The Class 107 Ltd (Owners of 52006/25/59791 at Wensleydale, and 51993/52005/12 at Embsay) website can be found at www.Class107.co.uk. 52006 & 52031 were originally bought by the East Kent Railway Museum in 1992, and 52006 sustained damage to the left of the cab during delivery to it's temporary home at Richborough Power Station. Class 107 Ltd bought these two vehicles in 1996 when the EKRM was asked to leave Shepherdswell, and first went to the Eden Valley Railway in Cumbria, and then to Crewe, where considerable progress was made with their restoration. They then moved to the Embsay Steam Railway, and trailer car 59791 was then bought from its owners on the Battlefield Line, although it remained at Shackerstone for some time before moving. The 3-car set saw regular use on the line. The group then bought 52005 & 52025 from Matthew Smith on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. The opening of the Wensleydale Railway saw one of the groups sets go on hire there, leaving one to work at Embsay. 51993 & 52012 were purchased in 1996 by members of the Brechin Railway following the collapse of the National Diesel Railcar Museum who had originally earmarked the set. The pair had been Haymarket's 'Sandite Set No. 3' (S 003 / 960 003) and had been sitting at Millerhill for some time, along with Sandite sets No.1 & 2, which were also bought for preservation. They were delivered to Brechin on the 3rd December 1997, still in dilapidated SPTE orange and black. As usual with Sandite units the seats had been removed. A the end of 2000 the owners felt they could not spare the time to restore them and offered them for sale, if there was no takers they would be broken up for spares. In January 2001 they were bought by Class 107 Ltd, and were expected to remain stored at Bridge of Dun on the Brechin line for a year until they finished restoring the Swindon & Cricklade set, which may have hen gone on hire to the Brechin Railway, subject to sponsorship from Angus Council. The two Scottish vehicles were moved to Embsay in 2003. 51993 was later moved to the Midland Railway Centre for bodywork repairs. 52029 was bought by the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway for conversion to an observation saloon, but never happened. It was sold in 2003 and put in store at Cardiff Cathays, then moved to an old ordnance factory at Llangennech, near Llanelli. The vehicles on the Strathspey Railway are owned by 'My Little Sprinter Co. Ltd.' and two of the three work regularly, sometimes with a Class 114 DTC. The third awaits restoration from it's Sandite condition. 52005 / 59791 / 52031 arrived at the Nene Valley Railway on Monday 2nd March 2009 from the Embasy & Bolton Abbey Railway. |