Traction Transition

It was not until 1961 that locos from the main US loco builder General Motors (GM), started to operate in Ireland. It was another 20 years before we saw the first GM loco operate in England, with a yard 'switcher' for Foster Yeoman. The start of the major traction transition in the UK came in 1995 after Foster Yeoman purchased GM main line locos to power their aggregate trains, as BR could not provide power which was reliable and suitable. No UK locos could meet the high-availability sought by Foster Yeoman and no UK builder was prepared to underwrite such a commitment if new British locos were ordered. Thus, Foster Yeoman turned to General Motors to fill their traction requirement