Romic buys pair of Class 20s then immediately offers them for sale

Michael Owen has finally sold two of his Class 20s, with 20007/205 being acquired by Romic, which then immediately offered them for sale.

The announcement was made on May 2, with ownership officially transferring on May 21. In the meantime, on May 3, Romic advertised both for sale.

But in mid-May, there were suggestions that their proposed post-purchase sale may not be happening and that Romic will retain them for spot hire work in the UK.

Romic is an established trader of railway rolling stock across the world, and is best-known in the UK for its current programme of exporting ex-BR Class 43 HSTs and their coaches to Mexico and Nigeria. It has also sold multiple units.

In a press statement, Romic said it was “pleased to announce the successful acquisition of two Class 20 locomotives, 20007 and 20205. These historic and reliable locomotives will be integrated into ROMIC Group’s expanding hire fleet and will be available for a variety of hire applications across the UK.”

Just 24 hours later, it issued another statement: “Romic is pleased to be able to offer two Class 20 locomotives for sale. [We are] well placed to provide these versatile and compact locomotives to the world market. A large quantity of spare parts are available by separate negotiation.”

Owen had been looking to sell the locomotives for some time, with suggestions that discussions have taken place with “a number of interested parties”. However, no deal was ever concluded.

It leaves Owen retaining ownership of three Class 20s: 20048, which is not main line-registered and is based at the Severn Valley Railway; and 20142/189, which are fully main line-compliant.

All three are dual-braked, making them useful for hire to heritage railways and (for the latter pair) also to Vintage Trains. 20007/205 are currently air-braked only.

20007 is the oldest main line-registered diesel locomotive in the UK - it will be 68 years old on September 21. Both it and 20205 were originally sold for preservation, and were acquired by Owen to grow his spot hire fleet.

Despite their age, Class 20s are popular for some operators as they have a light weight which means they can ‘go anywhere’. Also, if maintained, they are generally deemed to be very reliable.

Balfour Beatty recently acquired two Class 20s for its Drain Train (RAIL 1026), while HNRC Swietelsky has recently returned 20302/311 to main line hire activity.

On May 14, they went on hire to Rail Adventure UK and ran light from Worksop to Crewe to move 769006 to Long Marston. They remained on hire for a few days undertaking various moves, and could be hired to Rail Adventure more often as it had previously hired 20007/205 regularly.

Locomotive Service Limited’s 20096/107/118/132 complete the current line-up of main line active Class 20s, although these tend to only work charters, stock moves and other work for their owners.