page_title: British Rail Class 50
section_title: Refurbishment
hierarchical_section_title: British Rail Class 50 / Refurbishment
caption_attribution_description: British English: British Rail Class 50, 50 007 Sir Edward Elgar newly repainted in GWR-style green livery at Bournemouth depot open day in 1992. This loco has been preserved. Number history: D407, 50007 Names: Hercules Sir Edward Elgar Scanned from a Fujichrome 35mm slide.
context_page_description: The British Rail Class 50 is a class of diesel locomotives designed to haul express passenger trains at 100 mph. Built by English Electric at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows between 1967 and 1968, the Class 50s were initially on a 10-year lease from English Electric Leasing, and were employed hauling express passenger trains on the, then non-electrified, section of the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and Scotland. Initially numbered D400 - D449 and known as English Electric Type 4s, the locomotives were purchased outright by British Rail at the end of the lease and became Class 50 in the TOPS renumbering of 1973. The class gained the nickname "Hoovers" because of the noise made by the clean air plant at the No.2 end, prior to refurbishment, which was likened to that of a vacuum cleaner, a name believed given to them by the staff at Paddington Station. Once the electrification from Crewe to Glasgow was completed the locomotives were moved to the Great Western Main Line out of Paddington to allow the retirement of most of the remaining diesel-hydraulic locomotives then in use.
context_section_description: To deal with increasing reliability problems, the Class 50 fleet was refurbished at Doncaster Works between 1979 and 1984. Doncaster had taken responsibility for the fleet after BR completed the purchase of the locomotives from English Electric. The work involved simplifying the complex electronics and removing redundant features such as slow speed control and rheostatic braking. In addition, the air intake fan arrangement was modified, because the original setup often prevented fresh air from entering the engine room and stale, oil mist-filled air from escaping, leading to many main generator failures. This was in part due to the moisture in the air in the UK: dust and other particles would lodge in the filter system and become 'gummed up' with moisture, preventing circulation which in turn also hampered the intended engine compartment pressure levels which then meant 'filtered' air could not be evacuated by the intended means. The filtration system was fundamentally sound and widely used in other countries; the problems arose because relative humidity had not been taken into account at the design stage. This modification eliminated the characteristic droning "sucking" noise which had earned the "Hoover" nickname.
  Externally, the locomotives all received high-intensity headlights, which changed the appearance of the front end. Starting with 50006, the first six locomotives were outshopped in the standard BR Blue livery. However, in 1980, 50023 Howe became the first to be outshopped in a revised livery with wrap around yellow cabs, large bodyside numerals and BR logo, in a livery that became known as BR Large Logo Blue. The final loco to be refurbished was 50014 which was released to traffic in the latter half of 1983.
  Following refurbishment, the fleet was concentrated at two depots; Laira in Plymouth, and Old Oak Common in west London. The class were again used for Western Region services on the GWML out of Paddington, and on the West of England Main Line from Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter.
  In 1984, 50007 Hercules was repainted into lined Brunswick green livery and renamed Sir Edward Elgar, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway (GWR). Four Class 47 locomotives were similarly treated, and a Class 117 diesel multiple unit (DMU) was repainted in chocolate and cream livery. As a result, 50007 quickly became a favourite with rail enthusiasts. Another locomotive repainted in a special livery was 50019 Ramillies,  which was repainted in a variation of BR Blue by staff at Plymouth Laira depot.
  In 1986 the West of England Main Line came under the control of the Network SouthEast (NSE) sector, which saw the introduction of their bright blue, red and white livery. The first locomotive in this livery was again 50023 Howe. The NSE livery had two versions; the original had upswept red and white stripes and the ends, with a white cab surround; the revised livery introduced in 1988 had the red and white stripes continue to the body ends, with a blue cab surround. In the revised livery the blue became a darker shade.
  Towards the end of the 1980s, the fleet could be found mostly on the West of England route, as well as fast services from Paddington to Oxford. Some locomotives were also transferred to the civil engineers department to work maintenance and engineering trains. Around this time, the first locomotives were withdrawn, starting with 50011 Centurion in early 1987. This locomotive's nameplates were later transferred to 50040, which was previously named Leviathan. A further two locomotives, 50006 Neptune and 50014 Warspite were withdrawn in 1987, followed by a further five locomotives in 1988 (50010/13/22/38/47).
  In 1987, consideration was given to using the class on freight trains. To this end, 50049 "Defiance" was renumbered to 50149, equipped with modified Class 37, lower-geared bogies and outshopped in the new trainload grey livery with Railfreight General decals. It was based at Plymouth Laira depot, and tested on local china clay trains in Cornwall as well as heavy stone trains to London from 
caption: 50 007 Sir Edward Elgar at Bournemouth Open Day, 1992
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