DP2, meaning Diesel Prototype number 2, was a prototype Type 4 mainline diesel locomotive built in 1962 by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows to demonstrate its wares to British Railways. Externally, it looked like a Class 55 locomotive as it used the same bodyshell, but inside it was quite different and was the forerunner of the Class 50. The English Electric Company was formed in 1918 and, during that year and 1919, acquired control of Dick, Kerr & Co of Preston, England, Willans & Robinson of Rugby, England, and the Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company of Bradford. ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... British Rail assigned Class 55 to the twenty-two English Electric Type 5 express diesel locomotives built in 1961/2 and used for high-speed service on Britains East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh. ... Class 50, no. ...
It was of Co-Co wheel arrangement and was fitted with an English Electric 16CSVT engine of 2700hp. It had a maximum speed of 90 mph and weighed 105 tons. It was initially painted in standard BR Brunswick Green livery, and later (from 1965) in two-tone green livery, with a light green lower band. The UIC classification is a comprehensive system for describing the wheel arrangement of a locomotive. ...
BR tested it initially on London Midland Region services out of London Euston, and later on the Eastern Region from London King's Cross. In July 1967 it was involved in a serious accident at Thirsk, and the damage proved to be so great that it was withdrawn and scrapped in 1968. 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...
Diesel locomotives - Electric locomotives - DMU - DEMU - AC EMU - DC EMU - Departmental units
English Electric was a 20th century British industrial manufacturer with a base in electric motors that expanded to include railway locomotives and aviation before eventual inclusion as part of GEC.
This failed, but the rest of the decade was marked by a string of mergers in the industry; firstly GEC took over the AEI company in 1967, and then after a failed bid for EE by Plessey, the takeover of English Electric by the new GEC conglomerate.
DP2, meaning D iesel P rototype number 2, was a prototype Type 4 mainline diesel locomotive built in 1962 by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows to demonstrate its wares to British Railways.
Externally, it looked like a Class 55 locomotive as it used the same bodyshell, but inside it was quite different and was the forerunner of the Class 50.
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