Mainline Freight was created in 1994, along with Transrail and Loadhaul, when British Rail’s Trainload Freight operations were split – with Mainline centring around South East England, East Anglia and the East Midlands. Several locomotives were soon decorated in Mainline’s ‘Aircraft Blue’ livery including Class 37/0 No. 37055. In association with EMAP/Bauer Media magazine ‘RAIL’, No. 37055 received the name ‘Rail Celebrity’ during a naming ceremony at Toton in 1995.
Mainline, Transrail and Loadhaul were later subject to a takeover bid by a US led consortium and, together with Rail Express Systems, were formed into a new company – English, Welsh & Scottish (EWS). Despite now being a EWS loco, No. 37055 remained in Mainline blue livery into the 2000s, appearing on a variety of workings including London Underground train deliveries and railtours alongside its usual freight turns.
