Rolling stock › WithdrawnData updated
Class 55 Deltic
Twenty-two express diesels that English Electric built at the Vulcan Foundry in 1961-62 for the East Coast Main Line's fastest trains between London King's Cross and Edinburgh, at up to 100 mph (161 km/h). Each carried two Napier Deltic engines, which gave the class its name, for 3,300 hp. They came in two-tone green and from about 1966 were painted BR blue with yellow ends.
Scale
69 ft 6 in (21.184 m) over couplers
Class 55 Deltic · schematic drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/class-55/ · CC BY 4.0
You’re welcome to use this drawing
Free to use, change and share, in print or online, under CC BY 4.0. Please credit it:
Drawing: GB Trains, gbtrains.uk, CC BY 4.0Online, link the words to this page. The downloaded file already carries the credit; please leave it on. What the licence covers
Liveries 1
The same measured train in each livery, each drawn from a cited source. The drawing above shows the largest fleet’s.
Former liveries 1
- Type
- Diesel-electric locomotive (Co-Co)
- Builder
- English Electric, at the Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows
- Built
- 1961-1962
- In service
- 1961–1982
- Formation
- 1 locomotive (Co-Co)
- Trains in fleet
- 22
- Top speed
- 100 mph (161 km/h)
- Power
- 3,300 hp: two Napier Deltic 18-cylinder opposed-piston two-stroke engines of 1,650 hp each, two English Electric EE829 generators and six EE538 traction motors · how it works
- Bogies
- English Electric Co-Co bogies (Class 55 Deltic)
- Train length
- 70 ft (21.184 m)
- Car height
- 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)
- Car width
- 8 ft 10 in (2.68 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Status
- Withdrawn between January 1980 and January 1982. Six are preserved: 55002, 55009, 55015, 55016, 55019 and 55022; the cabs of 55008 and 55021 also survive.
unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | Class 55 diesel-electric locomotive | 69 ft 6 in21.184 m |
Sources
How we source figures → · Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)
Show the 10 sources from Wikimedia Commons, British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department, British Railways and 1 more
- Diagram Book D.M.L. 0.329: diesel locomotive diagrams, with DH/4102/1 (the 2,700 hp Type 4 C-C diesel hydraulic, Class 52) and DE/5001/1 (the 3,300 hp English Electric Type 5 C-C, Class 55) British Railways (original copyright BRB Residuary Ltd; diagrams courtesy of Steve Branch, 2017), p. diagram DE/5001/169 ft 6 in over buffers, 45 ft 0 in bogie centres, 58 ft 6 in total wheelbase, 6 ft 9 in + 6 ft 9 in bogies, 3 ft 7 in wheels, 8 ft 9 1/2 in wide, 12 ft 11 in over walkways; two Napier Deltic 18 engines of 1,650 hp, two EE829 generators, six EE538 motors, 100 mph (161 km/h), 99 tons 18 cwt in working order
- Vehicle Diagram Book No. 100 for Main Line Diesel Locomotives, with sheet 55-a (Class 55, the Deltic) British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department (PDF copy by J. D. Faulkner, 2009; copyright BRB Residuary Ltd), pp. sheet 55-a (p. 138)the same figures, and the side elevation the drawing is measured from
- British Rail Class 55 Wikipedialead only: builder and works, 1961-62, 22 built, withdrawals 1980-82, six preserved, the liveries
- Vehicle Diagram Book No. 100 for Main Line Diesel Locomotives, with sheet 55-a (Class 55, the Deltic) British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department (PDF copy by J. D. Faulkner, 2009; copyright BRB Residuary Ltd), pp. sheet 55-a (p. 138 of the PDF)the drawing's outline, layout, windows, doors, grilles, louvres, tanks and bogie positions (side elevation scaled by its 45 ft bogie centres); bogie centres, wheelbase, wheels, buffer height and length over buffers
- 55 019 at Barrow Hill.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (hugh llewelyn), 25 September 2010the bogie (laid out from its leading bogie), the cab end, the BR blue livery's yellow end and the side drawn
- Hugh llewelyn 55 019 (5555978938).jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Hugh Llewelyn), 25 September 2010the whole locomotive, the same side: a check of the layout
- Deltic 9019 Royal Highland Fusilier Loughborough 1989.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 1989the whole locomotive nearly broadside in BR blue: heights (the buffers, doors and windows) checked against the sheet
- 55 019 Royal Highland Fusilier Class 55 Deltic Co-Co Loughborough Loco 131024.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 16 October 2024the other side's No. 2 end: the cab door's step recess, the nose and the BR blue
- 55009 Alicydon Holloway Bank.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Barry Lewis), 1970sBR blue in service (1970s), the side drawn
- Deltic D9009 Alycidon at Wansford.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Duncan Harris), 17 October 2009the two-tone green livery
.jpg){kind=link}
unverified
- Dates, builder, the fleet of 22, the withdrawals (5 January 1980 to 2 January 1982), the six preserved and the liveries' dates: from Wikipedia, used as a lead only (its introduction says withdrawals ran to December 1981, its table to 2 January 1982)
- Height: the diagram gives 12 ft 11 in over the walkways (12 ft 11 in (3,937 mm)), Wikipedia 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Know a source for one of these? Send it to us → (opens in a new tab)