Class 50s on the Western Region

Although firstly introduced to BR’s London Midland Region in the late 1960s, the Class 50 diesel-electrics are strongly associated with the Western Region, where they gave more than twenty years of service. Reliability was perhaps not their strongest point but being a 100mph machine and sounding more impressive at full power than other type 4 locomotives, they commanded a strong following. This was particularly true after the demise of the type 5 ‘Deltics’ in early 1982. Being given a set of evocative ‘Warship’ names from 1978 and later a striking new livery did their appeal no harm at all. Drawing on the Arthur Turner collection, this album takes readers on an imaginary tour of the region, featuring the entire class of fifty machines at various times (between 1974 and 1992) and in a wide spread of locations.