Class 50 Hire Plates

[slilley]

Simple question, when did the "On Hire" plates attached to the Class 50s get removed?

 

The reason why I ask is that the Class 47 Preservation Project Archive has recently acquired some negatives of scenes on the Western Region in the mid 1970s. Several Class 50s appear and of these most seem to have their "On Hire" plates still attached.

 

Many thanks

 

Simon

 

[Flood]

By typing "Class+50 1972" into flickr there are a number of photos which show that the hire plates had already begun to disappear by that date. Locos 436 and 438 are examples.

 

By October 1976 my notes show that 42 of the hire plates were missing and 35 of the works plates. Crewe don't seem to have deliberately removed them, it probably just depended on the condition of the bodyside.

 

When works attention moved to Doncaster in January 1977 they did remove any remaining hire plates and once the fleet started to be named in 1978 the name was positioned directly over the location of the hire plate.

 

The works plates were still carried on some locos until they were refurbished.

Edited August 15, 2021 by Flood

[zoomer1979]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but it seams most appropriate. I've been looking for OO scale hire plates for my model and can't seem to find any. Has anyone else had some or know of who does them please?

[Flood]

Modelmaster list them:

WP152 Cl. 50 Long Oval Leasing Plates x 2

 

I don't know what they are like.

 

I commisioned Jackson Evans to make some leasing plates in the early 1990s but you couldn't read the writing, there were just lines of the correct word length for effect. I don't know whether Modelmaster took over Jackson Evans plates.

I've looked under Shawplan but they don't list them.

[Bomag]

On 10/01/2015 at 01:32, Flood said:

Post removed as the OP couldn't be bothered to say thank you.

 

I know this is a bit late but he did give thanks in advance. Whether you find it acceptable or not the removal of the data does not help anybody else, nor seemingly dis-benefits the OP

[RANGERS]

Most were removed when the locos  were refurbished, though I wouldn’t like to say for sure that they all lasted that long. I’d a photo that was taken at Paddington in Summer 1978 I think it would have been, which had it still intact together with its recently fitted nameplates (Warspite I think it was).