Description
The Class 66 is one of the most ubiquitous diesel classes in the UK. 480 examples were built for the UK market with additional examples being imported from other countries pools to bolster the amount in service in the UK. The Class 66 is a progression of the privately commissioned Class 59 that Foster Yeoman had constructed to replace their aging and failing BREL locomotives. The Class 66 shares the same body as the 59 but has uprated internals.
In May 1996 EWS placed an order for 250 units to be built in London, Ontario. These would set EWS back £375 million, with the first units arriving relatively quickly in early 1998. The locomotives would be in service from the point they touched down at Newport Docks, with the locomotives shipped already filled with water and fuel. The last such example arrived in the UK in spring 2016.
Delivered into Newport Docks on board the MV Stellanova in April 2004, 66850 first went into service with Freightliner, before being transferred to operations with Colas in June 2011. In August 2013, 66850 was named 'David Maidment OBE' at the National Track Plant Exhibition at Long Marston, in a naming ceremony honouring the founder of the 'Railway Children' charity.
Railway Children was founded in 1996, following Maidment's encounter with a young girl begging on a railway station in India and he has since dedicated his life to raising awareness of the plight of children living alone and at risk on the streets and railway platforms.
