On February 13, a few days earlier than originally expected, GBRf 66773-779 arrived at Newport Docks. Some images of the unloading of the first locomotive can be found here: link. The freshly repainted 66708 was sent to collect the locomotives from the Docks and is scheduled to bring the locos to Doncaster on February 15.

The unloading of these seven locomotives is a special moment, as it is the very last time that new Class 66 locomotives are delivered to a European country. Due to Stage IIIb emission legislation, the Stage IIIa compliant Class 66 may not be sold anymore to customers in the EU. A Stage IIIb compliant version will not be developed by EMD/Progress Rail.

A special thanks to Richard Gennis, who photographed how 66777 and 66779 touched down on British soil: 66779, which is the last one to be built is seen bagged up and will remain bagged until May 10th when it will be unveiled at York Railway Museum. 66777 was officially the last to arrive as it was the last one to be unloaded!

Update 16.02.2016: Because we could not get enough of Richard's great images made during the unloading process on February 13, we decided to add some more: