British Rail Class 08
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 Consequently, a large proportion of the class has been withdrawn from mainline use and stored, scrapped, exported or sold to industrial or heritage railways.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.
History
The Class 08 design was based on the LMS 12033 series design. There were also 26 of the near-identical but higher-geared Class 09, and 171 similar locomotives fitted with different engines and transmissions, 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The first locomotive to be withdrawn was D3193 in 1967. Four other machines were withdrawn before TOPS reclassification in 1973. Withdrawals continued in subsequent decades until by the beginning of the 1990s most of the class had been withdrawn.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.
Exported locomotives
Sixteen English Electric 0-6-0DE 350 hp locomotives, based on the Class 11/Class 08 design but modified for 1,600 mm gauge, were built new and exported 1951–53 to Australia, entering service on the Victorian Railways as the F class.Five Class 08s were exported to Liberia, numbers 3047, 3092, 3094, 3098 and 3100. All five locos remain in Liberia and have been considerably robbed of parts in the intervening years.
In 2007, 08 738 and 08 939 were equipped for multiple operation at Toton TMD and repainted in Euro Cargo Rail livery before being sent to France in April 2009.
Operations
As the standard general-purpose diesel shunter on BR, almost any duty requiring shunting would involve a Class 08; thus the many locations where 2 portions of a train were merged, or where additional stock was added to a train, were hauled by a Class 08, thus the class was a familiar sight at many major stations and terminals.Technical description
The Class 08 design was based on the LMS 12033 series design.The engine is an English Electric 6 cylinder, 4-stroke, 6KT. Traction motors are 2 EE 506 motors with double reduction gear drive. The main generator is an EE 801.
Design variations
There were variations on the basic design, which were given the following TOPS design codes:| TOPS design code | Electrical system | Max speed | Weight | Brakes | Route availability | Notes |
| 08-0AV | 90 V | vacuum | 5 | |||
| 08-0BX | 110 V | dual | 5 | |||
| 08-0CA | 90 V | air | 5 | |||
| 08-0DV | 90 V | vacuum | 5 | |||
| 08-0BX | 90 V | dual | 5 | |||
| 08-0FA | 90 V | air | 5 | |||
| 08-0KX | 110 V | dual | 5 | |||
| 08-0LX | 110 V | dual | 5 | Scharfenberg coupler adapter fitted | ||
| 08-0MA | 110 V | air | 5 | |||
| 08-0NA | 90 V | air | 5 | fitted with Buckeye couplings | ||
| 08-0PA | 90 V | air | 6 | fitted with Buckeye couplings | ||
| 08-0QA | 90 V | air | 6 | fitted with Buckeye couplings | ||
| 08-0RA | 110 V | air | 6 | fitted with Buckeye couplings | ||
| 08-0SA | 110 V | air | 6 |
Class 08/9
Class 08/9 locomotives were modified from the standard class by being given headlights and cut-down bodywork in which the overall height was reduced to 11’ 10", for use on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway up to Cwm Mawr. In 2007, three were used on infrastructure trains on the Manchester Metrolink.| TOPS design code | Electrical system | Max speed | Weight | Brakes | Notes |
| 08-9AV | 90 V | vacuum brakes | 08 991 converted from 08 203 08 992 converted from 08 259 | ||
| 08-9CX | 90 V | dual brakes | 08 993 converted from 08 592 | ||
| 08-9DA | 90 V | air brakes | 08 994 converted from 08 462 08 995 converted from 08 687 |
BR Class 13
Six Class 08 units were adapted for a specialist role at Tinsley Marshalling Yard, where there was a requirement for more powerful shunters. These locomotives were permanently coupled together in pairs as a 'master and slave', the slave unit with its cab removed, and reclassified as the Class 13. All have since been scrapped.Fleet
08 886 EMR Kingsbury 20 May 2016, for scrap.| Numbers | Operators | Number operated | Comments |
| 08571, 08596, 08615, 08788 | Wabtec Rail | 4 | 08788 on long-term lease to Abellio Scotrail |
| 08389, 08428, 08500, 08578, 08623, 08653, 08706, 08714 08630, 08 802, 08804, 08865, 08879, 08904, 08905, 08924, 08943, 08994 | Harry Needle Railroad Company | 18 | 08428, 500, 578, 653, 706, 714, 802, 804, 865, 879, stored |
| 08525, 08690, 08908, 08950 | East Midlands Railway | 4 | |
| 08530, 08531, 08575, 08585, 08624, 08691, 08764, 08785, 08891 | Freightliner | 9 | 08575, 891 stored |
| 08948 | Eurostar | 1 | |
| 08 641, 08 644, 08 645 "St Piran", 08 822, 08 836 | Great Western Railway | 5 | |
| 08 616, 08 805 | West Midlands Trains | 2 | Both rarely used |
| 08417 | Network Rail | 1 | |
| 08788 | Abellio ScotRail | 1 | on long-term lease from Wabtec Rail |
| 08 451, 08 454, 08 611, 08 696, 08 721, 08 790, 08 887 | Alstom | 7 | |
| 08 418, 08 485, 08 678 | West Coast Railways | 3 | |
| 08 682 | Derby Litchurch Lane Works | 1 | |
| 08220,08405, 08441, 08484, 08511, 08593, 08580, 08632, 08683, 08703, 08709, 08752, | Rail Support Services | ||
| 08 737 | Locomotive Services Limited | 1 | |
| 08567 | Arlington Fleet Services | 1 | |
| 08410 | A V Dawson | 1 | |
| 08735 | Arriva Traincare | 1 | |
| 08649; unknown | Meteor Power Ltd | 2 | 08649 under conversion to an experimental low-energy battery-hybrid locomotive; other locomotive to be used as a 'control' during testing |
| 08308 08423 08523 08573 08588 08613 08622 08648 08754 08756 08762 08788 08809 08847 08871 08874 08885 08936 | Rail Management Services | 18 | |
| 08870 | Eastern Rail Services | 1 |
Preservation
Continuing in its designed-for role as a shunter, the Class 08 has been found useful by numerous heritage railways in the UK. With over seventy examples preserved, they are the second most numerous class of preserved locomotive in the UK.Models
Several manufacturers have produced models of Class 08 shunters. In OO scale, Wrenn, Tri-ang, Hornby Railways and Bachmann Branchline all produced models. Lima also produced a model in several different liveries, but it was of the near-identical Class 09.Since 2000, both Bachmann Branchline and Hornby have released much more detailed models, in a variety of liveries and with a variety of appropriate detail variations.
In British N Gauge, Graham Farish have also produced 2 versions; a relatively crude version lacking outside frames that was discontinued in 2007, and a more detailed version with outside frames that was unveiled 2008.