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{{Infobox diesel loco
|image = St_Philips_open_day_-_50007,_50050_and_50035.JPG
|caption = 50007 Hercules at St Philips Marsh, 2016
|construc = English Electric Vulcan Foundry Works, Newton-le-Willows
|wheels = Co-Co
|power = Diesel Electric
|status = In service
|locono = 50007
|othernos = D407
|designed = English Electric
|locotype = '''Class 50'''
|built = 1968
|years1 = 1994
|events1 = Preserved
|years2 = 2016
|events2 = Purchased by The Class 50 Alliance
|length = 68ft 6"
|weight = 115t
}}
[[File:50007_Great_Central_Railway.jpg|290px|thumb|right|50007 on the Great Central Railway in 2009, in GWR livery and named Sir Edward Elgar]]
50035 Hercules is a BR Class 50 diesel locomotive, purchased by the SVR-based [[The Class 50 Alliance|Class 50 Alliance]] in November 2016. Between 1984 and 2014, it was named Sir Edward Elgar.
==BR Class 50==
Fifty English Electric Type 4 (later BR Class 50) diesel locomotives were built by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry Works plant in Newton-le-Willows between 1967 and 1968. When built they were numbered in the D4xx series. They later became BR’s Class 50, being allocated TOPS numbers in the 50xxx series. The class was nicknamed “Hoovers” because of the distinctive sound of the inertial air-filters with which the locomotives were originally fitted.
Initially the locomotives were used to haul express passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Crewe and Scotland; that section not then being electrified. This often entailed ‘Multiple Working’, with two locomotives under control of a single driver.
By 1974 the northern WCML had been electrified, and the Class 50 fleet was being transferred to BR’s Western Region to work main line passenger services out of London Paddington.
The Class 50’s did not originally carry names, but in the late 1970s BR agreed to their being named after Royal Navy vessels with notable records in the First and Second World Wars.
Withdrawal of the class began in the early 1990s.
==50007 Hercules in Service==
D407 entered service in August 1968,<ref name="wikipedia">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_50 Wikipedia - British Rail Class 50], accessed 2016/11/22</ref> having been built by English Electric.
50007 was named Hercules on 06 April 1978, after the British battleship of the same name. On 25 February 1984, the locomotive was outshopped in Brunswick Green and renamed Sir Edward Elgar, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway.<ref name="wikipedia" /> After being withdrawn on 16 July 1991, the locomotive was re-instated for railtour service, and was one of the two Class 50 locomotives to haul the final BR Class 50 railtour, the 50 Terminator.<ref name="wikipedia" /><ref name="EEArchive">[http://www.englishelectric.org.uk/50007 English Electric Archive | 50007 Hercules], accessed 2016/11/22</ref> 50007 was the second to last member of the fleet, being retired on 26 March 1994.
==50007 Hercules in Preservation==
50007 was purchased by the Class 40 Appeal and was transferred to the Midland Railway Butterley in July 1994. It was sold to a private owner in 2013 and relocated to Washwood Heath, where it was repainted from GWR Green to BR Blue, and re-named Hercules.<ref name="EEArchive" /> [[The Class 50 Alliance]] acquired the locomotive in November 2016, being generally in good condition and fitted with the relevant equipment for mainline running. It is intended that the generators will be overhauled, before hauling a number of railtours in 2017 and 2018 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the class.<ref>[http://www.fiftyfund.org.uk/index.php/our-locomotives/50007-hercules The Fifty Fund - 50007 Hercules], accessed 2016/11/22</ref>
==See also==
[[Diesel Locomotives]]
== References ==
<references />
==Links==
* [http://www.class50alliance.co.uk/ Class 50 Alliance web site]
* [http://www.fiftyfund.org.uk/ 50 Fund web site]
[[Category:Operational passenger hauling diesel locomotives]]
|image = St_Philips_open_day_-_50007,_50050_and_50035.JPG
|caption = 50007 Hercules at St Philips Marsh, 2016
|construc = English Electric Vulcan Foundry Works, Newton-le-Willows
|wheels = Co-Co
|power = Diesel Electric
|status = In service
|locono = 50007
|othernos = D407
|designed = English Electric
|locotype = '''Class 50'''
|built = 1968
|years1 = 1994
|events1 = Preserved
|years2 = 2016
|events2 = Purchased by The Class 50 Alliance
|length = 68ft 6"
|weight = 115t
}}
[[File:50007_Great_Central_Railway.jpg|290px|thumb|right|50007 on the Great Central Railway in 2009, in GWR livery and named Sir Edward Elgar]]
50035 Hercules is a BR Class 50 diesel locomotive, purchased by the SVR-based [[The Class 50 Alliance|Class 50 Alliance]] in November 2016. Between 1984 and 2014, it was named Sir Edward Elgar.
==BR Class 50==
Fifty English Electric Type 4 (later BR Class 50) diesel locomotives were built by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry Works plant in Newton-le-Willows between 1967 and 1968. When built they were numbered in the D4xx series. They later became BR’s Class 50, being allocated TOPS numbers in the 50xxx series. The class was nicknamed “Hoovers” because of the distinctive sound of the inertial air-filters with which the locomotives were originally fitted.
Initially the locomotives were used to haul express passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Crewe and Scotland; that section not then being electrified. This often entailed ‘Multiple Working’, with two locomotives under control of a single driver.
By 1974 the northern WCML had been electrified, and the Class 50 fleet was being transferred to BR’s Western Region to work main line passenger services out of London Paddington.
The Class 50’s did not originally carry names, but in the late 1970s BR agreed to their being named after Royal Navy vessels with notable records in the First and Second World Wars.
Withdrawal of the class began in the early 1990s.
==50007 Hercules in Service==
D407 entered service in August 1968,<ref name="wikipedia">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_50 Wikipedia - British Rail Class 50], accessed 2016/11/22</ref> having been built by English Electric.
50007 was named Hercules on 06 April 1978, after the British battleship of the same name. On 25 February 1984, the locomotive was outshopped in Brunswick Green and renamed Sir Edward Elgar, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway.<ref name="wikipedia" /> After being withdrawn on 16 July 1991, the locomotive was re-instated for railtour service, and was one of the two Class 50 locomotives to haul the final BR Class 50 railtour, the 50 Terminator.<ref name="wikipedia" /><ref name="EEArchive">[http://www.englishelectric.org.uk/50007 English Electric Archive | 50007 Hercules], accessed 2016/11/22</ref> 50007 was the second to last member of the fleet, being retired on 26 March 1994.
==50007 Hercules in Preservation==
50007 was purchased by the Class 40 Appeal and was transferred to the Midland Railway Butterley in July 1994. It was sold to a private owner in 2013 and relocated to Washwood Heath, where it was repainted from GWR Green to BR Blue, and re-named Hercules.<ref name="EEArchive" /> [[The Class 50 Alliance]] acquired the locomotive in November 2016, being generally in good condition and fitted with the relevant equipment for mainline running. It is intended that the generators will be overhauled, before hauling a number of railtours in 2017 and 2018 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the class.<ref>[http://www.fiftyfund.org.uk/index.php/our-locomotives/50007-hercules The Fifty Fund - 50007 Hercules], accessed 2016/11/22</ref>
==See also==
[[Diesel Locomotives]]
== References ==
<references />
==Links==
* [http://www.class50alliance.co.uk/ Class 50 Alliance web site]
* [http://www.fiftyfund.org.uk/ 50 Fund web site]
[[Category:Operational passenger hauling diesel locomotives]]
