British Rail Class 117
British Rail Class 117 | |
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![]() 51402 at Northampton & Lamport Railway. This vehicle, along with 51367 has since moved to the Strathspey Railway.
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In service | 1959–2000 |
Manufacturer | Pressed Steel Company |
Number built | 123 cars (42 DMBS, 42 DMS, 39 TCL) |
Formation | DMBS-TCL-DMS |
Operator(s) | British Rail |
Specifications | |
Car length | 64 ft 0 in (19.51 m) |
Width | 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) |
Height | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value). |
Maximum speed | 70 mph (113 km/h) |
Weight | Power cars: 36 long tons 0 cwt (80,600 lb or 36.6 t), Trailer cars: 30 long tons 0 cwt (67,200 lb or 30.5 t) |
Prime mover(s) | BUT (AEC) then BUT (Leyland), of 150 hp (110 kW), (both types), two per power car |
Power output | 600 hp (450 kW) per 3-car set |
Transmission | Mechanical |
Safety system(s) | AWS |
Multiple working | ■ Blue Square |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The British Rail Class 117 diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by Pressed Steel from 1959 to 1961.
When first introduced, these three-car units were all based with the similar Class 121 single carriage (railcar) units on British Railway's Western Region for suburban work out of London Paddington and Cornwall. The units were largely based at Southall, and Plymouth Laira depots. The units remained here for many years working these services.
Later operations
In the 1980s, expiry of other DMUs facilitated moves for some units from the Western Region to Birmingham, as below, and Scotland, prior to the delivery of new units to replace them. They were given refurbishments.
The first shake up in ownership occurred in the late 1980s, when the Scottish, Welsh, Cornish and Birmingham based units were transferred to Provincial Services, later Regional Railways, in the sectorisation of British Rail, while the Southall-based units transferred to Network SouthEast.
They were replaced on the lines out of Paddington when the Class 165 'Network Turbo' units came into service in the early 1990s.
They soldiered on on the former Western Region until replaced by Class 150 and Class 153 DMUs. An attempt was made to remove them from Cornish work using Class 142 "Skipper/Pacer" units, but these non bogie units proved to be a liability on the tight Cornish branchline curves, increasing rail and wheel wear, moving to the North of England instead. They were finally replaced with the advent of more Class 150s and Class 153s freed up from other areas. They continued to work in Scotland until the turn of the millennium, where they were replaced with class 156s and Class 170 Turbostar DMUs.
For many years, passenger services on the Birmingham Cross-City Line were worked by elderly Class 117, along with Class 115, 116, 118 and 121 diesel multiple units, but all were withdrawn from service by 1995.
In 2000, Class 150 Sprinter units replaced the Class 117 units on Silverlink, finally bringing to an end decades of service on Britain's rail network in front line service.
Once in preservation it has since been discovered that the units had all sorts of Leyland 680 engine variants.[original research?]. For example, one unit was noted as having a Leyland 680/1 (150 BHP) and a Leyland 680-1595 (180 BHP) .
Lot No. | Type | Diagram | Qty | Fleet numbers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
30546 | Driving Motor Brake Second (DMBS) | 534 | 42 | 51332–51373 | |
30547 | Trailer Composite with lavatory (TCL) | 601 | 39 | 59484–59522 | |
30548 | Driving Motor Second (DMS) | 535 | 42 | 51374–51415 |
Gallery
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A Rail Blue and Grey liveried three car Class 117 DMU at Peterborough Nene Valley railway station on the preserved, heritage Nene Valley Railway.
Preservation
Due to the type's longevity, 12 units have been preserved on heritage railways.
Set number | Vehicle numbers | Livery | Location | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DMBS | TCL | DMS | ||||
L721 | 51363 | 59510 | 51405 | BR Green | Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway | Fully operational, owned by Cotswold Diesel Railcar Ltd. Carries the headcodes A113 (which was computer generated) and 2M65 in the Doctor Who episode "Flatline" |
117204 | 51365 | - | 51407 | BR Green | Plym Valley Railway | |
117301 | 51353 | - | - | ScotRail | Swanage Railway | Currently in store at private location, For Sale.[1] 51395 Scrapped March 2013 |
117310 | - | - | 51381 | Regional Railways | Mangapps Railway Museum | - |
117311 | 51352 | 59505 | 51376 | Grey Primer | MOD Long Marston | Future of vehicle unknown [2] |
- | 51371 | - | 51413 | BR Green | MOD Long Marston | preserved June 2015 [3] |
117313 | 51339 | 59506 | 51382 | BR Green | East Lancashire Railway | |
L702 | 51356 | 59492 | 51392 | Network SouthEast | Swanage Railway | Returned to the Railway, maybe scrapped.[4] 51398 Scrapped January 2012 |
- | 51342 | - | 51384 | BR Green | Epping Ongar Railway | Repainted into BR green from EOR dark blue livery |
- | 51346 | 59486 | 51388 | BR Green | Swanage Railway | Currently at Eastleigh under overhaul to allow eventual use on the mainline connection to Wareham. |
117444 | 51360 | BR Blue | Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway | Has recently been refloored inside, expected to return to BR green in due course. | ||
- | 51347 | 59508 | 51401 | BR Green | Gwili Railway | |
- | 51367 | 59511 | 51402 | BR Green | Strathspey Railway | 51402 and 51367 both now repainted, 59511 being restored |
- | 51370 | - | 51412 | BR Green | Private site; Titley junction station [5] | - |
- | 51372 | - | - | BR Blue | Private site; Titley junction station [6] | - |
- | - | 59509 | 51400 | BR Green | Wensleydale Railway | Main-line certificated by RESCO |
- | 51351 | - | 51397 | Green | Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway | |
- | 51354 | - | 51396 | Network South East | Peak Rail | |
- | - | - | 51375 | BR Green | Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway | |
- | - | 59488 | - | Green and Cream | Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway | |
- | 59493 | - | BR Green | West Somerset Railway | ||
- | - | 59494 | - | Green and Cream | Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway | |
- | - | 59500 | - | Green and Cream | Wensleydale Railway | |
- | - | 59501 | - | BR Green | Great Central Railway | |
- | - | 59503 | - | Chocolate and Cream | Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway | |
- | - | 59507 | - | Chocolate and Cream | Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway | |
- | - | 59513 | - | Chocolate and Cream | Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway | |
- | - | 59514 | - | BR Green | Swindon and Cricklade Railway | |
- | - | 59515 | - | Blood and Custard | Yeovil Railway Centre | |
- | - | 59517 | - | Chocolate and Cream | Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway | |
- | - | 59520 | - | BR Green | Dartmoor Railway | |
- | - | 59521 | - | Scotrail | Helston Railway | |
- | - | 59522 | - | BR Blue and Grey | Chasewater Railway | |
- | - | 59511 | - | BR Green | Strathspey Railway | |
- | 51366 | - | - | - | - | parts survive [7] |
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to British Rail Class 117. |
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- ↑ http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/51353.html
- ↑ http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/51352.html
- ↑ http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/51371.html
- ↑ http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/51356.html
- ↑ http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/51370.html
- ↑ http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/51372.html
- ↑ http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/Class117.html
- The Railcar Association
- Motive Power Recognition: 3 DMUs. Colin J. Marsden
- British Railway Pictorial: First Generation DMUs. Kevin Robertson
- British Rail Fleet Survey 8: Diesel Multiple Units- The First Generation. Brian Haresnape
- A Pictorial Record of British Railways Diesel Multiple Units. Brian Golding