Class 08 - 08220

Current Number : 08220
Numbers Carried : 13290, D3290, 08220
Built : British Rail at Derby in 1956
Withdrawn from service : March 1986
Engine : EE6K giving 350hp
Top Speed : 15 MPH
Brakes : Vacuum only
Route Availability : 5

08220 was built at Derby Works in 1956, and operated primarily on the London Midland Region until withdrawal in March 1986. After being taken out of service she was stored at Carnforth. Nonetheless she was eventually purchased by English Electric Preservation, and  moved to a private site at a farm yard near Wrenbury for restoration to begin. She arrived at Ruddington Fields for full restoration in 2008, which has since included a comprehensive replacement of all the removed equipment and a repaint into BR Blue livery.

 History

The Class 08 is a class of diesel-electric shunting locomotive. From 1953 to 1962, 996 locomotives were produced, making it the most numerous of all British locomotive classes.
As the standard general-purpose diesel shunter on BR, almost any duty requiring shunting would involve a Class 08. The class became a familiar sight at many major stations and freight yards; however, since their introduction, the nature of rail traffic in Britain has changed considerably. Freight trains are now mostly fixed rakes of wagons, and passenger trains are mostly multiple units; neither requiring the attention of a shunting locomotive. Consequently a large proportion of the class has been withdrawn from mainline use and stored, scrapped, exported, or sold to industrial or heritage railways.
You will find the Class 08 working on industrial sidings and on the main British network, On heritage railways they have become common, appearing on many of the preserved standard-gauge lines in Britain, with over 60 preserved.

The Class 08 design was based on the LMS 12033 series (later TOPS Class 11) design. There were also 26 of the near-identical but higher-geared Class 09, and 171 similar locomotives fitted with different engines and transmissions (some of which became Class 10), which together brought the total number of outwardly-similar machines to 1193.
The locomotives were built at the BR Works of Crewe, Darlington, Derby and Doncaster between 1953 and 1962.
The majority of the class were re-classified as TOPS sub-class 08/0, when some locomotives were reduced in height for use on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in south west Wales, and became Class 08/9.
The nature of rail freight in Britain has changed considerably since the Class 08 was introduced. Wagon-load consignments have given way to predominatelyblock trains of bulk freight and intermodal operations which reduce or remove the need for shunting. Additionally the change of passenger operations from locomotive-hauled coaches to self-powered multiple units has reduced the need for shunters at major stations.
The first locomotive to be withdrawn was D3193 in 1967. Four other machines were withdrawn before TOPS reclassification in 1973. Withdrawals continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s; by the beginning of the 1990s most of the class were no longer in service. Withdrawals continued in the 1990s. At the same time as the withdrawals, many were purchased by heritage railways.

When British Rail was privatised and sold in the 1990s, EWS inherited most of the class. More units were disposed of, being sent to EWS's Component Recovery & Distribution Centre (CRDC) in Wigan for stripping of re-usable components prior to scrapping. Others were stored in case of an increase in traffic.
As of mid 2008, EWS had over 40 units in operation, with a greater number stored. Freightliner also had about five units in operation, as did locomotive company Wabtec. First Group operated less than five; additionally various units work at industrial sidings - two for Foster Yeoman, one for Mendip Rail, one for Corus, one at ICI Wilton, two for English China Clays, amongst others. A few other businesses in railway-related business operated single examples.

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