The minutes of the LMR Lightweight Trains Committee gives a good insight into how the Region acquired and planned to use their four sets.
Indications from the minutes of the July 25/26th 1955 meeting (item 336c) are that a decision had been made by the BTC to trial four vehicles with Rolls Royce engines. Deliveries of these engines would not be until March 1956, and as the only vehicles scheduled to be under construction at that time were Met-Camm sets for the Newcastle - Carlisle line, they would be fitted to them. But senior management on the LMR had noted their desire to have the vehicles, possibly for the Derby - Nottingham - Leicester scheme.
At the next meeting, on October 4th, 1955, (item 357c) it was noted that the North Eastern Region
had agreed to swap the two four-car Rolls-Royce sets for four Derby two-car sets. One reason the NER did this
is that the Derby vehicles were expected be delivered two months sooner.
Number Changes
This swapping of vehicles explains some of the gaps and changes in the numbering scheme.
Appendix A of the October meeting
shows the vehicles allocated to the LMR, the Manchester Part 1 scheme has 14 2-car Derby sets due for
delivery in January - February 1956 (two months sooner that the expected Rolls Royce engine date of March
1956). The next update of this
appendix in December the Derby sets have been reduced to ten and the four two-car sets with Rolls-Royce
engines added (for delivery in March - May 1956).
The four Derby sets involved are 79137-40 and 79658-61, originally part of fourteen sets for the
Manchester - Styal line before being
allocated to the ER.
The change from two four-car sets to four two-cars sets (both involved four power cars and four unpowered)
will explain the number gap 59056-9, these would now be 56090-3, the assumption being that the
Newcastle - Carlisle Met-Camm vehicles were originally to be 50134-51 with 59042-59.
Delays
The December 1955 meeting (item
403b) noted that the delivery date had been set back until June/August 1956. The reason why was given in the
February 1956 meeting (item 422
7c) - a late delivery of steel. The delay was extended again at the following meeting
(March 1956 item 431 4b) until
October 1956, and then to November 1956 by the
June 1956 meeting. Further delays
show up in the allocation appendices, slipping to
January 1957 and then to
March 1957, and finally to April 1957.
Usage
Some consideration was given at the October
1956 meeting (item 466 1) to using them on a proposed Chester - Wrexham service, but it was agreed that they
would be temporarily allocated to the Manchester - Buxton service. However, the next meeting in
December 1956 noted that they could
not be used exclusively on that line due to the inability to couple to the 79xxx series Derby Lightweights
currently operating the services, so they would also have to work other services in the Manchester Part 1 Scheme.
