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D400 / 50050 'Fearless' is an English Electric 2700hp Class 50 Diesel Locomotive and is privately owned by Harry Schneider.
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| HISTORY - The locomotive was built in 1967 as D400 at the Vulcan Foundry works in Newton Le Willows and was initially hired to British Rail for work on the Midland Region between Crewe & Glasgow. BR later bought the class in its entirety and as part of its 1973 renumbering scheme D400 became 50050. When the West Coast route was electrified in 1974 the Class 50's were transferred to the Western Region and in August 1978 50050 was named 'FEARLESS' at Plymouth station. 50050 was withdrawn from BR service in 1994. | ||||
| PRESERVATION - Following withdrawal 50050 was purchased from BR by Harry Schneider and was based at St Leonards depot in Sussex and visited various open days. In April 1998 the loco was recertified for mainline use by Deltic 9000 Locomotives Ltd (DNLL) who operated the loco on charters and service trains. 50050 last worked in December 1999 and remains mainline certified but does not have TPWS or OTMR fitted. | ||||
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FUTURE - Fearless was moved to Yeovil Railway Centre by 31601 15,16 October 2004. Internal restoration
is under way at Yeovil, external restoration to all over blue livery will commence as and when possible.
Although the 50027 lads would like NSE livery!
UPDATE: 50050 Was started for the second time this year on Saturday 22 March. The main purpose was to test brake valves prior to their fitting to 50027, in addition 50050s ETH was tested and other tests were carried out. This maybe the last time 50050 is started in a while as the locos KV10 (well the KV10s that were left behind when 50050s were stolen) are to be dispatched to Plymouth for overhaul. A new gallery has been added to the website, see below. |
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End of Year Update: 2007 was a year of quite good progress for 50050. The new batteries are now fitted and the loco is now started every month or so. The majority of the year has been spent working on the electrics and some rewiring has been undertaken. Hopefully as we now know the extent of the damage done when 50050 was broken into while in store, we can progress from there. Body work repairs will start in 2008, although roof hatch replacement is on hold indefinately until we can place a joint order when 50027 requires its roof hatches replaced. Currently some of 50050s air and brake system is dismantled and removed for use on 50027 Lion and no further start ups of 50050 will take place until these parts are returned. Finally we would like to welcome our friends ECT Mainline Rail to Yeovil. Thank you so much to everybody who has helped us during 2007.
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| D400 FUND - The D400 Fund was formed in 2003 to return the locomotive to use for DNLL, however financial problems caused DNLL to cease trading during 2004 and 50050 is now solely in the care of the group. The D400 Fund is open to anyone who wishes to assist return the locomotive to operational condition. The group can be contacted at d400fund@d400fund.org.uk | ||||
| THANKS - Thanks go to everyone who have supplied hardware, toil and advice to aid the restoration. | ||||
| GALLERY - The move from Tyseley to Yeovil. | ||||
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UPDATED: 26 March 2008 |
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22 March 2008
