Dapol 2D-002-001 BR 50043 Class 50 Co-Co Diesel Locomotive Blue Unrefurbished N

£130.00
MRP £144.95

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(Product Ref 38007)
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Developed from English Electrics' private venture Diesel Prototype 2 (DP2) utilising a single 16-cylinder 2,700bhp engine in the 'Deltic' bodyshell to deliver similar performance to the twin-engined Deltics British Rail ordered 50 locomotives to haul express passenger trains over the West Coast route north from Crewe, pending the completion of electrification through to Carlisle and then Glasgow. The class 50 locomotives were built at the Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows in 1967-8 and initially leased by British Rail from English Electric, being fully purchased in 1973 when the class was redeployed to the Western region following completion of the West Coast electrification scheme. On the Western region the box-bodied class 50s displaced the stylish and popular Warship and Western diesel hydraulic classes from express passenger duties on the London Paddington to Bristol, South Wales and the South West routes. The types' poor reliability at this period doing little to enhance their popularity. However having lost the 'Warships' by the late 1970s and with a more positive locomotive naming policy returning the Western region commenced naming the class 50 locomotives after warships of the Royal Navy.

The class 50 locomotives marked a new generation of locomotive technology and incorporated a number of new features, some of which proved more successful than others. The introduction of the InterCity 125 High Speed Train on the core London - Bristol - South Wales corridor from 1976 released class 50 locomotives for a through refurbishment programme. The less-than-successful design of inertial air filtration system was replaced with conventional air filter packs and never-used equipments were removed. Successful fittings like modular electronic control system with exchangeable circuit board 'cards' had already been incorporated into the HST design and were retained, though the control systems were somewhat simplified, for example the never-used slow speed control system was eliminated. Added was a new generator and engine room air control system with pressurisation fan to keep oil out of the generator compartment and a sealed bean headlight to increase the trains' visibility to lineside workers. Shortly after the start of the programme refurbished locomotives were returned from Doncaster works to the Western region carrying a new large logo blue livery with wrap-around yellow cab ends, a livery which suited the long class 50 bodyshell nicely.

As the InterCity 125 fleet increased more London Paddington to Plymouth and Penzance services were covered by HST trains and the class 50 locomotives were again redeployed. The class took over the heavily loaded Penzance/Plymouth to Aberdeen/Edinburgh/Glasgow trains between Penzance and Birmingham from class 45 and 46 'peaks' and secondary express services from London to Oxford and Worcester and the London Waterloo to Exeter services along the former Southern mainline. The Waterloo-Exeter and Paddington-Oxford services later became part of the Network South East business unit, seeing class 50 locomotives painted in the NSE stripes livery.

By the late 1980s the new generation diesel and electric multiple units were coming into service. Designed from new to be more suitable for longer distance services than had been intended for the original 'suburban' DMUs and the class 50s were proving increasingly expensive on maintenance. Slowly the class was displaced by class 47 locomotives and the introduction of the air-conditioned class 158 and 159 diesel units, followed by the London outer-suburban 'Networker' DMUs. Withdraw from service started in 1987 with locomotives in poor condition, often with high mileages and in need of overhaul, though the main block of the class was withdrawn in 1990/91. Three locomotives operated as a 'heritage fleet' under the care of Plymouth Laira depot staff until 1994.

18 of the 50 class 50 locomotives have been preserved with several being equipped with current regulation TPWS and OTMR for both regular and charter service on Network Rail mainline as well as heritage railways.

Dapols second 'Next Generation' diesel model the class 50 will benefit from the entirely re-designed chassis and electronics, also incorporating Dapols' latest iron cored 5 pole motor, offering excellent slow running and exceptional pulling power with reliability and robustness.

The Dapol class 50 will include the following features

  • Smooth running 5 pole next generation motor
  • All wheel pickup
  • All wheel drive via re-worked 'smooth drive' low maintenance mechanism
  • Die-cast chassis
  • DCC Sound Ready. Next 18 sound decoder socket (recommended 6 function decoder)(
  • Independent directional front and rear main lighting control
  • Independent directional cab lighting control
  • Main lamp and cab lighting override switches for DC users (Independent front/rear control)
  • Removable self-centring close coupling mechanism with NEM coupler pockets
  • Standard NEW fitting N gauge couplers
  • RP25 profile wheels
  • Detailed body and fittings
  • Printed nameplates where appropriate
  • Accessory bag with etched nameplates (to fit over printed plate) and detailed buffer beam fittings
  • Clip-fit body for easy DCC fitting
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