#3470· Class 23
British Rail Class 23
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by English Electric· from 1959· class of 10 Bo′Bo′ 1100hp diesel-electric locomotives
_D5902_(8191729240).jpg)
_D5907_(8191732824).jpg)
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4 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. English Electric Type 2 (later Class 23) D5902 (8191729240): Hugh Llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 2. English Electric Type 2 (later Class 23) D5907 (8191732824): Hugh Llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. Class 23 D5901 (2): Paul Miller· Attribution
- 4. Class 23 D5901: Paul Miller· Attribution
what is it?
The British Rail Class 23 were a class of ten Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives built by the English Electric Company (EE) in 1959. The power unit used was a Napier Deltic T9-29 9-cylinder engine of 1,100 bhp (820 kW) driving an EE generator, which powered the four traction motors. They were numbered from D5900 to D5909.
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 67 years ago, in 1959.
- 820 kW is about 10 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 15.9 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 10 years (1959–1969).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1959
- in service from
- 1959
- retired
- 1969
- status
- retired
- number built
- 10
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- English Electric, Vulcan Foundry
- operators
- British Rail, Eastern Region of British Railways
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- 820 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Bo'Bo'
- length
- 15.9 m
- nicknames
- Baby Deltic
- Dutch name
- Class 23
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4970761, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 23 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.