From the archives of The Railway Magazine, this verbatim report from 1999 records the arrival of the first Class 67 locomotive in the UK. The locomotive arrived at Newport on October 6 and was later moved for testing and commissioning ahead of the introduction of the new class.
By Colin J. Marsden
FOLLOWING on from our in-depth feature on the construction of the Class 67s in the last issue, we can now illustrate No. 67003 in the UK.
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The loco left on time from Valencia on board cargo ship Fret Langeloc on October 1 and arrived at Newport on October 6.
Shipped under a EWS contract with Jumbos Shipping, No. 67003 was craned off the ship the next day and part commissioned on the quayside by EWS.
General Motors and Alstom engineers were also involved in the EWS/GM Class 66 No. 66027, was hauled by a Class 60 to Cardiff Canton where a detailed ‘authorty to run’ examination was carried out.
Testing and commissioning
Although originally planned for direct transfer to Derby for type test and validation testing, No. 67003 was held up at Canton while Railtrack certification was agreed for the loco’s operation on British tracks.
EWS still insists that ten locos will be introduced for main line service by December 16. 67003 had still not started testing and the other nine locos were still in Spain.
Planned introduction
Main line high-speed running at up to 125mph is still planned for the GW Main line between Old Oak Common and Bristol/Exeter/Plymouth, with the first mail trains scheduled for operation on the Bristol-Birmingham corridor.
If all goes to the original plan, some casual introduction of a handful of locos could take place later this year on the Plymouth-Willesden route, but this all depends on the outcome of British testing, full Railtrack certification and punctual deliveries from Spain.
This article is available to subscribers of The Railway Magazine, along with every article from issues dating back to the 1800s! To subscribe, visit https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/the-railway-magazine
