Top 10: the fastest diesel locomotives

While the majority of high-speed railway networks now use electric traction, diesels provided a useful technological stepping-stone from steam power and the cleaner, faster and greener future, although diesel locomotives and multiple-units still ply their trade on secondary routes. And – thankfully for the travelling public – modern locomotives and units don’t tend to clatter-clat as much these days.

Here we round up the 10 fastest diesel locomotives ever.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is the only American entry on the list, but the Pioneer Zephyr was the first streamlined diesel train and the first multi-coach passenger train to exceed 180 km/h. On May 26 1934 it hit a maximum speed of 112mph as part of a dawn-to-dusk run between Denver and Chicago, which went onto inspire the film The Silver Streak and in turn, the train’s nickname.

The ‘Dawn to Dusk’ run was part of a publicity stunt to raise awareness of the new train: all other services were diverted and track workers checked the rails all along the route to ensure there wouldn’t be any problems, plus signs were placed ahead of problematic curves to warn the train’s crew, plus stations along the route were protected by police officers and every level crossing was manned to stop car traffic from crossing the railway line.

The train entered regular revenue service on November 11 1934, between Kansas City, Omaha and Lincoln. It operated this and other routes until its retirement in 1960, when it was donated to Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry, where it remains on public display today.

While only one of its kind was built, similar multiple-units followed and this train is considered to have spearheaded the dieselisation of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which owned the set, thanks to an improved speed, economy and public appeal over steam traction following the Great Depression, which led American railway companies to lose passengers to the automobile.

Trying to compile a list of the 10 fastest diesel locomotives ever is a minefield, owing to some “records” barely being more than hearsay that has been repeated – and printed – throughout the years, especially when it comes to the early and mid-1900s. Designed to replace A4 high speed steam trains on the UK’s East Coast Main Line, 22 of the class were built and they provided Britian’s first regular 100mph service when they started running between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh in 1961.

The name of the class comes from the engine: the locomotives were powered by Napier Deltic engines with a power output of 3300 hp – making them the most powerful single-unit diesel locomotives in the world when introduced.

It is worth noting an explanation for speed we’re quoting here. Nominally, the locomotives were limited to 100mph but there are many examples of enthusiastic drivers pushing their trains well beyond the magic three figures. For instance, acclaimed railway timer OS Nock recorded 100 mph for 16 miles south of Thirsk with a maximum of 104mph; he went on to say that such speeds in 1963 were "terrific.”

However, the best Deltic performance that has been reliably recorded came on 2 February 1978 with a run on the 0725 from Newcastle to London King's Cross. The locomotive was 55 008 The Green Howards; it was hauling 10 coaches and on the leg from York to London it achieved an average of 97mph start to stop. The train achieved 113mph on the flat between Darlington and York, 114mph at Offord and 125mph whilst descending Stoke Bank.

Built between 1935 and 1936, 33 examples of the class were constructed and – depending on your viewpoint – it could be argued these railcars were the first high-speed trains in central Europe, given the units averaged 82mph. Once introduced into service, the trains ran between Berlin and Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart.

On February 17, 1936, the "Bauart Leipzig" achieved a world speed record of 205 km/h (127 mph), however, like many of the steam speed records from this period (and indeed, the next entry in this list) there isn’t much substantive evidence to back-up the claim.

SVT 137-hauled trains continued until the outbreak of the second world war in 1939, though a number of units were pressed into action during the war by the military.

After the war, examples of the fleet ended up in America (on the basis of it being a “technically interesting object”) and the Soviet Union, plus DRG SVT 137 225 "Bauart Hamburg” was used by the East German government until 1975. Happily, it remains intact today and is exhibited at Leipzig’s main railway station.

Technically, this entry shouldn’t exist as it is petrol-powered rather than diesel, but given the uniqueness of the train – it was powered by a pusher propeller driven by a water-cooled 12-cylinder BMW aircraft engine – we thought it worth including anyway. Sadly though, its history was short-lived: just one example was built (in 1929) and it was scrapped a decade later over safety fears – a fair challenge, given the propeller was exposed and at the back of the unit.

The reason for its inclusion in this list is because of the speed it attained: on 21 June 1931 it set what was then a new railway speed record of 143mph when it travelled on the Berlin to Hamburg line.

That’s an overall rail speed record by the way – it was only bettered in 1954, and it still holds the petrol-powered rail speed record to this day. Part of the reason why it was so fast is down to the weight (or lack of), as it only weighed 20,320kg.

Safety fears aside, it also wasn’t brilliant at carrying passengers: it only had capacity for 40 people, nor could it haul any carriages, plus climbing steep hills were out of the question as the air flow from the propellor was reduced. It was scrapped in 1939, which is a shame as it would make for a fantastic museum exhibit.

30 examples of the class were built between 1999 and 2000 by Alstom and they were designed to haul high-speed Royal Mail trains as well as passenger services, however, their use on mail services were short-lived with the rail company EWS losing the contract in 2004.

Constructed in Spain and featuring 3200 hp engines from the General Motors division EMD, high-speed testing was undertaken by No.67002 on the Madrid – Toledo high-speed line using modified bogies. Although they were designed for 125mph running, it is unlikely they will hit the maximum speed owing to the lack of rolling stock that is cleared to run at this speed.

Following the cancellation of the Royal Mail contract, Class 67s have found a variety of work. Today, a pool of locomotives hauls Transport for Wales services between Cardiff and Manchester / Holyhead, while they have previously been used as ‘thunderbirds’ on the East Coast Main Line – put on standby to rescue broken-down trains – and the Caledonian Sleeper north of Edinburgh.

As the locomotives are able to provide Electric Train Supply for passenger train and air conditioning, Class 67s are often found at the head of charter trains in the UK: indeed Nos. 67020 and 67021 are painted in Belmond’s corporate livery and haul the prestigious British Pullman when steam traction is not employed.

Furthermore, since 2003 Class 67s have provided the normal traction for the Royal Train: 67005 Queen’s Messenger and 67006 Royal Sovereign are painted in the royal claret, while 67007 was repainted into a purple and white livery to celebrate the queen’s platinum jubilee in 2002.

Designed as something as a stop-gap before the introduction of the Advanced Passenger Train, the development of the prototype HST ultimately paved the way for the icon that went on to transform rail travel in the UK for decades to come.

Two HST protype power cars were built and testing commenced in the summer of 1972. The set then underwent a number of high-speed test runs on the East Coast Main Line the following year, culminating in a run on June 12 which achieved a top speed of 143.2mph near Northallerton, though several other 140mph runs have also been recorded during this period.

The following year – after the set had completed more than 100,000 miles of testing – the set moved to the Western Region in late 1974 and entered service in May 1975 on diagrams between London, Bristol and Weston Super-Mare.

After production HSTs were introduced, the prototypes were withdrawn from passenger services in late 1976 and were relegated to hauling various test trains in the following years. In December, power car No. 41002 was scrapped, however, No.41001 is preserved – having been donated to the National Railway Museum – and was operational, having been restored, between 2014 and 2019. It is now based the NRM’s Shildon outpost.

It is fair to say that the High Speed Train transformed rail travel in the UK: from the late 1970s and even now, examples of Sir Kenneth Grange -designed icon can be seen in service right across from the UK from Penzance in the south west to Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. Ask a member of the public to name a current British train and it is likely they’ll mention the HST pretty early on, such is the ubiquity of the class, which helped to displace locomotive-hauled trains from front-line services.

No. 43102 holds the (official) world record for diesel traction, having hit 148.5mph between York and Darlington on 1 November 1987.

Although HSTs were retired from long-distance express services a few years ago, they are still operated to this day by Great Western Railway and ScotRail, which uses the trains to connect major towns and cities north of the border.

Additionally, several of the class – along with the Mk3 carriages which are sandwiched between the power cars – have been preserved and are used as excursion trains on the main line and on heritage railways, while a number of HSTs gained employment elsewhere in the world, with examples being exported to Nigeria and Mexico.

Designed for the American market, just one Talgo XXI has been built in compliance with European railway regulations, with that example hitting 159mph on a stretch of the Olmedo-Medina del Campo high speed experimental line on 9 July 2002, according to the manufacturer.

Talgo also claimed the train hit the same maximum speed on 6 December 2002, although neither claim has been independently verified by outside organisations. In service, it is designed to operate at speeds of up to 220kph (136mph). Following the high-speed runs, it was sold to the Spanish state-owned railway infrastructure company ADIF for use as a test train.

According to Talgo, the train – which comprises of carriages sandwiched between two power cars a la a HST – “possesses a strong service record” as it covers millions of kilometres with ADIF each year, and has done so for the last 15 years.

Adif’s test train test is used to carry out measurements to determine the condition of the track, catenary and electrification system, and to ensure the signalling system is operating correctly. Incidentally, in the UK, these functions are performed by Network Rail’s New Measurement Train, which is based on a High-Speed Train.

In second place is another prototype: just three Class 202 locomotives were built and used extensively in the 1970s. They were designed to haul passenger and freight services over secondary routes; however, the experimental class can claim to have been a major milestone in the development of Germany’s railways.

It was the first locomotive to have electric traction in a mainline diesel-electric locomotive, while finding from the testing of the prototypes led to the development of three-phase electric locomotives, while developments of bogies pioneered by the class went onto to influence the design of the first and second-generation Intercity Express electric multiple units.

In the 1980s, 202 003-0 was used to test high-speed bogies, with it being approved to run at speeds of up to 160mph, which it did during test runs, with the gear ratios being adjusted for this purpose.

Additionally, it is claimed the locomotive reached a top speed of 310kph (192mph) when it was placed on a roller test bench in Munich, although we’re not counting this as a high-sped run. 202 003-0 is preserved and is on static display at the German Museum of Technology in Berlin, while the other two classmates are also preserved.

Just two examples of the Russian locomotive were built between 1988 and 1989 and they were powered by a twin-turbo V20 engine which produced a maximum power output of 6000 hp. Nominally designed to attain speeds of up to 100mph in service, on 5 October 1993, it hit a maximum speed of 168mph on a section of the Spyrovo-Likhoslavl Oktyabrskaya Railway.

Although this speed hasn’t been independently verified, the Russians claim the locomotive is the current holder of the world speed record for diesel traction and it is now adorned with a plaque. Since 2007, the locomotive has been housed at the October Railway Museum near St Petersburg.

Quite why a locomotive that would normally be restricted to 100mph went for a speed record is a mystery – that is quite an overspeed. Video footage does exist of the run though and the ride quality is best described as ‘lively’, though the speed recorder clearly showed the claimed maximum.

Additionally, there are at least six people in the cab of the locomotive, so this isn’t a case of a driver claiming to have broken the record by himself without any evidence to back up the claim. Furthermore, footage claiming to be of the run in question also exists and the cables on the outside of the locomotive during the run does rather suggest lots of data was being recorded.

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