D261

D261, also known as Class 40, The Diesel, D4711 (in the Railway Series), or simply Diesel is a diesel who once came to the North Western Railway on loan from the Other Railway.

Personality
D261 is snobbish, believing that diesel engines should take over from steam engines. Despite this, in the magazine stories, there are some occasions in which the Diesel helps the steam engines.

Basis
D261 is based on a BR Class 40 1Co-Co1. Old Stuck-Up and D782 are also members of this class. 200 members of this class was built from 1958 to 1962, and the last was withdrawn in 1985. They where given the nickname "Whistlers" because of the strange whistling noise their engines would make. Over seven Class 40s are preserved with the first built, D200, at the National Railway Museum.

D261's television series number belonged to a real Class 40. The real D261 entered service on the 26th of February 1960 and in 1973 It was repainted into "RailBlue" colours and renumbered to 40 061 until the engine was withdrawn from service in 1983 and scrapped at Crewe in March the following year.

Voice Actors

 * GeebMachine

Trivia

 * D261's Railway Series livery is inaccurate as none of the Class 40 diesels received British Railways two-tone green livery.
 * According to some VHS descriptions for Bowled Out, D261 was brought to Sodor to take over Daisy's work while she was ill.
 * His Hornby model depicts him as a Class 37 diesel.
 * His Railway Series number is completely fictional, none of the Class 40's wore this number.