Although 56006 was offloaded at Harwich on 8th September 1976 such were the remedial works required it didn't actually enter traffic until the 25th February 1977. 56006 was the first 'Grid' to enter revenue earning service although 56001 to 56004 were accepted 3 days later.

56006 was allocated to Tinsley for many years along with most of the Romanian batch and could usually be found working from Knottingley, Healley Mills or Shirebrook which were all within easy reach of Tinsley or Doncaster. The class were later reallocated en masse to Toton where they were utilised on Nottinhamshire coal traffic.

January 1995 saw 56006 become part of the Loadhaul shadow freight company with distinctive black and orange livery. She became one of only six Romanian Grids to be named, receiving "Ferrybridge C Power Station" plates without ceremony at Immingham Depot, being the second locomotive to carry the name of the Aire valley power stations in West Yorkshire.

56006 was specially repainted into her original BR Blue livery at Old Oak Common in August 1999 and visited the East Lancs as part of the EWS Heritage Fleet for the special event in September, running alongside 31110, 37351, 37906, 47306, 73129 and 73133. 56006 and others from the EWS Heritage Pool went on to attend many other events following the successful ELR gathering.

Withdrawn from service on 1st December 2003, EWS offered the loco to the National Railway Museum at York, who declined. 006 managed to avoild the chop and stayed on at Barrow Hill Roundhouse following a visit and remained for almost eight years, instead of making a one way journey to the scrapyard. In November 2012 she was preserved by the Class 56 Group, with a secure future.

56006 moved to UKRL's Leicester Depot, where attention to years of neglect could be addressed and some serious bodywork repairs undertaken. 2015 saw 56006 visit the Swanage Diesel Gala with visits to Didcot, Weat Somerset, Nene Valley, East Lancs and Wensleydale Railways since.

56006 relocated to Bury in 2017, arriving on the 4th of July ahead of the Summer Diesel Gala, in convoy with 40145, 47192 and 47712. Sadly, the subsequent years have not been without problems, the notorious issues with the early batch coming back to haunt at the least convenient of times, but the group are undeterred and 006 is constantly being improved and further restored.

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