Shap And Beattock Class 50s Take The High Road

The charity special fronted by The Railway Magazine took a pair of Class 50s from Crewe over Shap and Beattock to Glasgow for the first time in many years. JOHN HEATON FCILT analyses the performance of these veteran diesels that were back on a familiar route, along with a comparison of some historic runs.

THE two huge diesel locomotives nosing towards the buffer stops at Glasgow central certainly attracted a large crowd– not just the usual suspects of railtour regulars, either. At 13.30 on a Saturday afternoon many were curious shoppers and football supporters, who could scarcely believe the train they were observing represented a routine arrival from London in the early 1970s, a decade and more before most of them were born.

To anyone who could remember those diesel days north of Crewe the arrival of locomotives Nos. 50007 Hercules and 50049 Defiance represented a victory for the voice of individualism on a railway that has become progressively standardised. One of the benefits Privatisation has brought has been the equal standing of all certified operators when approaching the infrastructure provider, Network Rail, for permission to run.

This trip involved a powerful coalition of Pathfinder Tours, Riviera Trains, The Class 50 Alliance, GBRailfreight and The Railway Magazine in bringing the proposal for a 401-mile journey to Network Rail, which responded by finding viable paths from Euston to Glasgow Central among the franchise and freight operators’ requirements. The fact that the special was headlined as a fund raiser for The Railway Children charity probably helped the cause, and it looks as though the resultant donation will be into five figures.