British Rail Class 55

what is it?

The British Rail Class 55, also known as a Deltic, or English Electric Type 5, is a class of diesel locomotive built in 1961 and 1962 by English Electric for British Railways. Twenty-two locomotives were built, designed for the high-speed express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between Edinburgh and London King's Cross. They gained the name "Deltic" from the prototype locomotive, DP1 Deltic (the running number DP1 was never carried), which in turn was named after its Napier Deltic power units.

who runs it

British RailNorth Yorkshire Moors RailwayEREastern Region of British RailwaysNENorth Eastern Region of British RailwaysSRScottish Region of British Railways

base stats

• speed 161 km/htop speed
• power 2.5 MWpower output
• built 22made in total

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.
• 🚗2.5 MW is about 29 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
• 📏21 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• ⌛Served for 21 years (1961–1982).

diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).

spec sheet

built

1961–1962

in service from

1961

retired

1982

status

preserved

number built

22

kind

Diesel-electric

traction

diesel

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

builders

English Electric, Vulcan Foundry

operators

British Rail, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Eastern Region of British Railways, North Eastern Region of British Railways, Scottish Region of British Railways

top speed

161 km/h

power

2.5 MW

gauge

1,435 mm standard gauge

wheel arrangement

Co′Co′

length

21 m

nicknames

Deltics

Dutch name

Class 55

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.