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<- 55003 | 55004 | 55005 ->

Vehicle 55004


Class 122

Builder: GRC&W
Layout: High Density
Length: 64ft
Coupling Code: Blue Square
Coupling Type: Screw
Gangway Type: None
Engines: AEC 150hp
Transmission: Mechanical
Lot Number: 30419
Diagram: 539

Allocations

4w/e 17/05/58 New to 84E (Tyseley)
01/01/63Boundary change84Etransferred from WR to LMR stock
Sep-63Depot code change2A
May-73Depot code changeTS
12/04/87 Transferred to BY (Bletchley)
Dec-88 Transferred to LA (Laira) PDCX - never moved to LA, stored at Tyseley
04/10/90 Withdrawn from LA (Laira) PZQZ

Disposal

Scrapped by Mayer Newman, Snailwell

Some sample formations the vehicle has been noted in:


102 55004 Noted 17/08/65 - at Lapworth
TY051 55004 Listed at Tyseley - circa Dec-69
TY051 55004 Listed at 2A - 16/08/70
55004 59438 50913 Noted 04/1975 - at Birmingham New Street 1
TY051 55004 Noted 12/06/76 - at Stratford-upon-Avon, possibly working with 59334 + 50835 (TS541)2
TY051 55004 Noted 08/09/76 - at Stourbridge Junction2
TS051 55004 Listed at TS - 12/08/79
55004 Noted 11/12/79 - on 19:06 Stourbridge Junction - Town and 22:10 Stourbridge Town - Jct3
TS051 55004 Noted circa 01/19814
TS051 55004 Noted circa 10/19814
TS051 55004 Listed at TS - Jan-83
TS051 55004 Listed at TS - 14/07/83
TS051 55004 Noted circa 09/19834
TS051 55004 Noted circa 10/19834
TS532 55004 59757 53121 Noted circa 01/19844
TS532 55004 59757 53121 Noted circa 03/19844
TS051 55004 Noted 17/04/1984 - at Stourbridge Junction4
TS054 55004 Noted circa 01/19854
TS054 55004 Listed at Tyseley - Summer 1986
55004 Noted 06/12/1986 - 1235 Leamington Spa to Stratford on Avon
P104 55004 Listed at LA - 15/05/89

Formation Sources
1: Peter Wallwork
2: Gerald Brown
3: Phil Shatford
4: Eddie Knorn

Images:

Class 122 DMU at Whitlocks End

summer 1964

Set number: 328

GRC&W double ender W55004 stands in for the DMBS in a Derby suburban triple set, and has a temporary set number in the left cab window which possibly reads 328. They are seen at Whitlocks End on the North Warwickshire Line in summer 1964. Michael Mensing.

Class 122 DMU at Lapworth

17th August 1965

Set number: 102

On August 17, 1965 M55004 is at the front of a Derby suburban set at Lapworth after terminating with the 5.52pm ex-Birmingham Snow Hill. Michael Mensing.

Class 122 DMU at Bearley Junction

15th December 1972

55004 is working a Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa service. It is seen passing under the footbridge which served the now disused second platform Peter Shoesmith.

Class 122 DMU at St Andrews, Birmingham

6th August 1975

Set number: TY051

Class 122 set TY051 - presumably M55004 - on the front of a Class 116 at St Andrews, Birmingham, on 6 August 1975. Michael Mensing.

Class 122 DMU at Stourbridge Town

27th February 1976

Set number: TY051

A class 122 (TY051, presumably M55004) waits to leave Stourbridge Town for one of the worlds great rail journeys to Stourbridge Junction!! 27/2/1976. Stephen Burdett.

Class 122 DMU at Stourbridge Junction

27th February 1976

Set number: TY051

A class 122 offloads its passengers at Stourbridge Junction after the 3 minute trip from Stourbridge Town on 27/2/1976. Carrying set number TY051, this is presumably M55004. Stephen Burdett.

Class 122 DMU at Stratford-upon-Avon

Unknown date

Class 122 GRC&W bubble car M55004 at Stratford-upon-Avon, date unknown, possibly early 1970s. The vehicle spent the first 29 years of its 32 year career based at Tyseley. Graham Clark.

Class 122 DMU at Stourbridge Town

11th September 1978

Set number: TY051

Gloucester RC&W Co "bubble car" single unit M55004 standing at Stourbridge Town Station on September 11, 1978. Jeremy Chapter.

Class 122 DMU at Stourbridge Town

12th September 1978

M55004 stands at the original Stourbridge Town station, the site of which is now occupied by the bus station. It appears that work to provide the new platform, a few yards nearer Stourbridge Junction was well under way when this shot was taken on September 12 1978. Jeremy Chapter.

Class 122 DMU at Swindon Works

14th October 1979

Class 122 M55004 part way through attention at Swindon Works on 14 October 1979. Brian Daniels.

Class 122 DMU at Willington

Unknown date

55004 at Willington, date unknown. Ian Francis.

Class 122 DMU at Langley Green

20th September 1985

Set number: TS054

A class 122/116 combination (55004 is the 122) approaches Langley Green with a Birmingham New Street to Kidderminster service on 20/9/1985. In the foreground is the branch to Oldbury used mainly for chlorine traffic. The station here was once known as Oldbury & Langley Green. Stephen Burdett.

Class 122 DMU at Tyseley

7th December 1985

Set number: TS054

Class 122 55004, set number T054, is seen stabled at Tyseley on 07.12.1985. Andy Cole.

Class 122 DMU at Stourbridge Junction

5th March 1986

Here is one of my few shots on the Stourbridge town branch, taken on 5 March 1986. It shows 55004 arriving at Stourbridge Junction after a journey of just a couple of minutes from the town station. Another single car unit is just visible behind the signalbox, indicating that the daily changeover was imminent. The size of the signalbox is testament to the area's importance in earlier days, with considerable numbers of freights heading for Brierley Hill and Dudley sites, or to the Handsworth line via Langley Green. Even at this relatively late date a class 25, 25 205 is in position ready to bank freights along the now-closed line to Bescot via Wednesbury. Peter Tandy.

Class 122 DMU at Hatton North Junctoin

30th April 1986

Set number: TS054

It was quite common on the 1980s for a 3 coach DMU to be strengthened with the addition of a single coach unit largely to improve the power-to-weight ratio of the train. On this occasion the leading unit was 55004 (TS054). I photographed it at Hatton North Junction on 30 April 1986 before the junction was upgraded and a tall footbridge erected to carry the public footpath across the line. The boarded crossing was made of old sleepers and was slippery in wet conditions - not great for a line with a lot of quite fast-moving freight! Peter Tandy.

Class 122 DMU at Corby

13th April 1987

Corby station on 13 April 1987, the day that services were restored after the original Corby station had closed in 1966. Single units 55004/55011 are awaiting a return to Kettering - the restored service comprised only a shuttle service to Kettering, with one or two trains each day being extended back to Bedford. The service was restored on an "experimental basis", but this experiment was deemed a failure, and Corby station closed again on 2 June 1990. It was to be nearly another 19 years before proposals to re-open Corby came to fruition, with East Midlands Trains introducing through trains to St Pancras on 23 February 2009. Lewis Bevan.

Class 122 DMU at Kettering

16th April 1987

Class 122 single unit M55004 (built by the Gloucester RC & W Co in 1958) at Kettering with the 09.13 service to Corby on 16 April 1987. This was the day that services were restored to Corby after a gap of 21 years, the station having been closed in April 1966 when regular passenger trains over the Oakham-Kettering line were withdrawn. The 1987 re-opening was on an "experimental" basis, and services were withdrawn again as from 2 June 1990. This 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 122 DMU at Kettering

16th April 1987

Almost 21 years to the day since Corby station had closed in 1966, rail services were reinstated. Trains shuttled between Kettering and Corby, provided by dmus based at Bletchley and operated by Network SouthEast. Initially there were two Gloucester RCW class 122 "bubble cars" dedicated to the service, embellished with the Corby coat of arms. Here, in the first week of service, M55004 climbs out of Kettering with an afternoon train on 16/4/87. New signals are in place but there are still four tracks, a situation that will change at the end of 1987. The "Jockloper" lasted barely more than three years, though in 2008 a more permanent service again re-connected Corby to the outside world. Mike Dean.

Class 122 DMU at Corby

9th May 1987

On May 9, 1987, a month after the passenger service to Corby had been re-instated, Class 122 55004 takes a full load past Corby North box (south of Corby station!) on its way to Kettering and connection with the outside world. Mike Dean.

Class 122 DMU at Bedford station

April 1988

M55004 seen in Bedford station in April 1988. Mike Cooper.

Class 122 DMU at Kettering

13th May 1988

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.

Class 122 DMU at Tyseley

8th April 1989

Class 122 55004 is seen stabled at Tyseley on 08.04.1989 complete with Network South East decals and the Corby coat of arms on the bodyside. 55011 is behind, both vehicles had been set aside for the Kettering to Corby shuttle service. Andy Cole.


The vehicle is mentioned in the following images:

DMU

Date: 13th May 1964

W50684 leads the 1.45pm Cardiff General - Birmingham Snow Hill via Hereford at Old Hill on May 13 1964. W55004 sits on the Dudley lines, it will form the 5.36pm to Dudley. Michael Mensing.

DMU

Date: March 1967

Tyseley MPD, 03/67. In the yard are LMS Class "5MT's" Nos.44675, 44663, 44833, & 45296 and BR St.Cl." 5MT" No.73045, Brush Type 4 (Class 47) No.D1688, Gloucester RC&W Co. railcars (Class 122) Nos.W55006 & W55004 and BR (Derby) dmu trailer (Class 175) No.W59016. Hugh Llewelyn.

DMU

Date: 3rd July 1986

Set number: TS083

On 3 July 1986 55033 + 55004 + 55032 were on a diagram that included the 18.30 from Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Moor Street. I lived near to the line in those days and had seen the train arrive from my kitchen window so had grabbed a camera, had a quick chat with the signalman and made my way to this spot with the gasholders, still in use at the time, and the middle starter signal prominent in the picture. The leading unit, 55033, was the one selected to receive Midline livery a few months later. Peter Tandy.

DMU

Date: 30th January 1988

Class 115 power car 51674 leads class 122 55004 over Oakley viaduct with a Corby to Kettering service, January 30, 1988. Mike Dean.

DMU

Date: 8th April 1989

Class 122 55011 is seen stabled at Tyseley on 08.04.1989 complete with Network South East decals and the Corby coat of arms. At the time this unit and 55004, to the left, had just transferred back to Tyseley from Bletchley where they had been set aside for Kettering to Corby shuttle service. Andy Cole.