Class 109

This pairing of ‘Driving Motor Brake’ (50416) and ‘Driving Trailer’ (56171) are the only working example of the Wickham Class 109 Railcar in the world. After being built at Wickham’s Carriage-works in Ware in 1957, these two vehicles operated together right from the get-go in the British Rail Eastern Region.

With a lightweight aluminium design, the 109 was ideal for work on the labyrinthine network of Branch Lines in East Anglia. Of course, this meant that they quickly became redundant when the infamous Richard Beeching proposed substantial cuts (admittedly somewhat justified) to the British Rail networks, the department suddenly found itself inundated with small, flimsy vehicles unsuited to the destructive running of the mainline. Of the five Class 109 units, two were sent to Trinidad, while ours was modified and repurposed as an Observation and Engineering train for the Eastern Region’s General Manager.

50416 and 56171 were acquired for preservation by the Llangollen Railcar Group in 1994. They were carefully restored at the Butterly works of the Midland Railway over ten years, before making their debut here in February of 2004. The units are reliable and cheap to run, and offer excellent views of the Dee Valley, while boasting an attractive interior ideal for heritage purposes.