British Rail Class 117

British Rail Class 117
51402 at Northampton & Lamport Railway. This vehicle, along with 51367 has since moved to the Strathspey Railway.
In service	1959–2000
Manufacturer	Pressed Steel Company
Number built	123 cars (42 DMBS, 42 DMS, 39 TCL)
Formation	DMBS-TCL-DMS
Operators	British Rail
Specifications
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)
Maximum speed	70 mph (112 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)
Traction system	Mechanical
Prime mover(s)	BUT (AEC) 150 hp then BUT (Leyland) 150 hp, two per power car
Safety system(s)	AWS
Multiple working	■ Blue Square
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The British Rail Class 117 diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by Pressed Steel from 1959 to 1961.

When first introduced, these three-car units were all based with the similar Class 121 single carriage (railcar) units on British Railway's Western Region for suburban work out of London Paddington, as well as South Wales (specifically Cardiff) and Cornwall. The units were largely based at Southall, Cardiff Canton and Plymouth Laira depots. The units remained here for many years working these services.

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 'Network Turbo' units came into service in the early 1990s.

They soldiered on on the former Western Region until replaced by Class 150 and Class 153 DMUs. An attempt was made to remove them from Cornish work using Class 142 "Skipper/Pacer" units, but these non bogie 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. They continued to work in Scotland until the turn of the millennium, where they were replaced with class 150s and Class 170 Turbostar DMUs.

For many years, passenger services on the Birmingham Cross-City Line were worked by elderly Class 117, along with Class 115, 116, 118 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 Silverlink, 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

• 
  A Rail Blue and Grey liveried three car Class 117 DMU at Peterborough Nene Valley railway station on the preserved, heritage Nene Valley Railway.
• 
  The unpowered centre TCL vehicle from a Class 117 DMU.
• 
  The interior of the mid 1980s refurbished First Class cabin, in Network SouthEast moquette, aboard a three car Class 117 DMU.
• 
  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, several units have been preserved on heritage railways.

Set number	Vehicle numbers			Livery	Location	Notes
	DMBS	TCL	DMS
117204	51365	-	51407	BR Green	Plym Valley Railway	Currently on loan to Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway
117301	51353	-	51395	Regional Railways	Swanage Railway	Currently in store at private location
117310	51381	-	-	Regional Railways	Mangapps Railway Museum	-
117311	51352	59505	51376	BR Green	West Somerset Railway	Currently stored at Minehead, awaiting restoration.
117313	51339	-	51382	BR Green	Vale of Glamorgan Railway	Currently on loan to Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway
L701	-	-	51392	Network SouthEast	Swanage Railway	Currently in store at private location
L702	51356	-	51398	Network SouthEast	Swanage Railway	Currently in store at private location
117704	51341	-	-	Network SouthEast	Swanage Railway	Currently in store at private location
117709	51359	-	-	Network SouthEast	Northampton & Lamport Railway	To be scrapped for spares
-	51342	-	51384	BR Green	Epping Ongar Railway	Repainted into BR green from EOR dark blue livery
-	51346	59516	51388	BR Green	Swanage Railway	-
117444	51360			BR Blue	Ecclesbourne Valley Railway	Just had roof repaint
-	51347	59508	51401	BR Blue/Grey	Gwili Railway	-
-	51367	59511	51402	BR Green	Strathspey Railway	51402 repainted, 51367 due repaint. Running as DMBS+DMS (59511 being restored).
-	51370	-	51412	BR Green	Chasewater Railway	-
-	51372	-	-	BR Blue	Chasewater Railway	-
-	-	-	51400	BR Green	Mid-Hants Railway	Main-line certificated by RESCO
-	51351	-	51397	Green	Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway

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