Британдық Class 58 локомотивтері: Тарихы мен қолданылуы

Class of 50 Co′Co′ 3300 hp diesel electric locomotives

The British Rail Class 58 is a class of Co Co diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight. The narrow body with cabs at either end led to them being given the nickname "Bone" by rail enthusiasts. Officials within British Rail also observed that the international market for a competitive freight locomotive could be quite lucrative, and thus there were pressures to enter the export market with a suitable design. Furthermore, British Rail had forecast that the domestic rail freight sector was set to grow, and that the prospects for such growth only improved if more capable locomotives, particularly in terms of reliability, were available to service such trains. Export potential was an important consideration; pre production drawings of the Class 58s referred to the type as "Standard Export Locomotives". BREL engineers were involved in the effort from the conceptual stage of development, bringing design and production planning into close alignment. In the concept phase, the locomotive incorporated features such as modularisation and recently developed manufacturing techniques to lower both manufacturing and maintenance costs. During January 1982, British Rail felt sufficiently confident in the project's progress to place an order for an initial batch of 35 locomotives. Since their introduction to service during the early 1980s, the Class 58 saw service on a variety of freight duties. Despite claims made at the time, their performance was actually inferior to Class 56s on many types of freight train due to their increased tendency to wheelslip, largely as a result of bogie design. Although originally allocated to coal traffic, their arrival coincided with the miners' strike; it has been alleged that British Rail had only tolerated the construction of so many units because the components for their manufacture were already on order. As a result, the 58s could also be seen working other types of freight traffic. With the advent of privatisation in the 1990s, Class 58s greatly extended the geographical scope of their operations and were used on general freight traffic until withdrawal.

During 2000, EWS announced that eight Class 58s were to be transferred to Spain, where they were initially hired to Spanish infrastructure operator GIF. Subsequently, a large number of Class 58s, alongside numerous Class 56s, operated in France for Fertis, TSO and Seco Rail. In May 2007, all of the locomotives from the French contract were returned to the UK and placed back into storage. The Spanish locomotives remain active however now under the ownership of Transfesa. The locomotives that were returned to the UK were sent back abroad to France between May and October 2009, as these units had been hired to operators TSO and ETF. The Dutch locomotives were prepared for further use in France before being transported to France in July 2009.

During the late 1990s, it was almost certain that the entire Class 58 fleet would see service into the next millennium as working locomotives. However, despite being quoted as EWS's most reliable and consistent Type 5s, during 1999, it was announced that a large number of Class 58s were going to be placed into long term storage: 58 017 was the first to be stored, quickly followed by 58 022. Since then, the remainder of the Class 58s went into storage, initially at various sites around Britain. The type's withdrawal was hastened by the introduction of 250 Class 66s. During September 2002, the last few Class 58 locomotives were withdrawn after working the last charter train, the "Bone Idol" from King's Cross to and return. Seven Class 58s were put on the DB Schenker April 2010 disposals list; this was the first time stored Class 58s had been put up for sale. One of these, 58 016, has entered preservation at Barrow Hill with the Class 58 Locomotive Group (C58LG). A further five Class 58s were listed for disposal by DB Schenker on their October 2015 disposals list, these being 58 008, 58 012, 58 022, 58 023, and 58 048. During January 2016, it was reported that DB Schenker had disposed of its last Class 58s in the UK. Of these 58 012, 58 022, 58 023, and 58 048 were saved for preservation but 58 008 was scrapped by Raxstar. According to Railways Illustrated, the fleet's operational history could be summarised as having been a shocking waste, with none of the locomotives being life expired upon withdrawal. The periodical also observed the absurdity of many of the class being in storage in depots across France while there was a shortage of available locomotives in the UK during the mid 2010s.

On 6 August 1987, locomotive No. 58 013 was hauling a freight train that ran away from Baddesley Colliery, Warwickshire, and was derailed at Kingsbury Sidings.

On 28 June 2010, DB Schenker confirmed that the Class 58 Locomotive Group's bid for 58 016 had been accepted and thus the locomotive would become the first preserved example of its type. Shortly afterwards, on 7 July, the group announced they had also acquired another locomotive, 58 045, as a spares donor. A subsequent posting on the group's website said that the stripping of 58 045 had proceeded apace and all parts recovered were to be initially stored until the restoration of 58 016 commences properly. In 2016, 58 012 and 58 023 were saved from Ron Hull Jr's scrapyard at Rotherham and are now preserved at the Battlefield Line, privately owned. 58 023 is now in running order, and there are also plans to restore 58 012 to running order as well. 58 048 is also owned by the Battlefield Line however it is planned that it will be saved for preservation to join the heritage roster at UK Rail Leasing Locomotives in Leicester where it will be on hire to Heritage Railways. 58 022 was purchased by the Ivatt Diesel Recreation Society, with plans to use it as the chassis in the new build class D16/1 LMS 10000. In 2002, 58 050 was nominated by the Railway Heritage Committee for preservation at the conclusion of its service life. As of 2018, five members of the class have been preserved, in addition one cab of 58 008 has also been preserved.

NumberNameLiveryStatusLocationNotes58 012N/AN/AStoredBattlefield LinePurchased from Ron Hull Jr's scrapyard in 2016 and now stored awaiting restoration.58 016N/AFertis GreyUnder RestorationLeicester LIPPurchased for preservation in October 2010 to become the first member of class to be preserved.58 022N/AN/AdismantledEcclesbourne Valley RailwayPurchased from Ron Hull Jr's scrapyard in 2016 and now stored awaiting deconstruction, with the frames destined for the new build class D16/1 LMS 10000. Locomotive transferred from Peak Rail to Ecclesbourne Valley Railway in August 2020.58 023Peterborough DepotMainline BlueOperationalLeicester LIPPurchased for preservation in 2016 from Ron Hull Jr's scrapyard along with 58 012 and 58 048 and moved to the Battlefield Line. This was the first Class 58 to be started in preservation. 58 048Coventry CollieryN/AUnder RestorationBattlefield LinePurchased from Ron Hull Jr's scrapyard in 2016 along with 58 012 and 58 023 and now undergoing restoration.

From new, all locomotives were outshopped in Railfreight grey, with yellow ends and red solebars. The introduction of Railfreight sector liveries from October 1987 saw 58 050 outshopped by Stratford in the new triple grey scheme, complete with the Trainload Freight coal sub sector logo. Eventually the majority of the fleet were repainted in triple grey livery. Upon shadow privatisation of the UK freight business, Mainline Freight became the owners of the 50 strong fleet, which saw a small number re painted into the operator's aircraft blue and silver livery, while others had Mainline Freight branding applied to the triple grey bodywork. With full privatisation and the takeover of the freight operations by EWS, maroon and gold became the standard livery for repainted examples from mid 1997 and beyond.

In 1979, prior to the building of the first locomotive by British Rail Engineering Limited, a 1:25 scale model was made by a member of the staff of the Locomotive Drawing Office at the Railway Technical Centre (RTC) in Derby, using the General Arrangement drawings of the proposed design. The model formed part of an exhibition at the RTC to illustrate the work of the Locomotive Design Office to the then Chairman of British Rail, Sir Peter Parker. In 1982 Hornby Railways released a OO gauge model of a Class 58, with variants produced over the next two decades. Heljan released a OO model in 2008. In 2011 Dapol released a model in N scale.