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Class 08 (and 08/9) shunter
Class 08 (and 08/9) shunter: a diesel-electric shunter locomotive (0-6-0 (UIC C)), built by British Railways works at Crewe, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster and Horwich, 1952-1962. A freight locomotive, drawn indicatively from artwork and photographs (set FRL6).
Class 08 (and 08/9) shunter · indicative drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/class-08/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 2
The same indicative drawing in each livery, each drawn from a cited source. The drawing above shows the largest fleet’s.
- Type
- diesel-electric shunter locomotive
- Builder
- British Railways works at Crewe, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster and Horwich
- Built
- 1952-1962
- In service
- since 1952
- Top speed
- 15 mph (24 km/h)
- Power
- 298 kW (400 hp); English Electric 6KT diesel, 2 x EE 506 DC traction motors · how it works
- Bogies
- rod-coupled 0-6-0 running gear on a rigid frame (Classes 08 and 09)
- Profile
- main-line
- Status
- In use as depot and yard shunters. Class 08 count by operator in 2026 is only partly known; weight 49-51 long tons (49.8-51.8 t).
unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓
Sources
How we source figures → · Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)
- British Rail Class 08 Wikipedia (secondary; must be paired), 2026-10-25infobox dimensions, engine, 15 or 20 mph (32 km/h)
- GB Railfreight - Locomotives page GB Railfreight, undated (read 2026-10-25)50 t, 15 mph (24 km/h), 08925 and 08934 for sale
- How Freightliner locomotive fleets are splitting after intermodal sale RAIL magazine, 2026-02-117 with Freightliner intermodal
- Class 08 reference images supplied by the site's author: photographs of 08114 (BR blue, side on), D3401 (BR green) and 08801 (BR blue, three-quarter), and side-on artwork of 08910 (BR blue) and 08994 (Railfreight grey) private reference (not published)the outline, cab, windows, doors, louvres, radiator end, steps and frame (artwork side on, scaled by the length over buffers; 08114 for the cab); the liveries and the rods' colour
- Single secondary source for length, width, height, wheel diameter (Wikipedia).
- Power: 350 or 400 hp (261 or 298 kW) in the infobox; 400 hp/298 kW used here.
- Class 08/9 height is 11 ft 10 in (3,597 mm; Wikipedia).
- Total in freight and yard service is to be confirmed; the Wikipedia operator list is from 2022 and says 'about 100 in service'.
- Drawing indicative (set FRL6, November 2026): the layout read on side-on artwork of 08994 scaled by the record's 29 ft 3 in (8,920 mm) over buffers, the cab from a photograph of 08114; heights stretched to the record's 12 ft 9 in (3,877 mm; the references read 3,460-3,920 by their own scales)
- Drawing: the side with the cab at the left only; the bonnet's doors, handrails and steps differ on the other side and are not drawn
- Liveries' colours from a photograph and artwork, approximate; the freight operators' own 08 liveries are not drawn yet (no references)
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