2,200 Tonnes of Heavy Steel Slabs! Class 66 Number 66026 Thunders North With a Huge Steel Slab Train

DB Cargo Class 66 No. 66026
Constructed by Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD / General Motors Diesel Division) at the London plant in Ontario, Canada in 1998 (entering traffic as part of the original English Welsh & Scottish Railway fleet order), 66026 is a 28-year-old Co-Co heavy freight diesel-electric locomotive operated by DB Cargo UK. Powered by a robust 3,300 hp (2,460 kW) EMD 12N-710G3B-EC 12-cylinder turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine driving six EMD D43TRC traction motors, the 129.6-tonne locomotive generates a massive starting tractive effort of 92,000 lbf (409 kN), a maximum operational freight speed of 75 mph (121 km/h), and an onboard fuel tank capacity of 6,400 litres (1,400 imperial gallons). Locomotive 66026 is presented in DB Cargo's corporate Traffic Red livery featuring crisp white DB logos and full high-visibility yellow warning front ends, operating un-named as a frontline heavy-haul workhorse across the UK national freight network.

Heavy Open Flat Steel Wagon Formation (2,200 Tonnes)
The train conveys a massive, high-tonnage consist of open flat steel bolster wagons laden with massive industrial British Steel semi-finished slabs from Scunthorpe BSC Entrance C to Tees New Yard on Teesside. The rake features a diverse mix of open flat designs with side stanchions/stakes, ranging from classic British Rail air-braked steel carriers (such as BAA, BBA, and BMA types) to modern heavy-duty, thick-framed flat wagons. Loaded to full capacity with heavy raw steel slabs, this working amounts to a massive trailing weight of 2,200 tonnes (2,200 tons), forming one of the heaviest and most demanding freight flows in Great Britain as it transfers heavy metals between the primary steel plant at Scunthorpe and processing facilities in the North East.

Passing Church Fenton Station
Seen thundering north through Church Fenton station on a heavy metals freight working from Scunthorpe BSC Entrance C to Tees New Yard, DB Cargo Class 66 No. 66026 works hard under load hauling a massive 2,200-tonne trailing rake of open flat wagons laden with heavy steel slabs. Blasting through the station platform lines with its 3,300 hp EMD 710 two-stroke engine roaring under the weight of the steel wagons, the 28-year-old freight workhorse heads north along the mainline on a warm summer's evening on Saturday, 22nd of August 2026 at 20:18.

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