In the late 1990s and early 2000s, most of the current locomotives in
use on the national network were becoming very tired and ever more
unreliable. It was during this time that EWS took over the large bulk of
freight operations in the UK, and they quickly realized 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.