British Rail Class 117

The British Rail Class 117 diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by Pressed Steel from 1959 to 1961. It was a licence-built variant of the British Rail Class 116.^[1]

British Rail Class 117
A Class 117 at Didcot Parkway, 1989
Interior of a Class 117.
In service	1959–2000; one unit used in departmental use until 2015
Manufacturer	Pressed Steel Company
Family name	First generation
Replaced	Steam locomotives and carriages
Constructed	1959–1961
Number built	123 cars (42 DMBS, 42 DMS, 39 TCL)
Number preserved	35 cars (17 DMBS, 16 DMS, 23 TCL)
Number scrapped	88 cars (25 DMBS, 26 DMS, 16 TCL)
Formation	DMBS-TCL-DMS
Operators	British Rail ScotRail Silverlink
Lines served	Western Region London Midland region Scottish region
Specifications
Car body construction	Steel
Car length	64 ft 0 in (19.51 m)
Width	9 ft 3 in (2.82 m)
Height	12 ft 8+1⁄2 in (3.87 m)
Doors	Slam
Articulated sections	Single car (2)
Maximum speed	70 mph (113 km/h)
Weight	Power cars: 36 long tons 0 cwt (80,600 lb or 36.6 t), Trailer cars: 30 long tons 0 cwt (67,200 lb or 30.5 t)
Prime mover(s)	BUT (AEC) then BUT (Leyland), of 150 hp (110 kW), (both types), two per power car
Power output	600 hp (450 kW) per 3-car set
Transmission	Mechanical
HVAC	Oil burning air heater
Braking system(s)	Vacuum
Safety system(s)	AWS
Coupling system	Screw
Multiple working	■ Blue Square
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

Original work

A total of 123 Class 117 cars were built by Pressed Steel between 1959 and 1961, delivered as 39 three-car units plus three pairs of spare motor coaches. 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 Reading and Southall depots. The units remained here for many years working these services.^[2]

The type was used for a railtour from Paddington to the south west on 31 May 1969.^[3]

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, in the sectorisation of British Rail, while the Southall-based units transferred to Network SouthEast.

They were replaced on the lines out of Paddington when the Class 165/1 'Network Turbo' units came into service by 28 November 1992.^[4]

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" railcars, but these fixed wheelbase units proved to be a liability on the tight Cornish branchline curves, increasing rail and wheel wear, and were transferred to the North of England instead. The 117s were finally replaced with the advent of more Class 150s and Class 153s freed up from other areas.^[5]

117308 in Scotrail livery at Edinburgh Haymarket in 1994

The type was used in Scotland between Edinburgh - Perth, Cowdenbeath and Markinch using the Forth Bridge and continued to work in Scotland until 12 January 1998, where they were replaced with Class 156s.^{[citation needed]} The final day of 117s running in Scotland was 27 November 1999.^[6]

In 2000, Class 150 Sprinter units replaced the Class 117 units on Silverlink, finally bringing to an end decades of service on Britain's rail network in front line service.^[7]

Table of orders and numbers

Lot No.	Type	Diagram	Qty	Fleet numbers	Notes
30546	Driving Motor Brake Second (DMBS)	534	42	51332–51373
30547	Trailer Composite with lavatory (TCL)	601	39	59484–59522
30548	Driving Motor Second (DMS)	535	42	51374–51415

Preservation

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

Set number	Vehicle numbers			Livery	Location	Notes
	DMBS	TCL	DMS
L721	51363	59510	51405	BR Green	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway	Fully operational, owned by Cotswold Diesel Railcar Ltd Archived 13 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
117204	51365	-	51407	BR Green	Plym Valley Railway
117301	51353	-	-	ScotRail	Wensleydale Railway	Bought by a local community group.[8] 51395 Scrapped March 2013
117310	-	-	51381	Regional Railways	Mangapps Railway Museum	-
117311	51352	-	51376	Yellow DMBS, Green with whiskers DMS	South Devon Railway	Currently Under Restoration to run with W55000.[9]
-	51371	-	51413	BR Green	MOD Long Marston	Preserved June 2015 [10]
117313	51339	59506	51382	BR Green	Colne Valley Railway	Moved from East Lancashire Railway in 2021
L702	51356	59492	51392	BR Green	Swanage Railway	51356 restored to main line standard.[11]
-	51342	-	51384	BR Green	Epping Ongar Railway	Repainted into BR green from EOR dark blue livery
-	51346	59486	51388	BR Green	Swanage Railway	Overhauled & Mainline Registered.
117444	51360			BR Blue	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway	Has recently been refloored inside, expected to return to BR green in due course.
-	51347	59508	51401	BR Green	Gwili Railway
-	51367	59511	51402	BR Green	Strathspey Railway	51402 and 51367 both now repainted, 59511 being restored
L432	51370	59520	51412	BR Blue	Mid-Norfolk Railway	-
-	51372	-	-	BR Blue	Private site; Titley junction station [12]	-
-	-	59509	51400	BR Green	Wensleydale Railway	Main-line certificated by RESCO
-	51351	-	51397	Green	Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway
L720	51354	-	51396	BR Green	Peak Rail
-	-	-	51375	BR Green	Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway	Rebuilt as an intermediate car by Chiltern Railways for use as a water jetting van. Sold in 2015 to its current owner
-	-	59488	-	Green and Cream	Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
-		59493	-	BR Green	West Somerset Railway
-	-	59494	-	Green and Cream	Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
-	-	59500	-	Green and Cream	Wensleydale Railway
-	-	59501	-	BR Green	Great Central Railway
-	-	59503	-	Chocolate and Cream	Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
-	-	59507	-	Chocolate and Cream	Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
-	-	59513	-	Chocolate and Cream	Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
-	-	59514	-	BR Green	Swindon and Cricklade Railway
-	-	59515	-	Blood and Custard	Yeovil Railway Centre
-	-	59517	-	Chocolate and Cream	Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
-	-	59521	-	Scotrail	Helston Railway
-	-	59522	-	BR Blue and Grey	Chasewater Railway
-	-	59511	-	BR Green	Strathspey Railway
-	51366	-	-	-	-	parts survive [13]
-	-	59505	-	BR Green	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway	Under restoration, owned by Cotswold Diesel Railcar Ltd Archived 13 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine.[14]

References

1. "Preserved Vehicles".
2. "Diesel Multiple Units".
3. "The Taunton Trains Collection Gallery". TauntonTrains.co.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
4. "BR Class Manual" (PDF).
5. "Toddington to Laverton Halt". Retrieved 19 May 2024.
6. "Class 117 DMU".
7. Marks, Roger (15 February 2015). Heritage DMUs: The Final Years. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445640297.
8. "51353".
9. "51352".
10. "51371".
11. "51356".
12. "51372".
13. "Preserved Vehicles".
14. "59505".

• The Railcar Association
• Golding, Brian (1995). A Pictorial Record of British Railways Diesel Multiple Units. Stadhampton: Cheona. ISBN 9781900298001. OCLC 59628291.
• Haresnape, Brian (1985). British Rail Fleet Survey. Vol. 8: Diesel Multiple Units - The First Generation. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711014954. OCLC 810581284.
• Marsden, Colin J. (1986). Motive Power Recognition. Vol. 3 DMUs. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711015708. OCLC 16471467.
• Robertson, Kevin (2004). British Railway Pictorial: First Generation DMUs. Hersham: Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711029705. OCLC 56454643.

Further reading

• Bendall, Simon; Lowery, Dave; Forsythe, Robert (November 2003). "Sound of the suburbs". Model Rail. No. 61. Peterborough: EMAP Apex. pp. 18–24. ISSN 1369-5118. OCLC 173324502.