Locos and Rolling Stock: Locomotives 56 040 "Oystermouth"

Following the 1973 oil crisis, the UK Government realised a strategy to increase the use of coal fired power stations was required. In order to handle the increased tonnages required, a new locomotive design was needed, capable of hauling heavy merry go round coal trains. Class 47s had previously been used on this traffic but as a mixed-traffic design the maximum tractive effort was only developed at higher speeds. This put great strain on the electrical equipment and generator failures had become more frequent.

The design work was carried out by Brush of Loughbrough and 135 locomotives were built. Due to capacity problems at BREL Doncaster, the first 30 locomotives were built in Romania, the next 85, including 56 040, at Doncaster and the final 20 at Crewe as Doncaster switched to Class 58 production.

56 040 entered traffic on 15th February 1978 and was allocated to Toton depot. In September 1979 she migrated to the Western Region at Cardiff Canton. In March 1982, as part of the 175th Anniversary of the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, 56 040 was named Oystermouth.

56 040 on the pit at Dereham. Photo: Keith Bulmer

56 040 operated in the South Wales area, often working in multiple with another Canton or Bristol 56 on the heavy Port Talbot - Llanwern iron ore trains which had previously been in the hands of triple-headed Class 37 locomotives. Of interest, the three 37s could manage 27 of the 100 tonne tipplers and breast Stormy Bank summit at 8 mph. The introduction of pairs of Class 56s meant the trailing load could be increased to 30 tipplers and Stormy Bank summit was broached at 12mph. 56 040 remained a Cardiff loco until March 1994 when a transfer to Immingham was made.

Around 1996/7 56 040 became an EWS locomotive and the introduction of the imported General Motors Class 66 Locomotives saw the steady withdrawal of Class 56 and the newer Class 58. The decision to withdraw locomotives was made despite some locos being less than 19 years old.

Following a short period in store during early 2000, she was eventually withdrawn on the 21st October 2000. On arrival at Immingham depot, the loco received a full tank of fuel and was placed into permanent storage.

56 040 was put up for sale on an EWS tender list in mid 2005, and purchased by a Class 56 Group member who then sold the loco to the Class 56 Group. After some bogie repairs at Immingham, 56 040 arrived at the Mid-Norfolk Railway on 27th June 2006.

56 040 was operational when stored in 2000, and last had a major overhaul in 1995 at Doncaster Works. When purchased she had accumulated 8647 hours' operation.

56 040 is currently being restored to operational condition and the remaining tasks to be completed include:

• Overhaul and refitting of both main air compressors
• Preparing the power unit for an oil fill (150 gallons) and engine start up
• Repair of a corroded air pipe in the engine room floor
• Bodywork repairs, including the air ducting to the free end turbocharger

Work progresses steadily and we are trying to take an approach which sits somewhere between stripping the loco down to bare components and rushing to get her started in the quickest possible time. When we started working on 56 040 every job we attempted seemed to reveal another 2 or 3 tasks. We have now got to the stage where we are completing tasks and not creating a new task in the process - progress indeed!

Thanks to Keith Bulmer for supplying this article.