Diesel Locomotives - British Rail Class 70: Books - History

Class 70 Locomotives

In late 2007 Freightliner placed its order for twenty Class 70 locomotives. General Electric (GE) commenced building these locomotives at its plant in Pennsylvania, USA, culminating in the delivery of the first two locos in late 2009. Further deliveries followed in order to create an initial pool of twenty for Freightliner.

One example of the class, No. 70012, was damaged during unloading at Newport Docks and did not enter traffic. The remaining members of Freightliner's pool operated freight traffic for both the Intermodal and Heavy Haul sectors.

The `Turkish Demonstrator' ultimately arrived in the UK as a `replacement' for No. 70012 (carrying the temporary number 70099). Towards the end of 2013, another of the UK's freight operators, Colas, committed to using this class of locomotive.
It took delivery of the Turkish Demonstrator and picked up the balance of Freightliner's original option of a total of thirty GE locomotives.

Several Freightliner examples were placed into store at Midland Road towards the end of 2016 and their future roll remained uncertain. The Heavy Haul sector has been affected by the recent downturn in coal traffic.

As we pass the tenth anniversary of placement of the original order, this book reflects the activity of both the Freightliner and Colas examples of the class in recent years.

Class 70s

In the late 2000s, Freightliner was looking to expand its locomotive fleet towards more powerful and fuel-efficient locomotives that were compliant with the various European Union emission standards and rules.
In a departure from the newest and most common locomotives running on the network at the time, Class 66s built by General Motors, Freightliner looked to General Electric to construct these new machines and opted to place an initial order for 20 locomotives with an option for a further ten.

The new Class 70 was a 3,690bhp locomotive of a very different design from the Class 66s, with a focus on reliability and efficiency. Eventually, Freightliner declined to take up the option of the further ten locos and instead they were taken on by Colas Rail.

Containing over 190 colour photographs, this book is a collection of images showing every Class 70 locomotive, except the ill-fated 70012, over the last decade or so that they have been in service. It shows a variety of locations, mostly in the south of England, where these impressive locomotives can be seen at work.