#3339· Class 20
British Rail Class 20
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by English Electric· from 1957· class of 228 Bo′Bo′ 1000hp diesel-electric locomotives
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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Totnes 8110 green livery: Geof Sheppard· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. 20134 & 20075 at Ryecroft Junction: Tutenkhamun Sleeping· CC BY 2.0
- 3. 380. Class 20 20066: Two Penny Theatre· CC BY 2.0
- 4. British Rail Class 20 D8057 (TOPS 20057): Twotonetoo· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. No.D8098 (Class 20) (6778832683) (2): nottsexminer· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 6. 10.06.83 Ayr Depot Class 20: Phil Richards· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. A Class 20 Bo-Bo diesel convoy, heading to the London area. - panoramio: Roger Carvell· CC BY 3.0
- 8. A line of class 20s: train_photos· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 9. Class 20 Nose: TheJRB· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 10. Lima Class 20: Phil Sangwell from United Kingdom· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 20, otherwise known as an English Electric Type 1, is a class of diesel-electric locomotive. In total, 228 locomotives in the class were built by English Electric between 1957 and 1968, the large number being in part because of the failure of other early designs in the same power range to provide reliable locomotives. The locomotives were originally numbered D8000–D8199 and D8300–D8327.
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 69 years ago, in 1957.
- 746 kW is about 9 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 12 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 14 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 19 years (1957–1976).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1957–1968
- in service from
- 1957
- retired
- 1976
- status
- in service
- number built
- 228
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- English Electric, Vulcan Foundry, Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns
- operators
- British Rail, Railfreight, Eurostar, Direct Rail Services, Harry Needle Railroad Company, Balfour Beatty, Eastern Region of British Railways, London Midland Region of British Railways, North Eastern Region of British Railways, Scottish Region of British Railways
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- 746 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 14 m
- weight
- 73 t
- nicknames
- Chopper
- Dutch name
- Class 20
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4970745, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 20 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.