what is it?
The GEC Stephenson locomotives are a type of heavy industrial shunter built in the 1970s by British industrial company GEC Traction. The locomotives were used for heavy shunting tasks in UK industrial sites for clients including British Steel Corporation and the National Coal Board.
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 50 years ago, in 1976.
- 559 kW is about 7 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 17 African elephants (~6 t each).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1976–1980
- number built
- 30
- kind
- Diesel
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- GEC Traction, Vulcan Foundry, General Electric Company plc
- top speed
- —
- power
- 559 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- weight
- 100 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5513131, Wikipedia: GEC Stephenson locomotive (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.