Railway Herald
Saturday the 7th June 1986 finds Romanian built Class 56 No. 56004 on Healey Mills Stabling Point with Class 31/1 No. 31113 and part of the once busy yard in the background. Towed across Europe from Romania to Holland and then via the train ferry to Harwich No. 56004 was dragged, along with sister Class 56 No. 56003, to Tinsley MPD Sheffield on 17th August 1976. Due to certain manufacturing issues entry into BR service took quite some time for these foreign built Class 56's, but No. 56004 became the first of the class to haul a passenger train on BR when she replaced a failed Class 45/0 No. 45022 outside Sheffield on 22nd June 1977 and hauled the train to its destination, Leeds. Transferred to Toton by 1988 and later moved to Immingham TMD No. 56004 was withdrawn from Immingham during April 1999. After 7 years of storage C F Booth of Rotherham undertook the scrapping of No. 56004 in July 2006.
Bob Woolnough
