Overview
Like other shunters of this size, the Class 03 was built for light duties where a larger locomotive was not needed, especially for shunting at locomotive and carriage depots and as station pilots. The reduction over time in the demand for shunting locomotives meant that they were progressively withdrawn from 1968 onwards, many being sold to private industry. However, some remained in service much longer, with two examples on the Isle of Wight lasting until 1993 (mainland examples had gone by 1987). In 1998, one of the Isle of Wight locos, no. 03 179, was re-instated into service by the West Anglia Great Northern Railway Company (WAGN) for service at their Hornsey depot. This remains the last operational Class 03 locomotive on the network. It is named Clive after a depot employee. It is now owned by First Capital Connect, and was recently painted into a variant of FCC's urban lines colours.
Read more about this topic: British Rail Class 03