Once upon a time Barrow Hill had a small allocation of Class 03s, primarily for use at the nearby Staveley steel works.
In the mid 1970s there were three such locos, namely 03129, 03189 and 03389. The latter was transferred to Stratford in
about 1977, but the other two stayed at Barrow Hill into the 1980s. 03129 was withdrawn from traffic towards the end of
1981, but wasn't disposed of until 1983. Meantime 03189 moved on to Birkenhead and survived in traffic until 1986. It was
one of the last, if not the very last, vacuum-only Class 03s, and is now preserved. Rides behind one of the 03s were a
regular feature of Barrow Hill open days in the late 70s/early 80s, and this pic shows 03129 in action at one such event
(1980 I think). Note the lack of fencing and hi-vis vests, plus the kids riding in the cab.
