British Rail Class 116

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Set T326, formed vehicles 51131 and 51321, at Arley on the Severn Valley Railway on 15th October 2004, whilst taking part in the Railcar 50 event. This unit is painted in BR Blue/Grey livery, and is preserved on the Battlefield Railway.
Set T326, formed vehicles 51131 and 51321, at Arley on the Severn Valley Railway on 15th October 2004, whilst taking part in the Railcar 50 event. This unit is painted in BR Blue/Grey livery, and is preserved on the Battlefield Railway.

The British Rail Class 116 diesel multiple units were built by BR Derby from 1957 to 1961.

Contents

[edit] Regular Use

These units stayed in regular service until 1990, when they began to be withdrawn from traffic. They were replaced on regional services by the new "Sprinter" derivative units, or by Class 323 electric multiple units on services around Birmingham. The final units lasted in traffic until 1995, although a few saw further use in departmental service, as sandite or route-learner units. Several of this class have been saved for preservation.

[edit] Parcels Use

Three units were converted to carry parcels traffic and reclassified as Class 130, though the individual coaches were not renumbered. The units involved were:

  • 50819 + 50872
  • 50862 + 50915
  • 51137 + 51150

To provide extra capacity, they worked with modified General Utility Vans (GUV) as centre trailers.

[edit] Preservation

Several vehicles have been preserved on heritage railways.

Vehicles Numbers Set Number Location Comments
51131 - 51321 T326 Battlefield Railway 51321 is a Class 118 vehicle.
51134 - 51147 C392 Swansea Vale Railway -
51135 59445 51148 C393 Swansea Vale Railway -
51138 59501 51151 T333 Great Central Railway (Northern) 51138 was used as a sandite vehicle after retirement from normal service.

59501 is a Class 117 vehicle.

[edit] References

  • 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

[edit] External links

British Rail diesel multiple units
Diesel locomotives - Electric locomotives - Miscellaneous locomotives
Diesel multiple units
(DMUs and DEMUs) - Electric multiple units (EMUs) - Departmental multiple units
First-generation diesel units
Classes: 100 - 101 - 102 - 103 - 104 - 105 - 106 - 107 - 108 - 109 - 110 - 111 - 112 - 113 - 114 - 115  
116 - 117 - 118 - 119 - 120 - 121 - 122 - 123 - 124 - 125 - 126 - 127 - 128 - 129 - 130 - 131
Original TOPS: 140 - 141 - 142 - 143 - 144 - 145 - 147 - 148 - 149 - 150 - 160 - 161 - 162 - 163 - 164 - 166  
167 - 168 - 169 - 171 - 172 - 173 - 175 - 176 - 177 - 178 - 179 - 180 - 182 - 183 - 185 - 186  
188 - 189
Pre-TOPS: British United Traction - Derby Lightweight - Metro-Cammell - Railbus
GWR Railcars - LMS Railcars
Second-generation diesel units
Classes: 140 - 141 - 142 - 143 - 144 - 150 - 151 - 153 - 154 - 155 - 156 - 157 - 158 - 159 - 165 - 166
168 - 170 - 171 - 175 - 180 - 185
Diesel-electric units
Classes: 201 - 202 - 203 - 204 - 205 - 206 - 207 - 210 - 220 - 221 - 222 - 251 - 252 - 253 - 254 - 255
  SR designation: 3D - 3H - 3R - 3T - 4L - 6B - 6L - 6S
Departmental units
Classes: 901 - 930 - 950 - 951 - 960 - APT-E - MPV