English Electric built 22 Class 55 locomotives for British Railways between 1961 and 1962. Built at the Vulcan Foundry in Lancashire, each engine held a number between D9000 and D9021. They were diesel-electric locomotives, with a top speed of 100 mph.
They gained the name “Deltic” from the prototype locomotive, DP1 Deltic, which in turn received its name from its Napier Deltic power units.
Their purpose was to run as high-speed express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross. They did this until the introduction of High-Speed Trains in 1978. They were subsequently relegated to semi-fast services on the Kings Cross to York, Edinburgh and Hull routes and continued on sleeper services along the ECML.
All Class 55 engines retired from service between 1980 and 1981. Six locomotives entered preservation: one by the National Railway Museum.
The number D9001 was the second of the Class 55 locomotives. It held the name ‘St Paddy’ after a prolific racehorse of the early 1960s. Its depot was Finsbury Park, London. The D9001 retired in 1980 and subsequently scrapped.
