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A Class 59. No. 59003 Yeoman Highlander Co Co Diesel Electric 3300 hp.
Quarry Owner and Operator Foster Yeoman we're totally dissatisfied with the poor standard of reliability and availability of the Class 56s working their stone trains from the West Country to London. Following the success of their own internal EMD SW1001 Shunter. The Class 59/0s were designed developed and ordered from the US Electro Motive Diesel with the first arriving in January 1986. They were the first privately owned locomotives to operate on British Railways. The Class 59 has consistently achieved better than the projected 95% availability and reliability and in 1991 set a European single loco freight haulage record. A 5415 foot long train weighing 11982 tons. No. 59003 was delivered in 1986. It operated Yeomans stone trains until it was sold to Germany in 1997. Repatriated in 2014. It was purchased by GB Railfreight and it now operates from their Peterborough base. The locomotive is seen on display at the Basingstoke Open Day in July 1987.