page_title: British Rail Class 08
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: British Rail Class 08 / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Foster Yeoman Class 08 at the Torr Works
context_page_description: The British Rail Class 08 is a class of diesel-electric shunting locomotive built by British Railways. As the standard BR general-purpose diesel shunter, the class became a familiar sight at major stations and freight yards. Since their introduction in 1952 however, 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 Consequently, a large proportion of the class has been withdrawn from mainline use and stored, scrapped, exported or sold to industrial or heritage railways.
  As of 2020, around 100 locomotives remained 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 70 preserved including the first one built.
context_section_description: 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 1,193.
  The pioneer locomotive, number 13000, was built in 1952 although it did not enter service until 1953. Production continued until 1962 with 996 locomotives produced, making it the most numerous of all British locomotive classes.
  The locomotives were built at the BR's Crewe, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster and Horwich works.
  In 1985, three 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 remainder of the class were reclassified as sub-class 08/0. A further two were converted to 08/9s in 1987.
  The first locomotive to be withdrawn was D3193 in 1967. Four other machines were withdrawn before TOPS reclassification in 1973. Withdrawals continued in subsequent decades until by the beginning of the 1990s most of the class had been withdrawn. As part of the privatisation of British Rail in the mid-1990s most of the survivors passed to EWS with some going to passenger operators for use as depot shunters. At the same time as the withdrawals, many were purchased by heritage railways.
  In mid-2008, EWS had over forty class 08s in operation, with a greater number stored. Freightliner also had about five in operation, as did locomotive company Wabtec Rail. FirstGroup operated fewer than five; additionally, some 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.
caption: 08 032 at Foster Yeoman's Torr Works, 2008
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