page_title: British Rail Class 56
hierarchical_section_title: British Rail Class 56
caption_attribution_description: British Rail Class 56, no. 56006, on display at Doncaster Works open day on 27th July 2003. This locomotive was repainted into its original BR blue livery in 1999. Image by Phil Scott (Our Phellap)
context_page_description: The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp, and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement. The fleet was introduced between 1976 and 1984 with a total of 135 examples manufactured.
  The first 30 locomotives were built by Electroputere in Romania, but these suffered from poor construction standards and many were withdrawn from service early for extensive rebuilding before re-entering revenue service. The remaining 105 locomotives were built by British Rail Engineering Limited at Doncaster Works and Crewe Works. Enthusiasts nicknamed them "Gridirons", due to the grid-like horn cover on the locomotive's cab ends fitted to nos. 56056 onwards.
context_section_description: The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp (2,423 kW), and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement. The fleet was introduced between 1976 and 1984 with a total of 135 examples manufactured.
  The first 30 locomotives (56001 - 56030, factory classification LDE3500) were built by Electroputere in Romania, but these suffered from poor construction standards and many were withdrawn from service early for extensive rebuilding before re-entering revenue service. The remaining 105 locomotives were built by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) at Doncaster Works (56031 to 56115) and Crewe Works (56116 to 56135). Enthusiasts nicknamed them "Gridirons" (or "Grids" for short), due to the grid-like horn cover on the locomotive's cab ends fitted to nos. 56056 onwards.
caption: Electroputere-built 56 006 at Doncaster Works in 2003 painted in rail blue livery
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