50117 & 50015 Nethercott 19 September 1998

50117 Royal Oak (in reality 50017) & 50015 Valiant pass Nethercott on 19 September 1998 with the 17:25 Bishops Lydeard to Minehead service, during the West Somerset Railway's Diesel Gala. 50017 certainly looks smart in this livery, but unfortunately, as the trial with 50149 ultimately proved unsuccessful, it can only be a 'might have been' colour scheme. Perhaps if the sanding equipment hadn't been removed during the 1980s refurbishment of the class, the outcome might have been very different.