Join us this summer and experience 'Sun's Out, Diesel Engines Out' which showcases our heritage diesel fleet. Travel behind a Class 25, 31 & 37 heritage diesel engine and see the North York Moors by one of our power-houses. 

The British Rail Class 25, also known as the Sulzer Type 2 is a class numbering 327 diesel locomotives built between 1961 and 1967 for British Rail.

The Class 25s were primarily designed for freight work, but a significant number were fitted with boilers for heating passenger trains. Throughout the 1970s they could be found at work across the whole of the British Rail network although the Eastern and Southern Regions never had a long-term allocation. The final Class 25 locomotive was withdrawn from operational service in March 1987 although it continued to be used on enthusiast specials until March 1991.

The British Rail Class 31 diesel locomotives, also known as the Brush Type 2 and previously as Class 30, were built by Brush Traction from 1957-62. 

The British Rail Class 37 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Also known as the English Electric Type 3, the class was ordered as part of the British Rail modernisation plan.

Did you know?

• Steam technology is simple and robust and the parts on a steam locomotive are trivial to reproduce in a machine shop. For this reason steam locomotives can be kept going indefinitely. However, Diesel engines are a complex, compact chunk of engineering technology. Once the supply of spare parts has run out, if something breaks on it then we have a major problem. Consider all the special castings that can only be produced at great expense. 
• Rudolf Diesel, born on March 18, 1858 in Paris, created the pressure-ignited heat engine known commonly as the diesel engine. On Sept. 29, 1913, Diesel disappeared from a steamer en route to London. His body was recovered on the shore days later. The circumstances surrounding his death are still a mystery. Some believe he may have committed suicide, while others speculate that he was murdered by coal industrialists.
• The diesel engine had a major impact during the Industrial Revolution, delivering power more efficiently, thus less expensively, for a variety of industries all over the world. 
• The most successful British diesel locomotive was D200 (later 40122), built by English Electric in 1958. The Class 40 locomotives, built by English Electric Company, were one of British Railways' (BR) most successful diesel classes.
• In Britain the Great Western Railway introduced diesel railcars in the 1930s and the first British mainline diesel locomotive was built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1947 but, unlike elsewhere in the developed world, the transition away from steam was delayed during the early postwar years.

'Sun's Out, Diesel Engines Out' will operate our advertised timetable as part of our hot weather mitigations. 

You can find out more about our heritage diesel fleet and the history of these magnificent engines. 

 

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