Looking west from Parson’s Tunnel, a very tatty 50039 'Implacable' takes the 1A81 10.56 Penzance to London Paddington, the up ‘Cornish Riviera’ along the sea wall. The condition of many class 50s by this time led a lot to be desired. They were becoming increasingly unreliable and unloved by the drivers and maintenance staff alike so BR set about a programme of refurbishment. The first to be out-shopped from Doncaster was 50006 'Neptune' in November 1979. It was in standard BR blue with the hole for the centre headlight plated over, allegedly due to a shortage of parts.
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