Western Region DMUs

[Guest Austerity94]

Hi folks,

 

I am looking to re-organise my model DMU fleet and want to focus on the Western Region in the late 1960s/early 1970s (i.e. so that the units are in plain blue). I am interested in finding out what ran in the region and where they ran. At the moment I have plenty on the Intercity units and classes 117 and 121. What would be interesting is information on classes such as 101, 104, 108, Cravens units, etc.

 

I do have a few unit books and articles but they focus on detail differences and build information.

 

Any pointers or useful information will be gratefully received.

 

Thanks and regards,

 

Alex.

 

PS. The information will probably be used to sort out my model DMU fleet. It's currently in a variety of liveries from original green to refurbished white. As some of the models need upgrading, detailing and repainting I thought it may be worth looking into rationalising and focussing on one area. The present fleet consists of representatives of classes 101,104,108, 110, 117, 121, 122 so, as you'll see, it's a bit mixed.

[Adam]

I take it you've looked at: http://www.railcar.co.uk/ ?

 

Adam

[ianwales]

Hi

 

For that era on the WR you would have 116,117,118,119,120,121 and 122

 

Ian

[chrisf]

If you are looking at late 60s/early 70s on the Western the mainstays of the fleet were classes 116, 117 and 118 as regards 3-car suburban; classes 119 and 120 [the cross-country units]; and Class 123 [inter-city]. All the 121s and most of the 122s were still on the Western at this time. A few 101 trailers were working out of Reading: these had come from the NE Region to replace the three Hawksworth composites wired up for dmu working in 1961. Around 1971 there were some 103s on the WR for a while but the influx of 101s and 108s came later. 110s? Almost certainly never!

 

I endorse Adam's suggestion that you look at the Railcar Association site.

 

Chris

[Guest Austerity94]

Hi folks,

 

Thanks for all that information. I have some pics of the classes in question so your pointers will be a big help. Interestingly, I have no clear pics of any of the centre cars on the suburban or high density units other than the 117s. Can anyone tell me when the 101/108 units appeared on the region? My own experience of the WR was around 1984/5 and it was exclusively of 117s and 121s.

 

Thanks also for the pointer to the "railcar" site; that will be my next port of call.

 

Again, thanks.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[Pennine MC]

Can anyone tell me when the 101/108 units appeared on the region?

 

 

The first WR MetCams were the three trailers mentioned by Chris, that ran in London area 117 sets to make them up to quads. Other 101 triples arrived from about 1974, from the ScR. From the late 80s, in the big nationwide switcharound that followed the introduction of Sprinters and Pacers, other 101s and 108s became more common.

[Guest Austerity94]

Hi Pennine MC,

 

Thanks for that. I wonder if that's where all our ScR 101s, etc, went. Around that time, with the arrival of the 150/2 and the 156, our 101s and other 1st generation units went (by that point we only seemed to have the 101 and 107 units as I think the 104s had gone by then, with the 122s and 116s(?) very much history). We eventually got more 'old' units when the 117s arrived for a few Fife services; these were 3 car units in Regional Railways/ScotRail livery.

 

Again, many thanks for the information.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[The Stationmaster]

If you are looking at late 60s/early 70s on the Western the mainstays of the fleet were classes 116, 117 and 118 as regards 3-car suburban; classes 119 and 120 [the cross-country units]; and Class 123 [inter-city]. All the 121s and most of the 122s were still on the Western at this time. A few 101 trailers were working out of Reading: these had come from the NE Region to replace the three Hawksworth composites wired up for dmu working in 1961. Around 1971 there were some 103s on the WR for a while but the influx of 101s and 108s came later. 110s? Almost certainly never!

 

I endorse Adam's suggestion that you look at the Railcar Association site.

 

Chris

 

I must admit to relying on memory from 43 years ago but the three MetCam trailers which came to Reading did not all come from the NER - one was from Scotland as far as I can think back to then although one of the others was carrying a 55H shedplate when it arrived.

 

All were formed into existing 3 car sets and didn't directly replace any other vehicle in those sets.

[Gwiwer]

Late 60's / early 70's.

 

There were no 104, 108 or 110 on the WR. The latter class has never been allocated there so far as I am aware. The mainstay was the classes already discussed. Class 117 was responsible for the suburban services out of Paddington and most to Oxford as well. Class 121 including their driving trailers (the W5628x batch) appeared on some lightly-used duties including the Thames valley branches. Power twins were less common in those times. The class 101 trailers appeared in class 117 triples making the quads (and slightly underpowered as a result) or in place of a 117 trailer in a triple. You could tell they were coming from a distance because of the different coach profiles.

 

Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth division services were in the hands of 116 and a few 117 cars, which could be seen as far afield as Milford Haven, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Penzance though the Pompey turns were most often class 120 or 123 until returned to loco haulage. Class 118 was seen in Bristol and the south west.

 

Longer distance workings would have been the class 119 / 120 Cross-Country types which could be found almost anywhere on the WR except in London and worked to Portsmouth, Weymouth and Birmingham; they also worked the WR turns on the Central Wales line to Shrewsbury for which purpose Landore had a couple of 2-car sets.

 

Don't forget the other dmu types of those days. The parcels cars operated timetabled trips from Paddington and other key destinations either singly or attached to a passenger train. The Blue Pullmans were just as much a part of the WR dmu fleet in the day as well.

 

When we look at liveries by no means everything was rail blue. The WR was famously tardy in eliminating green and you could find green dmu units or odd cars running until the mid 70's. The variations are too numerous to discuss in a single post. Suffice to say you could see green syp, blue syp, blue fye, blue syp white cab roof and more. The CC and IC units were early candidates for the bg treatment though not all ever received it while on the WR.

 

Just to add a bit of variety there were turns with Cross Country sets in the late 60's where the buffet was open though that made no difference to their appearance as those buffet cars never had red lines on the cantrail; most would have been in green at the time anyway though the word BUFFET in gold upper case lettering (on green livery - Buffet in lower case white lettering on a blue livery) appeared on the side panels.

 

Then remember that the 116/7/8 classes were delivered without through gangways and only had these retro-fitted after some years in service in a long drawn-out fitting program over many years. I believe some 116 / 8 never ever got them.

 

A very complex subject area and worthy of close study for those interested.

[Neal Ball]

I always recall seeing Gloucester parcels cars around the Hayes and Southall area in the 1970's - As mentioned above they were on timetabled services every day plying the main line.

 

I have very fond memories of 117 coming under the bridge (with loads of noise) on the Paddington bound local services at Hayes.

 

Regards,

[Pennine MC]

The WR was famously tardy in eliminating green and you could find green dmu units or odd cars running until the mid 70's.

 

Mid 70s? As ever, I'd like to see more evidence of that. When DMU liveries have been discussed on the forum previously, I believe that a ScR GRCW class 100 has been suggested as being the last green DMU car in normal service, lasting until 1973 IIRC. If anything, my impression is that the WR was rather quicker than the other Regions in repainting its DMUs.

[Gwiwer]

I'm quite happy to bow to actual records against memory but there certainly were green WR dmu cars running into the 1970's. I encountered a pair of class 120 sets at Salisbury on a Bristol working with one in green and the other blue. The notebook in use at the time would suggest that was 1972. The subjective use of terms such as "early", "mid" and "late" is always open to a degree of interpretation.

[Guest Phil]

Mid 70s? As ever, I'd like to see more evidence of that. When DMU liveries have been discussed on the forum previously, I believe that a ScR GRCW class 100 has been suggested as being the last green DMU car in normal service, lasting until 1973 IIRC. If anything, my impression is that the WR was rather quicker than the other Regions in repainting its DMUs.

 

 

Agree Pennine. I think there have been threads on this previously, particularly Swindon CC units which were very quickly from blue into blue & grey.

Units built in the late 1950s would have received a second repaint from new in the lat 1960s, VERY early 1970s IMHO.

[The Stationmaster]

Mid 70s? As ever, I'd like to see more evidence of that. When DMU liveries have been discussed on the forum previously, I believe that a ScR GRCW class 100 has been suggested as being the last green DMU car in normal service, lasting until 1973 IIRC. If anything, my impression is that the WR was rather quicker than the other Regions in repainting its DMUs.

 

Certainly my impression too - Swindon by then tended to be fairly quick getting stuff into new liveries. In fact I remember being rather horrified at the rate at which green dmus vanished from the Region to be replaced by that dismal all-over blue on far too many sets for personal comfort and with little relief apart from the few sets initially getting blue & grey livery.

[Crossfell5]

Don't know if this helps Marsh Jct 1971 -

 

 

Crossfell5

[Guest Austerity94]

Hi again gentlemen,

 

Thanks again for all of this.

 

I agree that some of the terminology is vague (i.e., in relation to "early", etc.) but for me I am trying to get a feel for what could have been going on. I have another thread running on classes 121/122 and that, like this, has yielded some great ideas for more modelling. I think I have learned more useful stuff about WR units in the last two days than from reading books. This is not to lessen the value of books but to value the filtering and "correction" that can go on through the membership of this forum. Memories can get the better of us but sometimes the "authoritative" tomes on some subjects can be wrong!

 

Again, many thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[br2975]

I noted a seven car London area 117 set at Newton Abbot shed Sunday 22/08/71

.

(51335+59487+59543+51377)+(51414+59479+51372)

.

This included one of the Met-Cam trailers.

.

20th. March, 1971 I recorded the following at Cardiff General.

.

Cl.120

50668+59275+50721,

Cl.116

50836+59344+50889, 50842+59350+50895, 50843+59355+50896, 51135+59445+51148

Cl.119

51052+59292+51080, 51062+59421+51090,

Cl.118

51303+59470+51318,

Cl.120/121 or 116 units on the North & West services between Cardiff and Crewe included

(50648+59296+50706)+50132

(50660+59266+50729)+55023

The 121/116 cars were generall locked out of use and were included to provide additional power.

.

Brian R

[The Stationmaster]

I noted a seven car London area 117 set at Newton Abbot shed Sunday 22/08/71

.

(51335+59487+59543+51377)+(51414+59479+51372)

.

Brian R

 

 

A good point - the London Division's 117s were used on excursion (and I think some other) longer distance workings at weekends. This dropped off to some extent once the 'Inter City' Class 123 units were transferred to the London Division.

 

The latter worked various outer suburban and some of the more prestigious commuter jobs (such as the through trains from/to the Henley branch) but on (e.g.1971) Summer Saturdays one 10 car formation worked a Paddington-Minehead and return while another worked two return trips between Paddington and Bristol.

[Geoff Endacott]

I would be interested in details of any WR DMUs which were green into the 1970s. Somerford is set in July 1970 and all of the DMUs in the fleet are blue. All of the research I have done so far has failed to come up with any DMUs which lasted into the summer of 1970 in green livery.

 

Thanks.

 

Geoff Endacott

[chrisf]

Brian's interesting observations show among other things that the CrossCountry sets tended not to be kept together as delivered: indeed, the first 119 set listed has a 120 trailer. This could be because a number of 120 power twins were running in West Wales and on the Central Wales by this time.

 

One of the London 117s has a 118 trailer [59479]. It was delivered like that - there were some spare 118 trailers because power twins were in use out of Plymouth - and, for a time, on the Clevedon branch.

 

The misformed 116 set, 50843+59355+50896, dates back to 1958! Again, it is down to the use of power twins. This one lost its trailer for a short while for use on the Porth - Maerdy branch and got the wrong one back afterwards.

 

Chris

[br2975]

From my variety of notes, the original WR Cl.116 sets were allegedly formed as;

 

ORIGINAL SET FORMATIONS

MBS TC/TS MS TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50050 59000 50092 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50051 59001 50093 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50052 59002 50094 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50053 59003 50095 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50054 59004 50096 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50055 59005 50097 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50056 59006 50098 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50057 59007 50099 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50058 59008 50100 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50059 59009 50101 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50060 59010 50102 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50061 59011 50103 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50062 59012 50104 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50063 59013 50105 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50064 59014 50106 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50065 59015 50107 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50066 59016 50108 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50067 59017 50109 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50068 59018 50110 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50069 59019 50111 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50070 59020 50112 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50071 59021 50113 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50072 59022 50114 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50073 59023 50115 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50074 59024 50116 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50075 59025 50117 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50076 59026 50118 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50077 59027 50119 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50078 59028 50120 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50079 59029 50121 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50080 59030 50122 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50081 59031 50123 TC- Birmingham area set (later)

50082 59032 50124 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50083 59033 50125 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50084 59034 50126 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50085 59035 50127 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50086 59036 50128 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50087 59037 50129 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50088 59038 50130 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50089 59039 50131 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50090 59040 50132 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50091 59041 50133 TS - Cardiff Valleys set

50818 59326 50871 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50819 59327 50872 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50820 59328 50873 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50821 59329 50874 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50822 59330 50875 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50823 59331 50876 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50824 59332 50877 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50825 59333 50878 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50826 59334 50879 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50827 59335 50880 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50828 59336 50881 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50829 59337 50882 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50830 59338 50883 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50831 59339 50884 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50832 59340 50885 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50833 59341 50886 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50834 59342 50887 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50835 59343 50888 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50836 59344 50889 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50837 59345 50890 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50838 59346 50891 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50839 59347 50892 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50840 59348 50893 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50841 59349 50894 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50842 59350 50895 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50843 59351 50896 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50844 59352 50897 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50845 59353 50898 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50846 59354 50899 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50847 59355 50900 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50848 59356 50901 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50849 59357 50902 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50850 59358 50903 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50851 59359 50904 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50852 59360 50905 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50853 59361 50906 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50854 59362 50907 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50855 59363 50908 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50856 59364 50909 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50857 59365 50910 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50858 59366 50911 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50859 59367 50912 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50860 59368 50913 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50861 59369 50914 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50862 59370 50915 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50863 59371 50916 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50864 59372 50917 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50865 59373 50918 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50866 59374 50919 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50867 59375 50920 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50868 59376 50921 TC-Birmingham/Cardiff Valleys set

50869 n/a 50922 2x car Cardiff Valleys set

50870 n/a 50923 2x car Cardiff Valleys set

51128 59438 51141 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51129 59439 51142 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51130 59440 51143 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51131 59441 51144 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51132 59442 51145 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51133 59443 51146 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51134 59444 51147 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51135 59445 51148 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51136 59446 51149 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51137 59447 51150 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51138 59448 51151 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51139 59449 51152 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

51140 59450 51153 TC - Cardiff Valleys set

.............................

 

Later, they began to be reformed, for a variety of reasons,

and also 'set' numbers were introduced as an aid to operating procedures.

CV = Cardiff Valeys,

PLY = 'that's a hard one ?'

 

SET MBS TS / TC* MS REMARKS

CV303 50080 59030* 50122

CV306 50081 59031* 50123

CV344 50082

50083 50125

CV3xx 50084 59373* 50126

50085 59338* 50127

CV308 50086 59036 50128

CV317 50087 59037 50129

CV314 50088 59362* 50130

CV318 50089 59373* 50131

CV3xx 50090 50132

CV310 50091 59041 50133

CV307 50820 50083

CV321 50834 59038 50887

CV337 50836 59344* 50889

CV319 50839 59347* 50892

CV328 50842 59350* 50895

CV323 50843 59355* 50896

CV329 50844 59335* 50897

CV315 50845 59353* 50898

CV313 50847 59040* 50900

CV314 50848 59356* 50901

CV331 50851 59359* 50904

CV302 50855 59363* 50908

CV338 50856 59364* 50909

CV305 50857 59368* 50910

CV346 50858 59366* 50911

CV313 50863 59371* 50916

CV351 50864 59369* 50917

CV327 50866 59374* 50919

CV316 50867 59375* 50920 59375 to TS by 1970 at latest

PLY357 50868 59365* 50918

CV309 50869 59035 50922

CV330 51128 59357* 51141

51129 59439* 51142 to Birmingham area @ 1971

51130 59440* 50108 to Birmingham area @ 1971

51131 59441* 51144 to Birmingham area @ 1971

CV311 51132 59034 51145

51133 59443* 51146 to Birmingham area @ 1971

CV304 51134 59444* 51147 59444 still officially TC 1978

CV300 51135 59445* 51148 59445 still officially TC 1978

CV301 51136 59446* 51149 59446 still officially TC 1978

51137 51150 Railair Parcels with 86174+86572

CV353 51138 59448* 51151

CV312 51139 59033 51152

CV304 51140 59032 51153

[chrisf]

The third batch of sets [commencing 51128+59438+51141] was actually intended for Bristol but it seems that many of them did not stay there long, partly due to service reductions. No joined-up thinking in those days either!

 

As there seem to have been no official records until the mid 60s, what we know is down to observant people like Brian and the amazingly vigilant membership of the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society: the pages of the RCTS magazine, Railway Observer, are fascinating to comb! The Tyseley sets were soon pick'n'mixed and the Cardiff ones were always being lent to other depots, such as when the 117s were late being delivered and Cardiff supplied sets to Reading.

 

The set numbers were first reported in 1958. At that time CAT was Cardiff Cathays and the numbers extended from 300 to 355, though whether Cathays ever had enough sets to run the service is a good question. CDF was Cardiff Canton and the ten sets that worked in the Eastern and Western Valleys out of Newport, CDF400-409, were based here for maintenance. When the Cross-Country sets began to arive they were given numbers in the 500 series. At this time the number was displayed on a little green plate fixed to the solebars of the power cars. TYS was Tyseley of course, BL was Bristol, SHL was Southall, RDG Reading and LA Plymouth Laira. Each depot numbered its sets in its own series so when the 117s eventually arrived they started off SHL300 onwards and RDG300 onwards.

 

As the years went by minds were changed about how sets would be numbered and where the numbers would be displayed. Tyseley was out of the picture as far as the WR was concerned as it had been transferred to the LMR in 1963. Sets were renumbered when they were fitted with gangways so renumbering was a fairly constant process! Eventually the whole region adopted a common series: 1xx for bubble cars, 3xx for 116s, 4xx for 117s and 118s, 5xx for 3-car cross-country, 6xx for 2-car cross-country and 7xx for 123s. The divisions where they were based and the set numbers were displayed under the cab windows, eg L403, P357, C450, B501. The 121 pictured at Bristol a few posts ago should have been displaying B134! Having a common series reduced the need to renumber sets as they were reallocated: it seems that in the early days Laira renumbered their sets every time there was an influx or egress.

 

Well, I find it fascinating even if no-one else does!

 

Chris

[Gwiwer]

1xx for bubble cars, 3xx for 116s, 4xx for 117s and 118s, 5xx for 3-car cross-country, 6xx for 2-car cross-country and 7xx for 123s.

 

2xx for the class 121/2 driving trailers and 9xx for the parcel cars. Much later as unfamiliar types arrived on the WR 7xx was re-used for class 104, 8xx for class 101 and 9xx was recycled for class 108. Class 123 was also first numbered as 511 - 520 following the Cross Country series, soon renumbered into the L701 series.

[Geoff Endacott]

Set numbers were not painted on the front ends until the early 1970s. None of the Somerford fleet (1970) have them. I am not surprised that W55034 pictured above in 1971 has yet to gain its B134 number on the front.

 

Geoff Endacott

[br2975]

Just to show there is the exception to almost every rule.......

.

As I mentioned above, during the early 1970s it was found that the timekeeping of the Cl.120 Swindon Cross Country units employed on the cardiff - Crewe service via the 'North & West' route was poor, due to the power to weight ratio of the units involved.

.

The problem was alleviated by attaching a Canton 'bubble car' to the Cl.120 sets to act as a 'booster'. generally the 'bubble car' was locked and marked as being out of use, due to the lack of toilet facilities.

.

As there wasn't always a 'bubble car' available Cl.116 cars 50090 & 50132 were also used as 'booster' cars, and were given set numbers in the 1xx series also, 50090 and 50132 were in use as a 'twin unit' at Swansea on 02/09/71 but the set was disbanded soon after with 50090 being"Set 101" on 23/10/71 and by 07/11/71 was "Set 104".

.

Some of my North & West sightings are;

50132 50648 59296 50706 20/03/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

55026 50660 59266 50729 05/04/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

50132 50693 59299 50738 05/04/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

55023 50679 59291 50723 12/04/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

50660 59266 50729 55024 50674 59278 50723 13/04/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

50132 50683 59294 50735 13/04/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

55026 50693 59299 50738 16/04/1971 Crewe - Cardiff

55026 50648 59296 50706 16/04/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

55025 50693 59299 50738 50647 59265 50705 24/04/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

55025 50705 59265 50647 50132 01/05/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

55026 50729 59266 50660 01/05/1971 Cardiff - Crewe

 

In addition, the Cl.103 Park Royal units that were transferred to the WR were allocated set numbers in the 2xx series, but I don't recall them being displayed when I saw the units (again notes to be checked).

.

In later years (1980s), the set to monitor was always C309 which, ostensibly a Cl.116 unit, lost its' centre trailer during Sprinterisation in South Wales, when the Cl.116 units that were retained were reduced to 'power'twins' in an effort to keep up with Sprinter (150/2) timings.

C309 would be reformed almost at will, with Cl.101 or 108 centre cars and was a bit of a local celebrity.

.

Like Chris, I too find it interesting.

.

Brian R