British Rail Class D3/6

British Rail Class D3/6
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder English Electric at Hawthorn Leslie Serial number HL: 3841–3850, 3816 Build date 1934 (7079), 1935 (7069-78)
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0 DE  • UIC C Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Wheel diameter 4 ft 0+1⁄2 in (1.232 m) Loco weight 51.45 long tons (52.28 t) Prime mover English Electric 6K Traction motors English Electric, 2 off MU working Not fitted Train heating None
Performance figures Maximum speed 30 mph (48 km/h) Power output Engine: 350 hp (261 kW) Tractive effort 30,000 lbf (133.4 kN)
Career Operators London, Midland and Scottish Railway, War Department, British Railways Class LMS: 0F; BR: D3/6 Numbers LMS 7069–7079; BR 12000–12002 Axle load class Route availability 5

Class D3/6 were diesel shunters built in 1935 by English Electric for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. They were the first of a new design of diesel shunters based on the English Electric 6K of 350 horsepower (260 kW) diesel engine. Similar prototypes were built on the Southern Railway (SR1-3), Great Western Railway (GWR2), and London and North Eastern Railway (8000-8004), and the design based around the long bonnet ("nose"), 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, the EE 6K prime mover and 2 axle-hung traction motors formed the basis of most subsequent large diesel shunters built in Britain, such as the British Rail Class 11 and even more numerous British Rail Class 08 that entered service after World War 2.

Numbering

One demonstrator and ten production locomotives were built, numbered 7079 and 7069-7078 by the LMS. Three of these later became British Rail numbers 12000–12002 (previously 7074/76/79 respectively). The remainder were sold to the British War Department in 1940 and were shipped to France during World War II. Of these the first production locomotive, no. 7069, survived the war and was used in industrial service in France. It was later repatriated for preservation and is now based at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

References

• Strickland, David C. (September 1983). Locomotive Directory: Every Single One There Has Ever Been. Camberley: Diesel and Electric Group. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-906375-10-5. OCLC 16601890. OL 27959920M. Wikidata Q105978499.

See also

• LMS diesel shunters