#3595· Class 46
British Rail Class 46
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Derby Works· from 1961· class of 56 (1Co)(Co1) 2500hp diesel-electric locomotives
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8 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. BR Type 4 D149 (8289144884): Hugh Llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 2. Class 46, Exeter St. Davids, 1 January 1976: Barry Lewis· CC BY 2.0
- 3. Class 46 D182 at Grosmont 10th May 2008: Graeme9022· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. Cl 46 "Peak" no. 46002 south of Loughborough, Nigel Tout, 9.7.75: Nigel Tout ( http://www.nigeltout.com )· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. Peak and hst: Paul Smith ( Romfordian )· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 6. 46002 passing Bedminster on 26 April 1980: The Basingstoker· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 7. 08545 with 46005 at Finsbury Park Depot on 03 July 1977: The Basingstoker· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 8. 46006 at Paignton in 1979: Terry Foulger· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 46 is a class of diesel locomotive. They were built from 1961 to 1963 at British Railways' Derby Works and were initially numbered D138–D193. With the arrival of TOPS they were renumbered to Class 46.
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 1.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- 1.9 MW is about 22 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 20.4 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 23 years (1961–1984).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1961–1963
- in service from
- 1961
- retired
- 1984
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 56
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Derby Works
- operators
- British Rail, London Midland Region of British Railways, Western Region of British Railways, North Eastern Region of British Railways
- top speed
- 145 km/h
- power
- 1.9 MW
- wheel arrangement
- (1′Co)(Co1′)
- length
- 20.4 m
- nicknames
- ‘Peak’
- Dutch name
- Class 46
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4970817, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 46 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.