European Railroad Discussion > Help an outlander from across the pond

I came across this photo on the internet and have wondered what unit type and number  is this, where is it located and any other informaion on it.
I see no numbers or any lettering.
The white discs are unique to me.
Any help would be much apprerciaated.

Jim Baker,  Whittier Californa USA

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

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Well that's a British Rail class 40, a 1c-c1 2000hp diesel electric built by English Electric back in the 1950s-60s. Mixed traffic loco, 200 were built, they were nicknamed 'whistlers' because of the distinctive whistling sound their turbo made. There'll be plenty on youtube if you search.
There are several preserved on heritage lines on the UK, not sure which one this is numerically, looks freshly repainted before numbers (and possibly name) were added..

The white discs are headcode discs and were an older/antiquated way of the indicating the type of train they were hauling.

This one looks like D306, named 'Atlantic Conveyor' and based on the East Lancs Railway heritage line near Manchester. The name wasn't carried when in normal service but it commemorates a ship sunk in the Falklands war. Some members of the class were originally named after ships.

D306 (no 40106 in later years) was a bit of a celebrity loco as it kept its Brunswick green livery even after all its class mates received BR blue livery.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/26 14:22 by exhaustED.