Trivia Page

Some intresting bits of Trivia about the British Rail Locomotives.

## Services

* Only one known service was hauled by a class 14 when in a regular passenger service, the 5pm Gloucester - Cheltenham service on the 27th of November 1965, formed of 3 coaches and hauled by D9521.
* The last British Rail Train was hauled by 92 003 'Beethoven' which ran on the 21st of November 1998. It was the 23:15 Dollands Moor to Wembley, the 4M63.

## Nicknames

* D5900 class Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives, constructed by the English Electric company. They used a single Napier Deltic engine/generator combination, as opposed to the two-engines layout and Co-Co wheel arrangement of the much longer Deltic locomotives from the same manufacturer, to which they bore a very strong family resemblance, hence the nickname **Baby Deltic**
* North British D6300 class locomotives, which used one diesel engine coupled to a hydraulic transmission, making them effectively half a D600 Warship or D800 Warship, each of which had two engine, hence the nickname **Baby Warship**.
* British Rail Class 33/1 locomotives, specifically those fitted for push-pull working with 4TC stock, hence the nickname **Bagpipes**.
* British Rail Class 57 diesel-electric locomotives—made by transplanting a General Motors reconditioned power unit and alternator into a Class 47 bodyshell, hence the nickname **Body Snatchers**.
* British Rail Class 58 diesel-electric locomotive—from the shape: the body is narrow with wide cabs,hence the nickname **Bone**. Ironically, one of the final workings of this class was a railfan special called the Bone Breaker which ended in a bufferstop collision and a passenger breaking his leg.
* British Rail Class 47 diesel-electric locomotive, also known as the "Brush Type 4" or by the Nickname **Brush**, followers of this type are often known as "Brush bashers".
* British Rail Class 20 diesel-electric locomotive, due to there engine noise they where given the nickname **Choppers**.
* British Rail Class 33 diesel-electric locomotive (fitted with Crompton Parkinson electrical equipment), hence the nickname **Crompton**.
* British Rail Class 55 diesel-electric locomotives (the "**Deltics**"), which use twin Napier Deltic power units.
* British Rail Class 92 so called **Dysons** due to there engine noise.
* British Rail Class 58 so called **Egg Timers** due to there shape.
* British Rail Class 31 diesel-electric locomotive given the name **Goyal** after the somewhat ungainly headcode boxes above the driving cabs.
* British Rail Class 56 diesel-electric locomotive, from the large grilles gained the nickname **Grids** or **Grid-Irons**.
* British Rail Class 08 or Class 09 shunter gained the nickname **Gronk**.
* British Rail Class 37 diesel-electric locomotive from the engine sound gained the nickname **Growler**.
* British Rail Class 31, on account of its engine noise where given the Nickname **Gurgler**.
* British Rail Class 50 diesel-electric locomotive gained the nickname **Hoover** from the sound of the engine cooling fans being similar to a vacuum cleaner, prior to the refurbishment which removed this characteristic
* D7000 class locomotive using a V16 Maybach diesel engine coupled to a Mekydro hydraulic transmission gained the nickname **Hymek**.
* British Rail Class 44, Class 45, or Class 46 diesel-electric locomotive—so named because the earliest of these loco types, the ten Class 44s, were named after mountains hence the nickname **Peak**.
* British Rail Class 70 where give the nickname **Preditor** due to the alien of the same name from the American films.
* Railfans nicknamed the Class 25s ***Rats***, as it was alleged they could be seen everywhere in Britain, and hence were "as common as rats". They were also known, mostly by their drivers, as ***Spluts***, owing to their habit of spluttering when they broke down, which they often did.
* Early British Rail 25 kV AC electric locomotive of types 'AL1'–'AL5' (later Classes 81, 82, 83, 84, 85), due to the loud whine made by the traction motor cooling fans when the locomotive is at rest. The name originated with the AL3 type. Although the other types exhibit a less noticeable noise, the Nickname **Roarer** was applied equally to any of them.
* A Canadian-built Class 66 diesel-electric locomotive Nicknamed **Shed** due to the roof shape and also the corrugated bodysides.
* A Class 67 diesel-electric locomotive nicknamed **Skip** due to there shape resembling an up turned skip.
* Narrow-bodied version of the British Rail Class 33 diesel-electric locomotive (identified as sub-class 33/2)—built for the confined loading gauge on the Hastings line, hence the nickname **Slim Jim**.
* British Rail Class 25, referring to their habit of spluttering when their engines cut out and failed, which they often did gained them the nickname **Splut**.
* A rebuilt class 60, upgraded by DBS. Mainly seen in an overall red livery, with half-yellow fronts, but a couple can be seen in the original Sector livery. The upgrade gave them the nickname of **Super 60**.
* A British Rail Class 14 diesel-hydraulic locomotive for shunting and trip working.Coined by Swindon Works' foreman George Cole who quipped "We've built the Great Bear, now we're going to build a **Teddy Bear**!"
* Class 52 diesel-hydraulic locomotives (the "Westerns") given the number range beginning with D1000 hence the nickname **Thousands**.
* A British Rail Class 37 diesel-electric locomotive, possibly from the engine sound, also because they could be found hauling almost anything as a mixed-traffic design hence the nickname **Tractor**.
* A British Rail Class 60 diesel-electric locomotive, as named because of their tremendous pulling power, size and sluggish nature, hence the nickname **Tug**. Class 60s upgraded by DB Schenker are called 'Super Tugs'.
* A British Rail Class 52 diesel-hydraulic type 4 locomotive, 74 of which ran on BR between 1961 and 1977. All were named in a series beginning "*Western...*" hence the nickname **Westerners**.
* British Rail Class 40 diesel-electric locomotive,gained the nickname **Whistler** from the turbocharger sound; this nickname is also occasionally applied to British Rail Class 20 locomotives.
* A British Rail Class 52 diesel-hydraulic type 4 locomotive gained the nickname **Wizzo**.
* An early name for a Class 59 diesel-electric locomotive, the first privately owned (by Foster Yeoman) locomotives to operate on British Rail, owing to their names starting with "*Yeoman*" such as 59 001 *Yeoman Endeavour* they gained the Nickname **Yeoman**.

1. ↑ The Railway Magazine, 101 Things You Didn't Know About the Railways, June 2016 issue.
2. ↑ The Railway Magazine, January 1998, Page 5, ISBN 9770033892095 01