50007 Hercules

50007 Hercules (renamed Sir Edward Elgar between 1984-2014) was one of the two class members that worked the final railtour, The 50 Terminator, in March 1994. The tour went from London Waterloo to Penzance and back into London Paddington. The locomotive was withdrawn the same month due to it being surplus to requirements, thereby becoming one of the final two Class 50 locomotives to be withdrawn after over 26 years of active service. Its engine hours stood at 9,624.

After its withdrawal, 50007 was purchased by the Class 40 Appeal and left Laira depot for the last time in July 1994. It was moved to a new home at the Midland Railway Butterley, attending a Doncaster Works open day whilst en route.

In 2013, 50007 was bought by a private individual and relocated to the former Alstom facility at Washwood Heath, Birmingham. It was repainted in British Rail corporate blue livery and had its original (and more appropriate) name reapplied.

In 2016, the locomotive was purchased by The Class 50 Alliance Ltd, a company formed by the merger of The Fifty Fund and Project Defiance.

In 2019 UK rail freight operator GB Railfreight (GBRf) and the Class 50 Alliance (C50A) announced that mainline registered Class 50 locomotives 50007 Hercules and 50049 Defiance were to be repainted in the latest GBRf livery. The decision to repaint the locomotives in the striking new livery was a recognition of the developing relationship between the two organisations.

Dates: 2005-2022