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Thunderer to feature at our Diesel Gala

September 28th/29th

Having not worked in Cornwall for 33 years, the British Rail Class 50 0008 will be featured in our Diesel Gala this September.

Coming to Bodmin Railway this September

50008 was withdrawn from BR service on 5/6/92 and is now owned and operated by Hanson Hall Rail. 50008 is usually based at Knottingley (Wakefield, West Yorkshire). The Thunderer regularly operates on the mainline, moving anything from track machines to brand new multiple units. It can also be seen on enthusiast charter trains and other preserved railways during their diesel galas.

Tickets & more information, including timetables, to be released soon, stayed tuned! 

‘Thunderer’

Class 50008 gained her name after a World War 1 Royal Navy Orion Class Battleship, and it was later twinned with the now closed Manadon Royal Naval Training College in nearby Plymouth (which is why it has a diamond-shaped crest)

19/01/85 – Plymouth to Penzance at Bodmin Railway, taken by Paul Deacon.
50008 was built in 1967, and was first used on the West Coast Mainline between Crewe and Scotland before electrification. The whole Class 50 fleet was then transferred to the Western Region between 1972 and 1976. They worked all over the Western Region and a fair bit of the Southern Region, mainly the Exeter to Waterloo route.

After transferral to the Western Region, the Class 50’s worked daily to Penzance, regularly passing through Bodmin Parkway. As well as Penzance, they also visited Falmouth in the early days and then Newquay, until loco hauled trains were stopped in Cornwall all together.

Withdrawn from BR services on 05/06/92

Class 50008 Penzance to Plymouth. Photo taken by Paul Deacon.

 

09/06/21: 09:20 Eastleigh – Westbury – Eastleigh Test Run
One of 50008’s first runs in the Hanson & Hall Livery
Photo: Paul Deacon

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