Title: British Rail Class 60 - Wikipedia
Headings: British Rail Class 60
British Rail Class 60
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents
History
Design
Bodywork
Electrical
Prime mover
Engine dimensions
Current operators
DB Cargo UK
GB Railfreight
DCRail
Former operators
British Rail
Colas Rail
Accidents and incidents
Naming and liveries
Scrapping
Fleet summary
Class list
Preservation
Models
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Content: Contents
1 History
2 Design
2.1 Bodywork
2.2 Electrical
2.3 Prime mover
3 Current operators
3.1 DB Cargo UK
3.2 GB Railfreight
3.3 DCRail
4 Former operators
4.1 British Rail
4.2 Colas Rail
5 Accidents and incidents
6 Naming and liveries
7 Scrapping
8 Fleet summary
8.1 Class list
9 Preservation
10 Models
11 Notes
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links
History
During the early 1980s, British Rail operated several different diesel locomotives that had been categorised as Type 5, these being a relatively high-powered locomotive suited to heavy freight trains, such as the British Rail Class 56 and British Rail Class 58. However, the Class 56 proved to be somewhat unreliable, contributing to dissatisfaction amongst British Rail's customer base. One such customer, Foster Yeoman, became so disillusioned with the locomotives supplied for its aggregates trains that it procured its own private fleet of locomotives, the British Rail Class 59, that were manufactured by GM-EMD. British Rail was reportedly interested in buying its own version of the Class 59, but hesitated in fear of objections by trade unions, particularly over its production not being based in Britain. To avoid creating tensions, it was deemed necessary for any new locomotive to be manufactured domestically. These various factors drove British Rail to produce a stringent requirement calling for a new Type 5 diesel locomotive for use on its Trainload Freight sector. In terms of its basic configuration, it sought a high-powered low-speed locomotive suitable for its existing core traffic operations. Furthermore, this requirement stipulated that the tentative locomotive would be required to maintain an average availability of no less than 95 percent, which was far higher than any locomotive to have been operated by British Rail at that time. It was believed that the high performance levels demanded would generate considerable cost reductions, as well as significantly bolstering efforts within British Rail's rail freight division to meet targets set out by the British government It was forecast that 100 of these new locomotives could replace 236 locomotives of various older classes, including the British Rail Class 20, British Rail Class 33, and British Rail Class 47, many of which would be withdrawn or cascaded onto other duties. Despite having discounted a direct purchase of the Class 59, during the research phase, some of the concepts for the Class 60 were reportedly modelled upon its design.