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British Rail DP1

🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by English Electric· from 1955· prototype British twin-engined diesel-electric locomotive

🛤️ diesel locomotive diesel preserved
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Preston Riverside - Deltic: Geof Sheppard· CC BY-SA 4.0
  2. 2. Deltic DP1 & 60163 Tornado, Locomotion Shildon, 28 April 2010: Ultra7· Public domain
  3. 3. Deltic DP1 at Locomotion Shildon 1: Draco2008 from UK· CC BY 2.0
  4. 4. Deltic DP1 at Locomotion Shildon 2: Draco2008 from UK· CC BY 2.0
  5. 5. DP1 at Shildon: TwinBoo· CC BY 4.0
  6. 6. English Electric DP1: J. R. Dickson· CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7. English Electric prototype Co-Co No. DP1 "Deltic" (built 1955): KingsIndian228· CC BY-SA 2.0
  8. 8. NRM Locomotion MMB 09 APT-E DP1 4468: mattbuck ( category )· CC BY-SA 3.0
  9. 9. NRM Locomotion MMB 11 APT-E DP1 4468: mattbuck ( category )· CC BY-SA 3.0
  10. 10. NRM Locomotion MMB 12 APT-E DP1: mattbuck ( category )· CC BY-SA 3.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
British Rail DP1, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Geof Sheppard· CC BY-SA 4.0

what is it?

English Electric DP1, commonly known as Deltic, is a prototype 3,300 hp (2,500 kW) demonstrator locomotive employing two Napier Deltic engines, built by English Electric in 1955. The high power of the locomotive at an acceptably low axleload resulted in 22 similar locomotives being ordered by British Railways for use on East Coast Main Line express passenger services, the serial production of which became the British Rail Class 55.

who runs it

British Rail

base stats

  • speed 171 km/htop speed
  • power 2.5 MWpower output
  • built 1made 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 71 years ago, in 1955.
  • Top speed is 1.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 14 minutes.
  • 2.5 MW is about 29 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.

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

spec sheet

built
1955
retired
1961
status
preserved
number built
1
kind
Diesel-electric
traction
diesel
origin
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
builders
English Electric, Dick, Kerr & Co.
operators
British Rail
top speed
171 km/h
power
2.5 MW
wheel arrangement
Co′Co′

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

Sources: Wikidata Q4970957, Wikipedia: British Rail DP1 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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