M56182 by Paul Moxon. 

On Sunday 4th June, Buxton's last link with Class 104 units was severed as Sandite car DB977554 (former DTC M56182) was craned onto a road vehicle for preservation at the Churnet Valley Railway. As a Railtrack manager commented, Buxton had had an association with 104s since February 1958, with the Sandite unit holding the fort for the last few years.

ADB977554 (56182) at Buxton in 1999..

M56182 was built in April 1958 and initially entered service in the Birmingham area paired with M50539. During late 1987 it was converted to a Sandite vehicle at Gorton C & W, renumbered ADB 977554, and allocated to Buxton where it replaced a Cravens 105.

The work involved cutting down two of the internal bulkheads, removing the corridor connection and sealing with a plate with a perspex window. Class 108 seats were installed in the former first- class saloon, and a fixed seat was fitted in front of the sealed corridor connection. Sandite hoppers and air tank were fitted in the middle and rear saloons, and the toilet was retained.

The unit performed Sandite duties until 1994, until presumably replaced by Longsight's power twin sandite 101s.

With the privatisation of British Rail, the unit passed to Railfreight Coal sector, where an unsuccessful attempt to purchase it was made by Kevin Dowd and Rob Simpson. The unit then passed to Transrail, who again refused to sell it, until in May 1997 a sale was eventually agreed with Railtrack.

The unit was, by now, stored at the side of Buxton TMD, and in May 1998 some painting & weather sealing of the unit was done for a proposed move to Barrow Hill roundhouse. This fell through, and the unit remained stored along with
several internal user vehicles.

Following complaints from local residents about the unit being used as a static discotheque by the local youngsters, the saloon doors were chained up and the one with the broken droplight that was being used for entry, was boarded up.

Late May 1999 saw Rob and Kevin apply some blue paint to disguise the graffiti, and the week before the move saw various people rushing about to try to get some 104/110 lifting lugs (loaned by Graham Thornton) test fitted and certified.

On a typical Buxton (rainy) day, the unit's interior was cleared of rubbish. Three bin bags were filled with lager cans, bottles, audio tapes, a sleeping bag, and a pair of ladies (?) tights.

We took care with the clearing out, as we suspected there might be used needles present, but in the event none were found. On the outside, the lifting lug holes were cleaned out ready for the brackets and pins, and the windows were protected with plastic to prevent any more breakages. The unit had been shunted in front of the shed doors and in less than a week two of the large saloon windows had been smashed.

Sunday June 4th was the day of the move, with a total possession of the station area, the Crewe breakdown train hauled by 66073, and 08599 provided from Peak Forest.

The two internal user tanks went first and by mid-morning the two ex-LMS coaches (ADM 395480 and ADM395919) had been craned onto low loaders for the journey to Booth's scrapyard at Rotherham.

This then left the snowplough (ADB965222) which was dumped at the back of the station staff car park, and then the 104 was ready to be lifted. Round about this time, the nose of one of the lifting lugs was found to be slightly bent and would not fit the unit properly, so a decision to sling the coach with its bogies was taken.

At this point a loud bang was heard as a piece of protective packing fell out from the bodyside, as the crane took the strain. The unit was then lifted about ten feet into the air, swung round, and there it stayed for almost two hours, gently swinging in the breeze until the low loader from Engineering Services arrived, just before Railtrack jokingly (?) threatened to "drop it in the dirt" !

The coach was craned onto the low loader, one wheelset having to be jacked into place, as it wouldn't drop straight onto the rails, and then the rest of it chained down, at about 16:30.

Railtrack staff then frantically started to pack up their crane and attach the associated support coaches, as the possession was due to end at 17:00.

The 104 was then taken to Kingsley & Froghall to be off loaded with instructions as to which way round it should face, and later tripped to Oakamoor (via Consall, with some other stock) for storage.

The intention is for M56182 to be restored to run with M50455, vestibule walls and seats etc. having been salvaged from 53470 for this eventuality, and when finished, will be the only BRCW 2-car power/trailer set in preservation. I wonder if we could get a Lottery grant to help restore them...?