The fleet of locomotives that was to become the Class 50 under the British Rail T(otal) O(perations) P(rocessing) S(ystem) in the early in 1970s was introduced into service on the West Coast Mainline (WCML) north of Crewe between 1967 and 1968. They were designed as a response to a requirement for a small fleet of high powered, mixed traffic locomotives that could work in multiple and allow for journey times to be reduced as had already been achieved through the electrification of the southern end of the WCML between Crewe and London.

In gaining the contract for the supply of the fleet of 50 locomotives the English Electric Co built on from the success of their trial locomotive, DP2. Although outwardly looking like a Deltic locomotive, DP2 had major internal differences and had been a test bed for new electrical control systems which the company hoped would provide enhanced performance. DP2 was powered by a further development of the 16SVT MK1 engine that had been used in the pioneer diesel locomotives No's 10000 and 10001. In various forms this engine has been used in some of the most successful classes to run on British Railways including the Class 20, 31, 37 and 40.

DP2 had proven itself to be one of the most reliable of the prototype locomotives that various builders had produced in response to the British Railways Boards search for second generation diesel locomotives. This resulted in the production of three highly successful prototypes, D0280 Falcon, D0260 Lion and DP2. Introduced into traffic in 1962 the locomotive was regularly used on a diagram covering services between London Euston, Liverpool and Crewe. The locomotive was so successful that by the time it returned to the English Electric Vulcan Foundry Works at Newton-le-Willows for attention in June 1963 it had covered some 164,580 miles with only two on-line failures.

On release from Vulcan Foundry DP2 was reallocated to Finsbury Park Depot in London where it took up duties on the East Coast Mainline alongside the 'Deltic' fleet. During its life on the East Coast Mainline DP2 gained a lot of the electrical equipment that was to later appear in the Class 50s. Sadly the locomotives career with British Rail was cut short when on the 13th July 1967 it collided with the derailed 02.40 Cliffe - Uddingston cement train to the south of Thirsk whilst working the 12pm Kings Cross - Edinburgh express. Seven passengers died in the collision and the locomotive was so extensively damaged that it was withdrawn and scrapped.

It was the success of DP2 that led to the awarding of the contract for the second generation type 4 locomotive to English Electric. The order for 50 DP2 type locomotives was placed in November 1965 and would see the locomotives leased to British Rail by a subsidiary company known as English Electric Leasings Ltd.

Construction of the locomotives took place at the Vulcan Foundry between January 1967 and December 1968. Upon completion the locomotives were outshopped in the then new corporate livery of all-over blue with full yellow ends and carried numbers in the D400 - D449 number range. As the locomotives were all leased to British Rail they bore a cast plate located mid-body on both body sides which showed they were the property of English Electric. For technical details of the class click here.

On entry into service the fleet was allocated to Crewe Diesel Depot and it was from here that they were to operate for the first part of their operational lives with British Rail. Although usually to be found working Anglo-Scottish expresses between Crewe and Glasgow due to their mixed traffic classification they also found duties on a variety of freight and other non-passenger services. Initially only the first two locomotives were fitted with the jumper cables that would allow for multiple working of the class on services. This changed though in the early 1970s when timings on Anglo-Scottish workings were introduced to provide a better service.

The completion of the electrification of the West Coast Mainline led to the class being transferred to the Western Region where they would replace the soon to be withdrawn Class 52 diesel hydraulic locomotives. Pioneer D400 had been transferred south in 1972 for staff training prior to the transfer of the remainder. Another change at this time was the sale of the entire fleet to British Rail.

It was on the Western and later Southern Region's Waterloo - Exeter route that the class was to spend the majority of its working life. These were also the regions that were to see the major changes to the fleet. During 1978 the entire class gained names associated with the Royal Navy, carrying on a tradition that had been established with the earlier Class 42 and 43 'Warship' diesel hydraulics. The first to be named was 50035 which gained its 'Ark Royal' nameplates on the 1st February 1978 - the last to be named on the 25 September 1979 was 50006 'Neptune.'

During this time the poor availability of the class was also addressed. In 1977-78 the decision was made to refurbish the entire fleet in order to improve the reliability of the locomotives. This work was carried out at BREL Doncaster and the programme ran from 1979 to 1983 although 50006 was the first to be refurbished between 1978 and 1979 as a 'guinea pig' for the rest of the fleet. Whilst this work was being undertaken a new version of the BR corporate image was launched - the much loved Large Logo livery. This livery was to be carried by the class until the introduction of Network South East livery in 1986 at which time a decision had already been made to run the fleet down.

The first member of the class to be withdrawn was 50011 which was taken out of traffic on 24th February 1987. The full run down of the class was to take another seven years to complete. The end might have come quicker if suitable replacements for the class had been found for the Waterloo - Exeter route but problems with the reliability of redeployed class 47/7s from Scotland meant that several members were for service on the route.

The end finally came on the 26th March 1994 when 50050 and 50007 worked 'The 50 Terminator' railtour from London Waterloo to London Paddington via Penzance.

Of course that was not to be the end of the road for the class. Numerous members found homes in preservation and a few have made it back onto the mainline where they have worked scheduled passenger services as well as railtours. This has seen members visit parts of the network that no Class 50 had ever been to when in regular mainline service.

For more information on the class, including details of the various liveries carried by members of the class, please click here.