BRT 20/0 20 128Stafford Stafford

BRT-Racal was one of the smaller companies created by British Rail in the run up to rail privatisation in the UK. It was a joint venture between BRB (British Rail Board) and Racal Telecommunications Ltd. The primary resposibility being the railway telephone network and communications systems plus the associated cable network. 12 class 20/0's were allocated to BRT-Racal primarily to work cable trains but only 4 were useable those being 075,128,131 & 187. The others being stored as a source of spares. The work carried out by BRT was absorbed into EWS (English, Welsh and Scottish Railway Co.)during 1996 and the 4 useable class 20's were sold by BRT in 1997 to DRS (Direct Rail Services) who had them totally rebuilt and modernised thus becoming class 20/3's. The two seen here became 20 307 and 20 309 respectfully.

BRTelecom (later BRT-Racal) named its locomotives after people who were important in the development of Telephony. In this picture 20128 named Gugliemlmo Marconi and 20075 named Sir William Cooke.

Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1937) was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. (From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi)

Sir William Cooke was born in Ealing in 1806. He recognised the practical applications of the electric telegraph for railway signalling and persuaded the railway companies of the day to experiment in its use. (From: http://www.samhallas.co.uk/railway/brt_locos.htm)