Hymeks were notably used as bankers on the Lickey Incline, propelling mainly freight trains from Bromsgrove to Blackwell. During trials, it was discovered that the Hymeks changed between first and second gear at about the speed required to bank a train up the incline, and so they tended to "hunt" between the two gears. Repeated gear changes under full power caused excessive wear and damage, plus excessive heat in the transmission fluid quickly resulted in the locomotive stopping. The simplest way to avoid excessive wear, and the stopping of a train on the incline, was to lock first gear out of action, via the master switch located in each locomotive's A-end cab. With all Lickey bankers allocated to Worcester shed, the main group of five locomotives (D7021 - D7025) and any replacements were all turned on the Worcester triangle, so that the A-cab was always aligned up the incline. Once at the bottom of the incline, each train which required banking would be signalled to the banking locomotives by Gloucester Panel Signal Box, so that the banking crew could then determine if it was necessary to lock out first gear on one or more of the locomotives. These banking operations commenced in 1969 and involved one, two or three locomotives with two locos set up to work in multiple plus an additional single locomotive (three in total) in operation on any given day. Particularly heavy trains such as the Llanwern to Immingham steel train required all three locomotives.