Class 122 Gloucester RC&W Single / 2-car DMUs
Non-Passenger Use
Parcels Class 131s
Tyseley used several of the class for parcels with some / all seats removed, mostly being returned to passenger use. 55007 appears to have been the first in mid-1966, with 55004 noted in 1969 and 55008 in 1971.
Scotland
The ScR had three vehicles converted to parcels use in the late 1960s. W55014 and W55015 were transferred from Laira to Leith Central in May 1968. In late 1968, SC55015, with all the seating removed, was regularly noted as the leading vehicle of the 13:20 Dundee - Edinburgh express service[1]. The pair was joined at Leith in October 1969 by SC55013, still in green livery, which has spent the previous year and a half in passenger use at Ayr and Hamilton.
From Edinburgh they worked on trains to Stirling and Dundee coupled to service DMUs. They also sometimes worked with Metro Cammell or Gloucester twin sets on Kirkcaldy services, although this could have been to provide extra power. The image shows two three-car Met-Camm sets with a Class 131 (presumably 55015 due to the small yellow panel) and a wagon on the rear at Carrick Knowe on the outskirts of Edinburgh on 21/5/71. GM Staddon.
The three would be transferred to Haymarket depot when Leith Central closed in April 1972. SC55015 would move to Inverness in the summer of 1975, where it would remain for three years, after which it shuffled between Eastfield, Hamilton and Haymarket numerous times before settling as a route learner at Eastfield in Autumn 1983. SC55014 would move to Hamilton depot in June 1979, then to York as a route learner in October 1980. SC55013 would be placed in store at Haymarket for a short period in October 1980, before also being transferred to York as a route learner in December 1980.
Departmental Use
| Prefix | New | Original | Type | Details | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TDB | 975023 | 55001 | DMBS | Route Learner. Erroneously carried number DB975073 until April 1971. | 6/69 | 5/98 |
| TDB / ADB | 975042 | 55019 | DMBS | Route Learner (TDB) then Sandite (ADB) from 8/93 | 11/69 | 2007 |
| TDB | 975073 | 55001 | DMBS | This number was not allocated to this vehicle, but carried on 975023 by mistake. | ? | ? |
| TDB | 975227 | 55017 | DMBS | Route Learner | 6/72 | 2/89 |
| TDB | 975309 | 55008 | DMBS | Route Learner | 5/74 | 8/82 |
| TDB | 975310 | 55010 | DMBS | Route Learner | 7/74 | 8/82 |
| TDB | 975540 | 55016 | DMBS | Route Learner | 11/75 | 5/93 |
| TDB | 975994 | 55014 | DMBS | Route Learner, Test & Stores car for Class 150 units | 10/80 | 1988 |
| TDB | 975998 | 55013 | DMBS | Route Learner | 12/80 | 1982 |
| TDB | 977177 | 55015 | DMBS | Driver Training / Route Learner. Carried the name "Sandra" | 9/83 | 7/89 |
| TDB | 977223 | 55007 | DMBS | Driver Training / Route Learner / Sandite | 12/83 | 1989 |
| 977941 | 55012 | DMBS | Route Learner for Loadhaul. Allocated 977941 in April 2004 but number never carried. | 10/95 | ? |
975023 (ex-55001) carried set L101 for a time, then the L1 part was painted over leaving it carrying just set number 01. 975042 - which remained as the last vehicle in departmental use - carried the set number 960 015.
The two images show TDB975310 at Skegness in 1975. Peter, Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review.
55001 was withdrawn from passenger use in July 1969. It's duties as route learner 975023 took it over the Eling Tramway (in Totton, Hampshire) on 5/1/83. It became affectionately known as “Thunderbird 1” during its use as a route learning vehicle at Longsight depot in Manchester, and it moved under its own power on 26th September 2008 on the East Lancashire Railway.
References
- ⋏ p741 December 1968 The Railway Magazine