Class 50: A Pictorial Journey

By David Cable

Class 50: A Pictorial Journey is an album of photographs, mainly taken by David Cable, a well-regarded author of a number of picture albums, covering trains both in the UK and in many countries worldwide.

The class 50 was an express locomotive built in the late 1960s and withdrawn at the beginning of the 1990s. Nicknamed hoovers because of their distinctive noise, they were a favorite class of many railway enthusiasts, resulting in several having been preserved.

The photos demonstrate the many areas of operation and duties undertaken by these locomotives, initially in the North of England and Scotland, and then regular duties on the Western region and finally the Southern lines from London to Exeter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: May 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781473864436

David Cable

David Cable was born in 1929, and lives in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. He has had an interest in trains since the age of three, which developed into an interest in train photography in 1947. David is the author of many photo albums, covering modern traction in the UK since the 1960s, as well as volumes based on his visits to the other countries over the last 40 years. He has visited countries throughout Europe, North America and Australia, as well as some Far Eastern countries and Morocco.

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Introduction

IT IS NOW HALF A CENTURY since the class 50s were introduced, and twenty-five years since they were withdrawn from front line service with British Rail (BR)!

Many treatises and photographic albums have been published over the years, and it is not the intention to repeat much of what has been written before. Rather, the emphasis is on the pictures, most of which have never been previously published, and which set out the class undertaking a range of duties in a variety of locations.

However, some brief notes about the class are needed to set the scene.The genesis of the class 50 was the experimental locomotive DP2, built by the English Electric Company (EE) to demonstrate the ability of this company’s products, and especially the new diesel engine that had been developed.This engine, designated 16 CSVT, was a 16 cylinder, turbocharged diesel that produced 2,700 Horse Power.The locomotive was used for several years on main line expresses on both the West and East Coast main lines, until written off after an accident in 1967.

The success of DP2 led English Electric to produce the class 50, a stylish locomotive with a long body, relatively unencumbered with ventilation louvers and windows, which, with its 100mph maximum speed, gave an impression of speed and power. In the first instance, they were fitted with fairly complex electronic systems, rheostatic braking and slow speed controls. The locomotives were not purchased by BR at the start of their careers, but leased to them from EE.

The locomotives were introduced into service in the late 1960s, but after ten years of service, increasing unreliability was manifesting itself due to the complexities in the design, in particular problems of airflow causing oily mists in the engine room, which led to generator failures.The decision was taken to rebuild the locomotives to try to avoid this situation.The work was undertaken at the BR works at Doncaster and, at the same time, the locomotives were purchased by BR.

The locomotives were withdrawn from service in the early 1990s.Throughout their lives, they were regarded as front line express locomotives, whose duties are outlined below.

Duties

When first introduced, the class 50s were allocated to the West Coast Main Line (WCML), in order to work express passenger trains north, initially from Crewe, but shortly after from Preston into Scotland, pending the completion of electrification throughout the whole of the WCML.This work also led to the class working diversions via the Settle & Carlisle line and the former G&SWR via Dumfries. In the first instance, they worked mainly as single units, but with the forthcoming change to electric services, train timings were accelerated, necessitating pairs of locomotives to keep to the faster schedules. Apart from working passenger trains, the class was also employed on some freight workings, including some of the first Freightliner services.

Once electric locomotives had been rostered to work through to Scotland, the class was transferred to the Western Region, especially to work expresses between Paddington, Bristol, Plymouth and Penzance.The introduction of Inter City 125 High Speed Trains (HSTs) relieved them of many duties, and they were subsequently