The driver looks on, no doubt wondering why this young

lad is taking a picture of his fine engine looking up and directly into the afternoon sun? 50017 in pre-named and pre-overhauled condition sits at the head of a Paddington Express at Bath Spa. By early 1976, the 50s were in squadron service on the GWML having largely ousted the Westerns and just a few months prior to the introduction of the HSTs. However, they were worn out from their use on the WCML and the Western Region maintenance staff had not really got to grips with looking after them so their reliability at this time was pretty awful.