Class 46 97403 Ixion stands next to Class 44 D4 Great Gable at the Basingstoke Rail Show on 27 September 1987. Most Class 46s led a fairly mundane life, which usually ending with an appointment with the scrapman in the late 1980s. 46035 however not only was preserved, but also went on to become the first preserved diesel loco to be allowed back onto the mainline. Prior to that however, it could be seen in this guise, as a departmental locomotive, based at the Derby Railway Technical Centre.