British Rail Class 55
The British Rail Class 55 is a class of diesel locomotive built in 1961 and 1962 by English Electric. They were designed for the high-speed express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh. They gained the name "Deltic" from the prototype locomotive, DP1 Deltic, which in turn was named for its Napier Deltic power units. Twenty-two locomotives were built: they dominated express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) particularly London – Leeds and London – Edinburgh services until 1978 when InterCity 125 'High Speed Trains' were introduced. 1978–81 saw them gradually relegated to semi-fast or newspaper–parcel–sleeper services along the ECML (destinations including Cleethorpes, Harrogate, Hull, Scarborough and Aberdeen) plus occasional forays 'offline' – York - Liverpool Lime Street semi-fast and Edinburgh - Carlisle via Newcastle stoppers. Withdrawal came at the end of 1981. Six locomotives were preserved and are still running today.
Read more about British Rail Class 55: Production, Performance, Replacement, Preservation, Operations After BR Withdrawal, Class List, In Film/TV, Proposed Deltic Locomotives
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