50007 and 50049 to get new liveries

And all because the lady loves...

 

Please read the rest of my post, as I say I'm not sure about my feelings on this bear in mind I was told 'we're not like that 100mph lot' (Deltic 9000 Locomotives Ltd) a few years ago. I could be totally wrong but as I say I'm just unsure at the moment.

 

Ludicrous colour scheme. I remember handing out protest leaflets to the normals on the 1738 Waterloo Exeter


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It is surely a matter of timing !. Worcestershire was celebrating the centenary of Elgar's birth IIRC, Worcestershire services to London were serviced by GWR Class 50s and the GWR was celebrating GWR150. What better way to mark 3 celebrations in one by repainting a local (to Worcestershire) locomotive in GWR colours and renaming it with the local personality' name as part of the GWR150 event. IMHO a famous REAL name was better than a fictional character to be carried on a locomotive.

 

The Centenary of Elgar's birth was June 1957. 7005 (a Worcester engine) was re-named accordingly and became the regular locomotive on the Cathedrals Express.

 

Oh yes and what better way to mark the GWR150 celebrations than to shut down Swindon Works.

The point of the protests was that all of the class were named after warships (the last HMS Hercules was an aircraft carrier) and naming one after a composer broke that continuity.

I still think it looked ridiculous with all junk applied to the side.


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So what. The original ‘Warship’ class broke the continuity from the the start by naming D800 ‘Sir Brian Robertson’.

 

What junk?

 

It was 50007 that helped draw me to liking the 50s - in GWR green condition. Personally, I think they should all have been named after composers - what better association than with the great music they made.

 

Resists temptation to say "The original Warships started D600"....

 

I'm assuming the brass numberplates and the GWR-style lining?

 

Knew somebody would say that but they were only ‘pilot scheme’ locos which the Western Region didn’t even want.

 

What did they want at that time? Curious, you see

 

Who knows. Classic example of the WR following the GWR and ploughing it’s own furrow. Invested in hydraulic transmission when everyone else was going diesel electric. The 600 series Warships weighed in at 120 tons whereas the 800s were a mere 80 tons so a more logical choice for a similar power output.
I must admit to being a fan of the WR hydraulics and I owe my existence on this forum by using one of their names .

 

50051 'Robert Plant' 50052 'Ozzy Osbourne' for example?

 

I said music...


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Extra weight for more tractive effort.....

 

Dame Clara Butt? https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-iba-1&hsimp=yhs-1&hspart=iba&p=dame+clara+butt,+land+of+hope+and+glory#id=2&vid=08b9676cc0e7188b616582e75b63bf37&action=click

 

That's a bit unfair. Looking at my 1959 combine, a D8xx Warship gave you 2,200bhp on 78t whereas a Class 40 was 133t for 2,000bhp. I think you will find that other railways also explored hydraulic transmission before finally opting for electric.

 

I wasn’t criticising the decision to opt for hydraulic transmission, merely commenting that the WR was bucking the trend in not going for diesel electric.
Agree that other Railways explored hydraulic transmission (Germany, obviously, as the D800s were based on the V200 design) but did any other UK Railway try hydraulic? Don’t think so.
As I said before, I liked all the hydraulic designs, enough to use a member of one of the classes as my forum identity.
Dave.