Combined Volume - The Extended Reminiscences of a Class 50 Fitter
By Mike Woodhouse (Published by The Fifty Fund)
Mike Woodhouse has spent nearly forty years working on the railway as a locomotive fitter. His career on the Western Region of British Railways spans an era of great change in locomotive types; from steam, to diesels with mechanical, hydraulic, and electric transmissions.
 
Mike has always been fond of the class 50 diesel electric built at Newton-le-Willows by the English Electric Company in the late 1960s, and these are his stories of working with these fascinating machines.
 
Some of this collection first aired in the long sold out publications; Blood Sweat and Fifties, Thundering Fifties and Glorious Fifties. However for this combined publication, Mike has rewritten parts of those original tales, adding detail and bringing them up to date. He has also penned further stories from his long involvement with the class.
 
Mike’s boss for the period of the class 50 rundown and withdrawal from BR service, Geoff Hudson (Area Fleet Manager), has generously provided the foreword, which looks at some other aspects of life at Plymouth Laira, the final depot the class 50s would call home under British Rail.
 
Funds raised by this publication will go to finance repair and maintenance work on class 50s to ensure their continued operation for all to enjoy.