22/01/76. 50008 on the down slow having just dropped its train from the Midland
on the receptions. I see the Down yard barbie is going nicely. The two pics of
50008 are included for historical interest only as the camera I was using at the time
was only an Instamatic, and the pics themselves are very poor quality.
50008, later named Thunderer survived into preservation initially purchased by Pete
Waterman, who then sold it on in 1998 to be used by Sea Containers Ltd.
It actually languished for several years at Crewe and there was even talk about
flogging it on to Peru! Happily this did not happen and was bought by a private
individual in 2006.
Restoration work at the LNWR should be completed this year 2009 and is currently
located at on the East Lancs Railway at Bury.
Another interesting point is that this loco once carried a full maroon livery which was
a legacy from when it was planned that it would, along with sister loco 50017 Royal
Oak, work the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) dining car train services.
