A grimy looking 50031 'Hood' Class 50 seen in the freezing snow at London Waterloo
<b>Memories of the fine art of Vac bashing</b>
Between 1983 and 1991 I spent many happy hours with my friends riding the rails behind the mighty 'Hoovers' or Class 50s on the Paddington-Oxford and Waterloo-Exeter routes, with many a ride and a drink or two in Oxford, regular forays down to Exeter, and on occasion into deepest Cornwall. 

My interest in the railways waned permanently around 1990-91 with the demise of the Class 50s, initially from the Paddington-Oxford route in 1990, and finally when they retired from the Waterloo-Exeter services in 1992.

As well as enjoying the thrash, I managed to record many of the trips and railway scenes encountered on film for posterity. Those days are now long gone, but happily the photos remain for me to reminisce over and share ;)

<b>D431 / 50031 'Hood'</b> - is seen here awaiting the road to depart from Waterloo light engine, after arriving with 1O35 from Exeter to Waterloo. The 'Big Freeze' is evident!

<b>A day in the life...</b>
According to my trusty log books, I managed to get a couple of rides behind my adopted vac 50031 that icy day:
1O35 from Woking to Waterloo
1V16 from Waterloo to Salisbury

<b>The Big Freeze - London, February 1991</b>
At the beginning of February 1991, a bitterly cold spell of weather brought heavy snow to eastern and central England. Temperatures remained below zero in these areas continuously between the 6th and 9th of February and maximum temperatures were between -3 and -5C. During the night of the 7th the snow became heavy and persistent in London, bringing 20 cm in central London and 25cm in boroughs such as Croydon and Bromley, the deepest snow since the winter of 1962-1963.

This brought the rail network into chaos, Heathrow was forced to cancel flights and Gatwick and Birmingham airports were closed. On the 8th of February, the snow was lighter and started to ease. However, the cold spell and the snow lasted for several days. More information here: 
<a href="http://www.weathercast.co.uk/nc/weather-news/news/article/heavy_snow_in_england_25_years_ago.html" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.weathercast.co.uk/nc/weather-news/news/article/heavy_...</a>

and here: <a href="http://www.netweather.tv/forum/topic/34026-winter-1990-91-the-gr.." rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.netweather.tv/forum/topic/34026-winter-1990-91-the-gr..</a>.

<b>Locomotive History</b>
D431 entered service 06-Jul-68
Renumbered 50031 in 1974
Named 'Hood' 28-Jun-78
Withdrawn 05-Aug-91

The 'Mighty Hood' happily made it into preservation, and is now located on the Severn Valley Railway. More information here: <a href="https://www.svrwiki.com/BR_Class_50_50031_Hood" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.svrwiki.com/BR_Class_50_50031_Hood</a>
and here: <a href="https://www.fiftyfund.org.uk/index.php/our-locomotives/50031-hood" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.fiftyfund.org.uk/index.php/our-locomotives/50031-hood</a>

Taken with a Nikon F-501 SLR camera and 75-200mm zoom lens.

You can see a random selection of my railway photos here on Flickriver: <a href="http://www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/</a>
snow london weather diesel waterloo hood 431 class50 50031 station locomotive d431