D8069 was new to British Railways on June 30 1961, based at Tinsley depot in Sheffield. It moved to Toton in April 1968, gaining the number 20069 in February 1974, not long after overhaul. As a Vacuum only loco, 20069 was condemned on February 1st 1981, being stored with many other classmates at Swindon.

Thankfully, in June 1982, 20069 moved to Glasgow Works as part of a plan to upgrade all remaining Class 20s with dual brakes. It was overhauled and emerged in December 1982 with larger Scottish-style numbers. Initialy allocated to Eastfield, it later moved 45 miles east to Edinburgh’s Haymarket depot.

After a spell in Scotland, 20069 moved South again in March 1985, returning to Tinsley. Later reallocated to Immingham in May 1987 becoming part of the Trainload Metals sector. January 1989 20069 transferred to the FGXX Speedlink pool at Toton and then, in March 19 1989, another move to the DCMA Civil Engineers and on to the DCMC pool for LMR Civil Engineers in the Crewe area.

Moves to Nottingham and Thornaby followed but in May 1991 the loco was condemned and dumped at Frodingham awaiting disposal. In 1992 a group of friends, led by the late Chris Broadhurst, discussed buying a Class 20 for preservation and a few months later 20069 was purchased. 20069 was initialy based at County School, home of the fledgling Mid Norfolk Railway, in June 1992 and being largely intact the loco was reinstated.

In June 2001 it visited the North Norfolk Railway, staying at Weybourne for four months. 2010 saw D8069 visit the Nene Valley Railway for its October diesel gala, which provided an opportunity to turn the loco using the turntable so when it returned to Dereham it was facing the other way round. In June 2012 D8069 went to Nemesis Rail at Burton for collision repairs, returning to Dereham in 2013, but never worked again and was stored out of use, later moving to Thuxton. Harry Needle bought D8069, relocating it to Worksop but no work was progressed.

iIn 2025 a Community Interest Company was formed, D8069 CIC, and D8069's next chapter began. The loco arrived at Bury on 10th November 2025 and touched down on ELR rails the next day. Following initial checks, the power unit was started on 22nd November. Work then concentrated on resinstating the Vacuum Train Pipe and working through the various systems. A few light engine and loaded test runs were undertaken on shed along with an A Exam to assess general fitness to run.

Although not advertised, the first opportunity for haulage came for a lucky few when D8069 was added to a train with D5054 on Saturday 27th June. The loco later took part in the 2026 ELR Diesel Gala running with classmate 20303 amongst others.

As of July 2026, D8069 is considered part of the operational ELR Diesel Fleet.