Darlington

Most (if not all) of the 130 vehicles allocated to the new Darlington diesel depot during the ER dieselisation plan were 101s when it opened. In 1957 the principle service worked by these cars was the half hourly one from Darlington to Saltburn, using the 4-car units. Power/trailer sets were used between Darlington and Middleton-in-Teesdale, Richmond and Crook. At September 1957 Darlington's allocation was 13 4-car sets (DMCs 5 0172-97, TBSs 59060-72 and TSs 59073 - 85), 14 2-car power/trailers (DMBSs 50198-209, 50247/8 and DTCs 56050-61, 56219/20) and 4 2-car power twins (DMBSs 50250-3 and DMCs 50260-3).

Darlington units in the '60s: Left - Crook Station in 1964, shortly before the line's closure from Bishop Auckland. Right: E50748 heads this 4-car set at Darlington Bank Top Station, also in 1964, in the north end dock where the Bishop Auckland / Crook trains, and prior to 1962 the Stainmore trains, departed from. Both Roy Lambeth.

When the four Class 111 power/trailers moved from the LMR to the ER they were given four Class 101 power/trailers in return (50203/6/8/28 56055/8/60/80).

Darlington depot closed in May 1984, its 101s moved to Heaton.

Western Invasion

Centre Cars

In 1967 the first Met Camm vehicles (Blue Pullmans aside) were allocated to the Western Region, these being three trailer composite cars. Transferred from Neville Hill (59528 + 59538) and Hamilton (59543) to work in the London division from Reading, they allowed the withdrawal of the three Hawksworth coaches and would initially work in Pressed Steel sets forming a four-car unit.

At least one of these - 59528 - was still in green when it arrived standing out against the blue suburban vehicles.

In the summer 1968 timetable two of the services worked by the four-car sets was the 06:45 Frome - Reading and the 17:03 Paddington - Westbury. At the timetable introduction on May 6th was was being worked by set 400 (51334 + 59538 + 59486 + 51376), the other by set 414 (51356 + 59543 + 59508 + 51398). The third Reading Met-Camm centre car, 59528 was spare at Reading having been returned from works on 6th May after repainting into Rail Blue.^[1]

They would later also be based at Cardiff (CF), Bristol (BR) and Plymouth Laira (LA) depot working between class 116 power cars.

The image shows 59538 beside 51407 on the 'London Branch Lines Tour' at Morris Cowley on November 10, 1973. Hamish Stevenson.

Three-car sets

In May 1974 the first three-car Metro Cammell sets to be allocated to the Western Region replacing Swindon 120 units at LA (Plymouth Laira) Transferred from the ScR, these sets were given set Nos. P800-804.

The image shows set P803 (51450 + 59546 + 51522) is seen departing from Dawlish on the 24th May 1975. Neil Cannon. These Western Region sets were the first of the Class to be painted into blue/grey livery so that they would match the Cross-Country sets.

In mid-1975 they moved to Bristol Bath Road (BR) as B800-4 and in May 1979 they would be joined by two ex-Midland three-car units from Tyseley becoming B805 and B806. During the early 1980s even more units were drafted in, this time generally from the Eastern Region.

1982 saw Met-Camm 101s is take over services on the Central Wales line between Swansea and Shrewsbury ousting almost all remaining Swindon 120s. They were allocated to Cardiff Canton (CF) for these duties and general cross country services. The units selected for Central Wales use were reformed into 2-car sets with their centre trailers generally being stored at Cardiff Bristol and Reading. One trailer W59550 found a new home between two Derby class 116 suburban brake cars at Cardiff (CF) in set C307 which was an odd set containing two DMBS vehicles in its formation (W53083 / W59550 / W53820).

The next image shows a Class 101 set on a test run to Weymouth Quay in March '83, prior to the introduction of the short lived service from the Quay to Cardiff. The photographer's father was driving. Stuart Davies.

A Cardiff 101 suffered an exhauster failure on the 16th October 1982 while working the 16:27 Westbury - Cardiff and was dragged by 47 313.

The Western Region Met Camms were the first DMU vehicles to carry the high intensity headlamp mounted on the cab front below the drivers window.

These units operated on the WR until 1987 when they were displaced by Class 108 units. Dispersed far and wide some units remained together at depots such as Chester and Neville Hill, with one ex-Cardiff unit returning during early 1989 from Newton Heath for a short stay at Cardiff before departing for Vic Berry's Leicester yard in May 1990.

The London division also gained Met Camms for the Reading Redhill service and Gatwick Airport. These units generally came from Tyseley with a small contingent of ER units.

Met Camms operated from all WR depots during the 1980s from Old Oak and Reading to Plymouth.

The final departure from Plymouth was in 1996 with cars 53314/53327 still sporting NSE livery and set number L842 since its transfer from Reading RG to the West Country.

Cambridge

The depot had a number of cars for a brief period in 1968, most moving to Norwich within a few weeks.

In 1977/8 it would receive nine refurbished driver-trailer sets to work Cambridge - Royston shuttles which connected with the new electric services from Royston to London. They would also work Hitchin-Huntingdon shuttles. The image shows DMBS E51443 in on the rear of a set departing Cambridge for Royston on 09/06/1978. Graeme Phillips Collection.

More vehicles would be allocated there in 1984-6, swelling the total to 46 cars by January 1st 1987. The extension of the electrification to Cambridge with the summer 1987 timetable drastically reduced the number of DMUs required at Cambridge and on June 1st the allocation was down to 16 vehicles, many of them now in parcels stock.

The parcels vehicles were withdrawn in mid-1989, soon after more passenger vehicles would bring the number of cars up to 43 by January 1st 1992.

The image shows Cambridge allocated set L225 (51222 + 54220) at Ely on 2H20 to Kings Lynn, March 15, 1991. Surface Stock.

1992 would be their last year at Cambridge, all were transferred or withdrawn by October.

Hybrid Sets

It was not uncommon in the 1960s to see Met Camm vehicles of both DMBS and DTC types paired with other makes of unit. This usually took the form of 2-car power trailer combinations and became common on the ER in East Anglia and Cambridgeshire with Met Camm/Gloucester Class 100 and Cravens Class 105 vehicles, with a similar situation in Scotland. In the North East, as well as operating in 2-car formations with Class 105s they could also be found in mixed Class 104 four car sets as both types of four car unit were used in that area.

The image shows 17:20 departures to Diss and Sheringham leaving Norwich station, date unknown. On the right the 4-car is formed of a 101/100 hybrid and 101/105 hybrid, the set on the left is a 100/105 hybrid. Tim Stubbs.

By the mid-1980s though, due to the wholesale withdrawal of other types, mixed formations took on a new look with Met Camms being paired with almost anything. Centre cars, of which there were 150 constructed, appeared at depots such as Manchester's Newton Heath (NH), Chester (CH), Derby Etches Park (EP) and Edinburgh Haymarket (HA) marshalled between Class 120 Swindon Cross Country units, making life a little easier weight-wise for these ageing work horses, by virtue of the 101 vehicles being about 5 tons lighter than the normal Swindon built 64 ft TS vehicles.

Other depots took advantage of the glut of surplus Met Camms, with trailers appearing in some Class 108 sets at HA and Class 110 sets at NL after the transfer of their own trailers to CF and ED.

The late eighties saw an explosion in mismatched Met Camms at CF, LA, CH, NH and TS depots, with pairings of Met Camms with 108s and suburban 116s (gallery), the latter being a very strange combination operating from TS and CF. Pick and mix had taken on a new meaning!

During May 1990 a four-car set was formed for use on the Cambridge - Kings Lynn service via Ely until completion of that line's electrification. The vehicles involved were 51211 / 59111 / 59072 / 53265 running as set L831.

The image shows L831 53265 + 59072 + 59115 + 51211 with two-car 51207 + 54405, seen from Ely North box, on May 10, 1990. Surface Stock.

At the end of 1983 some redundant ER trailers cars were put into 3-car sets with Class 116 power cars which had just been given gangways at Carlisle Currock carriage and wagon repair shops. They were put into action at Tyseley.

When Botanic Gardens 4-car 108s were made into 3-cars in summer 1985 some of the displaced Class 108 TSLs were added to Class 101 (and 108) power twins.

When Class 108 59247 was condemmed due to accident damage Class 101 TBS 59113 was provided as a replacement for its set.

By 2/91 there was no longer any 101 power cars working with Class 108/110 trailers.

Misc

A Met-Camm was a rare visitor to St Pancras on October 5th 1982 when a 2-car set was seen during crew training.

On the 12 February 1984 one of the power cars on the 3-car set working the 18:24 Sheringham - Norwich ran out of fuel at West Runton. The remaining power car, which had one engine isolated, struggled to reach Cromer where eventually a Class 31 collected the unit and hauled it to Norwich. Passengers missed the last train to London (19:33) so the 20:00 ECS to Ipswich was held to form a 20:55 special to Ipswich where the stock became the late running 21:14 to London.

Centre Cars

At January 1991 only 11 of any type of TBS vehicles remained in use on BR, 3 Class 108s and 8 Class 101s - 59055/77/9/80/4/92/3/5. All except 59093 were allocated to Norwich Crown Point and operated in 3-car East Suffolk Line sets. At the same time there were only two TS vehicles remaining - 59303 at Laira (Regional Railways) and 59306 at Reading (Network South East). 59303 was last used in the summer of '97 in North Wales and became one of the last two remaining centre cars, the other being TCL 59593 (ex-green set). These were put into store at Blackpool (as seen in the image) pending preservation offers. They moved on Thursday 2nd September 2004 to a site suitable for loading onto a lorry which would take them to their homes in preservation.

Decline

Although the Class have enjoyed some of the longest service lives of any DMU vehicles built, they also hold the record for the shortest lived car. DMC car E50173 was delivered to the NER as part of a 4-car set in January 1957 and withdrawn in October of that year after sustaining collision damage at Hexham which left it beyond economic repair.

There were very few withdrawals until the late 1970s, the majority however lasting well into the mid 1980s.

Manchester

The main services they would work were from Piccadilly to Sheffield, New Mills, Rose Hill / Marple, and also to North Wales. There were some 'go-faster' sets formed adding a power-car to a two-car set.

An article by Eddie Knorn describes his farewell trips on North Wales sets in May 2000.

101 695, formed of DMBS 51226 and DMC 51499, worked it's final train in the 16th April 2001 — the 1149 Rose Hill-Manchester Piccadilly. After this it returned to Longsight, with brake problems that wouldn't be repaired as the set was due off-lease on 24th April. The set was the last in traffic to still retain first class seating.

101689 (51185 + 51511) appears to have been taken off lease on 29th April 2001, but its actual last day of working was on Thursday 26th April. When returning to Manchester Piccadilly, it killed a person near Belle Vue (unknown if it was a suicide or a trespasser). The unit went to Longsight for checking etc, but didn't reappear in service before the lease end date.

101685 was due to be withdrawn in May 2001 (last day in traffic 12 May) but its lease was extended (last day in traffic 30 June) but further extensions saw it stay in traffic till December 2003.

Both these units (685 + 689) had their lease extended, with their last day, along with 679, to a last working day of Saturday 30 June 2001. However, 101685 would remain in traffic till December 2003.

In the image 101680 (53204 + 53163) departs from Manchester Piccadilly with the 12:14 to Rose Hill, 5 July 2001. Kevin Dowd.

Gradually the Longsight sets were withdrawn until there was just six sets (which had been fitted with the now mandatory TPWS) in use. Nicknamed the "Longsight Six", set 692 would be withdrawn with mechanical defects a few weeks before the others in December 2003. Regional Railways organised a farewell tour on the 21st December to commemorate the end of their first generation DMUs. It ran from Manchester to Buxton and Barrow-in-Furness, worked by 101 676 in Regional Railways livery / a Strathclyde liveried set / 101 685 in green.

The image shows 53164 after arrival at Morecambe with the Class 101 Farewell Tour on 21/12/03. Stuart Mackay

Not long after the remaining vehicles were withdrawn. At the time it would leave just the Chiltern bubble car 55020 as the only first generation DMU remaining in passenger use.