Class 58 - Mainline Blue (Preserved) - 58023 - DCC Sound Fitted

Class 58 - Mainline Blue (Preserved) - 58023 - DCC Sound FittedEntering service in December 1984, 58023 was a typical mid batch locomotive. Most reliability modifications had been undertaken, but not the more drastic changes seen on the second batch. Outshopped in Red Stripe livery, it worked for a couple of years before being displayed at the Welbeck Colliery open day on 25th June 1989 in ex works Triple Grey livery with Coal Sector branding. A locomotive that spent a good few years unnamed, it worked like this

Entering service in December 1984, 58023 was a typical mid-batch locomotive. Most reliability modifications had been undertaken, but not the more drastic changes seen on the second batch. Outshopped in Red Stripe livery, it worked for a couple of years before being displayed at the Welbeck Colliery open day on 25th June 1989 in ex-works Triple Grey livery with Coal Sector branding.
A locomotive that spent a good few years unnamed, it worked like this until it was repainted into full Mainline Aircraft Blue livery and named “Peterborough Depot”. It carried this name and livery until withdrawal in July 2001. It spent many years in storage at the back of Toton depot before being dispatched to Ron Hull's scrapyard. A last-minute deal saved the locomotive from the cutters, and it entered preservation under a private owner during 2016.
It has since been restored to full working order and, since late 2024, has attended diesel galas across the country. Since restoration, it has been renamed “Leicester Depot”, a nod to its current home base. This locomotive is truly the “Class 58 for a generation”; being the only locomotive of its class to work on these shores for over 20 years, many people's only experience of a working Class 58 is this one!