The modern-day 79 Railway Squadron was part of the 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, The Royal Logistic Corps, of the British Army.
They were responsible for maintaining and providing the British Army with its railway transportation requirements.
Originally, the Railway Squadron started life in the Royal Engineers at Longmoor Military Camp in Hampshire.
The locomotives were all diesel and for a while the future of the squadron seemed uncertain until 1983, when a multimillion-pound makeover was begun.
New locomotives started to arrive, and the operating yard at Mönchengladbach got a makeover.