Thunderer Under A Cloud

The latest locomotive to be added to our fleet although, admittedly, not one that will be used very often, is the Lima Class 50 50008 'Thunderer', which I acquired at a recent Model Railway Exhibition.

This particular model was produced in 1992 and was limited to just 550 thus making it one of the rarer Lima Class 50s.

It came boxed and with its original Numbered Certificate and, as you can see, she is Nº 340.

The loco has also been DCC-fitted (although not by me) with an address of 508 although, in typical Class 50 fashion, not long after we had started running and testing her on the layout, she failed! It seems that one of the wires had been poorly soldered and needs to be resoldered - and made slightly thinner too!

Below are some photos that I took of her showing both sides, both ends, the roof and the underside.

As the photos clearly show, she is in a really nice condition, for her age, and once the wiring is repaired, she will be up and running once again - although, unlike the Hornby Class 50s that we have, I doubt she will ever be fitted with sound.

Until then, here are a few photos of her on the layout beginning with a shot of her pausing at Carswater at the head of a rake of Royal Train empty coaching stock.

Finally, a couple of photographs of her in the service depot, awaiting repairs in the company of 50007 'Sir Edward Elgar'.

As a footnote I must say that, unlike the prototype Class 50s and, indeed our newly-acquired 'Thunderer', the other three Class 50s that we have in our fleet are amongst the best locos that we have in terms of reliability and sure-footedness and we regularly use them for all manner of duties.