The British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

 Class 116 diesel multiple unit

Diesel multiple unit

A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...

s were built by BR Derby

Derby Carriage and Wagon Works

Derby Carriage and Wagon Works was built by the Midland Railway in Derby, England. The plant has been through many changes of ownership and is currently owned by Bombardier Transportation, a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc. of Canada. As of 2011 it is the only remaining passenger rolling stock...

 from 1957 to 1961.

Regular use

These units stayed in regular service until 1990, when they began to be withdrawn from traffic. They were replaced on regional services by the new "Sprinter" derivative units, or by Class 323

British Rail Class 323

The British Rail Class 323 electric multiple units were built by Hunslet TPL from 1992-93. Forty-three 3-car units were built for inner-suburban services around Birmingham and Manchester...

 electric multiple unit

Electric multiple unit

An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

s on services around Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

. The final units lasted in traffic until 1995, although a few saw further use in departmental service, as sandite

Sandite

Sandite is a substance used on railways in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands to combat leaves on the line, which can cause train wheels to slip and become damaged with flat spots...

 or route-learner units. Several of this class have been saved for preservation.

Parcels use

Three units were converted to carry parcels traffic and reclassified as Class 130, though the individual coaches were not renumbered. The units involved were:

• 50819 + 50872
• 50862 + 50915
• 51137 + 51150

To provide extra capacity, they worked with modified General Utility Van

General Utility Van

A General Utility Van is a type of rail vehicle built by British Rail and its predecessors, which was primarily used for transporting mail and parcels. They were used by both Express Parcels Systems, the British Post Office and Railtrack. National Rail and some Train Operating Companies still use...

s (GUV) as centre trailers.

Preservation

5 vehicles have been preserved on heritage railway

Heritage railway

thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

s.

Vehicles Numbers			Set Number	Location	Comments
51131	-	51321	T326	Battlefield Railway	51321 is a Class 118 British Rail Class 118 The British Rail Class 118 diesel multiple units were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company and introduced from 1960....  vehicle.
51134	-	51147	C392	Swansea Vale Railway Swansea Vale Railway |-|colspan="2" width="320"|-History:First opened in 1816 as a tramroad for conveying coal from Scott's Pit, near Birchgrove, to wharves on the River Tawe nearly four miles to the south, the Swansea Vale route grew to become a feeder railway for several mines and metal-working industries in the...	Damaged in arson attack Arson Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...  and subsequently cut up in September 2008.
51135	59445	51148	C393	Swansea Vale Railway Swansea Vale Railway |-|colspan="2" width="320"|-History:First opened in 1816 as a tramroad for conveying coal from Scott's Pit, near Birchgrove, to wharves on the River Tawe nearly four miles to the south, the Swansea Vale route grew to become a feeder railway for several mines and metal-working industries in the...	Damaged in arson attack and subsequently cut up in September 2008.
51138	59501	51151	T333	Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre The Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre is a heritage centre based at Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, the terminus of the northern section of the Great Central Railway . The site includes locomotive and rolling stock workshops , as well as cafeteria and shops...	51138 was used as a sandite vehicle after retirement from normal service. 59501 is a Class 117 British Rail Class 117 The British Rail Class 117 diesel multiple units 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 units on British Railway's Western Region for suburban work out of London Paddington, as well as... vehicle.

External links

• History of the Class 116s