1976-2000

In 1976 BR decided that new locomotives were needed to cope with the upturn in coal traffic to and from power stations, which presented a problem because of the short timescale for the design, build and delivery of the new locos. The contract to build the new locos was awarded to Brush Traction of Loughborough and because of the need for the locomotives to be built quickly, Brush decided to use a modified Class 47 bodyshell and a Ruston-Paxman power unit to give a new heavy haul freight locomotive. Capacity problems at the Loughborough plant meant Brush sub-contracted the work out to Electroputere at Craiova, Romania. The parts to be used were shipped out to Romania, and the first Romanian Class 56 was handed over to BR on 4th August 1976 at Zebrugge. The first locomotive to enter service was 56006 following manufacturing faults needing to be rectified and also shipping damage.

After the first 30 locomotives had entered service, rather than subcontract out with disastrous results again, BR took the construction of the next series of Class 56 in house with a 84 locos to be built BREL Doncaster and then a final run of 19 locomotives to be built by Crewe Works. When delivered and in traffic, the UK built examples were more reliable than the Romanian examples which were still going through rounds of modifications. When introduced, the Class 56s replaced pairs of Class 20s and Class 47s on coal trains to become regulars on the MGR circuits, along with working some of the heavy steel trains originating in South Wales and the North East of England. Delivery of the new 'heavy hauler' - the Class 60 - displaced them from this work and made them available for other general freight work, allowing withdrawal of other, older classes.

The Class 56s appeared in BR Blue with small arrows then BR 'Large Logo' and the first locomotive to appear in a trainload livery, was appropriately 56001 which came out of an overhaul in trainload construction livery. Since then the locomotives have now carried a variety of liveries including 'Dutch', Trainload Coal and Metals, Loadhaul and Transrail. Since the acquisition of the TLF companies, locos have appeared in two versions of EWS livery; the earlier 'EW&S' and the revised 'EWS' with the 'three beasties' logo.

The Class 56 fleet was hit very badly by the introduction of the Class 66 locomotives, with a total of over half of the original fleet of 135 locos being stood down and stored at various locations and times across the country. This figure was later reduced by the reinstatement of locos to cover for older classes being withdrawn. Improving productivity of the new locos and traffic losses to other freight companies saw the fleet scaled down from its total of around 40 during 2002-2003 to just 25 working examples in late 2003.

2000-present day

The appointment of a new CEO at EWS in 2003 signalled a change in direction for the company; a previously unseen desire to cut costs and improve the efficiency of the existing Classes 60, 66 and Class 67 fleets saw the expensive to run and maintain Class 56 fleet reduced further and further until just two locomotives were left in traffic by the last week of March 2003. These two locomotives, 56078 and 56115, worked the final EWS Class 56 hauled charter from Bristol to York and return on March 31st after which the locos were stood down and a couple of days later were removed from the active fleet.

Following a period in storage at locations such as Imingham, Toton and Healey Mills, the fortunes for some members of the class brightened after a contract to supply 30 locomotives for use in the construction of the TGV-EST high speed line in France was secured. Following in the footsteps of the fleet of Class 37s sent to France to work on a similar project in the late nineties, the first locomotive departed through the Channel Tunnel in September 2004 with successive convoys taking place until the full fleet was in place. Remaining abroad until the contract ended in late 2006/early 2007, the locos were employed on infrastructure trains alongside the fleet of Class 58s. A return to the UK saw the locos once again returned to the storage lines, alongside their less fortunate classmates that didn't get the chance of a return to active service, to await further work.

Following the end of mainstream use with EWS, a number of 56s were offered for sale, the majority of which were sold to scrap dealers or preservationists; there was very little interest, initially, from other freight operators. Resale of two examples from a preservationist to new operator Fastline Freight signalled a return to the mainline for the class. Taken to Brush Traction for a full overhaul, the two locos emerged numbered in the 563xx series to take up duties on a new intermodal flow between Doncaster and the Isle of Grain, commencing in May 2006. Straight out of preservation, two subsequent additions to the mainline Class 56 fold were courtesy of Hanson Traction in 2008 with the return to active service of 56057 (now 56311) and 56003 (now 56312) working between Immingham and the West Midlands for Colas Rail.