THE CLASS 101 FAREWELL SPECIAL Sunday 21 December 2003: The souvenir booklet

Created by Charlie Hulme

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Life and Times |  Farewell Tour Traveller's Guide  | Timings of the train  |  Last of the Many

The Life and Times of Class 101

Class 101 – the Metro-Cammell diesel-mechanical multiple-unit trains, or just the Met-Cam DMUs – have been, except for just one rebuilt single-unit on the Chiltern line, the last survivors in National Rail passenger service of a type of train built in thousands by several manufacturers, mostly in the late 1950s. The term ‘railcar’ has been used for this type of vehicle, but the provision in the BR vehicles for several two- or three- car trains to be coupled together and driven by one driver caused BR to refer to them as diesel multiple unit trains, or DMUs, an ugly term but one which remains in common use.

As early as the 1930s, railway companies realised that steam trains, with their need for a fireman as well as a driver, and long preparation times at the start of each working day, were not an efficient way to run branch lines and other rural services. The Great Western Railway, in particular, had worked with AEC, builders of buses and lorries, to develop a diesel railcar design which developed into a small fleet. The nationalized concern British Railways (BR), created in 1948, resolved to continue the development,  but it was 1952 before orders were placed with BR’s own Derby works for prototype  two-car diesel trains. This first batch of eight sets, which appeared in 1954, had Leyland engines and transmissions, but this concept was abandoned for a second order in favour of the AEC engine, fluid flywheel and Wilson epicyclic gearbox of the Great Western design. This became the norm for the great majority of DMUs built over the next few years, including most of the large fleet of Metro-Cammell products.

For comparison with the railway’s own products, in 1954 an order for 36 2-car trains to be built by the Metropolitan-Cammell company at their Washwood Heath works near Birmingham. 29 were destined for East Anglian branch lines, and the other 7 for the Bury – Bacup service north of Manchester. These first units, delivered to BR in 1955, established the characteristic Metro-Cammell body design, with its bright window frames, lack of a continuous gutter between the roof and sides.  The raked-back cab end with three windows was later adopted in a slightly different form by BR Derby works, and its influence can even be traced in the Class 142 ‘Pacer’ units built 30 years later. Passengers in front seats were offered a forward view, although the driver could pull down blinds to prevent reflection problems at night; in later years it has become customary to keep these blinds down all the time.

While these trains were being built and their inevitable teething troubles being resolved, the Government announced the great Modernisation Plan of 1955 which offered millions of pounds to the railway to introduce new equipment and practices. The DMUs were an obvious choice for investment, especially as prototypes were already running, and over 4,000 vehicles were built in a very short period, the last (apart from a few intended for inter-city services) being delivered in 1961. The trains were built in one-, two-, three-car form depending on the planned type of service; some of the vehicles were ‘trailer’ cars without engines, which would be formed in the middle of 3- and 4-car sets, or driving-trailers with a driving cab as the one car of a two-car train for use in the flatter areas of the UK.

Of this huge fleet, Metro-Cammell were responsible for 760 vehicles, built betweem 1956 and 1959; the first order was actually placed in early 1955 before any of the prototype batch had entered traffic. Three varieties existed, according to the make of diesel engine used. AEC-engined trains were later classified 101 in the system introduced by BR in the 1970s, and those with a more powerful Rolls-Royce engine Class 111. Some were built with Leyland ‘680H’ engines,  and became Class 102, although from the late 1970s all the AEC engines were replaced by Leyland ones, as spares for the AEC ones were no longer available; classes 101 and 102 were merged as class 101.

The ‘Beeching’ cuts which closed many branch lines and rural stations reduced the requirement for DMUs, and the prototype units, which could not be worked ‘in multiple’ with the main batch, vanished by 1969, but the Met-Cams were seen as good trains and the majority of the scrapping orders went to some of the less reliable units from other makers. In the mid-1970s, with no money available for new trains, it was decided to refurbish some of the best of the 1950s units, and many Class 101s were given the treatment which included removal of asbestos insulation, new upholstery, a better heating system and a full-length gutter between sides and roof. At first a white livery was used for these refurbished trains, but this was soon abandoned as impractical and replaced by the BR standard blue and grey,  a definite improvement over the all-over blue which had replaced green in the 1960s.

In this form, 101s soldiered on, a familiar sight in many parts of Britain: it was not until the mid-1980s that any new trains began to appear to replace them. Even after all the new orders for ‘Pacers’ and ‘Sprinters’ were completed by 1990, and most of the old DMUs removed from passenger service, it became clear to the Regional Railways sector of British Rail that they did not have quite enough rolling stock to run all the required services, and it was decided to carry out a low-cost ‘facelifting’ of a few units at Doncaster works to keep them in service for a ‘couple of years’ longer: all the chosen survivors were Class 101s.

The facelifted units were initially spread around the country, allocated to depots at Cardiff, Norwich, Tyseley (Birmingham) , Laira (Plymouth), Longsight (Manchester), Haymarket (Edinburgh) and Corkerhill (Glasgow.) In the Manchester area, this marked a revival of the type after services had been largely worked by other makes of DMU. They were given the pleasant grey and blue Regional Railways livery, except the Glasgow units which carried the orange and black of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive. Nearly all were two-car sets, except for two which were intended of use on the Conwy Valley branch in North Wales which were three cars. One of these 3-car sets, 101 685, was painted in a version of original 1950s green and featured on a nostalgic tourist poster: ‘Daisy’ as it came to be known, managed to survived several ‘last runs’ to remain in public service (in 2-car form) to the end of 2003, even though one of its coaches, 53160, one of the very earliest of the type, first entered service as E50160 47 years earlier in December 1956. A tribute indeed to the work of the original designers.

On privatization of the railways in the late 1990s, the 101s came into the ownership of leasing company Angel Trains.  By 2000, several had been withdrawn from service, and all the remainder were based at Longsight depot and working for First North Western in the Manchester and North Wales areas, including some of the orange Glasgow units and one (101 692) which had been painted in a version of Caledonian Railway blue to celebrate the new Motherwell to Cumbernauld service in 1997. By the autumn of 2003, just six two-units remained.  These six trains between them carried four different colour schemes: three grey and blue, one orange and black, one green and one Caledonian blue. Sadly, the blue one suffered a major mechanical failure in November 2003, leaving just five units, of which three were needed for Monday – Friday services on services from Manchester Piccadilly to Marple, Rose Hill and New Mills Central.

The last passenger 101s are being withdrawn at the end of 2003, even though First North Western remains rather short of rolling stock, because they no longer meet modern safety standards. The doors cannot be centrally locked by the conductor to stop them being opened while the train is moving, and the fire-extinguishing system for the under-floor engines uses Halon gas which is forbidden by international legislation. The expenditure required on such old trains is not considered worthwhile. However, 101s will still be around: some are passing on to ‘heritage railways’ for further service, and some have been converted for use by the railway’s engineering and research contractors.

As for Metro-Cammell, they went on to build some of the replacements for the 101s, notably the Class 156 which are a familiar sight on several routes around the country once traveled by 101s, and the modern Class 175s. Ironically, it is largely due to the many problems encountered by First North Western with the Class 175 design that the 101s have survived into the 21^st century.

Class 101 technical data

All the remaining First North Western vehicles are powered, each having two Leyland type 680H diesel engines rated at 150 horsepower each (the horizontal version a type designed for road buses.) The engine drives the train through a ‘fluid flywheel’ and epicyclic gearbox combination which allow the driver to select between the four gear ratios provided with no need for a clutch. A freewheel device is also provided to permit the train to run freely when coasting downhill without the engine being forced to turn faster, and from there the drive is carried by a ‘Cardan shaft’ with universal joints to ‘final drive’  gearing on the axles. This final drive requires careful maintenance: lack of lubrication can cause it to sieze solid, creating a fire risk and rendering the train immovable.  One engine drives the second of the four axles, the other engine drives the third. Up to six engines can be controlled by the driver in the front cab, which has indicator lights to show the driver that all engines are running. This multiple control is achieved by a compressed-air system through flexible pipes between vehicles.  The cab controls are analogous to those of a road vehicle: to the driver’s left is a throttle handle which controls the fuel feed to the engines and also acts as ‘dead-man’s handle’: it is sprung in such a way that unless the driver holds it down with his hand the train brakes will be applied after a short delay. To the right is the gear handle with its brass forward/reverse handle which is removed, along with the handle of the adjacent vacuum brake control, and taken away by the driver to prevent tampering when the cab is unattended.

Each coach is 57 feet long and 9’3” wide, and runs on two four-wheel bogies of a very basic pre-war design: smooth running has seldom been a feature of the 101s. The corridor connections, too, are to an old design very different to that fitted to the locomotive-hauled coaches built in the 1950s. Maximum speed was set at 70 mph. Coupling of vehicles is by the traditional screw coupling, and all cars are fitted with standard railway buffers. It was envisaged that DMUs would be able to haul one of two goods wagons on branch line services, but this was never common.  They could easily be hauled by locomotives in case of mechanical problems or ‘leaves on the line’ and this became common in the later years of some types; latterly, however, few locomotives on the National Network remain fitted with vacuum braking, so any haulage has to be at low speed and only in emergency.

‘Daisy’

The unofficial nickname of green unit 101 685 derives from the ‘Railway Series’ (or ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ as they are now commonly known) books by the late Revered Willard Awdry. Daisy, one of the few female characters in the Awdry stories, first made her appearance in the book Branch Line Engines, published in 1961; as a single-coach unit she was inspired by the two single ‘Derby Lightweight’ vehicles built for use on the branch line between  Buckingham and Banbury, but a 00 scale model was needed for the Rev. Awdry’s exhibition layout, and the only model easily available was the Triang Metro-Cammell two-car unit, so one coach of this given an extra cab and a face to play the role. The green colour scheme was that worn by all British Railways diesels at the time.

Despite suffering from mechanical problems, Daisy kept the Ffarquhar branch line alive, just as the real DMUs were doing at the same time. Awdry’s stories were set on the imaginary island of Sodor, which he envisaged of the coast between Barrow-in-Furness and the Isle of Man, connected to the national network near Barrow, so one of the destinations of our farewell train seems quite appropriate. Of course, Daisy’s fictional existence offers a fine excuse for preserved railways to paint a face on a DMU and use it on ‘Thomas the Tank’ weekends hopefully 101 685 will appear on one of these lines in due course.

The Class 101 Farewell, 21 December 2003: Traveller’s guide

Manchester – Buxton

The train departs from Manchester Piccadilly Station, opened by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway in 1842 as London Road. It was renamed Piccadilly in 1960 as part of the modernization at the time the line to Crewe was electrified. The roof over the platforms is the original Victorian structure, although the buildings around the concourse were rebuilt in the 1960s and again in 2001-2.

The viaduct south of Piccadilly carries six running lines; the two to the east were part of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, which turns off our route after less than a mile at Ardwick. The final regular workings of the Class 101s took this eastern line on to reach Marple and New Mills Central.  Continuing on the M & B route towards Stockport we pass through the extensive complex known as Longsight depot and currently operated by the Alstom Traincare organisation. On our left is the carriage maintenance shed, with Longsight Diesel Depot (LO) - where the Class 101s have been maintained – behind, and the Electric depot (LG) at the south end of the site. On our right, one platform remains of Longsight station, closed in 1960 and familiar to many of a certain age as the destination of excursion trains to the Belle Vue Zoo, Circus and Pleasure Gardens. Beyond is the depot built for Eurostar trains when it was planned to run through from Manchester to the Continent, and a wheel lathe depot where trains of all kinds get their tyres restored to the correct profile. Soon afterwards, at Slade Lane Junction, a loop line goes off to the right to Wilmslow via Styal, opened in 1909 to relieve congestion in the Stockport area and develop suburban traffic, and now forming part of the busy link to Manchester Airport.

After Heaton Norris Junction, where the line from Stalybridge joins, the train passes the impressive London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Goods Depot at Heaton Norris (now used b a storage company) on the left, and crosses the Mersey Valley on Stockport Viaduct,  whose 26 brick arches dominate the town: the local council claims it as ‘the largest brick structure in Europe’ containing a total of 11 million bricks, and it has featured in paintings by L.S. Lowry and others. To the left is a good view of the whole town center, including Wellington Mill, now the museum of hat-making, once Stockport’s principal industry. The viaduct was widened from two tracks to four in the 1880s: it is said that the LNWR originally planned to build a steel viaduct alongside the brick one, but Stockport council insisted that brick should be used.

Stockport is a rare surviving example of a major junction station still operated in the old-fashioned way using a signalbox at each end of the station, communicating by bell codes with each other and the two further signalboxes at Edgeley Junctions a  just south of the station. Cost-cutting back in the 1950s when the line with electrified, followed by a series of technical delays in the last few years, led to this situation, although the new computerized signaling center on the site of the old locomotive shed is planned to take over some time soon.  We pass this site on our right, with the ground of Stockport County FC beyond, and then take the left-hand line at Edgeley Junction on to the branch to Buxton, opened in 1857 as far as Whaley Bridge and completed to Buxton in 1863.

The Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge line was supported by the local squire, Thomas Legh of Lyme Park, to provide a link to his estate at Disley, so rather than take the easier route up the valley of the River Goyt, the line had to make a direct assault on the foothills of the Peak District, beyond Hazel Grove (2 miles from Stockport) the builders had to carry the line most of the way to Disley on a high embankment, broken only by a cutting and tunnel at Middlewood which take the line under the Macclesfield Canal. A tunnel beyond Disley station takes the line into the valley of the Goyt, which is remarkable for the number of transport links following the river: the A6 main road, the Marple – New Mills road on the other side, the Peak Forest Canal, the Midland Railway’s original route from London St Pancras to Manchester via New Mills and Marple, and the 1902 cut-off line from New Mills South Junction to Cheadle Heath through the long Disley Tunnel, can all be seen to the left of our train as we pass through New Mills to Whaley Bridge, 10 Miles from Stockport.

At Whaley Bridge, the line made a junction with the Cromford and High Peak line, one of Britain’s very earliest railways, built to connect the Peak Forest Canal with the Cromford Canal on the other side of the water-less limestone hills. There are still many traces of the C & HPR in the town, as although much of its northern section closed in 1892, lines in Whaley were retained until 1952 to serve local industry. Our train, now running on the Buxton extension opened in 1863, leaves the Goyt valley and begins a steep climb at 1 in 58 for the next seven miles.  Chapel-en-le-Frith, the next station, is high above the town. The 1950s-design signalbox here replaced the LNWR original which was demolished in February 1957 when a runaway freight train collided with another standing in the station. The driver of the runaway, John Axon, who stayed on the footplate of the Class 8F steam loco trying to operate the brakes even though the cab had filled with scalding steam, died in the crash and was posthumously awarded the George Cross. The whole story was related in a BBC ‘radio ballad’ by Ewan McColl and Charles Parker.

Leaving Chapel, our line crosses the Midland Railway line to Buxton (now freight-only) and uses a horseshoe curve to gain height before passing through Dove Holes station to Bibbington summit at around 1100 feet above sea level, before a short descent into the terminus at Buxton, a historic spa dating back to Roman times and one of the highest market towns in England. At Buxton, the Midland Railway and LNWR stations once faced each other across the road, but the Midland station closed in the 1960s and has been obliterated by a relief road: the two stations had matching end windows, designed by Joseph Paxton of Crystal Palace fame.  After a short break in Buxton, we retrace our route to Manchester Piccadilly.

Manchester to Heysham

At Manchester Piccadilly, our train will use the through platforms on the west side, built as part of the Manchester South Junction line, an early effort (opened in 1849) to connect together the rail networks to the north and south of the city. Running for a mile and a half through Oxford Road and Deansgate stations to a junction with the Liverpool and Manchester line at Ordsall Lane, virtually the whole route is on a viaduct of brick arches, many of which are leased to a variety of commercial operations including pubs and workshops. Oxford Road station’s buildings had to be made from wood to reduce the load on the arches below; the current structures, dating from 1960s, may have inspired the Sydney Opera House built soon afterwards.  At Ordsall Lane, our train takes a much more modern piece of line, the Windsor Link, built in the late 1980s to allow trains from the south to run through to Bolton and stations beyond. Salford Crescent station at the end if this link was opened at the same time: alongside the station is an undistinguished building which is the signalling centre for the whole of the north Manchester area.

As we climb the Irwell Valley from Salford to Bolton we are on the metals of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation Railway, opened in 1838 and later absorbed into the Lancashire and Yorkshire company. Traces of the original canal can still be seen in places. The two parallel tunnels at Farnworth will be noted: originally there was one double-track tunnel, but this was not wide enough to pass the Midland Railway’s Pullman coaches required for a through service to Scotland over the Settle and Carlisle line, so the northbound line was moved to a new tunnel in 1880.

After Bolton station (the current main buildings date from 1904) we join the Bolton and Preston Railway of 1843, and pass through Horwich Parkway station, built in the 1990s to serve the nearby stadium, Blackrod, once the junction for the branch to Horwich and the Lancashire and Yorkshire loco works to Chorley with its long stone-faced cutting built after the contractors abandoned attempts to make a tunnel.  Euxton, where a station was created in World War II to serve the now-closed Royal Ordnance Factory’s thousands of workers, is passed soon before joining the West Coast Main Line at Euxton Junction for the fast run through Leyland to Preston.

Preston is Britain’s newest City, awarded the status in April 2002 by the Queen in celebration of her Golden Jubilee. Its station, with its large central island platform, was once the place where London – Glasgow expresses paused for 20 minutes while the passengers obtained meals in the station refreshment room; our train also makes a half-hour refreshment stop here.  Preston is the junction for the important lines to Blackpool and Blackburn, but we continue north on the main line,  this section having been built by the Lancaster and Preston Junction company in 1840. No intermediate stations remain open, the last one, Garstang and Catterall, having closed in 1969; as we approach Lancaster the buildings of the University can be seen to the right of the line.

Lancaster station is adjacent to the historic Lancaster Castle, and the designers of the station clearly attempted to match the castle in architectural style. The oldest standing  parts of the castle date back to Norman times, and parts of it are still in use as a prison today. Leaving Lancaster, we cross the River Lune by an impressive bridge before turning off the main line at Morecambe South Junction on to the short branch line leading to the simple terminus at Morecambe, where our train will reverse. Once, the line continued beyond this point to the Midland Railway’s impressive 1907-built terminus at Morecambe Promenade, but this was closed in the 1994 in favour of this new station nearer the town centre. Morecambe, famous as a holiday resort, was originally created as a port for Irish ferries, but its harbour became inadquate and operations were transferred to a new port at nearby Heysham.

The line to Heysham Port branches right just outside Morecambe station, and runs for four miles to the ferry terminal station at Heysham Port, which today sees a few trains connecting with the ferries to the Isle of Man, but until 1975 saw a daily express from London – the Ulster Express – connecting with ferries to Northern Ireland. The train was hauled into Heysham by a steam locomotive until 1968, being the very last regular steam-hauled express on British Rail, apart from ‘steam specials.’ The Morecambe – Heysham line is interesting in that (along with the now-abandoned Midland route from Lancaster) was one of the first railways in the UK to be electrified on the AC overhead wire system, the Midland Railway having switched on their 6600 volt 25 Hz supply in 1908, using this line as a pilot with a view to possible use on other routes. The system was never extended, but the original trains kept running to Heysham until 1951. In the 1950s, after a period of steam working,  British Railways installed a new equipment, and used the line as a test-bed for the AC electrification of the West Coast main lines. This second electrification lasted until 1966.

Heysham to Barrow-in-Furness

Our train reverses at Heysham, and again at Morecambe, retracing its route as far as Bare Lane Junction where we take the northern arm of the triangle, normally used by just one train per day at present, re-joining the West Coast Main Line at Hest Bank, the only place between London and Glasgow where West Coast main line passengers get a glimpse of the sea. Six miles to the north, at Carnforth, we turn off left from the Lancaster and Carlisle route (opened 1846) on to the line to Barrow, once the main line of the Furness Railway company.

Carnforth station, which was a junction station until 1970 when the platforms on the Lancaster - Carlisle lines were closed, is probably most famous today for its appearance in 1945 film Brief Encounter starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, in which it played the part of ‘Milford Junction’ at which the illicit lovers met in the station buffet. In November 1996 the Carnforth Station and Railway Trust Co. Ltd. was formed to attempt to rejuvenate the station which was falling into dereliction, and the refurbished ‘Joyce, Whitchurch’  clock on the platform stands as a symbol of their efforts.

Leaving Carnforth around the sharp curve leading to the Furness line, we pass on the left the ‘Steamtown’ site, which was once a steam locomotive depot and later became a working museum with many steam locos on display. It serves today as the working base for the West Coast Railway Company, overhauling and maintaining heritage locos and stock, but sadly public access was withdrawn in 1997.

Daylight will be fading at this time of year as we head west along the line of the Carnforth and Ulverston Railway, opened in 1857 as a direct link between the Furness Railway’s system and the main line to London. At Arnside we cross the bridge over the Kent estuary, and follow the shore of Morecambe Bay the resorts of Grange-over-Sands and Kents Bank. Unfortunately, although at the time the line was built stone sea walls were needed to stop the sea from flooding the town of Grange, the sea has now receded considerably, leaving an expanse of mud and grass where there was once a beach. The line turns inland to the station at Cark, handy for visitors to the stately home at Holker Hall as well as the abbey and racecourse at Cartmel.  Another long bridge takes us across the estuary of the Leven river, which flows out of Lake Windermere, to the old market town of Ulverston, home of George Fox, the founder of The Society of Friends (Quakers), and Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame. Ulverston was once junction for the branch line to Lake Side (Windermere) built by the Furness Railway to encourage tourist traffic to their lake steamer service: this line was closed by British Rail in 1965, but the northern section from Haverthwaite to Lake Side remains in use as a preserved tourist line. 

Ten miles beyond Ulverston, having taken the left-hand route at Dalton Junction where a short link allows freight trains to travel north on to the Cumbrian Coast, our train arrives at Barrow-in-Furness station, furthest point of our journey, where a half-hour break is scheduled.  The station on this site opened in 1882 to replace an earlier terminal station and allow trains to run through to Millom and Carlisle without reversing. Little remains of the 1882 buildings, however, as the station was destroyed by German bombing in World War II, Barrow being a prime target because of its steel and shipbuilding industries. The current buildings date mostly from the 1950s.

From Barrow, our train returns to Carnforth and direct via Preston and Bolton to Manchester Piccadilly.

Author’s note

Last of the Many: the First North Western Class 101s

by David Russell

101 676 (51205+51803)

101 678 (51210+53746)

101 680 (53204+51511)

101 685 (53164+53160)

101 693 (51192+53266)

Timings for train 1T01, Sunday December 21 2003

3 x 2-car Class 101

===================================================

Manchester Piccadilly         dep 11.30  platform 4

Stockport                     arr 11.42  platform 1

                              Dep 11.44

Hazel Grove                    arr 11.50

                              Dep 11.52

Buxton                        arr 12.27 (reverse)

                              Dep 12.55

Stockport                     arr 13.24  plaform 3

                              Dep 13.27

Manchester Piccadilly         arr 13.39  platform 14

                              Dep 13.41

Manchester Oxford Rd        arr 13.42  platform 1

                              Dep 13.45

Bolton                        arr 13.58 (N)

                              Dep 14.00

Preston                       arr 14.23  Platform 6

                              Dep 14.57

Lancaster                     arr 15.18 (N)

                              Dep 15.20

Morecambe                     arr 15.29 (N)(reverse)

                              Dep 15.33

Heysham Port                arr 15.44 (N) (reverse)

                              Dep 15.54

Morecambe                     arr 16.04 (N) (reverse)

                              Dep 16.08

Carnforth                     pass 16.20

Barrow-in-Furness             arr 17.00 (N)(reverse)

                              Dep.17.35

Carnforth                     pass 18.15

Lancaster                     pass 18.20

Preston                       arr 18.42 (N)

                              Dep 18.44

Bolton                        arr 19.09

                              Dep.19.12

Manchester Oxford Road      arr 19.26 platform 4

                              Dep 19.29

Manchester Piccadilly         arr 19.30 platform 13

(N) indicates a non-passenger stop.

Total mileage 235 miles 19 Chains.

Compiled by Charlie Hulme, December 2003. Comments welcome at charlie@dweb.u-net.com