the Peak classes, produced under the Pilot Scheme.
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 65 years ago, in 1961.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 15 minutes.
- 2.1 MW is about 25 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 20.7 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 14 years (1961–1975).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1961
- in service from
- 1961
- retired
- 1975
- status
- retired
- number built
- 1
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Brush Traction
- operators
- British Rail
- top speed
- 161 km/h
- power
- 2.1 MW
- wheel arrangement
- Co′Co′
- length
- 20.7 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4970839, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 53 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.