Icons of British Rail Class 20

A new series on the channel as I take a look at what I deem to be icons of the British Rail era of trains in the UK. Taking a look through the years at what this country has built and how successful each are.

In today's video we take a long look at the class 20 locomotive.

The British Rail Class 20, otherwise known as an English Electric Type 1, is a class of diesel-electric locomotive. In total, 228 locomotives in the class were built by English Electric between 1957 and 1968, the large number being in part because of the failure of other early designs in the same power range to provide reliable locomotives.

Power type Diesel-electric
Builder English Electric at Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns
Build date 1957–1962, 1965–1968
Total produced 228

Performance figures
Maximum speed
75 mph (121 km/h)
Power output
Engine: 1,000 hp (746 kW)
Tractive effort
Maximum: 42,000 lbf (186.8 kN)
Continuous: 25,000 lbf (111.2 kN)@ 11 mph (17.7 km/h)[2]
Brakeforce
35 long tons-force (349 kN)

Still going strong for many companies across freight and the railtour/private sector in 2025 nearly 50 years after first produced is immense.

In this video I have complied what I have managed to film in my heard trainspotting to date which is mostly railtour action.

Thanks for watching and subscribe to see more rail videos coming soon

Filmed at Bamfurlong, Springs Branch and Wigan North Western

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