Close up of Railfreight liveried 47249 blasting out of Oxford on an NSE service to Paddington, with 50046 'Ajax' in tow
<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 ;)

Probably a massive move for the 'Duff Bashers'! A significant disappointment for 'Vac bashers' though. I had to wait another hour for a decent ride home back to Paddington.

Withdrawn in March 1992, 50046 was one of only five Class 50s to make their way over the border to M C Metals in Glasgow for scrapping - the others were 50003 'Temeraire', 50018 'Resolution', 50037 'Illustrious' and 50048 'Dauntless'. RIP.

47249 entered service in 1966 as D1926, and lasted another 30 years before being consigned to the scrapman. One of the 'Duffs' that got the early version Railfreight large logo red stripe livery. 

<b>Locomotive History
47249</b> Built - BR Crewe. Originally delivered to British Railways as D1926 in 1966. Into traffic - 10th Jan 1966

Liveries carried: 
D1926 
BR: Dual Green (Yellow warning panels) 
BR: Dual Green (full yellow ends) 

47249 renumbered Jan 1974
BR: Monastral Blue (Standard) 
BR: Railfreight (Grey + large logo) 
BR: Railfreight (Grey + large logo + red solebar) 

Withdrawn - Mar 1996
Cut-up - C. F. Booth, Rotherham - Apr 1998

More on the locomotive here: <a href="http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_numbers.php?index=0&amp;jndex=2&amp;kndex=49&amp;s_loco=47249" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.class47.co.uk/c47_numbers.php?index=0&amp;jndex=2&amp;amp...</a>

<b>I was never a fan of the the ubiquitous and hugely annoying (in their day) Brush Type 4s or Class 47s.</b> Known the the bashing fraternity as Duffs (unpopular locos), Strummers or Strums (engine sound on acceleration) or Spoons (source unknown ;) - they appeared with such regular monotony on both passenger and freight trains, it became a fine art trying to avoid them 😄 and it was certainly quite a challenge to cop them all for sight - something I didn't achieve until well into the 1980s (with the exception of the early casualties). Now, of course, in the 21st century, they have acquired a certain aura of nostalgia, as most of the original locomotive classes have - and some are still in mainline service some 60 years on, mostly in the guise of re-engined Class 57s.

<b>Locomotive History
D446</b> entered service 05-Oct-68
Renumbered 50046 in 1974
Named 'Ajax' 11-Oct-78
Withdrawn 25-Mar-92
'Ajax' was one of the last Class 50s to remain in service into 1992, but was sadly not preserved. The locomotive ended her days in M.C. Metals scrapyard in Glasgow.

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL SLR camera.

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>
class47 class50 diesel oxford 50046 47249 railfreight station locomotive brushtype4