British Rail Class 117
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The British Rail Class 117 diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by
Pressed Steel ''Pressed'' is a 2011 Canadian crime drama film directed by Justin Donnelly and starring Luke Goss, Tyler Johnston, Jeffrey Ballard, and Michael Eklund. It is the debut directing project for Justin Donnelly. Plot Business executive Brian Parker ...
from 1959 to 1961. It was a licence-built variant of the British Rail Class 116.


Original work

A total of 123 Class 117 cars were built by
Pressed Steel ''Pressed'' is a 2011 Canadian crime drama film directed by Justin Donnelly and starring Luke Goss, Tyler Johnston, Jeffrey Ballard, and Michael Eklund. It is the debut directing project for Justin Donnelly. Plot Business executive Brian Parker ...
between 1959 and 1961, delivered as 39 three-car units plus three pairs of spare motor coaches. The Class 116 was ordered in large numbers which Derby Works could not fulfil, so the work was sub contracted. When first introduced in 1960, these three-car units were all based with the similar Class 121 single carriage (railcar) units on British Railways Western Region for suburban work out of London Paddington. The units were largely based at
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and
Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...
depots. The units remained here for many years working these services. The type was used for a railtour from Paddington to the south west on 31 May 1969.


Later operations

In the 1980s, expiry of other DMUs facilitated moves for some units from the Western Region to Birmingham, as below, and Scotland, prior to the delivery of new units to replace them. They were given refurbishments. The first shake up in ownership occurred in the late 1980s, when the Scottish, Welsh, Cornish and Birmingham based units were transferred to Provincial Services, later
Regional Railways Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''. Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...
, in the sectorisation of British Rail, while the Southall-based units transferred to
Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the net ...
. The Regional Railways units were refurbished at
Tyseley Locomotive Works Tyseley Locomotive Works, formerly the Birmingham Railway Museum, is the engineering arm of steam railtour promoter Vintage Trains based in Birmingham, England. It occupies part of the former Great Western Railway's Tyseley depot, built in 19 ...
. In the early 1990s, several units were named: 701 (51350/92) was named 'Marston Vale' and 705 (51358/400) was 'Leslie Crabbe'. They were replaced on the lines out of
Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
when the Class 165/1 'Network Turbo' units came into service by 28 November 1992. They soldiered on in the former Western Region until replaced by Class 150 and Class 153 DMUs by 21 May 1993, although the type could be found running Penzance - Looe services until 1997. An attempt was made to remove them from Cornish work using Class 142 "Skipper/Pacer" units, but these fixed wheelbase units proved to be a liability on the tight Cornish branchline curves, increasing rail and wheel wear, moving to the North of England instead. They were finally replaced with the advent of more Class 150s and Class 153s freed up from other areas. The type was used in Scotland between Edinburgh - Perth, Cowdenbeath and Markinch using the
Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
and continued to work in Scotland until 12 January 1998, where they were replaced with Class 156s. The final day of 117s running in Scotland was 27 November 1999. For many years, passenger services on the Birmingham Cross-City Line were worked by Class 117, along with Class
115 115 may refer to: * 115 (number), the number * AD 115, a year in the 2nd century AD * 115 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 115 (Hampshire Fortress) Corps Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, a unit in the UK Territorial Army * 115 (Leicestershire) ...
, 116,
118 118 may refer to: *118 (number) *AD 118 *118 BC *118 (TV series) *118 (film) *118 (Tees) Corps Engineer Regiment *118 (Tees) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers See also *11/8 (disambiguation) *Oganesson Oganesson is a synthetic chemical element wi ...
and 121 diesel multiple units, but all were withdrawn from service by 1995. In 2000, Class 150 Sprinter units replaced the Class 117 units on
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, finally bringing to an end decades of service on Britain's rail network in front line service. Once in preservation it has since been discovered that the units had all sorts of Leyland 680 engine variants.. For example, one unit was noted as having a Leyland 680/1 (150 BHP) and a Leyland 680-1595 (180 BHP) .


Gallery

File:1 CLASS 117 DMU.JPG, A Rail Blue and Grey liveried three car Class 117 DMU at
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on the preserved, heritage
Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, ...
. File:3 CLASS 117 DMU TCO Vehicle.JPG, The unpowered centre TCL vehicle from a Class 117 DMU. File:4 Class 117 DMU TCO NSE First Class Interior.JPG, The interior of the mid 1980s refurbished First Class cabin, in Network SouthEast moquette, aboard a three car Class 117 DMU. File:6 CLASS 117 DMU DMSO NSE Standard Class Interior.JPG, The interior of the mid 1980s refurbished Standard Class accommodation, in Network SouthEast moquette, aboard a three car Class 117 DMU.


Preservation

Due to the type's longevity, 12 units have been preserved on heritage railways.


References


The Railcar Association
*Motive Power Recognition: 3 DMUs. Colin J. Marsden *British Railway Pictorial: First Generation DMUs. Kevin Robertson *British Rail Fleet Survey 8: Diesel Multiple Units- The First Generation. Brian Haresnape *A Pictorial Record of British Railways Diesel Multiple Units. Brian Golding {{British Rail DMU
117 117 may refer to: *117 (number) *AD 117 *117 BC *117 (emergency telephone number) *117 (MBTA bus) * 117 (TFL bus) *117 (New Jersey bus) *''117°'', a 1998 album by Izzy Stradlin *No. 117 (SPARTAN-II soldier ID), personal name John, the Master Chief ...
Pressed Steel Company multiple units Train-related introductions in 1959