Wednesday 30th June 2010 58016 secured for preservation
The Class 58 Locomotive Group is proud to announce that on Monday 28th June 2010 DB Schenker confirmed that a bid placed for the purchase of Class 58 No. 58016 had been accepted and thus the locomotive would become the first preserved example of its type. Since the announcement of the freight companys recent tender list, on Monday 19th April 2010, the C58LG committee and its supporters have been acting fast and working hard, realising that this first opportunity to consider purchasing a Class 58 was potentially too significant to ignore.
With the date for sealed-tender submissions set for Tuesday 15th June 2010, a hectic process began of registering interest, receiving tender documents, arranging depot visits and inspecting engines. These activities were supplemented by enhanced fund raising, notably the well publicised Save Me appeal, which thanks to the support and generosity of several individual C58LG members helped place the group in a realistic financial position.
Following visits to Eastleigh, Toton and Crewe Electric Depots, to conduct detailed inspections of all seven engines available, Nos. 58002, 58003, 58014, 58016, 58019, 58028 and 58045, a decision was made and a bid was to be placed. Whilst one of the above engines, namely 58016, appeared relatively intact, the remainder were heavily stripped (and in some cases even vandalised).
Thanks to the generous financial support from five individual group members, which was combined with the Class 58 Locomotive Groups contribution, a consortium bid was placed; with the resultant outcome being the purchase for preservation of the sixteenth member of the once fifty strong Class.
A second locomotive bid was also made; so as to hopefully secure a donor engine to provide spares for 58016, however this was sadly unsuccessful and now attention must turn towards sourcing any required additional parts, potentially from scrap merchants who may have purchased some of the remaining six engines.
Built by BREL Doncaster; 58016 entered traffic at Toton on 5th October 1984, the locomotives home until 10th April 2001, when it was transferred south to allocation at Eastleigh Depot. Un-named throughout its career, the engines original Railfreight red stripe livery was initially replaced by Trainload Coal grey, before a repaint into plain aircraft blue livery in 1994. Mainline branding was applied on 1st September 1995 prior to a full repaint into EWS maroon livery in June 1996, the colour scheme worn until withdrawal on 5th August 2002.
Fortunately for Number 16 storage was not to be indefinite, as 3 years later, on 14th May 2005, following an overhaul and repaint into Fertis white livery, the locomotive was despatched to France for a tour of duty hauling infrastructure trains. Prematurely returned to the UK some 375 days later, reputedly due to an alternator failure, the engine was subsequently deemed unsuitable for any further use abroad. Initially stored at Old Oak Common depot, the engine was moved by road to its current location of Crewe Electric Depot during 2009, ahead of the West London site closing.
Whilst predominately a freight locomotive, it has operated some very interesting and unusual passenger turns, including Regional Railways timetabled turns between Birmingham and Cambridge in September 1992 and the 1E02 VSOE British Pullman from London Victoria to Chesterfield on 26th September 2001.
Time and effort over the coming weeks shall focus on moving the engine to her new home, Barrow Hill Roundhouse, near Chesterfield, so as detail assessment can commence ahead of a programme of restoration. This Midlands depot, now a heritage centre, was very familiar with Class 58s in their heyday, with examples frequently stabled there until closure on 9th February 1991. This date was in fact the day when 58016 worked out of the depot as the last of the Class to leave there in BR service and the second to last ever BR working from the site. It is hoped that the first official public appearances for 58016 shall be during Barrow Hills Model Rail Live event on 25th & 26th September 2010, when our trade stall will also be in attendance.
