British Diesel locomotive Guide 1970 - 2000 Classes 56 to 67

Photos and video (taken in the 90s) of various classes of diesel locomotives on British Rail in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Some in cab footage is included. The Class 66s are seen being hauled by Canadian Locomotives to Halifax Nova Scotia and then loaded aboard a Jumboship for transportation to Newport Docks where they were immediately commissioned and put into service.

[@scottishrailwaymaniac9996]

I absolutely loved the footage of 58028 from 5:41 58028 was my favourite class 58 until the poor thing was scrapped in 2010 😭

[@Reddsoldier]

The class 60 oozes 90's design, i love it.

[@benconway9010]

Reddsoldier urm more like 80s design they r the same as the 59 design which was 80s mate

[@robincoleman1350]

Class 60 looks good in original two-tone grey livery. Class 59 is much closer to class 66.

[@neilrogers6767]

Someone got a little mixed up with the class

[@knobjockey693]

@@benconway9010 ur thinking of class 66 and 59. 60 and 59 are quite different

[@theunknownwarrior632]

Class 56: 'Grid' Class 57: 'Body snatcher' Class 58: 'Bone' Class 59: 'Shed' Class 60: 'Tug' Class 66: 'Shed' Class 67: 'Skip'

[@applejuice5272]

17:12 Starting the only British locomotive with a straight-8! ❤

[@James47298]

great footage

[@pinza55007]

Great set of videos, really loving the rail blue era. If you or anyone else is interested there are a couple of sideshows on my channel from the 80s.

[@NorbertRoll]

Excellent.

[@atsf3780]

Quick question: Why is the two-tone short horn so common in the UK? (compared to, let's say, American horn blasts) I thought maybe it could just be preferences, but I wasn't certain whether there was a reason behind it or not.

[@david-othen]

I am not very knowledgeable about UK loco horns. However IIRC unlike North American locos there are two or three horn positions that have different sounds. If you look at the 66/5 cab view at 36:00 you will see the horn lever (far right) has three positions labelled "High Sound", "Low Soft" & "Low Loud" From my in cab trips I note that drivers/engineers often activate one setting and then flip to a second setting causing two different sounds following one another. On North American horns one can get different tone on some locomotives by allowing a lower flow of air into the horn thereby activating fewer of the bells that make up the horn.

[@david-othen]

David Othen Sorry horn is far left.

[@david-othen]

+David Othen I received this information from Stan.Tout The use of two tone stems back to the steam days , first whistle alerts that a train is near, the second gives the direction it is coming from. This was one of the safety instructions given to me on entering the railway as a fifteen year old way back in 1948. Of course the two tone served the same purpose . Of late I must add that the nimbys of our modern World through noise complaint have in certain areas reduced it to one blast.

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

David Othen the narrator of the BTC's films on how to drive a DMU says that you sound the horn twice using both tones so that people don't mistake the train's horn for that of a car. According to the Sectional Appendices I've seen different whistles/horns were required on different lines on multi-track lines and to pass on messages to signalmen.

[@cristiandicu7094]

i think that some engines of 56 class was built in Romania at Electroputere Craiova. 56 001 - 56 030

[@david-othen]

Yes I believe that is true.

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

Cristian Romania they were this was due to the urgent need for these locomotives and the lack of capacity at Crewe and Derby works, but due to poor build quality it took almost a year after delivery for them to be accepted into service. This was about the same time that the first British built examples came into service negating the time saving for the early delivery of the Romanian examples.

[@wetaskiwin888]

Interesting footage about the Class 66's in Canada. They look so tiny compared to the CN loco hauling them. That EWS livery is dreadful. Do they still exist I wonder.

[@david-othen]

+Kenneth Willis The British loading gauge is indeed very small. The 66s still exist AFAIK but the are now owned by DB (German Railways)

[@class8866]

Yes, they do exist as DB Cargo UK...

[@robincoleman1350]

Yet technically the class 66s are similar to the Canadian loco pulling them.

[@benconway9010]

Answer me this how the hell can a fork lift have the power to pull a 66 or any loco for that matter?

[@Thomas_TdK]

A rail vehicle with out brakes on rolls very easy, with a few people you can push a EMU/DMU unit. Stopping it is a different story😅

[@tiggy2756]

I wondered how they stopped it

[@gokceralp]

Everytime I see a 58 or a 70, I say "Why? Whhyyyy?"

[@generalgrievous5615]

I like both. They look unique compared to 56s 60s and 66s