The Diesel is depicted in the television episode 'Bowled Out', he is a two tone green Class 40 1Co-Co1 Diesel locomotive and numbered D261. These locomotives were designed and built by English Electric between 1958 and 1962, and eventually numbering 200, they were for a time the pride of the British Rail early diesel fleet. Despite their initial success, by the time the last examples were entering service they were already being replaced on some top-link duties by more powerful locomotives.
As they were slowly relegated from express passenger uses, the type found work on secondary passenger and freight services where they worked for many years, the final locomotives being retired from regular service in 1985.
The Class 40s operated in most areas of British Railways (except the Western and Southern Regions). After the early trials, the majority were based at depots in northern England, notably Manchester Longsight, Carlisle Kingmoor, Wigan Springs Branch, Thornaby and Gateshead.
The heyday of the class was in the early 1960s, when they hauled top-link expresses on the West Coast Main Line and in East Anglia.
The heyday of the class was in the early 1960s, when they hauled top-link expresses on the West Coast Main Line and in East Anglia.
However, the arrival of more powerful diesels such as Class 47 and Class 55, together with the electrification of the West Coast Main Line, meant that the fleet was gradually relegated to more mundane duties.
Photos © Daniel Snell
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