Builder: BR Derby Works
Layout: Low Density
Length: 57ft
Coupling Code: Blue Square
Coupling Type: Screw
Gangway Type: LMS
Lot Number: 30499
Diagram: 646
The London Midland Region didn't publish trailer car details until late in 1968. Although not 100% reliable, if it is assumed that the trailers remained with the same power cars, the allocations for 51424 during the unknown period are:
Mar-60 | New to | 64H (Leith Central) | - on loan from LMR |
3w/e 22/10/60 | Ex-loan back to | 18A (Toton) | |
5w/e 29/10/60 | Transferred to | 9G (Reddish) | |
4w/e 31/12/60 | Transferred to | 9A (Longsight) | |
4w/e 01/07/61 | Transferred to | 6A (Chester) | |
3w/e 02/07/66 | Transferred to | 8J (Allerton) |
Then the allocations for 56279 are:
3w/e 02/07/66 | Transferred to | 8J (Allerton) | |
06/05/73 | Depot code change | AN | |
29/03/87 | Transferred to | BY (Bletchley) | |
14/05/90 | Sector Change to | BY (Bletchley) NNDX | |
p/e 12/10/91 | Transferred to | RG (Reading) NWRX | |
02/08/93 | Transferred to | HQ (Headquarters) NWRX | |
04/08/93 | Withdrawn from | HQ (Headquarters) NWRX |
56279 - original number
54279 - from Jul-83 (53xxx / 54xxx change)
May-71 - AWS fitted
Preserved - more details.
51424 | 56279 | As delivered to 64H - March 1960 - on loan from LMR | |||||||
51424 | 56279 | Transfer to 18A - 3w/e 22/10/60 - ex-loan | |||||||
51424 | 56279 | Transfer to 9A - Dec-60 | |||||||
51901 | 56279 | Noted 11/06/1977 - 13.15 Lime Street to Newton-le-Willows1 | |||||||
51901 | 56279 | Noted 20/08/19771 | |||||||
51901 | 56279 | Noted 26/08/1977 - at Mossley Hill working 07.11 Warrington Central to Lime Street.1 | |||||||
51901 | 56279 | Noted 16/09/19771 | |||||||
51901 | 56279 | Noted 22/09/1977 - 07.40 Wigan NW to Lime Street with 51913-564931 | |||||||
50627 | 56279 | Noted circa 05/19821 | |||||||
50627 | 56279 | Noted circa 12/19821 | |||||||
53627 | 54279 | Noted circa 01/19841 | |||||||
53627 | 54279 | Noted 27/03/19841 | |||||||
53627 | 54279 | Noted 24/03/19861 | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted 8th January 1987 | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted 18/02/19871 | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Transfer to BY - 29/03/87 - from AN | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted circa 07/19871 | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted circa 10/19871 | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted circa 02/19881 | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted 20/05/88 - on 18.37 Bedford - Bletchley2 | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted 01/10/88 - in Wolverton Works | |||||||
51914 | 54279 | Noted circa 10/19881 | |||||||
51916 | 54279 | Noted circa 11/19891 | |||||||
53628 | 54279 | Noted 07/05/90 - on a Kettering - Corby service | |||||||
51916 | 54279 | Noted circa 02/19911 | |||||||
51916 | 54279 | Noted 13/02/1991 - Watford Junction. At platform 4 on the D.C. line with a local train to London Euston. It had snowed so presumably the class 313s availability had been affected. Photo here: https://flic.kr/p/CzhPFQ3 | |||||||
L212 | 53628 | 54279 | Listed at RG - 24/02/92 - NSE NWRX pool | ||||||
L212 | 53628 | 54279 | Listed at RG - 12/08/92 | ||||||
L212 | 53628 | 54279 | Listed at RG - November 1992 - Sector NWRX | ||||||
L212 | 53628 | 54279 | Noted circa 06/19931 | ||||||
L212 | 53628 | 54279 | Noted 11th June 1993 |
Formation Sources
1: Eddie Knorn
2: Phil Shatford
3: Dave Warby
Freshly refurbished Class 108 DTCL M56279 is seen on Allerton depot on 24 February 1979. Brian Daniels.
Wolverton Works on 1st October 1988 contains NSE liveried 54279 and 51914, as well as the retro-green Cravens. Robert Frise.
Class 105 & 108 cabs at Wolverton Works Open Day on 1 October 1988. Celebrity green E54122 is coupled to Network SouthEast 54279. Alistair Ness.
The line between Bletchley and Bedford was under the control of mechanical signalling in 1990. On 7 April 2-car class 108 unit 54279 + 51914 arrive at Stewartby from Bletchley with the chimneys of the brickworks prominent in the background Peter Tandy.
Class 108 2 car set formed of 54279 + 51914 stand in Bletchley station after arriving from Bedford on 7 April 1990. Peter Tandy.
A Class 108 DMU (54279 + 53628) forms the 16.37 Kettering - Corby passing Glendon Junction on 25 May 1990, during the last week of service of the experimental Kettering-Corby service. Corby station had been closed in May 1967, but was re-opened on an experimental basis in April 1987. This service was withdrawn as from 2 June 1990. The closure left Corby as, allegedly, the largest town in Europe without a rail service, and, in the ensuing years, there were various proposals for trains to serve Corby once again. But it would be nearly 19 years until East Midlands Trains re-introduced a regular service, including through trains to London, to the town. Lewis Bevan.
L212, presumably 54279, is seen at Culham (between Oxford and Didcot), circa 1992. David Rowe.
During a bitter winter spell in February 1991, only the Bedford to Bletchely services were able to operate anything like a normal service. 54279+53628 set off from Bedford on time, heading for Bletchley Jason Hall.
Class 108 DTCL 54279 leads a local train To Euston at Watford Junction on 13 February 1991. Dave Warby.
54279 + 53628 departing Slough on 20-01-93. Image by Richard Huggins. John Law Collection.
NSE-liveried Class 108 set L212 (54279 + presumably 53628) and 165 111 at Oxford on March 30, 1993. John Carter.
A brand new 108 (M51424/M56279) at Morningside Road on the Edinburgh suburban circle, heading for Musselburgh. The vehicles were on loan from the LMR to Leith Central between March and October 1960. A ScR Official Picture, courtesy of the AA McLean Collection. British Railways.
Inside the shed at Bletchley on 26/9/87 were Class 108 vehicles 51914 & 54279, and Class 127 Parcels set 910. Shayne Lewis.
Class 122 single unit M55004 awaits departure from Kettering as the 19.14 hrs to Corby on 13 May 1988. On the left of the picture a 2-car Class 108 comprising M51914/M54279 is approaching to form the 18.45 hrs Kettering-Bedford. Lewis Bevan.
A 2 car class 108 unit with vehicles 51914 + 54279 is pictured about to stop at Stewartby station on the Bedford to Bletchley line on 7 April 1990. The crossing here was still hand operated by a crossing keeper at this time which indicated that the road here wasn't especially busy. Peter Tandy.
A NSE-liveried Class 108 (53628 + 54279) passes Corby North on May 7, 1990 with a Kettering - Corby service. Mike Dean.
A Network South East two-car Class 108 unit (53628 + 54279) takes the former Nottingham line at Glendon Junction with a Kettering - Corby service on May 7th 1990, its last month of operation. Mike Dean.
A Class 108 DMU (53628 + 54279) forms the 16.37 Kettering - Corby departing from Kettering on 25 May 1990, during the last week of service of the experimental Kettering-Corby service. Corby station had been closed in May 1967, but was re-opened on an experimental basis in April 1987. This service was withdrawn as from 2 June 1990. The closure left Corby as, allegedly, the largest town in Europe without a rail service, and, in the ensuing years, there were various proposals for trains to serve Corby once again. But it would be nearly 19 years until East Midlands Trains re-introduced a regular service, including through trains to London, to the town. Lewis Bevan.
Class 108 DMU set L212 (53628 + 54279) departs from Reading on 11 October 1991. Sparegang.
At Reading on 23 November 1991 is DMU formation comprising Classes 108, 117 and 119 - 53628 + 54279 / 51379 + 59489 + 51065. Dave Warby.
53628 + 54279 at Windsor and Eton Central on 20-01-93. Image by Richard Huggins. John Law Collection.