Operational Class 56 and spares are on the market from Ruddington

NOTTINGHAM Heritage Railwaybased Class 56 No. 56097 is being offered for sale, along with support vehicles and spares.

Bought from EWS in 2002 in a heavily-stripped state, it was moved to Ruddington on the line formerly known as the Great Central Railway (Nottingham).

During the subsequent restoration, the engine and turbos were professionally overhauled by North Lincs Engineering Ltd, while Brush Traction installed the overhauled power unit and carried out a bogie swap. The power unit was then tested and run in on a hired load bank at Ruddington and restored to working order by 2008, when it hauled its first trains in preservation. It has been in traffic ever since and has visited other heritage lines.

The NHR last ran trains in early 2020 and is not currently operational. When services resume, they are expected to be scaled down and therefore the line’s board decided in April that No. 56097 is no longer required.

Since passenger operations were halted on the line, No. 56097 was stored in a serviceable condition and has been started occasionally to prove that systems remain operational. The engine oil, oil filters and fuel filters were changed just as the line’s operations ceased.

A sizeable collection of Class 56 and Ruston engine spares is also for sale, along with an incomplete spare power unit, a spare alternator set and two spare bogies with large tyres. A few traction motors are available.

Two support vehicles are also on the market: a Mk.3 SLEP converted for use as a stores and workshop vehicle, with a roller shutter door at one end and all but two sleeper berths removed to create an open plan workshop, and a Mk.1 ‘Super BG’ which has also been used as a stores vehicle. Some brake components and ETS cabling are missing.

Interested parties should email 56097sale@gmail.com. The deadline for offers is noon on August 31. Successful bidders will be required to pay in full within 14 days of bid acceptance and to remove the items from the site within 28 days.

Items will not necessarily be sold to the highest bidder and preference may be given to genuine preservationists in some instances.