Talk:British Rail Class 40

English Electric Type 4
I thought that the EE type 4 was the Class 50? This article says that the Class 40 was the EE Type 4. Can anyone clarify this? Emoscopes Talk 21:24, 7 July 2007 (UTC)


 * You need to have achieved grey hair to understand :-). Although Class 50 is indeed an E-E design, and is 'a' Type 4, they came much later than Class 40, which was always known as 'the' E-E Type 4, mainly to differentiate between it and the other Type 4's built by Brush/Sulzer etc.  Class 40 was usually known to platform-enders as 'Big D' or sometimes 'Whistlers';  Class 50's were simply known as 'Fifties' or 'Hoovers' because of the whirring sound they used to make when ticking-over. ChrisRed 12:05, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Possible change to the title of this article
This article is currently named in accordance the WikiProject UK Railways naming conventions for British rolling stock allocated a TOPS number. A proposal to change this convention and/or its scope is being discussed at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject UK Railways, where your comments would be welcome.

wheel configuration
'Configuration' should link to the UIC classification page UIC classification not the Whyte notation page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.4.131.140 (talk) 07:01, 7 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Perhaps, but this is consistent with most of the other articles for BR Diesel locomotives, sich as, , , etc. You may not have noticed that the item immediately below the configuration does link to UIC classification. -- Red rose64 (talk) 21:34, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

Commentary
I've removed the following recent addition:

''Although 40106 did indeed remain Brunswick Green in service; when Gerald Bowden gave '106 a repaint in preservation, he discovered BLUE paint on parts of the bodywork beneath the green. Further investigations revealed the fact that '106 was already on its way to being painted into BR corporate blue. Someone fortunately realised it should remain Brunswick Green and it was repainted and finished off (very appropriately) in the colour these locomotives looked their best.''

''The nickname "Whistler" btw came about because of the distinctive sound the loco makes when at rest with the engine idling or lightly loaded. This sound comes from the main engine cooling fan and air ducting but not its turbochargers. You can hear the whine of the four turbochargers when the loco is pulling hard but when the fuel is backed off the whistle can again be heard. Actually the reason the whistle disappears under power is because of the wonderful sound the V16 engine makes at high power. Especially in Bangor tunnel!''

I removed it because apart from being entirely unsourced, it reads very like commentary/opinion/personal experience, which is not the purpose of Wikipedia. -- Red rose64 (talk) 21:56, 4 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yeah, that had to come out. The whistle is definitely the 'exhaust' sides of the turbochargers - four Napiers if memory serves. The reason you can't hear them at full chat is that the whistle goes ultrasonic, unless you're a dog. - ChrisRed 5.81.76.5 (talk) 15:53, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Class 37
Is there any reason why the Class 37 isn't mentioned at all? They look identical. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 17:21, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
 * There are a lot of differences. The most obvious one from the front is that on class 37, the buffers are mounted on the body nose; on class 40, they are mounted on the bogie frame. Seen from the side, a class 37 is somewhat shorter and has three large grilles near the centre of the body side; the bodyside also has a tumblehome, absent from class 40; the class 37 bogies have one axle fewer and are a completely different design, being a steel casting instead of the built-up plate frame design of class 40; the class 37 suspension having coil springs and equalising beams instead of the leaf springs used by class 40. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 22:33, 17 December 2023 (UTC)