Class 42 Warship Profile

British Railways Warship Type 4
Introduced in August 1958, this fleet of Warship locos were based on the German V200 diesel-hydraulic design. Built at Swindon Works, concurrent with the North British Locomotive Company building the Class 43 Warship, they differed by having different power and transmission units. They were used on the Western Region, West of England lines, and all except D800 were named after naval ships or establishments. Due to British Railway's policy to standardise on Diesel Electric locomotives, they were declared 'non-standard' and all were withdrawn from service by the end of December 1972, some only having a working life of 10 years.

BUILT: 1958-61 by British Railways Swindon Locomotive Works.

ENGINE: MD650 2,200hp (D800-D802 2,000hp).

NUMBER SERIES: D800-D832, D866-D870.

PREVIOUS NUMBERS: Nil.

TRANSMISSION:

MAX SPEED: 90mph.

TRACTIVE EFFORT: 48,200lb.

WEIGHT: 78 tonnes.

WHEEL ARRANGEMENT: B-B.

QTY BUILT : 38
FLEET STRENGTH: NIL (All Withdrawn - Some Preserved)

Data taken from the PC TOPS Locomotive Database System by Milburn Associates
NUMBER NAME DATE NAMED D 800 Sir Brian Robertson 14/07/1958 D 801 Vanguard 31/10/1958 D 802 Formidable 27/12/1958 D 803 Albion 21/03/1959 D 804 Avenger 16/05/1959 D 805 Benbow 16/05/1959 D 806 Cambrian 13/06/1959 D 807 Caradoc 13/06/1959 D 808 Centaur 11/07/1959 D 809 Champion 08/08/1959 D 810 Cockade 15/09/1959 D 811 Daring 03/10/1959 D 812 Royal Naval Reserve 1859-1959 13/11/1959 D 813 Diadem 26/12/1959 D 814 Dragon 27/02/1960 D 815 Druid 27/02/1960 D 816 Eclipse 27/02/1960 D 817 Foxhound 26/03/1960 D 818 Glory 26/03/1960 D 819 Goliath 23/04/1960 D 820 Grenville 21/05/1960 D 821 Greyhound 21/05/1960 D 822 Hercules 18/06/1960 D 823 Hermes 16/07/1960 D 824 Highflyer 16/07/1960 D 825 Intrepid 13/08/1960 D 826 Jupiter 13/08/1960 D 827 Kelly 07/10/1960 D 828 Magnificent 07/10/1960 D 829 Magpie 03/12/1960 D 830 Majestic 28/01/1961 D 831 Monarch 28/01/1961 D 832 Onslaught 25/02/1961 D 866 Zebra 25/03/1961 D 867 Zenith 22/04/1962 D 868 Zephyr 20/05/1961 D 869 Zest 15/07/1961 D 870 Zulu 07/10/1961

Unless stated otherwise Photographs in this section are © copyright of Milburn Associates. Permission to use these images in railway society newsletters, etc., can be obtained by e-mailing the Thin Controller.

[JPEG Image of D821 size 28K]

Class 42 Number D821 Greyhound in British Railways Green Livery at Foster Yeoman Open Day, Merehead, 28 June 1998

Last revised: 20 October 1998