British Rail Class 04

British Rail Class 04

D2298, as preserved at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. (NB - few examples were given any form of blue livery while in service with British Railways)

Type and origin Power type Diesel-mechanical Builder Drewry Car Co., at Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Build date 1948 (D2341); 1952–1962 (D2200-2340) Total produced 142

Specifications Configuration 0-6-0 UIC class C Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Wheel diameter D2200–D2214: 3 ft 3 in (0.991 m) D2215–D2273: 3 ft 6 in (1.067 m) D2274–D2339: 3 ft 7 in (1.092 m) Minimum curve 2 chains (130 ft; 40 m) Wheelbase 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) Length Width 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) Height Loco weight to Fuel capacity 225 imp gal (1,020 L; 270 US gal) to 300 imp gal (1,400 L; 360 US gal) Prime mover Gardner 8L3 Transmission Wilson-Drewry 5 speed epicyclic gearbox Train heating None Train brakes Vacuum

Performance figures Maximum speed 25 mph (40 km/h) to 27 mph (43 km/h) Power output Engine: 204 hp (152 kW) At rail: 152 hp (113 kW) Tractive effort Maximum: 16,850 lbf (75.0 kN) to 15,650 lbf (69.6 kN) Loco brakeforce

Career Operators British Railways Numbers D2200–D2341 Axle load class D2200–D2214: RA 1 D2215–D2340: RA 2 Withdrawn 1968-1971 Disposition 18 preserved, remainder scrapped

The British Rail Class 04 was a 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunting locomotive class, built between 1952 and 1962 and was the basis for the later Class 03 built in the British Railways workshops. However, the first locomotive to be built to the design was actually DS1173, in 1948, which served as a departmental shunter at Hither Green depot, before being transferred to the capital stock list as D2341 in 1967. The Class 04 locomotives were supplied by the Drewry Car Co., which at the time (and for most of its existence) had no manufacturing capability. Drewry sub-contracted the construction work to two builders both of whom built other locomotives under the same arrangement. Early locomotives (including DS1173) were built by Vulcan Foundry and later examples were built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns.

Evolution

A clear line of development can be seen in the Class 04s from the 0-4-0DM locomotives built by Andrew Barclay and Drewry/Vulcan Foundry in the early 1940s. The design continued to develop during the construction period, but this was generally confined to the size of the cab windows and the diameter of the wheels. Similar locomotives had been built before the first Class 04, and others were built for industrial use.

Use on tramways

The first four of these locomotives (11100-3 later D2200-3) were fitted with side skirting and cowcatchers for use on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway and on the Yarmouth Docks tramway system. (British law requires locomotives running on unfenced street trackage to be so protected for the protection of pedestrians). The next batch differed from the first in being fitted with conical exhaust stacks (instead of the plain exhaust pipe that was later added to the original exhaust "hole") and shaped cab front windows (instead of the rectangular windows of the first batch). However, at least two (11111/D2210 and 11113/D2212) were also fitted with cowcatchers, etc. for use on the Ipswich docks tramway system. (Note - from 11115/D2215 the small cab side window of the first two batches was replaced by a much larger window, the rear half of which slid open.)

Technical details

Overview

Mechanically they were identical to the Class 03, with the same 24 litre Gardner engine, 5-speed epicyclic gearbox and the same overall layout. They had a straight bonnet (US: hood) from the front to the rear-mounted cab, unlike the 03s which bulged higher towards the rear (over the larger fuel tank), and the cab's rounded roof met the sides at an angle instead of with a curve as in the 03, with a lip all the way round. The internal cab layout was almost symmetrical to allow the driver to work from either side as required.

Drive Train

The engine is a Gardner 8-cyl, 4-stroke 8L3 developing 204 hp (152 kW) at 1200 rpm, connected to a Wilson-Drewry CA5 R7, 5-speed epicyclic with RF11 spiral bevel reverse and final drive unit mounted on a jackshaft. The drive to the wheels was by coupling rods from the jackshaft.

Usage

The class was distributed throughout the British Railways system, but the significant decline in the traffic for which they were designed resulted in a large surplus of shunting engines on the network. With this reduction in the need for shunters it was decided to standardise on the Class 03 as a light diesel-mechanical shunter and the Class 08 and 09 as larger, diesel-electric shunters.

Withdrawal

The Class 04s were withdrawn from service earlier than the Class 03, being taken out of service between June 1967 and May 1972, with sold for re-use by industry. Four were exported to Italy about 1972, with D2289 reported as still in service.

Table of withdrawals

Year	Quantity in service at start of year	Quantity withdrawn	Locomotive numbers
1967	142	13	D2203/07/54/63/66/73/75/88/90/91/92, D2303/39.
1968	129	74	D2200–02/08/09/13/14/18–22/24/26–28/30/32–36/38/40/45/46, D2250/51/52/55–57/59/62/68–70/81/86/87/98, D2301/04–09/11–16/18–29/31/34–38/40/41.
1969	55	28	D2204–06/15/25/29/31/37/42/43/47/53/64/67/71/74/76/77/83/85/96, D2300/02/10/17/30/32/33.
1970	27	15	D2210–12/44/48/49/58/60/61/65/72/78/82/97/99.
1971	12	12	D2216/17/23/39/41/79/80/84/89/93–95.
1972	0	0	D2217 (reinstated and withdrawn).

Preservation

18 examples of the BR Class 04 fleet have been originally preserved, although there was (until 2003) a 19th example but it has since been scrapped with 1 still in use in Italy D2289:

Number	Image	Built	Original Allocation	Current Owner	Current Location	Status	Notes
D2203		19/07/1952			Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
D2205	120px	14/03/1953	Thornaby	Heritage Shunters Trust	Rowsley South, Peak Rail	Non Operational	Worked Middlesbrough Docks its entire life, sold to the Port Authority in 1969. Preserved initially at the Kent and East Sussex Railway, then moved to West Somerset Railway. Placed up for sale in April 2012, it was sold to the Heritage Shunters Trust in October 2012
D2207		14/02/1953			North Yorkshire Moors Railway
D2229	120px	28/11/1955		Heritage Shunters Trust	Rowsley South, Peak Rail		After sale from BR, owned by the National Coal Board and operated at Manton Wood Colliery, Worksop
D2245		12/11/1956	Leeds Neville Hill	Private	Derwent Valley Light Railway (York)	Operational	Previously owned by the Derwent Valley Light Railway Usuall home at Battlefield Line
D2246	120px	06/12/1956		Devon Diesel Society	South Devon Railway
D2267		20/01/1958			North Norfolk Railway		Scrapped in situ, circa April 2003
D2271	120px			West Somerset Railway	West Somerset Railway
D2272				Heritage Shunters Trust	Peak Rail
D2279				East Anglian Railway Museum	Peak Rail	Undergoing Overhaul	Currently undergoing a full overhaul. Will then return to the East Anglian Railway Museum
D2280				M&GNJRS	North Norfolk Railway
D2284		25/03/1960		Heritage Shunters Trust	Peak Rail
D2298		1960			Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
D2302					D2578 Locomotive Group, Moreton Business Park
D2310					Battlefield Line
D2324					Barrow Hill Roundhouse
D2325					Mangapps Railway Museum
D2334					Churnet Valley Railway
D2337				Heritage Shunters Trust	Peak Rail

Fictional characters

The 'Tramway' Class 04 locomotives were the basis for the character Mavis in The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W. Awdry, and the subsequent Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV Series. A class 04 is preserved in this guise at Mangapps Railway Museum, running number 11104.

Models

Airfix produced a plastic (static) OO kit in the 1960s; this is still available in the Dapol range as kit number C60.

Bachmann produced an example in N and OO gauge. An HO gauge model was made to be used as the Thomas and Friends character Mavis.

External links

• Photos at TheRailwayCentre.com