33208 passing 50036 'Victorious' at Old Oak Common open day in 1990
<b>Old Oak Common open day - 13th Nov 1990</b>  - seen in the winter sunshine in the sidings at Old Oak Common depot, <b>50036 'Victorious'</b> with slightly worn and chipped paintwork, but with distinctive red buffer beam which a few of the class carried. Passing the 'Vac' is 'Shredder' 33208, one of the small fleet of narrow-bodied 33/2s that were built for the Hastings line (which had narrow tunnels).

<b>Memories of the fine art of Vac bashing</b>
Between 1983 and 1991 I spent many, many happy hours with my friends riding the rails behind the mighty 'Hoovers' or Class 50s. 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 ;)

50036 was an Old Oak machine in the 1980s and a regular performer on the Paddington-Oxfords.

<b>Locomotive History</b>
D436 entered service 17-Aug-68
Renumbered 50036 in 1974
Named 'Victorious' 17-Aug-78
Withdrawn 12-Apr-91

<b>50036 “Victorious”</b> was amongst a batch of nine locos sent to Booths scrapyard in Rotherham early in 1992 along with 50001, 50004, 50016, 50020, 50023, 50026, 50040 and 50045. All nine locos were part of a bid by Operation Collingwood - an engineering charity established in the early 1990s to enable young engineering apprentices to rebuild the locomotives - however, as the required funding was not forthcoming, Booths forced Operation Collingwood to choose the best five, with the others to be cut up. 50004, 50016, 50020 and 50036 were all cut up in the spring of 1992. The charity was wound up in 2002 and 50001, 50023, 50040 and 50045 met a similar fate. 50026 was the only one saved.

Information courtesy of Wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_50" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_50</a>

<b>Locomotive History</b>
D6593 entered service in Mar 1962
Mar 1962      Allocated Hither Green
Jul 1963        Re-allocated St. Leonards
Oct 1967       Re-allocated Hither Green
Sep 1969      Slow Speed Control fitted at Eastleigh Works
Dec 1973      Re-numbered 6593 to 33208
Nov 1985      Re-allocated Stewarts Lane
Sep 1988      Re-allocated Eastleigh
Oct 1988       Re-allocated Stewarts Lane
Sep 1990      Overhauled at Eastleigh Works
Feb 1997       Withdrawn Stewarts Lane
May 1997       Sold to the 71A Locomotives, Ropley
Mar 2010       New Owner - Shackerstone

<b>Class 33/2 – narrow-bodied locomotives</b>
A batch of twelve locomotives was built with narrow bodies, to allow them to work through the narrow tunnels between Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and Hastings, Sussex. The Hastings Line was designated Restriction 0. This required the bodies to be reduced in width to avoid clipping tunnel linings on that line, leading to their nickname of 'Slim Jims'. These locomotives were 8 feet 8 inches (2.64 m) wide over the steps and 8 ft 1+1⁄2 in (2.48 m) over the body. Originally numbered D6586 to D6597, they were later renumbered 33201 to 33212. These locomotives were fitted with slow-speed control to enable them to work merry-go-round trains. All 12 locomotives were route availability 6. [More info on the Crompton here: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_33#Class_33/2_%e2%80%93_narrow-bodied_locomotives" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_33#Class_33/2_</a>

<b>Class 33</b> - in December 1957 British Railways ordered forty-five Type 3 diesel-electric locomotives from the Birmingham Railway Carriage &amp; Wagon Company (BRCW) for Southern Region duties. They were required as part of the general modernisation resulting from Phase I of the Kent Coast Electrification scheme. The number was later increased to a total of ninety-eight including twelve special ’slim line’ locomotives for use on the width-restricted Tonbridge-Hastings line. Based on the BRCW type 2’s (Class 26/27) of the Scottish Region, the Southern locomotives were more powerful with eight cylinder Sulzer engines and Crompton-Parkinson electrical equipment. All were delivered new to Hither Green MPD, beginning in 1959, and were allocated the numbers D6500-97.

All 86 of the first delivery were built as standard locomotives, numbered D6500 to D6585. Under TOPS they became class 33/0 and the surviving locomotives, excluding the 19 that were converted for push-pull operation (33101 to 33119), were renumbered 33001–33065. The 12 narrow-bodied locomotives were originally numbered D6586 to D6597, and later renumbered 33201 to 33212. More info here: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_33" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_33</a>


Taken with a Nikon F-501 SLR 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>
diesel class50 london shed depot locomotive 436 oldoakcommon 50036 d436 class33 33208 crompton d6593 6593 depots