M51131 & W51321

M51131 is built to standard Derby DMU design and entered service on the Western Region of BR in 1958 as part of one of over 100 3-car sets. After a brief spell at Newport it spent most of its life at Tyseley before being displaced by electric units and withdrawn with a failed gearbox in 1993. Happily it was saved and moved to the Battlefield Line. W51321 was also a Derby design 3-car set, but was one of 15 built by BRCW (who also made 104s!) as BR couldn't produce them fast enough. It surprisingly ran in the same formation all its life around Bristol & Plymouth before being moved to Tyseley in 1987 where it was withdrawn 4 years later. After a 3 year spell as a Sandite Car it was purchased and moved to the Battlefield line, becoming the only Class 118 to survive. M51131 was complete and returned to service in 1994, a year after purchase, W51321 had been robbed of parts however and it was 1998 before it was running, having been relocated to Battlefield a year previously. The two have since been paired and have run in Blue & Grey during preservation. The set visited the Severn Valley Railway in 2004 for the Railcar50 event, and was repainted into Blue on one side only in 2006.

M51131 & W51321 visited the CVR in September 2008 from the Battlefield Line. The two coaches, being high density, were perfect for the events planned. After a test run mid week, the set was put in multiple with M50455/M50517 for the very first passenger service to Oakamoor, which was on the 21st September. The set proved popular as most seating bays has a window that would slide down, allowing visitors to look out all along the train. The weather was wall to wall sunshine, and perfect for a historic day. The weekend after, the set was working alongside M50455/M50517 on public services to Oakamoor, again another popular weekend with good weather. After running a one-off driver experience in the week following the gala, the set returned to its home, where it was booked to operate for a diesel gala.