Snow Clearing Duties for 50049

Last night, Network Rail requested the hire of Class 50 No. 50049 Defiance to assist with snow-clearing operations on the West Midlands corridor ahead of the arrival of Storm Goretti.

Departing Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway at 23:30, Defiance headed for Birmingham Snow Hill after being prepared by the C50A volunteers — many of whom had endured a challenging journey just to reach Kidderminster in the first place.

Fortunately, conditions proved less severe than expected, and Defiance was stood down. The Hanson & Hall crew returned the locomotive safely to Kidderminster on the SVR at around 08:00 this morning.

A huge thank you to the Severn Valley Railway, Hanson & Hall, Network Rail, and the dedicated C50A volunteers for their outstanding efforts.