Class 59: The American Diesel That Revolutionised Britain

*Edit: To confirm, the photo of 59003 in GBRf livery is by "The Basingstoker/wikicommons - CC BY-SA 2.0" - apologies for any confusion. Across the stone quarries of Somerset and the busy construction markets of southern England, a small fleet of diesel locomotives transformed the future of British rail freight. Introduced in 1986 for Foster Yeoman’s heavy aggregate trains, the Class 59 was unlike anything Britain had seen before. Built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in the United States, these powerful Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives combined American heavy-haul engineering with British railway requirements, delivering levels of reliability, availability and hauling power that far exceeded industry expectations. Though only fifteen were built, the Class 59 would become one of the most influential locomotive classes in modern British railway history. In this documentary, we uncover the remarkable story of the Class 59 and the freight revolution it inspired. From Foster Yeoman’s search for a locomotive capable of hauling the heaviest Mendip stone trains, to the arrival of American-built locomotives on British rails, the creation of Mendip Rail, operations in Germany, privatisation and the eventual rise of the Class 66, this is a story of innovation, commercial ambition and a locomotive that changed expectations across an entire industry. 🔍 What you’ll learn: Why Foster Yeoman rejected existing British locomotive designs in favour of an American solution How the Class 59 became the first privately owned diesel locomotives to operate regularly on the British main line Why their extraordinary reliability transformed freight operations and customer expectations How the class evolved through the 59/0, 59/1 and 59/2 subclasses for aggregates and power station traffic Why the success of the Class 59 directly paved the way for the Class 66 and the modern freight railway Featuring rare archive footage, quarry operations, heavy stone trains, EMD construction records, Mendip Rail workings and modern freight services, this documentary explores the legacy of a locomotive that became far more than a freight engine — it became the catalyst for a new era of British rail freight and one of the most influential diesel locomotive designs ever to run in the United Kingdom. 👉 Subscribe for more documentaries on the locomotives, railways, engineering projects and transport systems that shaped — and continue to shape — the modern world. 👉 Don't forget to check out "Trail of Lost Rails", my sister channel for the history of some of America's most notable defunct railroad companies:    / @trailoflostrails   #Class59 #BritishRailFreight #FreightTrains #DieselLocomotive #RailwayHistory #TrainDocumentary #EMD #MendipRail #Class66 #Freightliner