The Class 04 was a development of the 0-4-0 shunter the Drewry Car Company built for the LMS before the war (see
LMS 7050), the first example being a demonstrator built for the LNER just before nationalisation in 1947 [1]. Series production began in BR days a few years later, being the first attempt to build a standard small shunter [2]. The Class 04 performed a role similar to the
Class 03 (which is almost exactly the same mechanically and similar looking) working in small yards and where a lighter locomotive was required. Drewry was more a design and sales company rather than an actual manufacturer (for most of the company's life) and so sub-contracted out the building of the locomotives to the Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns [3].
| Information |
| Number built: |
142 |
| Built: |
1948, 1952-62 |
| Builder: |
Drewry Car Company |
| Engine: |
Gardner 8L3 diesel |
| Power: |
204 hp (152 kW) |
| Wheel arrangement: |
0-6-0 |
As the amount of shunting needed fell in the 1960s BR decided to standardise on the
Class 03 for the small shunter role and the Class 04s began to be withdrawn from the late 1960s onwards along with dozens of other small shunter types. All were gone by 1972 though a number were sold for re-use by industrial railways both at home and abroad. Eighteen have been preserved.
 |
| D2284 cab end |
 |
| D2337 at Rowsley South |
 |
| D2284 at Rowsley South |
 |
| D2229 at Rowsley South (as are the two other shunters below) |
 |
| D2337, also preserved at the Heritage Shunters Trust |
 |
| D2272 |
[1] Brian Haresnape, Diesel Shunters (Ian Allan, 1984) p. 38
[2] Colin J.Marsden, Diesel & Electric Locomotive Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2011) p. 78
[3] Ray King, British Industrial Diesel Locomotives (Traction & Rolling Stock Advertiser, 2006) p. 17
