DC Railfreight 60055 "Thomas Bernardo" LE Through East Midlands Parkway
60055 was completed at the Brush locomotive works in Loughborough in 1991 and accepted by British Rail on the 15th of May that year. It Rolled out of the works the smart, triple grey Railfreight livery, wearing the black and yellow diamonds to denote its coal sector allocation. 60055 was named Thomas Barnardo from new, a name it would carry for the rest of its working life.
The locomotive bearing his name continued to work for the coal sector until under the “shadow franchise” period it became part of the Transrail fleet, this meant in 1995 it lost its coal sector markings in place of the Transrail “big T”. Soon ownership passed to EW&S Railways in 1996 but 60055 did not receive an updated livery for another decade until 2006 when the “big T” was covered by the iconic EWS “Three Beasties logo”. Unfortunately, 60055 did not last long in this condition as it was placed in to storage at Toton in November 2008 as part of EWS’ reduction in operational fleet. It was moved by rail to Crewe in 2009, this is where 60055 would spend the next decade of its life before being purchased by DCR and moved by road back to Toton for a full overhaul.
In November 2019 60055 worked its first revenue train in multiple with class leader 60001 as a test run from Toton to Boston on the steel train. Still in tatty triple grey livery, it had yet to visit the paint shop to gain its new coat of single grey to indicate its new ownership.
DCR are notable for having impeccably clean locomotives and 60055 is no different. One of four operational class 60’s in the fleet, it can be seen working in rotation around many of their aggregate contracts and is always kept looking its best by the staff. The latest chapter in 60055’s story came during late 2023 when it was fitted with the latest BMAC LED style headlights
DC Railfreight 60055 "Thomas Bernardo" LE Through East Midlands Parkway
60055 was completed at the Brush locomotive works in Loughborough in 1991 and accepted by British Rail on the 15th of May that year. It Rolled out of the works the smart, triple grey Railfreight livery, wearing the black and yellow diamonds to denote its coal sector allocation. 60055 was named Thomas Barnardo from new, a name it would carry for the rest of its working life.
The locomotive bearing his name continued to work for the coal sector until under the “shadow franchise” period it became part of the Transrail fleet, this meant in 1995 it lost its coal sector markings in place of the Transrail “big T”. Soon ownership passed to EW&S Railways in 1996 but 60055 did not receive an updated livery for another decade until 2006 when the “big T” was covered by the iconic EWS “Three Beasties logo”. Unfortunately, 60055 did not last long in this condition as it was placed in to storage at Toton in November 2008 as part of EWS’ reduction in operational fleet. It was moved by rail to Crewe in 2009, this is where 60055 would spend the next decade of its life before being purchased by DCR and moved by road back to Toton for a full overhaul.
In November 2019 60055 worked its first revenue train in multiple with class leader 60001 as a test run from Toton to Boston on the steel train. Still in tatty triple grey livery, it had yet to visit the paint shop to gain its new coat of single grey to indicate its new ownership.
DCR are notable for having impeccably clean locomotives and 60055 is no different. One of four operational class 60’s in the fleet, it can be seen working in rotation around many of their aggregate contracts and is always kept looking its best by the staff. The latest chapter in 60055’s story came during late 2023 when it was fitted with the latest BMAC LED style headlights