Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, of Lincoln, was formed as the result of the merger between Ruston, Proctor & Co. Ltd and Richard Hornsby & Sons Ltd on September 11, 1918 and their first narrow gauge diesel locomotive left the works on September 1, 1931. In the summer of 1932, production was moved to the larger Boultham Works, where the firm were eventually to become Britain’s largest builder of diesel locomotives, with over 6,500 being built by the time production ceased in 1969. Almost as soon as the firm’s 44/48HP 0-4-0 locomotives were making an appearance, an upgraded, more powerful 0-4-0 was on the drawing board. Although many of the features of the 44/48HP were retained for the new 80/88HP, such as the chain drive and running gear, a new type of transmission was fitted, along with Westinghouse airbrakes.

The new power unit, Ruston’s own 4VPB, delivered 80BHP at 1000rpm and was later supplanted by Ruston’s improved 4VPH that delivered 88BHP, but it required compressed air to be injected into the cylinders to be able to start. While running, an air reservoir was kept charged via the braking system, but after standing idle for a period the reservoir depleted and a secondary source was required to recharge the reservoir. This was achieved by fitting a small, secondary 1½HP ‘donkey’ engine, giving rise to a distinctive raised cover on the right hand side of the engine compartment that differed in size and placement depending on the make of engine used. Two basic weight options were offered for the 80/88HP, of 17 tons and 20 tons, the difference being achieved by attaching weights to the outside frames, as well as to the front and rear buffer beams.

In 1941, Ruston’s locomotive classifications were changed, with the 80/88HP becoming 88DS (with the narrow gauge versions being assigned the DSM and DSN suffix, and the broader gauges assigned DSW). Outward appearance changes to the ‘standard’ locomotives were mainly confined to the cab area, with examples from mid-1947 replacing the open cab with a fully enclosed cab that featured several ad-hoc styles of front window. The final 88DS, 518494, left Boultham Works on 29 November 1967, bringing to an end a production run of 271 locomotives. Ruston 421415 was built new for the North British Distillery Co. Ltd, being delivered in March 1958 to their distillery in the Gorgie district of Edinburgh, around the period when the distillery was expanding to include the former Edinburgh Corporation Tramways depot. In 1973, the locomotive was donated to the fledgling Fife Railway Preservation Group, who located it at the Lochty Private Railway until it’s demise in 1994. 421415, now numbered NBD No. 4, has now been restored and wears the livery of the North British Railway.

Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, of Lincoln, was formed as the result of the merger between Ruston, Proctor & Co. Ltd and Richard Hornsby & Sons Ltd on September 11, 1918 and their first narrow gauge diesel locomotive left the works on September 1, 1931. In the summer of 1932, production was moved to the larger Boultham Works, where the firm were eventually to become Britain’s largest builder of diesel locomotives, with over 6,500 being built by the time production ceased in 1969. Almost as soon as the firm’s 44/48HP 0-4-0 locomotives were making an appearance, an upgraded, more powerful 0-4-0 was on the drawing board. Although many of the features of the 44/48HP were retained for the new 80/88HP, such as the chain drive and running gear, a new type of transmission was fitted, along with Westinghouse airbrakes.

The new power unit, Ruston’s own 4VPB, delivered 80BHP at 1000rpm and was later supplanted by Ruston’s improved 4VPH that delivered 88BHP, but it required compressed air to be injected into the cylinders to be able to start. While running, an air reservoir was kept charged via the braking system, but after standing idle for a period the reservoir depleted and a secondary source was required to recharge the reservoir. This was achieved by fitting a small, secondary 1½HP ‘donkey’ engine, giving rise to a distinctive raised cover on the right hand side of the engine compartment that differed in size and placement depending on the make of engine used. Two basic weight options were offered for the 80/88HP, of 17 tons and 20 tons, the difference being achieved by attaching weights to the outside frames, as well as to the front and rear buffer beams.

In 1941, Ruston’s locomotive classifications were changed, with the 80/88HP becoming 88DS (with the narrow gauge versions being assigned the DSM and DSN suffix, and the broader gauges assigned DSW). Outward appearance changes to the ‘standard’ locomotives were mainly confined to the cab area, with examples from mid-1947 replacing the open cab with a fully enclosed cab that featured several ad-hoc styles of front window. The final 88DS, 518494, left Boultham Works on 29 November 1967, bringing to an end a production run of 271 locomotives. Ruston 441934 was built new for Rowntree & Co. Ltd of York, being delivered in April 1960 to join R&H 421419/1958 and 432479/1959 in the confectionery company’s fleet of locomotives as No. 3. In 1979, the York factory bought a new 0-6-0 locomotive and No.3 was transferred to Rowntree’s Fawdon factory in Newcastle. Rail services at Fawdon came to a halt on 30 January 1987, with No. 3 being handed over to the North York Moors Railway for preservation. After some years being moved about it was purchased in 2013 by two members of the Derwent Valley Light Railway, Glynnis and Tony Frith. 441934 has now been named Ken Cooke, in honour of the former Rowntree’s York employee, D-Day veteran and holder of France’s highest military honour, the Legion d’Honneur.

Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, of Lincoln, was formed as the result of the merger between Ruston, Proctor & Co. Ltd and Richard Hornsby & Sons Ltd on September 11, 1918 and their first narrow gauge diesel locomotive left the works on September 1, 1931. In the summer of 1932, production was moved to the larger Boultham Works, where the firm were eventually to become Britain’s largest builder of diesel locomotives, with over 6,500 being built by the time production ceased in 1969. Almost as soon as the firm’s 44/48HP 0-4-0 locomotives were making an appearance, an upgraded, more powerful 0-4-0 was on the drawing board. Although many of the features of the 44/48HP were retained for the new 80/88HP, such as the chain drive and running gear, a new type of transmission was fitted, along with Westinghouse airbrakes.

The new power unit, Ruston’s own 4VPB, delivered 80BHP at 1000rpm and was later supplanted by Ruston’s improved 4VPH that delivered 88BHP, but it required compressed air to be injected into the cylinders to be able to start. While running, an air reservoir was kept charged via the braking system, but after standing idle for a period the reservoir depleted and a secondary source was required to recharge the reservoir. This was achieved by fitting a small, secondary 1½HP ‘donkey’ engine, giving rise to a distinctive raised cover on the right hand side of the engine compartment that differed in size and placement depending on the make of engine used. Two basic weight options were offered for the 80/88HP, of 17 tons and 20 tons, the difference being achieved by attaching weights to the outside frames, as well as to the front and rear buffer beams. In 1941, Ruston’s locomotive classifications were changed, with the 80/88HP becoming 88DS (with the narrow gauge versions being assigned the DSM and DSN suffix, and the broader gauges assigned DSW).

Outward appearance changes to the ‘standard’ locomotives were mainly confined to the cab area, with examples from mid-1947 replacing the open cab with a fully enclosed cab that featured several ad-hoc styles of front window. The final 88DS, 518494, left Boultham Works on 29 November 1967, bringing to an end a production run of 271 locomotives. Ruston 432478 was built new for British Railways, being delivered in January 1959 to the North Eastern Region Civil Engineers Department at the Leeman Road Permanent Way Stockyard in York, one of six Ruston & Hornsby 88DS locomotives built for British Railways which were distributed between York, Dinsdale Depot, Etherley Tip, Crofton, Hartlepool and Darlington. As well as working shunting duties at Leeman Road, 432478 also worked at the York Central Concrete Depot, which is now the site of the Railway Museum’s main visitor car park.

Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, of Lincoln, was formed as the result of the merger between Ruston, Proctor & Co. Ltd and Richard Hornsby & Sons Ltd on September 11, 1918 and their first narrow gauge diesel locomotive left the works on September 1, 1931. In the summer of 1932, production was moved to the larger Boultham Works, where the firm were eventually to become Britain’s largest builder of diesel locomotives, with over 6,500 being built by the time production ceased in 1969. Almost as soon as the firm’s 44/48HP 0-4-0 locomotives were making an appearance, an upgraded, more powerful 0-4-0 was on the drawing board. Although many of the features of the 44/48HP were retained for the new 80/88HP, such as the chain drive and running gear, a new type of transmission was fitted, along with Westinghouse airbrakes.

The new power unit, Ruston’s own 4VPB, delivered 80BHP at 1000rpm and was later supplanted by Ruston’s improved 4VPH that delivered 88BHP, but it required compressed air to be injected into the cylinders to be able to start. While running, an air reservoir was kept charged via the braking system, but after standing idle for a period the reservoir depleted and a secondary source was required to recharge the reservoir. This was achieved by fitting a small, secondary 1½HP ‘donkey’ engine, giving rise to a distinctive raised cover on the right hand side of the engine compartment that differed in size and placement depending on the make of engine used. Two basic weight options were offered for the 80/88HP, of 17 tons and 20 tons, the difference being achieved by attaching weights to the outside frames, as well as to the front and rear buffer beams.

In 1941, Ruston’s locomotive classifications were changed, with the 80/88HP becoming 88DS (with the narrow gauge versions being assigned the DSM and DSN suffix, and the broader gauges assigned DSW). Outward appearance changes to the ‘standard’ locomotives were mainly confined to the cab area, with examples from mid-1947 replacing the open cab with a fully enclosed cab that featured several ad-hoc styles of front window. The final 88DS, 518494, left Boultham Works on 29 November 1967, bringing to an end a production run of 271 locomotives. Ruston 408493 was built new for British Railways Western Region, for use at the Signalling & Telecommunications Department workshops at Reading and was delivered in January 1957. Taking the Departmental number 20, the locomotive spent its entire lifetime at Reading, housed under the Vastern Road bridge when not in use. Renumbered in 1973 under TOPS, to 97020, withdrawal came in April 1981 and it was disposed of at Reading by Cartrights of Tipton in August 1982, being replaced by a Barclay Class 06 No. 06003, which was transferred to Reading from the Scottish Region.

The Class 87 locomotive design resulted from a requirement for a more powerful mixed traffic electrical locomotive by British Rail, needed to cope with the route gradients of the West Coast Main Line between Weaver Junction and Glasgow. Electrification had been newly authorised over this section in 1970 and was scheduled for completion by May 1974, leaving little time to design a completely new locomotive from scratch and so British Rail decided to base the new class on the existing Class 86 locomotives.

The British Railways Board placed an order for thirty four locomotives, later to be increased to thirty six, with British Rail Engineering Ltd at Crewe, GEC Traction providing the electrical equipment. Designed from the outset to work in pairs, as well as in parallel with the Class 86 fleet, the Class 87 was broadly similar to the Class 86 in terms of layout and styling, but mechanically it was a very different. Immediately identifiable by its new twin windscreen cab, multiple-unit control cables and a redesigned BP9 bogie with Flexicoil suspension, the new locomotives were assembled during 1973-74 and were geared for 110mph running on the WCML, being able to haul 450 ton passenger trains, or 750 ton freight trains single handed. With a power rating of 5000hp, they were to be the most powerful locomotives to run under British Rail until the late 1980s. The first locomotive, 87001, entered traffic in June 1973, the remainder of the fleet being deployed in the general West Coast pool as they entered service, operating Euston to Preston services as the WCML’s electrification spread north. On April 22, 1974 the new West Coast ‘Electric Scot’ service was introduced, marking a major launch for the class and journey times from London-Glasgow were cut to just five hours.

When British Railways reversed its locomotive naming policy in 1977, the class were given the generic title of ‘Royal Scot’ and named from a selection of famous steam hauled predecessors. Sectorisation of the railways in the late 1980s/early 1990s meant rail freight operations were wound down and the fleet were engaged solely on passenger services. Following complete privatisation in the mid-1990s, Porterbrook leasing took over ownership of the fleet, but the introduction of the Pendolino trains led to the Class 87s being withdrawn from the core InterCity routes and complete withdrawal began in 2003, with 87016 being the first to be dismantled in November 2004. The last mainstream locomotive hauled service took place on June 10, 2005 and Porterbrook began to look at how best to employ the locomotives, spells with DRS, Cotswold Rail and First GBRf ensuing. The fleet, not being fitted with On Train Monitoring and Recording (OTMR) could not operate beyond January 1, 2008 and were finally withdrawn from service, some going to Bulgaria between 2008 and 2012. No. 87006 entered traffic in November 1973 and was named ‘City of Glasgow’ between December 1977 and 1987. After this it was briefly named ‘Glasgow Garden Festival’ until 1989 at which point it returned to being called ‘City of Glasgow’ until 1997.

In 1984, 87006 and 87012 were selected to trial new liveries in advance of an improved 110mph service on the WCML. 87006 received a version of the large-logo livery, but with dark grey as the base colour rather than Rail Blue, while 87012 received a version of the APT-P livery, which became known as InterCity Executive livery. In 2009 87006 was one of the class to be exported to work for the Bulgarian Railway Company.

The Class 87 locomotive design resulted from a requirement for a more powerful mixed traffic electrical locomotive by British Rail, needed to cope with the route gradients of the West Coast Main Line between Weaver Junction and Glasgow. Electrification had been newly authorised over this section in 1970 and was scheduled for completion by May 1974, leaving little time to design a completely new locomotive from scratch and so British Rail decided to base the new class on the existing Class 86 locomotives. The British Railways Board placed an order for thirty four locomotives, later to be increased to thirty six, with British Rail Engineering Ltd at Crewe, GEC Traction providing the electrical equipment.

Designed from the outset to work in pairs, as well as in parallel with the Class 86 fleet, the Class 87 was broadly similar to the Class 86 in terms of layout and styling, but mechanically it was a very different. Immediately identifiable by its new twin windscreen cab, multiple-unit control cables and a redesigned BP9 bogie with Flexicoil suspension, the new locomotives were assembled during 1973-74 and were geared for 110mph running on the WCML, being able to haul 450 ton passenger trains, or 750 ton freight trains single handed. With a power rating of 5000hp, they were to be the most powerful locomotives to run under British Rail until the late 1980s. The first locomotive, 87001, entered traffic in June 1973, the remainder of the fleet being deployed in the general West Coast pool as they entered service, operating Euston to Preston services as the WCML’s electrification spread north. On April 22, 1974 the new West Coast ‘Electric Scot’ service was introduced, marking a major launch for the class and journey times from London-Glasgow were cut to just five hours.

When British Railways reversed its locomotive naming policy in 1977, the class were given the generic title of ‘Royal Scot’ and named from a selection of famous steam hauled predecessors. Sectorisation of the railways in the late 1980s/early 1990s meant rail freight operations were wound down and the fleet were engaged solely on passenger services. Following complete privatisation in the mid-1990s, Porterbrook leasing took over ownership of the fleet, but the introduction of the Pendolino trains led to the Class 87s being withdrawn from the core InterCity routes and complete withdrawal began in 2003, with 87016 being the first to be dismantled in November 2004. The last mainstream locomotive hauled service took place on June 10, 2005 and Porterbrook began to look at how best to employ the locomotives, spells with DRS, Cotswold Rail and First GBRf ensuing. The fleet, not being fitted with On Train Monitoring and Recording (OTMR) could not operate beyond January 1, 2008 and were finally withdrawn from service, some going to Bulgaria between 2008 and 2012. No. 87009 entered traffic in November 1973 named ‘City of Birmingham’. In 2012 87009 was exported to Bulmarket, Bulgaria.

The British Rail Class 56 Type 5 Co-Co diesel locomotive was first introduced in 1976 to cope with the increased requirement for heavy freight. British Rail awarded the contract to design and build these new engines to Brush Traction in Loughborough, who subsequently sub-contracted the construction to Electroputere in Romania, due to the lack of capacity in their own works. The initial 30 locomotives to be delivered from Romania suffered from transit damage and construction deficiencies and had to be extensively rebuilt before entering service.

With this in mind the decision was made to build the remaining 105 locomotives in England, British Rail Engineering Ltd manufacturing them at their Doncaster Works (nos. 56031 to 56115) and Crewe Works (nos. 56116 to 56135). The design specification was based upon the Class 47 bodyshell, with the omission of redundant features such as the headcode panel. Power came from a Ruston-Paxman unit that was similar to that fitted in the Class 50 locomotives, which provided the capability for heavy haul freight. Air brakes were fitted for the first time in a British Rail engine and the electrics were improved in a number of areas, resulting in a more robust power unit. Nicknamed as Gridirons or “Grids”, the Class 56 displaced the Class 20 and Class 47 locomotives and commonly undertook the transportation of iron ore, coal, aggregate and steel across the Eastern and London Midland Regions and on the Western Region for aggregate duties. Strong and reliable performers, the locomotives were popular, but needed heavy maintenance, particularly when compared against the Class 66 locomotives that came to displace them in service. The introduction of the Class 60 locomotives saw a gradual reduction in the use of the Class 56 locomotives and with the arrival of the Class 66 locomotives, with their greater availability and lower maintenance, the Class 56 fleet were placed into storage between 1998 and 2004.

Most of the locomotives remain in depots around the UK, despite being variously sold for scrap and then re-acquired and reinstated in service. Colas Railfreight operate a small fleet on a rotating basis and British American Railway Services and UK Rail Leasing have a number available for working. Five locomotives, 56006, 56097, 56098, 56301 and 56302 have been preserved. No. 56047 was built in July 1978 by BREL in Doncaster. The locomotive served with BR and later Transrail until being put into storage in May 1999. The locomotive was scrapped in December 2003.

The British Rail Class 56 Type 5 Co-Co diesel locomotive was first introduced in 1976 to cope with the increased requirement for heavy freight. British Rail awarded the contract to design and build these new engines to Brush Traction in Loughborough, who subsequently sub-contracted the construction to Electroputere in Romania, due to the lack of capacity in their own works. The initial 30 locomotives to be delivered from Romania suffered from transit damage and construction deficiencies and had to be extensively rebuilt before entering service.

With this in mind the decision was made to build the remaining 105 locomotives in England, British Rail Engineering Ltd manufacturing them at their Doncaster Works (nos. 56031 to 56115) and Crewe Works (nos. 56116 to 56135). The design specification was based upon the Class 47 bodyshell, with the omission of redundant features such as the headcode panel. Power came from a Ruston-Paxman unit that was similar to that fitted in the Class 50 locomotives, which provided the capability for heavy haul freight. Air brakes were fitted for the first time in a British Rail engine and the electrics were improved in a number of areas, resulting in a more robust power unit. Nicknamed as Gridirons or “Grids”, the Class 56 displaced the Class 20 and Class 47 locomotives and commonly undertook the transportation of iron ore, coal, aggregate and steel across the Eastern and London Midland Regions and on the Western Region for aggregate duties. Strong and reliable performers, the locomotives were popular, but needed heavy maintenance, particularly when compared against the Class 66 locomotives that came to displace them in service. The introduction of the Class 60 locomotives saw a gradual reduction in the use of the Class 56 locomotives and with the arrival of the Class 66 locomotives, with their greater availability and lower maintenance, the Class 56 fleet were placed into storage between 1998 and 2004. Most of the locomotives remain in depots around the UK, despite being variously sold for scrap and then re-acquired and reinstated in service.

Colas Railfreight operate a small fleet on a rotating basis and British American Railway Services and UK Rail Leasing have a number available for working. Five locomotives, 56006, 56097, 56098, 56301 and 56302 have been preserved. No. 56086 was built in December 1980 by BREL in Doncaster and painted in what was at that time British Rail’s newest livery featuring the large double arrow logo. In October 1995 the locomotive received the name ‘The Magistrates Association’ which it ran with until April 2006. The locomotive was scrapped by EMR at Kingsbury in 2013. This model depicts No. 56083 in original Large Arrow livery.