There has been much discussion recently about the lack of new British diesel locomotives in TSW, and the possible lack of enthusiasm for them amongst the player base. I thought it might be useful to profile some of the classes missing from TSW to drive some interest, starting with my own favourite, the Class 50. History The Class 50 was the last new diesel introduced in the 1960's. Generating 2700 horse power and capable of 100mph, 50 examples were built in 1967/8. All were delivered in BR blue. They were initially put to work on the London Midland region and were best known for speeding up Inter City services between Crewe and Glasgow, often working double headed. Electrification of the route made them redundant, so they were moved to the Western Region from 1974, replacing the Class 52 Westerns. All examples were named after Royal Navy Warships in 1978. The Class 50's were becoming increasingly unreliable by the end of the seventies, so all were refurbished, all wearing the large logo BR livery at some point (although the controversial painting of 50007 in GWR green meant that they didn't all wear it at the same time). As the eighties progressed, more and more of their front line work was taken over by Inter City 125s. They found work on the Waterloo to Exeter route and commuter services from Paddington. Many were painted in Network South East livery. As work ran out the class was progressively withdrawn between 1987 and 1994. Many were preserved and operated on the mainline. Today 50008 is operated by Rail Adventure and appears all over the country on railtours and stock movements. The Class 50 Alliance has a number of examples based on the Severn Valley Railway at Kidderminster. Of these 50007 and 50049 are painted in GBRf livery and are available for their use. Current Routes Class 50's could later in to: Great Western Express - railtours Diesel Legends - substitute for Classes 52/47 West Somerset - Diesel Gala Cornwall Main Line - Departmental Services Birmingham/ SEHS/ Cathcart/ Edinburgh Glasgow - railtours Potential New Routes Exeter-Plymouth/Paignton. Express trains along the Dawlish Sea Wall and over Dainton, Rattery and Hemerdon Banks. Waterloo-Basingstoke. A fast run along the South West Main Line Gloucester to Birmingham. Express over the Lickey Incline Carlisle to Preston Double Headed over Shap Severn Valley Railway. All of the above offer opportunities for existing diesels to layer in in appropriate liveries. All photos are my own. 50035 Ark Royal in blue at Didcot Railway Centre 50031 Hood at Whitland while on hire to Arriva Trains Wales 50027 Lion at Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway where it is preserved. A line up of surviving examples at Old Oak Common 50049 Defiance in GBRF livery at Acton Main Line.
100% agree. In terms of route my memories are primarily working Waterloo to Exeter services, preferably west of Salisbury where there are challenging gradients and nice scenery.
I would very much like to see them on the Exeter-Plymouth/Paignton line in the 70s/80s as this how I know them: a sight and sound and a half they were!
Excellent idea and for the one route it should be Gloucester to Bromsgrove and merge with BCC since Lickey Incline is there instead of the quoted route Gloucester to Birmingham
The Cotswold line was three loco hauled trains a day back then wasn't it? With extra services provided by a DMU from Oxford to Worcester?
