Diesel locomotives - British Rail Class 66: books - history

Class 66

When British Railways (BR) was privatised in April 1994 some of the freight companies were bought by English Welsh Scottish Railways (EWSR), which immediately reviewed the mixed locomotive fleet and led to the decision to purchase 250 locomotives from General Motors (USA), based on that company's earlier Class 59 design supplied to Foster Yeoman in 1985.
Delivered to Newport Docks each locomotive was lubricated, filled with fuel and water and released to traffic within hours of being craned onto the quayside.

The early privatised freight market was geared to the heavy industries but the changes of Government policies to counteract global warming has seen consequent changes in freight operations whilst global trading has seen massive growth in the movement of containers between ports and inland distribution centres.
This changing market has encouraged both existing and new operators to base operations on a reliable locomotive fleet which has been met by the Class 66 design.

The expansion of the locomotive's operating area has been recorded within the book through a regional analysis noting both the freight services operated within the region and the companies providing them. This also notes changes of operators, both by exchange of locomotives and exchange of hauler as contracts are re-negotiated at regular intervals.

Fred Kerr's book seeks to show, as at October 2019, the range of services that have been operated by class members, including the occasional passenger services despite the locomotives not being fitted with any heat generating equipment.

Class 66/0

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, most of the current locomotives in use on the national network were becoming very tired and evermore unreliable. It was during this time that EWS took over the large bulk of freight operations in the UK, and they quickly realised that major changes were needed.
In 1996, they ordered a whole fleet of 250 Class 66 locos, which followed on from the same basic design as the earlier Class 59, privately owned, locos used for the Mendip aggregates traffic.

The Class 66 was intended for more general use, rather than being used for just one specific purpose though. They have now been in service for over 20 years and have proved very reliable and capable locos. This volume covers the Class 66/0s from their early days up to the present at various locations around the UK.

Class 66: 3/4/7/8

NEW

This second volume to cover the Class 66 takes a look at the Fastline/Direct Rail Services/Colas-operated Class 66/3/4/8/7 locos that were delivered during the mid to late 2000s.
This was a time when most of the current locos in use with Freightliner and English Welsh & Scottish (EWS) were Class 66s and were tried and tested as reliable locos.

Direct Rail Services closely followed EWS and Freightliner and very soon it ordered one batch, then another, then another, until the total was 34. However, DRS later sold the first 20 locos to both GB Railfreight and Freightliner and were left with just 14 locos that they continue to operate to the present day (late 2021).
Production numbers of the Class 66/3 only totalled five locos and lasted only a short while (2008-2010) when these five were taken on by DRS. The Class 66/8s also only numbered five locos and these supplement the Class 70s on various work around the UK.

This volume covers the locos from their early days up to the present time at various locations around the UK, with a special focus towards the south and its beautiful landscapes.

Class 66: 5/6/9

NEW

This third volume to cover the Class 66 takes a look at the Freightliner-operated Class 66/5/6/9 locos that were delivered during the early to mid 2000s. This was at a time when most of the current locos in use with Freightliner on the national network were becoming very tired and evermore unreliable.
Freightliner followed on from the example set by EWS with the Class 66/0, and very soon they started to order small batches of locos, which led to their current total of over 100 locos, although some have since been exported to Poland, sold to other operators and a few have been taken on from DRS.

The Class 66/5/9 took over the duties usually handled by Classes 47 and 57, whereas the Class 66/6 is a re-geared version capable of hauling heavier loads such as coal or aggregates. They have now been in service for over 20 years and have proved very reliable and capable locos.
This volume covers the locos from their early days up to the present time at various locations around the, especially looking at those in the South.