51151 Class 116 Driving Motor Second

Home Railway	Great Central Railway (North)	Location History	Colne Valley Railway Jun 95-Sep 01
Current Location	Great Central Railway (North)		Great Central Railway (North)Sep 01-Present
Current Status	Stored
Current Livery	BR Green (Half Yellow Panel)	Visited Railways	East Kent Railway Jul 97-Nov 98
TRA Designation	1
Partner Vehicle(s)	59501 & 51138
Owner	Nottingham Railcar Group
Website	None
Record Last Updated	1 October 2022
Preservation Modifications None
Preservation Information 51151 was preserved in 1995 along with partner 51138 which had latterly been running as set T003 on the BR network. The set joined the rapidly expanding fleet of Pressed Steel Heritage based on the Colne Valley Railway. Interestingly, this vehicle, which would be later become the only one of its type preserved, was originally preserved as a source of spare parts. Just over a year into preservation, 51151 was placed on loan to the East Kent Railway for a period of 12 months before returning to the Colne Valley Railway. In 1999, the set was expanded to 3 cars with the addition of Class 117 TCL 59501. At some point during the late 1990's, the vehicle was reupholstered. Surplus to requirements, 51151, 59501 & 51138 were sold onto the Nottingham Railcar Group in 2001 and moved to their base at the Great Central Railway (North) who set about on restoration tasks on the vehicle. Over the winter of 2001/2002 the roof was restored and repainted. In July 2002 the set was relaunched into traffic at the GCR(N). In 2008, a major arson attack on the Swansea Vale Railway resulted in the other two preserved Class 116 DMS vehicles being scrapped. 51151 had therefore become a unique vehicle. By 2011 the vehicle was reported to be out of traffic, and was stored until resources became available for its overhaul. In the summer of 2016 some emergency bodywork repairs were undertaken to the cab and first passenger doorway area, as water was getting in at an alarming rate. Once an amount of metalwork had been replaced, 51151 was returned to storage and the restoration of 51138 returned to.
Future Plans 51151 will be overhauled and returned to service once the restoration of partner 51138 is completed.

	51151 after a few emergency bodywork rep[airs had been made to the front end, following which the vehicle was returned to storage, 28/1/17. Nottingham Railcar Group

	W51151 awaits its turn for attention, 20/2/16. Brian Battersby

	A cab view of W51151, stored at Ruddington, 18/6/14. Zoe Hunter

	W51151 awaiting restoration, 14/7/13. Jack Needham

	51151 undergoing repairs at Ruddington, 11/2/12. DC-7C

	51151 & 59501 undergoing restoration work at Ruddington, 15/5/11. David Beardmore

	51151, split from its partner vehicles, at Ruddington, 18/4/10. Nigel Gould

	51151 stored at Ruddington, 15/7/09. Ken Jones

	51151 & 51131 in service at Rushcliffe Halt, 11/10/08. David Beardmore

	51151 at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre, 2005. Thomas Horrocks-Taylor

	51151 on the Colne Valley Railway, 31/5/01. Stuart Mackay

Interior

The front portion of 51151 stripped out to allow for a few emergency bodywork repairsa round the front end where water had been getting in, 28/1/17. Nottingham Railcar Group