The Class 08/09 was to become the main diesel shunter of the British
Railways era. Just over a thousand of the two classes were built from
1952 onwards at five different British Rail workshops over a ten-year
period. Just about every corner of the UK would be home to one or more
of these shunting locomotives. They were ideal for yard and depot
shunting, and also acted as station pilots at nearly every major
station. The main difference between the two classes was that the Class
09 had a different maximum speed, and most were also fitted with extra
air pipes to work with Southern Region EMUs. With the constriction of UK
freight workings, a lot of yards were taken out of use, and the trip
workings that these locomotives performed soon ceased. With the advent
of multiple unit trains, the need for them as station pilots also
ceased. A large majority of the two classes have been withdrawn and
scrapped, but a fair number still survive, doing what they were built
for over fifty years ago. A large number have also entered preservation,
and the classes have carried a multitude of different liveries over the
years.
