Update on Ark Royal & Exeter

We are pleased to give you all a long-overdue update on 50035 Ark Royal and 50044 Exeter.

As many of you will remember, both locomotives enjoyed a starring role at The Greatest Gathering event last year , where they temporarily took on a very different appearance.

The event was held at Alstom's historic Litchurch Lane Works in Derby last August, which attracted over 30,000 visitors, and formed part of the nationwide Railway 200 celebrations, marking 200 years since the birth of the modern railway.

Now that the celebrations are behind us, it is time for both Exeter and Ark Royal to return to a more familiar colour palette.

The paint has now been delivered and preparations are well underway. The vinyl wraps are in the process of being removed, minor bodywork repairs are being carried out and the locomotives are steadily moving towards the point where the paint tins can finally be opened.

We cannot wait to welcome both locomotives back to their home base on the Severn Valley Railway.

Our thanks go to Alstom Derby and the organisers of The Greatest Gathering for allowing 50035 and 50044 to play such a memorable and pivotal part in this landmark event.

We look forward to sharing further progress updates with you very soon.

Class 50 Alliance