British Rail Class 09


The British Rail Class 09 is a class of 0-6-0 diesel locomotive designed primarily for shunting and also short distance freight trips along branch lines.
The 26 locos are nearly identical to the more numerous Class 08 shunting locomotives but have different gearing, giving a higher top speed of 27.5 mph at the expense of a lower tractive effort. They were introduced from 1959 to 1962 and latterly operated in the Southern Region of British Railways, although some of the class were originally allocated to depots in the Midlands and North. Further locomotives were converted from Class 08 in 1992 and, following this and privatisation in 1997, the class has been distributed much further afield.

Passenger operations

Although not normally considered for passenger work, Class 09s were recorded working passenger trains between Clapham Junction and Kensington Olympia due to unavailability of the booked Class 33 diesel.
They were also used on Railtours which needed to depart Brighton heading along the West Coastway Line or vice versa. To achieve this the 09 worked between Brighton and Preston Park, allowing the main tour locomotive to work the train forward via the Cliftonville tunnel and Hove. The connection to the West Coastway Line at Brighton can only be used by four car trains due to the arrangement of the points and track.

Liveries

Post-Privatisation

The following liveries have been carried since the privatisation of British Rail:
The original 26 locomotives became sub-class 09/0 when further locomotives were modified from Class 08 in 1992 which became subclasses Classes 09/1 and 09/2.
There were variations, which were given the following TOPS design codes:

Class 09/0

TOPS design codeElectrical systemMax speedWeightBrakesRoute availabilityNotes
09-0AX110Vdual?Original design
09-0BA110Vair6knuckle couplings fitted

Classes 09/1 & 09/2

TOPS design codeElectrical systemMax speedWeightBrakesRoute availabilityNotes
09-1AX110 V27.5 mph dual?
09-1BX110 V27.5 mph dual?
09-1CX110 Vdual?fitted with knuckle couplings
09-1EA110 Vair6fitted with knuckle couplings
09-2AA90 Vair?
09-2BX90 Vdual?
09-2DA90 Vair6fitted with knuckle couplings

Preservation

12 members of the class have been preserved