DRS ‘Choppers’: The Class 20/3
A NUMBER of Class 20s were assured of a future on the privatised railway when DRS acquired and refurbished a small fleet of locomotives for use on nuclear flask trains in 1995, a fleet which eventually totalled 15 locomotives rebuilt over a period of a few years.
The first batch to be refurbished comprised of Nos. 20301-5, the work being completed from 1995 onwards by Brush Traction at Loughborough. The second batch, which has detail differences compared with the Brush locomotives, was completed by RFS in Doncaster and is represented by the new model. The DRS Class 20/3 subclass is not to be confused with those BR Class 20/3s dedicated to aggregate traffic from Peak Forest quarries in the 1980s.
Each locomotive received additional fuel capacity, revised running lights including clusters mounted above the headstocks at the long bonnet end and improved communications equipment.
