No formation details found.
960301 at Aylesbury 24th October 2003. Roger Marks.
960301 stabled at Aylesbury on 17th June 2004. Roger Marks.
Water-jet conversion 977992 at Birmingham Railway Museum beside 977723 on the 23rd September 2004. It was collected that day by 977858 and taken to Aylesbury. Stuart Mackay.
977992 at Birmingham Railway Museum before being moved to Aylesbury on 23/9/04. Work is going on underneath, note the cardan shaft beside the first bogie. This connects the gearbox to the final drive. Stuart Mackay.
The new end of 977992, seen at Birmingham Railway Museum on 23/9/04. When converted from 51375 the cab was removed from here and this end built from scratch. The water tanks can be seen inside. Stuart Mackay.
The water jetting train 977987 / 977992 / 977988 in the sidings at Aylesbury in 2005. John Law.
Rail head water jet spray unit 960301 (977987 / 977992 / 977988) is seen at West Ruislip Station on 16-10-06. Ian Cuthbertson.
The water jetting train 977987 / 977992 / 977988 in the sidings at Aylesbury, January 2007. The (make-up?) factory has gone and housing being built. Fred Clark.
Chitern's water jetting train (977988 / 977992 / 977987) sits in front of a row of first generation vehicles at Aylesbury in January 2007. Fred Clark.
Class 117 Pressed Steel DMU in BR green of Chiltern Railways in departmental use for water jetting, taken at Aylesbury on 10 March 2008. The vehicles are 977987 + 977992 + 977988. Hugh Llewelyn.
Class 117 Pressed Steel 977988 (ex-51413) of set No. 960 301 in BR green of Chiltern Railways in departmental use for water jetting. Taken at Aylesbury on 10 March 2008. Hugh Llewelyn.
The water jetting train 977988 / 977992 / 977987 in the sidings at Aylesbury on July 15, 2008. S Saunders.
The water jetting train 977988 / 977992 / 977987 in the sidings at Aylesbury on 29-02-12. John Law.
Chiltern Railways Water Cannon 977988 of set 960301 stabled at Aylesbury on 7 May 2012. Dave Warby.
Chiltern Railways Water Cannon 977987 of set 960301 stabled at Aylesbury on 7 May 2012. Dave Warby.
Chiltern Railways Water Cannon 977992 of set 960301 stabled at Aylesbury on 7 May 2012. Dave Warby.
During a glance through one or two RTT pages I noticed that a Tyseley to Long Marston train was booked to run on Thursday 25 June 2015. My initial feeling was that it seemed likely to be some form of OTP movement as no return schedule was shown but a couple of postings from the Stourbridge line said that it was a 2 car DMMU, presumably one of the Chiltern Railways sets used for RHTT work. I couldn't recall having taken a picture of a diesel mechanical unit on the branch so went off for a shot or two. I had a quick look at RTT from a layby in Long Marston village and decided that I probably hadn't left enough time to get across to Honeybourne and be sure of a photograph as class 117 960301 (977988 + 977987) joined the branch so just waited on the roadbridge at the site's rail entrance. The train soon appeared in the background and its arrival unfortunately coincided with the only completely clear patch of sky; just what one doesn't want at just after 14.00 in June Peter Tandy.
When I photographed 977987 + 977988 on 25th June 2015 the gate into Long Marston had already been opened so there only a brief pause before 960301 was allowed into the site where it appears that No.1 road was back in use. If you don't look too closely today's views might very roughly resemble the scene when DMMUs were used on this line when it was still open to Stratford-upon-Avon. The chances of the line being re-opened in the foreseeable future took another turn for the worse today when the Government announced that projects expected to take place soon, such as Midland Line and Trans-Pennine electrification, are to be "paused". It hardly seems likely that a marginal scheme such H2S (Honeybourne to Stratford) will be high on the agenda given such major funding problems. Peter Tandy.
Do you have any images of the set you can add?