D2595 is class 05 diesel shunter built for British Railways by Hunslet in Leeds in 1959. This class of locomotive was not a success due to the gearchange mechanism being cumbersome to operate. As a result save one example on the Isle Of Wight they were disposed of early in their lives as freight traffic declined on the railways in the 1960’s.
D2595 spent it’s working life with BR in Scotland and the North East and was withdrawn in 1967. It was stored until 1969 before being sold to the CEGB and then overhauled by Hunslet it’s original makers. Following completion of the work the loco moved to Chadderton Power Station near Oldham where it worked until 1981 before finally moving to Kearsley Power Station and withdrawl in 1983. It was sold to a member of the East Lancashire Railway at Bury where it was restored to it’s original livery of BR green. Subsequently it was bought by a member of Steamport and as a result moved to the museum in Southport in 1989. Along with the rest of the Southport collection it moved to Preston 10 years later where it has seen regular use on passenger trains for special events and Santa trains.
As a result of several years outside storage before the buildings were finished at Preston the external condition had deteriorated somewhat and so one of the Railway’s members repainted it in BR blue livery in 2008. Although the only 05 to carry this paint scheme was the example which worked on the Isle of Wight until 1981 the current paint scheme shows what the locomotive would have looked like had it survived in British Rail use into the 1970’s.
D2595 is currently out of service awaiting repairs to its clutch mechanism
