50017 Royal Oak

50017 Royal Oak worked its last train in September 1991 and was withdrawn the same month due to main generator damage, thereby becoming the 41st Class 50 locomotive to be withdrawn after over 23 years of active service. Engine hours stood at 7,639.

After its withdrawal, 50017 was restored to working order by Project Defiance volunteers on the West Somerset Railway. It was then placed with Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) at Crewe, until VSOE reverted to the use of English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd (EWS) traction. It was subsequently moved to the Birmingham Railway Museum at Tyseley and then the Plym Valley Railway, where it was restored to an operational condition and had a very thorough external restoration including a repaint in the original variant of Network SouthEast (NSE) livery.

In 2014, 50017 was bought by a private individual and relocated to the former Alstom facility at Washwood Heath, Birmingham. It was subsequently sold and it now resides at the Great Central Railway.

Earlier pictures in this gallery were taken prior to this latest restoration, devoid of nameplates and in maroon livery; a legacy from when it was hired to work the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) dining car train services.

Dates: 2004-2023