Class 58 History | Spain
International Operations
Class 58s in Spain
The Class 58s in Spain followed the earlier export of Class 37s for high-speed line construction work and marked another significant chapter in the overseas careers of the class, with the locomotives employed on major AVE infrastructure projects for many years.
British traction was not new to Spain by the time the Class 58s arrived. In mid-2001, fourteen Class 37/7s had already been prepared, repainted and exported for work on new standard-gauge high-speed routes. Following accidents and the need for replacement power, EWS chose to send Class 58s instead of more Class 37s, beginning a long and important Spanish chapter for the class.
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Background to the Spanish contract
In mid-2001, fourteen Class 37/7 locomotives were prepared and repainted at Toton and Thornaby before being hauled through the Channel Tunnel and France to Irun, just inside the Spanish border. From there they were moved by road to Calatayud and Salillas, where they worked on construction trains for the new standard-gauge high-speed route from Madrid towards the French border via Zaragoza and Barcelona.
Standard-gauge diesel locomotives were in short supply in Spain, and GIF sourced traction from several European countries, including the UK, Germany and Romania. Small batches of re-gauged RENFE Class 319s, ex-Romanian 060DA Co-Cos and ex-East German Class 771/772 railbuses were all involved alongside the EWS Class 37s.
In early 2002, 37885 and 37899 were damaged after running away while stabled near Zaragoza and leaving the track down an embankment. In January 2003, 37802 was also involved in a serious accident. All three locomotives were ultimately cut up on site by July 2003.
Following these losses, EWS had to provide replacement power. Rather than sending further Class 37s, it decided to send two recently retired Class 58s instead. As with the Class 37 contract, GIF would manage the locomotives, though they remained in EWS ownership.
The first two Class 58s
March 2003 — GIF blue appears on 58041
After repairs, modifications and a trial on the load bank at Eastleigh, 58041 emerged on 17 March 2003 in its new two-tone GIF blue livery for an official photo-shoot. Although Eastleigh staff carried out the repaint, the bodyside doors had to be sent to Toton because Eastleigh could not complete that part of the work.
Sister locomotive 58043 was receiving the final touches to its livery inside the depot at the same time.
Transfer to Dollands Moor
Two days later, both locomotives were declared fit for service and travelled under their own power, still covered by a UK safety case, from Eastleigh to Dollands Moor as 0Z15 10.09.
3 April 2003 — departure for the Continent
On 3 April, the pair were allocated to be hauled dead on service 4408 to Frethun in France. Over the following weeks they gradually made their way south through France before the change of gauge at the border forced onward road transport to Calatayud.
Final modifications in Spain
From Calatayud, the two locomotives moved on to Puigverd depot in Lleida, where final modifications were completed. These included the fitting of external mirrors and an air-conditioning unit on the secondman’s side. Driver familiarisation then followed, with the aid of an English–Spanish translator, before the locomotives entered traffic alongside the Class 37s.
The second batch of six
About a year later, EWS won a further contract to provide locomotives for additional Spanish high-speed line construction work. This time six more Class 58s were chosen: 58020, 58024, 58025, 58029, 58030 and 58031.
During April and May 2004, after remedial work and repainting at Eastleigh and Old Oak Common, several of these locomotives were moved to Cardiff Canton for tyre turning. Because they no longer held an operating case on the UK main line, they had to be hauled rather than moved under their own power.
On Wednesday 19 May 2004, 66014 hauled 58020 and 58031 to Alexandra Docks Junction at Newport, before collecting 58024, 58025, 58029 and 58030 from Canton and taking them to the same point.
On Saturday 22 May the six locomotives were loaded aboard the ship Fairload. Unlike 58041 and 58043, which had travelled through France, this batch sailed direct from the UK to Seville, then moved onward by road to their base.
These six locomotives joined the original Spanish Class 58s in the south of the country for work on the new high-speed line between Córdoba and Málaga, based at Bobadilla near Antequera.
Operations in Spain
From Bobadilla, the locomotives were heavily engaged on engineering trains working on the 350 km/h AVE route from Córdoba, via the junction at Almodóvar, to Málaga. Construction of this line ran from 2002 to 2007, with final testing and opening in early 2008.
One of the biggest single engineering tasks on the route was the tunnel through the Abdalajís mountains, comprising two separate bores and taking more than twenty-six months to complete.
In late 2007, 58031 was transferred by road to Olmedo, on the Madrid–Valladolid high-speed line, to assist with engineering work there. By mid-2008 it, together with the remaining Bobadilla-based 58s, moved on again to Albacete for work on the Madrid–Albacete high-speed line.
This latest extension was on a greater scale than earlier projects, and Continental Rail requested at least four further locomotives. As a result, EWS identified 58015, 58021, 58027 and 58050 as potential candidates, with remedial work and repainting from former French liveries being carried out at Eastleigh at the time of the original account.
End of the Class 58s in Spain
In total, nine Class 58s were sent to Spain. They remained in service on high-speed line construction projects until 2016.
By 2020, five locomotives — 58020, 58024, 58030, 58043 and 58047 — had been scrapped at Monte-del-Cid.
The remaining four — 58025, 58027, 58041 and 58050 — were placed into store at Albacete depot, where they remained until 2025.
Because of 58050’s significance, it had been hoped that the locomotive might be repatriated to the UK for preservation, especially as it had been earmarked for the national collection in 2002 by the Railway Heritage Committee. Despite the efforts of the RHC, the Class 58 Locomotive Group and DB Cargo, this did not happen.
DB Cargo stated that the presence of asbestos meant the locomotive could not be exported back to the UK. As a result, 58050 and its three surviving classmates were disposed of, bringing the Spanish chapter of the Class 58 story to an end.
Spanish Class 58 summary (pool WZFS)
| BR No. | 'L' No. | UK prep depot | Front end | Window beading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58020 | L43 | Old Oak Common | 1/2 yellow end | Light blue |
| 58024 | L42 | Old Oak Common | 1/2 yellow end | Light blue |
| 58025 | L41 | Old Oak Common | Full yellow end | Black |
| 58027 | L52 | Eastleigh | **** | **** |
| 58029 | L44 | Eastleigh | Full yellow end | Yellow |
| 58030 | L46 | Eastleigh | Full yellow end | Black |
| 58031 | L45 | Eastleigh | Full yellow end | Yellow |
| 58041 | L36 | Eastleigh | Full yellow end | Yellow |
| 58043 | L37 | Eastleigh | Full yellow end | Yellow |