A TALE OF TWO CABS
THERE are two romanticised versions of the death of the Greek warrior, Ajax the Great. One tells how Ajax lost his honour, while another how he was “conquered by his own grief”. Once scrapped, Class 50 No. 50046 Ajax also has two tales to tell, about how each of its driving cabs survived in preservation.
Delivered as No. D446 in December 1968, the loco became No. 50046 under the TOPS renumbering scheme in February 1974. At this time, electrification of the West Coast Main Line through to Glasgow saw the ‘50s’ transferred to the Western Region, where it was named Ajax in October 1978 and then took its turn in the fleet’s refurbishment programme at Doncaster Works in 1983.
The last known working by No. 50046 was the 5C59 empty stock move from Newton Abbot to Plymouth Laira on the late evening of Friday, November 15, 1991. In the days and weeks that followed, Ajax donated parts to classmates – including the windows of both cabs, exposing any remaining instruments to the elements.
The final ignominy for No. 50046 was being shunted across the depot to join a scrap line with Nos. 50029, 50018, 50027 and 50010, and official withdrawal came on March 25, 1992.
Nos. 50027 and 50029 survive in preservation, but No. 50010 was scrapped on site while Nos. 50018 and 50046 were moved by rail (with No. 50037) to MC Metals in Glasgow in June 1992 for scrapping. The process involved splitting the cabs from the main cabs Ewen Pring and Melvin Thorley.
