Sign In

Class 116 Derby 3-car Suburban DMUs

Modifications

Exhausts

These were altered from two plain pipes that ran up the inner ends and joined into one box just below roof height into two straight pipes with an additional silencer, normally during refurbishment.

Gangways

In a period from about 1968 to the early 1970s, gangways were fitted to the Western Region sets — as well as doors through the internal partitions where required. It is almost certain that the vehicles were painted into blue at the same time.

The Tyseley based sets were generally not gangwayed until the withdrawal of the older asbestos contaminated TC vehicles in 1982/3, replaced by Class 127 (and 101) trailers.

Inner end of Class 116 DMU showing the gangway

The gangway fitted to Trailer Second M59032.

In August 1983, a modification programme began on twenty pairs of Tyseley’s 116s, to add the gangways. This was due to a requirement for more through gangwayed sets, for the increasing number of paytrain services. The work involved cutting a gangway aperture in the car ends, after removing the interior against it, moving a piece of ‘H’ section framing to above the hole, fitting newly made gangway hanger brackets, and gangway connections and doors recovered from withdrawn Class 120 trailers. The DMBS already had access through the interior partitions, but the DMS had to have doors made in their two bulkheads between saloons.

Carlisle Currock C&W repair shops has been noted as the location where the gangway work was carried out^[1], with 51131 + 59596 + 51144 noted there for gangway fitting on 7 December 1983^[2]. However, Alan Lowe, the Traction Engineer at Tyseley depot at the time, recalls the work being done in-house at Tyseley using its small team of coach fitting and trimming staff, led by Martin Devreede.^[3]

Although intended to work with Class 127 trailers displaced from Bedpan services, the first four pairs of power cars were back in traffic in late November 1983 with redundant ER 101 trailers.^[1]

These were:
TS 602 51133 59533 51146
TS 604 51129 59570 51142
TS 605 53851 59527 53904
TS 607 53862 59107 53872
The next sets were being converted at the end of 11/83, being TS 520 (53827 & 53880), and 51131 & 51134, as well as the first 127 trailers.

Roof ventilators

In 1982 Scottish set 387 had all the original shell type ventilators removed from the roof and these were plated over, and two flat airvac type ventilators were added to each vehicle, one at each end.

Other vehicles, but not all, would have the same work done.

Heating

Here are details of one of the many other modifications made to the class, detailed in a LMR Traction Bulletin (Issue 34 - September 1982)

Asbestos

The first two batches were built with blue asbestos insulation in the cabs and saloon walls and ceiling. The pages below are from a vehicle log kept by the RTC at Derby dated circa 1984 which included the asbestos status for each vehicle.

The codes for the asbestos columns are: B - blue asbestos; D - Durasteel Sheet; C - Blue Asbestos / Durasteel Sheet removed; / not built with blue asbestos. In the remarks column OV means open van (no cage).