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Accurascale BR Class 50 - Laira blue - 50019 'Ramillies'
by Accurascale
Named in April 1978 after the Revenge-class battleship that served from 1917-48, 50019 was one of the first six Class 50s to be refurbished in 1980, all being released in standard Rail blue. It wasn’t until April 1984 that it would be recalled to Doncaster for its large logo repaint, although this was quickly superseded by the colourful Network SouthEast image, which would be applied at Laira just over two years later. In February 1989 it was transferred to the departmental DWCA pool and with its NSE livery now obsolete and looking tired, the Plymouth depot repainted it back to BR blue, albeit with a Rail grey roof and black window surrounds. NSE-sized numbers were applied to the driver’s cabside with double arrows at the other end, while the nameplates were retained in their high position and not returned to the centre of the bodyside. This scheme would later become known as ‘Laira blue’ or ‘Departmental blue’ and was also briefly applied to 50037 in 1990 and then to 50008 in 1991, although notably Ramillies was the only one of the three to gain the DCE flash under the secondman’s window. 50019 was withdrawn with main generator damage while still wearing this paint job in September 1990. Happily it was sold to the Class 50 Locomotive Association the following May – the second of the type to be preserved – and after several years at Eridge on the Spa Valley Railway it moved to its current home, Dereham on the Mid-Norfolk Railway in May 1998, where it was a key member of the operational fleet, even running freight services on the 11-mile line. Since 2013 it has been out of action undergoing an extensive overhaul, which will see it return to its classic ‘Laira blue’ when completed.