Class 20's Shunting Duties
 

Chatting with some friends about class 20 workings the consensus was that most duties if not all were carried out coupled in pairs and only on very rare and exceptional occasions would they be rostered single loco into long distance freight work.
However, we had a regular single 20 working back in the 70's as I recall.
This was from Westhouses shed, when every morning a single 20 would arrive light engine at Teversal colliery to shunt rakes of wagons from Silver Hill colliery onto the Teversal sidings ready for collection by two 20's or a 47 for onward dispatch down the Pleasley colliery branch to the Midland Main line.
This shunting was necessary following the closure of the Skegby Teversal branch post Beeching which cut off the Silver Hill rail link with the Central line.
However, the reason the 20 was employed was because the work of moving full rakes of coal wagons was far too arduous for the Hunslet shunters up and down the gradients they had in the colliery yard and splitting the loads into smaller rakes would have been too time consuming.
Therefore, would this work that the single 20's were doing be classed as shunting?
Secondly, were the 20's ever employed single to perform main line duties?
These days preserved single 20's can often be seen pulling some quite hefty rail tours.

To be honest, apart from preserved lines, I've only seen pictures of them in pairs.

I thought forward vision was the reason they were paired cab outwards.

When I started driving in the late 90's, DRS seemed to be the only FOC running 20s regularly on the mainline.

GBRF and others seem to have jumped onto the bandwagon since.

Speaking to some of the DRS guys, my understanding is that it's always been their SOP to have 2 class 20s (and a 2nd driver or trainman on the trailing loco) when they're used on their power station diagrams. This is also the case when using other types of locos in the consists.

Since 20s have long noses it makes operational sense to have a pair so they can run cab-first, American style.

Reliability is the issue here rather than than tractive effort - a flask train is only a few hundred tonnes but there would be a hell of a 'kerfuffle' if one ever broke down and needed assistance.

BW

When first introduced in the late 1950's the English Electric Type 1 diesels (later Class 20) often worked both freight and passenger trains single-handed. Even when operating nose first the forward visibility was no worse than the steam locos that they replaced.
I remember seeing newly built Type 1's on test from the Vulcan Foundry hauling, if I'm not mistaken, just one Stanier brake coach. ..........they didn't half shift!!:D

Where I lived type 20 were rare, but type 15 were common.

Never saw them in pairs.:D

Here is a type 15 from my early days.

http://www.railwayforum.net/gallery/...&cutoffdate=-1

A lot more forward view on a Class 20 than on a 20th Class Garratt.
http://www.railwayforum.net/gallery/...arrett-med.jpg

Always see pair of 20s along the North wales coast on RHTT working or flasks..

just seen a class 20 in huddersfield station it waited for two TPE units then set off towards manchester.

Hi Master Cutler,
Living near Shirebrook depot in the 70`s Class 20`s where a common site (and sound) and i must own up to thinking how ugly they were especially in the BR blue

but now i`m trying to build a model railway i see them differently in some of the liveries the have
Cheers eagle

I lived in Clay Cross so my childhood spotting spot was Clay Cross Station and of course we had very regular coal and coke trains into and out of the Coking plant at Wingerworth for a long time it was only class 20's due to their Route Availability
eventually they gave way to class 56's and 58's on merry-go-rounds but there was always two up on the trains but they were long and heavy

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...8J4fLBrSnY7GCZ