The Class 60 was the last truly British-built diesel locomotive design.
From 1990, the locomotive was gradually delivered, with 100 in total
going to the Railfreight sectors of Metal, Coal, Construction and
Petroleum. Their introduction did not go smoothly, however, and they
took almost three years to enter service due to various teething
troubles. Once these were ironed out, the class became reasonably
reliable, and examples of other classes that were getting very tired at
the time were progressively withdrawn. Privatization saw all the class
being sold on to English, Welsh & Scottish Railways and, in 2004, the
first Class 60 was withdrawn. Towards the end of the 2000s, almost all
of the locos were put into store with a seemingly very bleak future.
However, in the early 2010s, a small fleet of the locos received a
thorough rebuilding so they could haul DB Schenker's heaviest trains,
and eventually 21 locos were refurbished for them, another ten for Colas
Rail and a further four for Devon & Cornwall Railways. This has meant
that although the majority of the class is still presently rusting away
and unlikely to run again, at least a number of examples will still be
visible on the national network for a few more years to come.
Illustrated with over 190 photographs, this volume looks at the Class
60s from their early days through to the end of the 2010s.
