BR Class 08 D3802

BR Class 08 D3802
08635 at Kidderminster April 2017
Built By	BR Derby Works
Configuration	0-6-0
Power type	Diesel Electrical, to be Hydrogen Electrical
Status	Under conversion
Loco Number	H3802
Other Numbers	D3802, 3802, 08635
History
Built	1959
Designed By	BR
Type	Class 08
2007	Withdrawn by BR
2007	Arrived on SVR
2021	Re-powering with hydrogen-hybrid power pack
Technical
Length	29ft 3in
Weight	49t
Diesel Locomotives

D3802 was built as an 0-6-0 Class 08 350hp diesel electric shunting locomotive. As the standard BR general-purpose diesel shunter, the Class 08 became the most numerous of any British locomotive class with 996 built between 1952 and 1962. It is being converted to a hydrogen-battery hybrid traction system.

D3802 in main line service

D3802 was built at Derby Works and entered BR service in December 1959 (the locomotive never received a number in the 13xxx range). D3802 was initially allocated to Stoke, but during the 1960s also saw service at Crewe South, Crewe Diesel, Ryecroft (Walsall) and Chester (Midland). D3802’s travels continued in the 1970s with moves to Holyhead and Cricklewood East. In January 1974 D3802 became No 08635 under the TOPS numbering scheme, before a move to Saltley in 1979. The loco was stored there in the early 1980s for over 12 months, before being reinstated in 1984.

It was subsequently spotted in Northwich (1986), Holyhead (1987), Crewe Diesel (1989), Dagenham (2001), Old Oak Common (2000, 2003) and stored at Toton (2004-6).

The locomotive was withdrawn from service in February 2007 after a working life of more than 47 years.

D3802 in preservation

D3802 arrived on the SVR in April 2007 from T J Thomson scrapyard in Stockton-upon-Tees, as a source of spares. The engine had crankshaft damage and was unfit for further use. The locomotive was placed in store, latterly in Kidderminster Carriage Shed with sister 08896. In February 2017 it was moved to the Diesel Depot for evaluation for repair, possibly using the engine from 08896. The rationale was the new stabling contract for the Northern Belle carriage stock. The photograph shows the locomotive on display next to the Diesel Depot at the April 2017 Open House Weekend. In June 2017 it was confirmed the assessment was unsuccessful and BR Class 09 09107 purchased as more cost effective than restoring D3802.

Harrier HydroSHUNTER project

In 2021 the SVR teamed up with the University of Birmingham's Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions to work on the Harrier HydroSHUNTER project in Kidderminster TMD. This will see the UK’s first-ever conversion of a diesel locomotive to run with a replacement hydrogen-hybrid power pack.

It will be powered using a large traction battery, charged by a hydrogen fuel cell. The original traction motors, and most of the auxiliary equipment, exhausters, compressors and the like will remain original. The kit is essentially designed to be plugged into the generator output, and through a series of controllers and voltage converters, replicate exactly what the generator would output with the given driver’s input.

It will use electrolysis to react hydrogen with oxygen, which generates an electric current, producing H2O as the exhaust. Hydrogen has zero emissions at rail level, though there will be carbon emissions from its transport and, possibly, manufacture.

The SVR team consists of young volunteers, with development of the NEO1™ drivetrain platform design with Vanguard. Enspired Consulting provided safety management and project guidance for Vanguard.

Progress

The SVR team by 2023 had largely completed a bodywork and mechanical overhaul, removing redundant parts as spares for the SVR's shunter fleet, and a repaint was underway. The locomotive carries the number H3802 and carries a modified green livery, with full length white, red and beige stripes on the lower body. Little of the previous contents of the engine compartment have been retained.

• 

  H3802 at Kidderminster TMD, March 2024

By 2024 the new 3.5 tonne baseplate and batteries have been fitted, and pipework modified in the engine room to fit the pressure valves. The air brake pressure governor and vacuum control governor had been moved clear of the engine room to allow access, and are now in the old battery isolation switch housing. The battery isolation switch and engine start contact had been removed and bypassed. Work focused on the wiring of the original systems to ensure the new systems integrate with them correctly. Procurement of the drivetrain by Vanguard was under way.

As of November 2024 the project team were in the final stages of static testing, with challenges as would be expected of a prototype locomotive. The motors had successfully drawn power, so proving the concept functions correctly. They were wiring up the auxiliaries, such as the exhauster, compressors and lighting. Work remained on the braking system. Future plans are for a test under its own power 'in early 2025'. Once proved to work on battery power, some modifications will be required in order to prepare the loco to receive the hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen tanks.

Updates can be found on the H3802 Harrier Hydro Shunter Project Facebook page.

In 2024 Callum Nicholson, on a placement with Vanguard, won the IMechE’s Railway Division annual ‘Future of Rail Presentation Competition Grand Final’ with his presentation ‘HydroSHUNTER: Designing Safe On-Vehicle Hydrogen Systems’.

See also

• Rolling stock currently under restoration
• Diesel Locomotives

Links

• 'Severn Valley Railway helps to build a locomotive for the future, The Harrier Hydro shunter project' on SVR YouTube (23 April 2021) (Retrieved 23 April 2021)
• 'Evolution of the Harrier Hydro Shunter - a project update' on SVR YouTube (16 December 2022) (Retrieved 17 December 2022)
• 'Special Delivery for the Hydroshunter' on SVR YouTube (7 February 2024) (Retrieved 1 August 2024)

British Rail or British Railways

Severn Valley Railway

Total Operations Processing System, an American computer system adopted by BR from the late 1960s to number and manage rolling stock.

Traction Maintenance Depot, also referred to as Diesel Depot