DMU Accident
Ayr depot - 02/01/84
In the early hours of 2 January 1984 a fire at Ayr depot damaged several DMU vehicles, resulting in seven being immediately withdrawn and three placed in store, later withdrawn.
It caused an estimated £1.6 million of damage to buildings and rolling stock. The fire was believed to have been caused by vandalism.[1]
The stock shortages were resolved by reallocating vehicles from other depots in the Region, it also acquired a number of Class 104 units from the LMR's Manchester Divsion and borrowing two Class 101 vehicles from Neville Hill on the Eastern Region.
The Vehicles Involved
51806 - Class 101 DMC. Withdrawn, taken off bogies and cut up on site by the end of the year.
52003 - Class 107 DMBS. Initially stored, withdrawn circa May, taken off bogies and cut up on site by the end of the year.
52009 - Class 107 DMBS. Withdrawn. The image shows the badly damaged and distorted shell at the depot on February 15. Hamish Stevenson. It would later be taken off its bogies. An image on flickr taken 16/7/84 shows the grounded body with a similarly treated but less damaged Class 107 vehicle behind. Another flickr image on 9/8/84 shows an attempt at sealing the inside with polythene. It was cut up on site soon after.
52014 - Class 107 DMC. In May 1984 it was transferred to the RTC at Derby for conversion to a laboratory unit.
52017 - Class 107 DMC. Initially stored, withdrawn circa May, taken off bogies and cut up on site by the end of the year.
52032 - Class 107 DMC. The image shows 52032 at the depot on February 15, 1984, withdrawn and stripped of underframe components. Despite the condition, it moved to the Derby RTC for conversion to a lab unit which was later abandoned. Hamish Stevenson.
59043 - Class 101 TS. The image shows it at the depot on February 15th, 1984. The damage doesn't seem to go beyond the paintwork, the glass is intact (but the rubber window seals may have suffed damaged). It would move to Glasgow Works - possibly with a view to repairing, which wouldn't happen, it was cut up at MC Metals. Hamish Stevenson.
59787 - Class 107 TC. Withdrawn, in May 1984 it was transferred to the RTC at Derby for conversion to a laboratory unit. The image show it at the depot on 15/2/84, no damage on this side, burnt paint above the gangway. Hamish Stevenson.
59788 - Class 107 TC. Withdrawn and cut up on site by the end of the year. The vehicle in the image is unidentifed, but the damage looks bad enough for immediate withdrawal and so is assumed to be 59788.
59799 - Class 107 TC. Initially stored, withdrawn circa May, cut up on site by the end of the year.
The Aftermath
Ayr was now ten vehicles short for running services. The only internal move seems to be Class 101 TC 59559 being moved from Eastfield. The Eastern Region helped out by sending Class 101 Driver Trailer set 53207 + 54088 on loan from Neville Hill, they would return south in March.
The London Midland Region would respond by sending recently withdrawn Class 104s. This included TBS 59225 (which may have gone via Eastfield), withdrawn from Newton Heath in July 1983. Power cars withdrawn at the end of 1983 sent to Scotland were DMBSs 53452 + 53461 + 53473 and DMCs (or now DMSs) 53505 + 53510 + 53525. Noted in traffic together on the 9th January were 53452 + 59225 + 53461, these would initially become 104450, although the formations changed very frequently.
All these Class 104s would soon become blue and grey.
References
- ⋏ Modern Railways Pictorial May 1985, p8.