Talk:British Rail Class 31

Classification queries

I have a couple of queries regarding the "Fleet details" table. Firstly, the fact that Class 31/4 is shown as 17 built + 53 converted, whereas I was under the impression that they were all retrofitted with the equipment, just that some were done many years earlier than others? In other words, I thought that all 70 are really converted (even though some of them have been 31/4 for as long as TOPS classifications have existed).

Secondly, I was once told that 31/5 was not an official classification, and that the 315xx locos were officially 31/1s. I only have the one source for this one, but it was someone who generally knew what he was talking about regarding TOPS classes...

Anyone have any better knowledge to confirm or refute either of the above? Quackdave 22:48, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

February 2007 sighting

I saw two Class 31s at Selhurst Depot the other day, one at each end of a NR test train. One was in NR all over yellow, the other was dark blue / black with a red stripe and a nameplate - does anyone know which locomotive the second one was (I'm assuming it was on lease from FM Rail)? Cod 00:17, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Preservation section

I am thinking of moving this to a separate article to match List of preserved British Rail Class 08 locomotives and List of preserved British Rail Class 47 locomotives. Are there any objections? Biscuittin (talk) 21:10, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Please discuss at Talk:List of preserved British Rail Class 47 locomotives. Biscuittin (talk) 20:46, 23 October 2009 (UTC).

Sounds like a very good idea as preservation infor is `News' RATHER TAHN `ENCYCLOPAEDIC'. Barney Bruchstein (talk) 20:52, 23 July 2022 (UTC)

Possible change to the title of this article

This article is currently named in accordance the Wikipedia: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#Naming convention, where your comments would be welcome.

Infobox

The "power at rail" of 872 hp looks too low. It is normally about 80% of engine hp so, even with a 1,250 hp engine, I would expect "power at rail" to be 1,000 hp. Biscuittin (talk) 17:06, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I believe the Mirrlees engines were originally rated at 1,100 hp. Taking 80% of this gives 880 hp which is close to the 872 hp quoted. Mock wurzel soup (talk) 01:05, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

Infobox has now been updated to power at rail 1,170 hp which is roughly 80% of 1,470 hp. Mock wurzel soup (talk) 01:17, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

31454/459

Now tagged with {{needs update}}.

• Sources

• 31454 at Nemesis Rail: Hornby Railways Illustrated May 2025 image at Nemesis Rail in Railway Herald
• 31459: Facebook update from the group restoring 31459 at Shackerstone
• No 31s at the Wensleydale: WR Facebook page

Black Kite (talk) 21:58, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

How to cite the final sentence of the Media section?

The final sentence of the "Media" section reads: Locomotive 31120 appears in The Railway Series book Gordon the High Speed Engine.

There is no source for this statement in this article. It is linked to List of books in The Railway Series#Gordon the High Speed Engine, which includes the sentence Two diesels, numbered 31120 and 10751, also make appearances in the illustrations of this book. While I guess it would be ideal to specify the edition referred to, illustrations feel like the sort of thing that's fine to be self-sourcing in the same manner as the plot when the subject is the book itself. However, I'm not sure that holds for other articles? Thryduulf (talk) 20:10, 20 December 2025 (UTC)

Mine's not a first edition, it's a 1995 reprint:

• Awdry, Christopher (1995) [1987]. The Railway Series, no. 31: Gordon the High-Speed Engine. illus. Clive Spong. London: William Heinemann Ltd. pp. 47, 49. ISBN 0-434-92761-9.

but I imagine the illustrations didn't change.

The pic on p. 47 shows a Class 31, the number is indistinct and might be either 31120 or 31420. It's not mentioned in the text at all.

On page 49 we see a suburban DMU, whether it's class 115, 116, 117, 118, 121, 122, 125 or 127 isn't at all identifiable (although it does have (a) a flat-topped headcode box in the roof dome and (b) round buffers, which IIRC eliminates some of them - there was an article in Model Railway Constructor circa 1980/81 which went into detail about which classes were built with which one of three different buffer shapes), but here, 10751 isn't the number, it's the headcode. It's sort-of mentioned in the text: These Railtour people are stuck because their train has failed. "Their train" in this apparently refers to the DMU in the illustration, since it's the only train that isn't the one hauled in by Gordon.

I would say remove both as trivia/OR. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:40, 20 December 2025 (UTC)