THERE are two romanticised versions of the death of the Greek warrior, Ajax the Great. One tells how Ajax lost his honour, while another how he was “conquered by his own grief”. Once scrapped, Class 50 No. 50046 Ajax also has two tales to tell, about how each of its driving cabs survived in preservation.
Delivered as No. D446 in December 1968, the loco became No. 50046 under the TOPS renumbering scheme in February 1974. At this time, electrification of the West Coast Main Line through to Glasgow saw the ‘50s’ transferred to the Western Region, where it was named Ajax in October 1978 and then took its turn in the fleet’s refurbishment programme at Doncaster Works in 1983.