Class 20 Diesel.
 

When did the first class 20s officially appear? I seem to remember seeing one in a siding at the end of platform one at Derby station in the early
1960s, it was finished in primer with the number chalked on the side of the cab. This was a new design to myself and the friend who was with me it looked to us like it was trying to look like a steam loco, with a cab just at one end. Some time later when there were quite a few about they always seemed to run cab first but I did see one with empty coal wagons for a local colliery running bonnet first, it looked better that way but they were there to do a job of work which they did very well, not look nice. I've always been a fan of 20s probably because they were a bit different from the other early diesels appart from shunters of course.

According to my book, the initial order was placed in 1956 for 20 locos and construction started in mid 1957 at Vulcan foundry.

Initial testing was carried out in the Penrith area and the original batch of 20 were all allocated to Devons Road Bow.

Before the last of the first batch were delivered, a subsequent order for another 30 was placed for delivery at the end of 1959.

Repeat orders were placed and by July 1962 128 were in traffic and another 100 were ordered with delivery beginning mid 1966.

I like them, although where I lived at the time (Wickford) the type 15 was more common.

grand loco,s to drive as long as you kept them below 50mph.of all the loco,s i was trained on they were in the top 3.

What were the other two poggie man?

Hi poggie man, how did the class 20 behave over 50 mph?

I remember them at Willesden shed in 1957/8. In the original green with the white headcode disks, straight out of the box, they looked great.

In the 1990s I was walking my dog on Cromford Meadows, I think it was a saturday and to my surprise the Derby to Matlock train comprised of two highly polished class 20s either end of three highly polished crimson lake carriages, unfortunatly I hadn't got my camera with me. This being one of my favorite walks I went there quite often but never saw a repeat, it was always a two car sprinter. I always wondered what the reason was for this unusual working.

like a bucking bronco.

37 just beating a 33.bottom of the list class 25.

They were great on some jobs, particularly ones that involved a lot of shunting but at speed . . . . they leapt and swayed so much they occupied both lines. One of the funniest ones I heard about a 20 was when the 47 for the Carstairs-Edinburgh failed, the only other thing at Carstairs was a 20. Spoke to the Driver, he said it was struggling so much on the climb up to Cobbinshaw you could have got off for a pee and got back on again :D