As you know all loco are very noisy and a lot of ex railwaymen are hard of hearing due to that fact.
A lot have had compensation but not me:(.
It all goes with the job im afraid.

ccmmick.

On a "privatised" railway the "company" are only bothered about one thing its the new god called "PROFIT" they aren't concerned about the comfort or lack of it for Drivers !

Well 21Aman i suppose its about time things changed but i can say what i like an it won't do a thing but if the company is making so much "PROFIT" then surely they can cost the F Exams on some of the 60's but they prefer to line there pockets an buy more CHEAP locos from abroad !!!

I can agree with you there ccmmick as Track staff i totally agree with you there about the hearing problems an its the same for us who try to maintain the tracks what with Kangos an such like machinery its not the quietest job a bit like a 66 or 67 drivers job now what with the ear-defenders we both had to wear at times......lol

I think that you are under a big misapprehension,lnwr20,EWS/DB schenker do not own the class 66 /67 locos they are owned by a leasing company,and are leased from that company by them,such costs involved by the need to carry out "F" exams would therefore be born by the leasing company not EWS/DB.
Unfortunately the class 60 locos(also class 37,47,56,58 are owned by EWS/DB) and any costs for re-furb or large exams have to be born by EWS/DB schencker,which they are not prepared to pay for,that is why they "lease" locomotives rather than own them.

Until about a month ago I had a 60 comming through "Teenage spirit" I think it was called, but now they have put it into storage. According to the railway magazine none have been scrapped but are in storage and now only four are in service. Although "Teenage spirit" is gone I do wish they would use a 37! Please Deutsche bahn Schenker!

Or a class 20! It probably won't happen though. The germans have invaded!

Probably? Certainly! DBS don't have any 20s.

Its a pity somebody like DRS dont have a need for such loco's or even some foreign company........or maybe even DB in Germany could have a use for them?

The reason is, 60's have very poor availability for such a (relatively) new locomotive, with up to 10% of the fleet at Brush for engine repairs at any time, plus those at depots out of service.

p.s. Why do F exams cost 500k? And what exactly does an F exam entail?