British Rail Class 13

The British Rail Class 13 was a class of diesel–electric shunting locomotive designed in 1965 to provide more powerful shunters for the Tinsley Marshalling Yard. Due to Tinsley's status as a hump yard, it was not possible to use a single locomotive owing to the risk of grounding. To achieve the required power, a pair of shunters were permanently coupled in master and slave formation, with the slave unit having its cab removed and both units ballasted to improve traction. Initially coupled cab-to-cab, it was found more practical to couple master nose to slave cab.

Units

Three pairs were formed as follows:

Withdrawal

With the end of hump shunting at Tinsley the class became obsolete. The class's unique features were not required elsewhere and as such were withdrawn; 13 002 was withdrawn in 1981, with the remaining two locomotives scrapped with the closure of Tinsley hump in 1985.