The
British Rail Class 109 is a class of 2-car
diesel multiple units built in 1957 by
D Wickham & Co. Five two-car units were built featuring an unusual body design. The design, first used in 1936 for
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
n railways, aimed to minimise weight. It had no
underframe
An underframe is a framework of wood or metal carrying the main body structure of a railway vehicle, such as a locomotive, carriage or wagon.
See also
* Chassis
* Headstock
* Locomotive bed
* Locomotive frame
A locomotive frame is the struct ...
, but the whole body was formed into a welded stress-bearing
box girder made of
solid drawn steel tube. Aluminium was used for panels, luggage racks, window frames, vacuum pipes and fuel and vacuum tanks. The corrugated steel floor was filled with sprayed
asbestos and covered with asbestos-filled flame-proofed hardboard and rubber sheet.
The units soon became non-standard and two were sold back to the manufacturer who exported them to
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
. Another unit was converted into departmental service, and survived in BR ownership until the early 1980s.
Vehicle numbers
Further use
One two-car set (50416+56171) was extensively overhauled in 1967 at Doncaster, revamping the interiors and adding kitchen facilities to 50416. After repainting, the set was used as the ER General Managers special train, numbered 975005 / 975006.
Preservation
One two-car unit, (see above) the former departmental unit, formed of vehicles 50416 and 56171, has been preserved and restored to working condition at the
Llangollen Railway
The Llangollen Railway () is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, North Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen. The standard gauge line, which is long, runs on part of the former Ruabon – Barmouth GWR route that c ...
. It was restored using lottery money.
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20051029135601/http://www.railcar.co.uk/his100-109/109intro.htm
{{British Rail DMU
109
D. Wickham and Company rolling stock
Train-related introductions in 1957