Barry Daly, who is 42, and from Crewe, worked for Rail Freight until January this year.

Daly: Acted as bogus agent

The judge at Chester Crown Court heard that he acted as a bogus agent from his base at a sidings in Crewe. He sold rolling stock to small organisations like heritage railway companies and kept the money for himself.

Daly admitted six out of 12 charges of stealing more than 40 vehicles. They included two Class 31 and two Class 47 locomotives, two passenger coaches, 30 freight cars described as catfish wagons, and six more known as plank wagons.

The railway vehicles belonged to three different privatised railway companies - English, Scottish and Welsh Railways, Transrail Freight and Rail Freight.

Chester Crown Court was told that Daly procured cheques by deception. In one case a member of the public paid him £1,000 for a locomotive which was never received.

And one railway museum gave him £42,000 for trains to be used as exhibits, but it too received nothing.

Pete Waterman of Waterman Railway Heritage Trust said: "We're still staggered. It's quite funny to say you stole a locomotive of 110 tonnes - it's a bit difficult to imagine someone putting it in their pocket - but that's what he did."