Class 50

For this post (23rd June 2010) I am introducing a pic of a class 50 locomotive, a class which has not featured previously on our blog. Also included is a pic of the popular 'logs' freight working with an unfamiliar locomotive at the head, and a third pic of double-heading class 37s.

Andy Appleton contributed the class 50 pic showing locomotive 50031, (ex D431) Hood, on the tail of Virgin passenger stock, northbound, through Winwick on 19th September 2006. At the head and just in view is class 50, 50049 - look out for this loco in a future post. A cracking shot of historical interest, Andy. The 50, class 50 locomotives were constructed just down the road from Winwick, as English Electric Type 4s at the Vulcan Foundry, Earlestown, between 1967-68. They were originally numbered D400-449 and were built to haul, often double-headed, passenger traffic from Crewe to Glasgow / Edinburgh prior to electrification of this section of the WCML in 1973. In February 1974, D431 was renumbered 50031 and in 1978 the locomotive was named Hood - she was withdrawn for service in August 1991 and is now preserved.
Andy's second shot is of double-heading DRS class 37s, 37038 and 37069, working acid (?) tanks, northbound, through Winwick on the same day, 19th September 2006, about 40minutes after the class 50 had passed through.

The third and final pic is by Alan Rigby. Recently, photographers have associated the ~5pm logs working with a class 57 or a class 66 locomotive. However Alan's shot, also taken in 2006, features a class 92, 92012, Thomas Hardy on the working, southbound, to the Kronospan mill at Chirk.

All three of these pictures prove how more interesting the traffic was in 2006, compared to the present time.