early 1960s. The bogies suffered from frame fractures. The vacuum exhausters gave trouble, as did the auxiliary motor, the original batteries supplied were also inadequate and soon became exhausted. The main problem with the exhausters was that they were mounted in the centre of the engine room and so had to be lifted through the roof by crane, taking 8–12 hours to change. The truss girder used for the body sides meant that there was no access through the sides of the bodywork. Considerable trouble was experienced with the water tanks for the steam heating boilers due to fractures. Once the class 45 units were available, the locomotives were re-assigned to Toton and freight duties, and the steam heating boilers were removed. Operations The class worked regularly over the West Coast Main Line for a couple of years prior to its electrification, and also between London St Pancras and Manchester Central. Once they were consigned to Freight services, they mostly operated in the East Midlands, all being allocated to Toton until withdrawal. Renumbering, withdrawal and preservation The class was renumbered 44 001-010 with the adoption of the Total Operations Processing System in the early 1970s. Withdrawal of the whole class took place between 1976 and 1980. Two locomotives have survived to preservation. Fleet details References Further reading 44 1Co-Co1 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1959 Standard gauge locomotives of Great Britain Diesel-electric locomotives of Great Britain