Bachmann Branchline 35-502 Class 117 3-Car DMU Network Southeast.
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 Railways Western Region for suburban work out of London Paddington. The units were largely based at Reading and Southall depots.
Upon withdrawal of other DMUs, many units were moved from the Western Region to Birmingham and Scotland prior to the delivery of newer units to replace them. The first shake up in ownership occurred in the late 1980s, when the Scottish, Welsh, Cornish and Birmingham based units were transferred to Provincial; later Regional Railways, while the Southall-based units were transferred to Network SouthEast. They were replaced on lines out of Paddington once the Class 165/1 'Turbo' units came into service by 28 November 1992.
They remained in service on the former Western Region until replaced by Class 150 and Class 153 DMUs by 21 May 1993. An attempt was made to remove them from Cornish work using Class 142 "Pacers" but these non bogie units proved to be a liability on the tight Cornish branchline curves causing rail and wheel wear and were therefore moved North 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 12 January 1998, when they were replaced with Class 156s.
For many years, passenger services on the Birmingham Cross-City Line were worked by elderly Class 117s, along with Classes 115, 116, 118 and 121 DMUs and all were withdrawn from service by 1995.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.
The Class 117s when originally built had no marker or tail lights but were subsequently added as units went in for refurbishment in the 70s and 80s.
A red tail lamp would have been placed by the guard to the rear of the train before departure.
Includes a PLUX22 DCC socket.
