Diesel Locomotives - British Railways Class 56, 58 and 59: Books

Class 56 Locomotives

The Class 56 heavy freight locos were first introduced in the late 1970s. The first batch was built in Romania, followed by a second batch built in the UK.
Featured here are photos from 1980 to 2017 that include most locos of the class and cover all parts of England and Wales where they worked.

Coal, steel, petroleum, stone, engineers and mixed freight workings are covered, as well as some passenger trains. Liveries included are BR blue, large logo blue, early Railfreight greys, Railfreight Sectors (coal, steel and stone), Transrail, Loadhaul, EWS, DCR and Colas, plus some odd one-off liveries. This book shows the progression of the class through the years as they have moved between different areas.

Class 58 Locomotives

The Class 58s were introduced from 1983 onwards, and were a significant departure from normal build standards. The fifty members were built by BREL at Doncaster Works, and were built to a modular design: BR had one eye on the export market with this class of loco.

They were fitted with a Ruston Paxman 12RK3ACT prime mover, which proved very suitable for their main use on merry go round coal traffic. The only problem the class encountered was with wheelslip. No. 58050 was to become the last locomotive to be built at Doncaster, as no export orders were received for the class.

All fifty of the class passed to mainline, and a few members received the blue livery before passing to EWS. This was a class of loco that was withdrawn from service in the UK far too early, as the Canadian-built Class 66s replaced them. One member has been preserved.

Class 59s

In the mid-1980s, one of British Rail's major customers of heavy block trains, Foster Yeoman, suggested the unusual arrangement of running its services with locomotives owned by them, rather than BR.
Disappointment in the Class 56s on its routes led Foster Yeoman to look elsewhere for locomotives. They eventually agreed a deal with the US firm General Motors to provide them with the locos designated as Class 59s.

The Class 59s surpassed everyone's expectations and other customers unhappy with the Class 56s decided to purchase the Class 59s as well.
The locos are now over 30 years old and are still performing the work they were designed for. With over 230 images, this book shows the Class 59s through the years across the United Kingdom.