M59137

M59137 is the sole surviving Class 104 Trailer Composite Lavatory (TCL) which were the centre vehicles in the 3-car 104 formations that the Buxton line was known for for over 30 years. Delivered to Buxton in 1957, M59137 is the oldest class 104 vehicle to survive, being the sixth centre car to be built in a batch that totaled 56 for the London Midland region of BR. It weighs 24 tons and seats 12 people in first class and 51 in second, with a toilet also being included in the rear saloon. The TCL seating arrangement is identical to the more common DMCL, with the layout being identical, except where the cab would be, there is an extra large vestibule with some control equipment in bulkhead mounted boxes and two extra passenger doors (what would be the drivers doors).

M59137 is the most authentic vehicle in the group's long term ambition to form a Buxton 3-car set (alongside 53437 & M53494) being allocated to that depot for most of its life. The vehicle would have been delivered in the early (malachite) green that DMUs were out shopped in during 1957, and was delivered with DMBS M50429 & DMCL M50481. An early sighting of these three vehicles was at Davenport Station on the 29th June 1957 in multiple with Class 111 set M50134 and M56090 noted by J. W. Sutherland. The set would have been painted in the more conventional green (darker, known as ‘loco green’) by 1960. The next 10 years were uneventful, the vehicle running countless trips between Buxton and Manchester Piccadilly sandwiched between a DMBS and DMCL. It received BR Blue livery in the 1970's and continued to run from Buxton, being reformed into many sets as maintenance dictated. In the late 1980's, traditional 3-car formations were being dispersed as sets reduced to Power Twins could then keep to the new Sprinter timings being introduced. Initially, at Buxton, M59137 was inserted between two Class 108 power cars, and then transferred to Chester where it made up set CH375, the 108 centre trailers already having been withdrawn. The 108 driving cars had been refurbished and painted in Blue & Grey, but only a few 104 trailer vehicles were similarly painted meaning the hybrid set which M59137 was a part of, was particularly noticeable with the blue trailer in the middle. The first pictures show M59137 in this formation.

Click to enlarge

BR was withdrawing first generation vehicles at a rate of three cars for every two new second generation vehicles delivered. Therefore centre cars were withdrawn earlier than driving cars to keep the numbers up. M59137 was withdrawn in 1990 and was stored for some time at Chester, the first class section becoming the home of a tramp and his dog for a while. The vehicle was part of a long line of vehicles waiting to be sent for scrap. However the vehicle was purchased in 1992 as part of a bulk buy of twelve vehicles from Kevin Dowd and Robert Simpson. M59137 was moved to the CVR some time later in the mid 1990’s, where it was stored awaiting restoration at Oakamoor Sand Sidings. Ten years in a sand quarry in a damp atmosphere meant the lower bodysides and steel framework beneath rotted beyond repair, with some of the structurally critical "feet" that hold the bottom of the bodyside onto the solebar being found simply missing altogether.

The group’s priority from the 1990’s to 2004 was to get an operational set in service which, at the time, meant one DMBS and one DMCL so M50455 & M50517 were selected as being the best of the five vehicles on the railway. After restoration it was planned to restore a Power-Trailer set using new arrival M56182 and the remaining DMBS 53437 for maintenance cover for M50455 & M50517 After the set entered service however it soon became apparent due to overcrowding on gala events, that extra capacity was needed. Therefore previous restoration plans were put back and M59137's restoration was brought forward the intention being to boost capacity by over 50% by inserting the vehicle in-between M50455 & M50517. Restoration started in late 2005 when the vehicle was dragged out of Oakamoor on the 15th October for stripping to start. By 2006 stripping was complete and it became apparent that the vehicle had probably the worst bodywork of all the vehicles, quite a claim as 104s seem to be one of the worst classes of DMU for rotting! So the group spent the whole of 2006 and most of 2007 completing a lower half re-skin which was eventually completed, the vehicle emerging from the loco shed in December 2007 sporting a shiny coat of gloss green paint. Work had also been done on floors, doors and the roof making the vehicle watertight. The vehicle entered the more suitably equipped carriage shed for a short while where it was re-glazed using the original glass which has been cleaned. M59137 left the carriage shed early in 2008 fully glazed but with corridor ends and toilet window boarded up (as those were not ready) so that the vehicle was watertight for interior restoration to commence.