The British Rail Class 120 was a cross-country DMU in three-car formation, built at the British Rail

Swindon Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

History

Totalling 194 cars, three batches were built: *1958 - 49 sets for the Western Region *1959 - 7 sets for the Scottish Region *1961 - a further 9 sets for the Western Region British Railways placed the order with

British United Traction British United Traction (BUT) was a manufacturer of railway equipment and trolleybuses. It was established in 1946 as a joint venture between AEC and Leyland. History British United Traction was established in 1946 when AEC and Leyland am ...

in summer 1956 for the equipment required for the 98 power cars and 47 trailers of the first batch. The order, along with equipment ordered by Cravens for 66 power cars and the 3 parcels cars, was valued at £830,000. The first batch was ordered for the WR's West Country dieselisation scheme, which it hoped to complete by the end of 1959. The sets were expected to work between Bristol & South Devon. Their general reliability and good braking characteristics made them popular with drivers. Class 120 train to Aberdeen

In February 1959, the BTC placed an order with BUT for the equipment for the seven ScR sets, along with equipment for Class 108s and 127s being built at Derby. These 120s were to work mainly on the

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

to Inverness line although appearances at Oban were not unknown. Otherwise the cars worked mainly in the Western and Midland Regions. Some cars had a trial refurbishment but this was found to be too expensive, meaning an early withdrawal for most of the class. Some of the London Midland Region's units were transferred to Scotland in the mid-1980s, mainly finding use on local services from Edinburgh (notably to

North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...

). The final vehicles survived until 1989.

Fleet details

Operation

From first introduction, units were based at

Laira Laira – previously recorded as Lare(1591), Lary poynte (1638), the Leerie (1643), and the Lairy (1802) – was originally the name given to that part of the estuary of the River Plym from the Cattewater up to Marsh Mills in Plymouth, Devon ...

and operated several services in Cornwall including the Truro and Newquay Railway route via

Perranporth Perranporth ( kw, Porthperan) is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 1 mile east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 8 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its long beach f ...

Accidents and incidents

*On 12 May 1978, the unit containing 51793-59684-51794, struck a lorry at Oyne and the front two cars were derailed. The unit was on the 07:43 Aberdeen to Inverness. Out of the 54 passengers on board, only 5 people suffered minor injuries.Rail Express, May 2018, Page 33.

Other technical details

* Coupling Code: Blue Square *Transmission: Standard mechanical

Preservation

One trailer car survives at the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

: 59276 (TSLRB).

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

The Railcar Association – History of the Class 120 DMUs
{{British Rail DMU

120 120 may refer to: *120 (number), the number * AD 120, a year in the 2nd century AD *120 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *120 film, a film format for still photography * ''120'' (film), a 2008 film * 120 (MBTA bus) * 120 (New Jersey bus) * 120 (Ken ...

Train-related introductions in 1958