Class 50019
"Ramillies"

British Railways Class 50 Diesel-Electric Type 4

​

The British Railway Class 50, also know as English Electric Type 4, is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was built by English Electric Vulcan Foundry Works between 1967 - 1968, a total of 50 were produced. 

​

The class was built to be able to work passenger trains on the West Coast Mainline between Crewe and Aberdeen. They soon became a common sight across the west coast with the majority being allocated to Crewe and the remainder to Bristol Bath Road. By 1974 the majority of the West Coast Mainline was electrified therefore making the class redundant, due to this the fleet was transferred to the Western Region working passenger services from London Paddington to Penance instead. Due to increasing reliability problems the decision was made to refurbish the entire fleet at Doncaster Works between 1979 and 1984 however, these modifications didn't last long as by 1990 the fleet once again became unreliable. By 1992 only eight of the class still remained in service with the rest either being stored or scrapped.

18 out of the 50 produced are still active today across various British Heritage Railways with a few still operating mainline charters/freight.

50019

50019 was released from English Electric Vulcan Foundry on 23rd April 1968, originally as D419, and allocated to the Western Line (LMR) (WL). On 18th April 1978, it was named "Ramillies" after the warship HMS Ramillies. Over the course of its working life it was transferred to Stoke Division, Bristol Bath Road & Laira. 50019 was then withdrawn from traffic September 1990 due to being a surplus to requirements, until the Class 50 Locomotive Association purchased it.