Great Central DMU expansion

TWO more DMU cars arrived at the

Great Central Railway during July, increasing its fleet to 11 vehicles. Both vehicles are Class 117 cars, a first for the line, although the railway is home to a similar Class 122 ‘bubble' car.

Part-restored DMS No. 51396, which had been stored in a warehouse on Lakeside Industrial Estate near Redditch since October 2019, arrived at the line first. This vehicle is unique among the Class 117s, in that it does not have a headcode box – the vehicle was rebuilt in 1987 with the front end from a Class 116 car following a collision. Withdrawn in 1999, it has had several homes over the past 20 years and has yet to operate in preservation. The vehicle is to be stored pending a decision on its future.

Arriving a couple of weeks later was TCL No. 59506. Another car which has had various homes in preservation, it has most recently been stored at Tyseley Locomotive Works. Rebuilt with a small buffet counter while based at the West Somerset Railway (where it was used as hauled stock), it currently carries a yellow colour scheme, applied at Long Marston in 2014. It is to be returned to service and repainted into BR blue for use with Renaissance Railcars' Class 101 power cars

Nos. 50203 and 50266.