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BR Class 50 50044 Exeter

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[[File:Hugh llewelyn D444 (5581607177){{Infobox diesel loco|image = 50044_Exeter_20170408.jpg|caption = 50044 Exeter at Kidderminster, April 2017|construc = English Electric Vulcan Foundry Works, Newton-le-Willows|thumbwheels = Co-Co|200pxpower = Diesel Electric|rightstatus = Operational| locono = 50044|othernos = D444 (|designed = English Electric|locotype = '''Class 50'''|built = 1968|years1 = 1991|events1 = Purchased by Project Defiance|years2 = 2012|events2 = Diesel engine damaged|years3 = 2018|events3 = Returned to service|length = 68ft 6"|weight = 115t}}50044 Exeter) (Wikimedia Commons)]]is a BR Class 50 diesel locomotive.
==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.
Withdrawal of the class began in the early 1990s.
==50044 Exeter in Serviceservice==
D444 entered service at Stoke in November 1968, having been built as English Electric Works No 3814/D1185.
In May 1973 D444 was transferred to Crewe, being re-numbered 50044 in February 1974. Following electrification of the WCML, 50031 50044 moved to Bristol in May 1974, before a move to Plymouth Laira in November 1980.
In April 1978, 50044 was named Exeter after HMS Exeter, a Royal Navy World War York Class Cruiser. Commissioned in 1931, HMS Exeter was involved in the Battle of the River Plate which resulted in the sinking of the German battleship Graf Spee. HMS Exeter was later sent to the East Indies where she was sunk by the Japanese in 1942.
50044 was withdrawn from service by BR in January 1991.
==50044 Exeter in Preservationpreservation==Following withdrawal, 50044 was sent to London’s Stratford depot for component recovery and later offered for sale as suitable for scrap only. The Fifty Fund were seeking a locomotive as a source of spares, but finding that few components had been removed, successfully purchased 50044 for preservation. It arrived from St Leonards on 6 May 1994 with [[BR Class 50 50031 Hood|50031 Hood]].<ref>SVR Stock Book, ninth edition</ref> The locomotive has been cosmetically de-refurbished, to appear as it did when released to BR from English Electric's Vulcan Foundry works. Since then its preservation 50044 has worked both on the SVR and on the main line.<gallery>File:Hugh llewelyn D444 (5581607177).jpg|D444 (50044 Exeter) on a mainline tour at Bristol</gallery> Exeter was repainted in un-prototypical two tone green and rededicated by the Crew of HMS Exeter at Kidderminster in 2007. '44 has subsequently been repainted in BR Blue.  In 2012 a problem with oil temperature on a mainline railtour damaged 50044's diesel set. A replacement English Electric 16CSVT has been secured from Portugal (ex CP 1807) which was fitted with adjustments made to bring it in line with UK specifications. On 10 September 2018 50044 returned to passenger duty having received the overhauled engine and overhauled main, ETH and auxiliary generators.<ref>Severn Valley Diesels Official Facebook Group.</ref> It received a bogie overhaul in the [[Diesel Depot]] over the winter of 2019/20. ===50044 Exeter on the main line in preservation===An incomplete list of main line appearances is as follows: {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"!data-sort-type="date"| Date!!Tour name !! Tour Operator!!Route !! Notes !! Reference|-|data-sort-value="18/10/2008" | 18 October 2008||||Rail Blue Charters|| Manchester Piccadilly to Minehead||With 50049 Defiance and 57601 || <ref>[http://www.hondawanderer.com/50044_50049_Magor_2008.htm Hondawanderer.com/Martin Loader Photography] (Retrieved 21 January 2018)</ref>|-|data-sort-value="9/5/2009" | 9 May 2009||The Cambrian Mountaineer||Spitfire||Bristol to Aberystwyth |||| <ref>[https://www.renownrepulse.com/gallery/other-class-50-s/preserved-class-50-s-on-main-line.html Renown Repluse Restoration Group website] (Retrieved 21 January 2018)</ref>|-|data-sort-value="3/9/2011" | 3-4 September 2011||The Snowdon Ranger ||PTG Tours||London Euston to Holyhead ||With 57304 Gordon Tracy || <ref name="EEOrg">[http://www.englishelectric.org.uk/f819756767 Englishelectric.org website] (Retrieved 21 January 2018)</ref>|-|data-sort-value="19/11/2011" | 19 November 2011||The Edinburgh Explorer II || Spitfire||Preston to Edinburgh ||With 50049 Defiance and 57001 || <ref>Hart M., ‘English Electric Class 40, 50 & 55 Diesel Locomotives’, Amberley Publishing Limited, April 2014</ref>|-|data-sort-value="21/7/2012" | 21 July 2012|| ||GBRf||Cardiff-Paignton (private leg) - Plymouth ||With 66720 || <ref name="EEOrg"/>|-|} ==See also==[[Diesel Locomotives]]<br>[[List of preservation groups]]<br>[[SVR-based diesel locomotives visiting other events]]<br>[[Locomotive numbering|Locomotives running under different identities]] ==References==<references />
==Links==
[http://www.class50alliance.co.uk/ Class 50 Alliance web site]<br>
[http://www.fiftyfund.org.uk/ 50 Fund web site] (still maintained)<br>
[http://www.d444.co.uk/ D444 web site] Record of 2010/2011 overhaul
==See also==[[Diesel Locomotives]]<br>{{DieselNavbox}} [[List of preservation groupsCategory:Operational passenger hauling diesel locomotives]]
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