BR Class 50 50035 Ark Royal

BR Class 50 50035 Ark Royal
50035 20170510.jpg
50035 Ark Royal at Hampton Loade (2017)
Built By English Electric Vulcan Foundry Works, Newton-le-Willows
Configuration Co-Co
Power type Diesel Electric
Status In service
Loco Number 50035
Other Numbers D435, '50135'
History
Built 1968
Designed By English Electric
Type Class 50
1991 Purchased by The 50 Fund
1996 Arrived on the SVR
Technical
Length 68ft 6"
Weight 115t

Diesel Locomotives

50035 Ark Royal was the first BR Class 50 diesel locomotive to enter preservation. Unlike a number of the other Class 50s resident on the SVR, 50035 is not registered to work on the main line and is not fitted with the necessary equipment such as OTMR, TPWS or GSM-R. However it can be hauled for the purposes of visiting other railways.

Contents

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, replacing the last of the BR(W) Diesel Hydraulics in that role.

The Class 50s 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 1987 and was completed by 1994. 18 examples have been preserved

50035 Ark Royal in service

The locomotive was built at English Electric's Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows as Works No 3805/D1176 and entered service as number D435 at Crewe in August 1968. It was re-numbered 50035 in March 1974. Following electrification of the WCML, 50035 moved to Bristol Bath Road in January 1976 and then to Plymouth Laira in December 1976.[1]

On 17 January 1978, 50035 was named in a ceremony at Plymouth Station.[2] It received the name Ark Royal after HMS Ark Royal, a Royal Navy World War 2 aircraft carrier. Commissioned in 1938, HMS Ark Royal was sunk on 14 November 1941 after being torpedoed by German U-boat U-81.

50035's final allocation was to London's Old Oak Common in June 1980. In June 1986 it received the distinctive "Network South East" livery as pictured below. It was withdrawn from service there by BR on 5th August 1990[1][note 1].

50035 Ark Royal in preservation

50035 was the first Class 50 to be preserved, being acquired by The Fifty Fund (now Class 50 Alliance). Having been advised that the going rate for a Class 50 was £16500, the fund simply added the last two digits of the locos number to this and bid £16535. 50035 was handed over by Network SouthEast at the 1991 Old Oak Common Open Day held on 17-18 August.[3]

A few weeks after handover, 50035 was moved to St Leonards Depot in East Sussex where the restoration work and start-up was carried out, together with repainting from its final 'Network South East' livery into BR blue 'large logo' livery. While at St. Leonards, two other Class 50s, 50031 Hood and 50044 Exeter arrived at the SVR in May 1994.

Due to concerns about a suspect wheel-set flange profile, 50035 was moved to the SVR by road rather than by rail, arriving on 19 September 1996.[1] After arrival, work on the locomotive continued at Kidderminster to address a number of minor mechanical problems and an issue with the engine shutting down due to a fault on the train heating generator. Five cylinder heads had to be removed so that worn-out exhaust valves could be replaced, with the fuel injectors all being overhauled at the same time. After reassembly, it then transpired that six cylinder liners were leaking water, requiring a complete engine strip-down and overhaul starting in winter 1997-98.[4] The engine was fired up for the first time during the October 1999 Diesel Gala weekend[5], and once a few teething problems were addressed, 50035 was able to attend the August 2000 Open Day at Old Oak Common with 50031 Hood. After the open day, 50035 remained at Old Oak Common while the No 6 wheel set was replaced.[6]

After returning, 50035 became a regular performer on the railway. During 2002 the ETH facility and cab heating were reinstated, culminating in it working the annual Fifty Fund shareholders' Christmas dining train, using the SVR's (then) ETH fitted dining car set.[7]

On 27 July 2003 50035 attended the Doncaster Works open day. It ran 2,102 miles during the year before failing just prior to the October 2003 SVR Diesel Gala due to high lubrication oil pressure, caused by a defective pressure relief valve.

It was planned that after repair over that winter, 50035 would visit the Mid Hants Railway Diesel Gala in May 2004, the first time it would have worked away from its home on the SVR.[8] However the winter repair work revealed that the locomotive was suffering from an earth fault on its main generator, which required removal of the power unit complete with the faulty generator. The latter was then detached and sent away to Messrs Dowding & Mills in Bristol for repair.[9] While that took place, 50035 was stored out of service away from the railway.[10] In May 2007 50035 was still at Old Oak Common, awaiting the refitting of the engine after the generator repair.[11] In September 2008 the bodywork was being prepared for a repaint.[12]

50035 returned to service in 2009, carrying a fictitious Load Haul livery and numbered 50135. It appeared as a static exhibit at the 100th Anniversary of Eastleigh Locomotive Works Open Weekend on 27-28 May and was rostered to work its first booked SVR passenger train for over four years on Saturday 18 July 2009, although this was subsequently postponed.[12] However it did participate in the October 2009 Diesel Gala.[13]

'50135' sustained damage to a wheelset while appearing at the East Lancashire Railway in 2011. The damage prevented a return move by rail so, with no facilities at the ELR for lifting a locomotive of that size, it was moved to Cardiff Canton by road. Once there the locomotive was jacked up, the bogie with the damaged wheelset was removed, a spare wheelset was overhauled and fitted, along with an overhauled traction motor, with all the work being carried out by SVR volunteers." Plans for the SVR's Diesel Depot were in progress at the time; SVR News noted that "hopefully sufficient facilities will soon be available at Kidderminster for this type of activity to be done without the costs associated with using workshops elsewhere."[14]

'50135' had returned to service by 2012 as pictured below.

Having been repainted into BR Blue livery, 50035 appropriately played a prominent role in the opening ceremony in January 2016.[15]. In May 2016 50035 attended the St Philip's Marsh open day.[16]

In August 2017, 50035 was one of five SVR based diesels to travel in convoy to that year's Old Oak Common open day, the others being 50049, 50007, 50044 and D1015.[17] July to October 2019 was spent on hire to the GWSR at Toddington.[18] During 2020 it worked a considerable number of ballast trains associated with the Falling Sands track renewal.[19]

See also

Notes

  1. There are some discrepancies in service allocations and dates between the SVR Stock Book and the BR Database. The latter are marked as "WIP" therefore the Stock Book data has been used.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 SVR Stock Book, 9th edition
  2. BR Database
  3. BR Open Days (Retrieved 18 August 2019)
  4. SVR News 122, 123, 124
  5. SVR News 131
  6. SVR News 134
  7. SVR News 144
  8. SVR News 146
  9. SVR News 148
  10. SVR News 152
  11. SVR-Online Forum
  12. 12.0 12.1 www.preserved-diesels.co.uk/news via the Internet Archive
  13. Pictures on Sharpo's World.
  14. SVR News 178
  15. SVR News 194, 196
  16. Photo on Wikimedia Commons
  17. SVR News 200
  18. SVR News 206
  19. SVR News 211

Links