50033 Glorious: a chequered preservation history

As one of the final three Laira railtour ‘50s’ (along with 50007 Sir Edward Elgar and 50050 Fearless), 50033 was claimed by the National Railway Museum upon its withdrawal by BR in March 1994.

Its acceptance into the museum caused some surprise at the time, owing to the large number of Class 50s that had already been secured by the preservation sector.

The locomotive was fully operational when it was delivered to York, having been restored to Large Logo livery by staff at Laira prior to its handover to the museum. As well as periods on display at York, 50033 worked at a number of heritage railways, including the East Lancashire Railway and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

However, in 2004 the NRM announced its intention to dispose of 50033 to another museum organisation, and agreement was reached for the locomotive to be transferred to STEAM, the Museum of the Great Western Railway, in Swindon.

After working farewell services on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in August 2004, the Class 50 moved to Swindon later that month, and remained a static exhibit there for the next three years.

STEAM eventually decided that 50033 was not deemed suitable for its collection, and it was announced in 2007 that it would be loaned to RailSchool, a fledgling project designed to help youngsters train in engineering disciplines, with plans to set up a working base at North Woolwich in London.

50033 was duly moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works (TLW) for storage in the summer of 2007. However, the RailSchool project never became established and 50033 was eventually transferred into the ownership of TLW, where it has remained ever since.

During its time at Tyseley the locomotive has presented an increasingly derelict condition and has now not worked a train for almost 14 years. However, the team of people now working on its resurrection believe that it is in reasonably good condition and that it can be returned to operational condition relatively quickly.