#3400· Class 21
British Rail Class 21 (NBL)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by North British Locomotive Company· from 1958· class of 58 Bo′Bo′ 1000/1100hp diesel-electric locomotives
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1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. North British Type 2 (later Class 21) 1,100 hp B-B No.D6122: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 21 was a type of Type 2 diesel-electric locomotive built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow for British Rail in 1958–1960. They were numbered D6100-D6157. Thirty-eight of the locomotives were withdrawn by August 1968; the rest were rebuilt with bigger engines to become Class 29, although those locos only lasted until 1971.
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 68 years ago, in 1958.
- 820 kW is about 10 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Served for 10 years (1958–1968).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1958–1960
- in service from
- 1958
- retired
- 1968
- status
- retired
- number built
- 58
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- North British Locomotive Company
- operators
- British Rail, Eastern Region of British Railways, Scottish Region of British Railways
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- 820 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Bo'Bo'
- Dutch name
- Class 21
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4970753, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 21 (NBL) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.