British Rail Class 02

British Rail Class 02

D2854 on the Middleton Railway in 1994
Type and origin
Power type Diesel-hydraulic
Builder Yorkshire Engine Co.
Serial number 2809–2818, 2843–2852
Build date 1960–1961
Total produced 20
Specifications
Configuration 0-4-0
UIC class B
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Wheel diameter 3 ft 4 in (1.016 m)
Minimum curve 1 chain (20 m)
Wheelbase 6 ft 0 in (1.829 m)
Length 21 ft 11 1⁄2 in (6.693 m)
Width 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Height 11 ft 5 1⁄4 in (3.486 m)
Loco weight 28.60 long tons (29.06 t; 32.03 short tons)
Fuel capacity 300 imp gal (1,400 l; 360 US gal)
Prime mover Rolls-Royce C6NFL176
Engine type Straight-6 diesel
Transmission Rolls-Royce 10,000-series 3-stage twin-disc torque converter, manually operated YEC reduction and reversing final drive gearbox
Train brakes Vacuum
Performance figures
Maximum speed 19.5 mph (31.4 km/h)
Power output Engine: 170 hp (130 kW)
At rail: 100 hp (75 kW)
Tractive effort 15,000 lbf (66.7 kN) (max)
Loco brakeforce 21 long tons-force (210 kN)
Career
Operators British Railways
Number in class 20
Numbers D2850–D2869; later 02001–02004
Axle load class RA 2
Withdrawn December 1969 - June 1975
Disposition Seven preserved, remainder scrapped

The British Rail Class 02 were a class of twenty 0-4-0 diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives built by the Yorkshire Engine Company in 1960 (first ten, D2850-D2859) and 1961 (D2860-D2869) for service in areas of restricted loading gauge and curvature such as docks. They had the door to the cab at the rear, with a railed veranda behind the cab; this feature was very unusual on British Rail locomotives although was used on many Yorkshire Engine Co. designs and was/is quite normal in North American practice.

Operation

Initial deliveries were to Bank Hall shed in Liverpool[1] and most were allocated to Depots around Liverpool or Manchester. With the changes in the role of the British railway system and the closing of many of the facilities in which the Class 02 locomotives worked, they were increasingly surplus to requirements. The first locomotives were withdrawn in December 1969 from the Preston division of the Midland Region[1] and by the end of 1971 there were only 4 left in service with British Rail. Of these, only three survived long enough to enter the BR TOPS computer system: 02 001 (formerly D2851), 02 003 (D2853), and 02 004 (D2856), and all three were withdrawn in June 1975 from Allerton depot.[1] Being between nine and fourteen years old when withdrawn, they still had a lot of life left in them, and the majority were sold to private industry, with only 9 being cut up for scrap.

One example was employed by the National Coal Board at Chatterley Whitfield Colliery near Stoke-on-Trent; this locomotive (number unknown) stayed there when Chatterley Whitfield briefly became a mining museum.

Preservation

There are 7 locomotives now in preservation, where their small size makes them perfect as a workshop shunter or for use in track maintenance work. One (D2860) is the works shunter for the National Railway Museum in York, where it is used to move much larger exhibits around.

Technical details

The engine is a Rolls-Royce C6NFL176 6-cyl. in-line connected to a Rolls-Royce series 10,000 3-stage twin-disc torque converter and a manually operated YEC reduction and reversing final drive gearbox. The engine and transmission are mounted at an angle of 30 degrees to the horizontal to allow the overall length and height of the locomotive to be reduced.

Unlike most earlier British Rail shunters, the Class 02s were built with train vacuum brakes.

Industrial locomotives

In addition to these locomotives produced for British Railways, around 50 very similar locomotives (most with diesel-electric transmission and/or more powerful engines) were produced for industrial customers. Many of these can now be found in preservation also, since few industrial users have their own railways anymore. Quite a few are dressed up in fictitious British Railways livery and numbering (for example - 02 101).

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 A Decade After. Midland Railfans.

Further reading

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