BR Class 03 - 03063
"Paul A. Mobbs"

British Railway Class 03 Diesel-Mechanical 0-6-0​

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The British Railway Class 03 is a class of diesel-mechanical locomotive that was built by Swindon & Doncaster Works between 1957 - 1961, a total of 230 were produced during this time. 

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The class was built for light duties where a larger locomotive were not needed, they were mainly assigned to shunting duties at depots and as station pilots. As British Railway started to introduce more multiple units that could be driven from both ends the demand for shunting locomotives started to diminish and so BR started to withdraw the class from 1968 onwards with many being sold on to private industry. The last of the mainline operational Class 03s had been withdrawn by 1987 due to lack of demand however, two examples on the Isle of Wight remained in service until 1993. Out of the 230 that were produced 174 were scrapped, leaving 56 examples of the class in preservation. 

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03063

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03063 was released from Doncaster Work on 14th July 1959 originally as D2063, under Pre-TOPS, and was allocated to the York North (50A). In the July of 1968 the locomotive was fitted with a dual braking system which allowed it to shunt/haul air fitted stock. In February 1974 it was renumbered 03063 under the then new TOPS system. Over the course of its life it was transferred to various depots including Bradford Hammerton Street & Hull Botanic Gardens where it was then withdrawn in November 1987. Upon withdrawal from BR the locomotive was then sold into preservation.

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The locomotive was then bequeathed to the Mid-Norfolk Railway in 2023 upon the passing of it's owner, the late Paul Mobbs. It was moved to the MNR in November 2023. The locomotive has named "Paul A. Mobbs" on Saturday 25th May 2024 by the railways Chairman, James Oakley, in memory of it's previous owner. 

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