MULTIPLE UNIT NOTES
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is to play host to an unusual DMU for a heritage line, when Chiltern Railways’ 168329 is transferred there shortly for tests. The unit is being converted by its owners Porterbrook into a hybrid that is capable of working on either diesel or electric power. The work will take place at the Gemini Rail Group facility at Wolverton. Once converted the train will be transported to the Derbyshire line for testing. Drivers from the EVR are being specially trained to drive the unit to enable the tests to go ahead.
Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway-based 3-CEP centre trailer 70573 has entered the line’s works following an extensive programme of welding and is to be prepared for painting. The coach will emerge in blue and grey livery to match recently completed Driving Motor Car 61736, which was completed last summer. The unit has now regained its original identity as 2304, rather than the 1198 that it carried in its ‘Lymington Flyer’ days.
There was a change of plan for the Vale of Berkeley Railway that has seen 143603 moved for temporary storage at the Chasewater Railway instead of being taken to a haulage yard at
Wishaw as previously planned. The unit was moved from Bristol’s St Philip Marsh Depot last month, but the intended destination was unable to accept it as there was already an excess of stock on the site. The relocation to Chasewater is understood to be temporary.
Work has commenced at Kirk Merrington Primary School in County Durham on the interior refit of 142045, which is being converted into a school library. All of the seats have been removed from one coach and work is ongoing to provide additional insulation and seal the windows. The two-coach unit is housed on an isolated piece of track in the school grounds.
Repairs to Wensleydale Railwaybased Class 121 single car 55032 are progressing well at the Nemesis Rail plant at Burton upon Trent. The unit is having cab repairs following an accident when it hit a fallen tree. The fibreglass cab roof and interior panel are being replaced using items recovered from another unit that is being broken for spares. The popular Bubble Car is expected to be back in service this summer.
Although it has been based at the West Somerset Railway for more than a year, the future of Class 117 Driving Motor Brake 51354 is not clear, as it has yet to be joined by a partner vehicle. The fully restored coach has been in preservation for almost 20 years but has still to work a public passenger service. Although it is mechanically different from the Class 115s based at the WSR, it would be possible to work it in multiple with them as it has the same electrical system.
Long-derelict AC Cars railbus 79976 is receiving considerable attention at the Nemesis Rail site at Burton upon Trent where its body has been separated from its chassis so that restoration can be carried out. The vehicle was preserved as long ago as 1967, initially at the Yieldingtree Railway Museum but then passing on to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway, the Mid-Norfolk, the Colne Valley and the Great Central, by which time its body had been reduced to a frame, with most of the mechanical components removed. Now with new owners, the massive task of restoration is under way, though no projected date has been given for its completion and return to service.
A new two-character headcode display mechanism has been adapted from a former Class 304 EMU example to be fitted to Park Royal Driving Trailer 51560, which is under restoration at an isolated site near Denbigh in north Wales.
At the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway work to bring a Class 122 bubble car back into service is now concentrating on the areas around the doors. Single car 55003 has been under restoration since 2014 to remedy issues with corrosion. Now the internal step sections are being renewed and replacement door backing plates are being welded into the steel bodyside members to provide additional strength for the door lock screws to thread into. This vehicle was preserved in 1996 and in the intervening time has been in service at the Northampton & Lamport and Mid-Hants Railways, as well as at Toddington.
Midland Railway-based Class 108 Driving Motor Brake 51907 is having repairs to its electrical system to cure a long-standing fault that resulted in one of its two alternators not charging its batteries. The large voltage regulator unit has been removed from underneath the coach and despatched for specialist repair but it is expected to be restored to the vehicle before Easter. Meanwhile, volunteers have begun refitting the heater trunking inside Class 100 Driving Trailer 56097, which is under longterm restoration, following the successful reinstatement of the seating brackets.
Plans to have Class 117 centre car 59511 ready for service for the forthcoming season at the Strathspey Railway have been derailed by the COVID-19 outbreak. In the meantime, those volunteers who have been able to get to the line have been busy staining the new wooden panelling that was recently fitted to the interior.