51371 Class 117 Driving Motor Brake Second

Home Railway	North Somerset Railway	Location History	Private Site: MOD Long Marston Jun 15-May 19
Current Location	Eastleigh Works		Eastleigh Works May 19-Present
Current Status	Under Restoration
Current Livery	BR Green (Half Yellow Panel)
TRA Designation	5
Partner Vehicle(s)	51413
Owner	DPR Carriage Group
Website	northsomsersetrailway.com
Record Last Updated	1 October 2022
Preservation Modifications None, although the vehicle had spent time on the mainline as a water jetting car, so had been previously heavily modified from original condition for this purpose.
Preservation Information 51371 was part of the last Class 117 set operational on the mainline, out lasting other vehicles by some ten years due to its continued use on the national network as a water jetting train for Chiltern Railways. The vehicle was very heavily modified for this purpose and was preserved in June 2015 after finally being dispensed with nearly 60 years after the vehicle was first built! The water jetting train was a three car unit but the middle coach was sold to a separate organisation. With no operational site, the North Somerset Railway is initially restoring 51371 at the MOD site at Long Marston, with their other stock which includes a Class 121 By 2018 the vehicle was inside the shed with body and conversion work progressing well. In May 2019 the vehicle was moved by rail to Eastleigh Works, however it is not clear how much work has continued at Eastleigh, or whether the restoration has stalled?
Future Plans To rebuild the interior and restore the vehicle as a passenger vehicle once more, mainline registered.

	51371 outside Eastleigh Works, 20/4/20. Carl Watson

	51371 outside Eastleigh Works, 20/4/20. Carl Watson

	51371 outside Eastleigh Works, 3/7/19. Carl Watson

	51371 arriving at Eastleigh Works, 8/5/19. Carl Watson

	51371 inside the shed at Long Marston, with bodywork and conversion work ongoing, 15/2/18. Michael Hughes

	51371 en-route to Tyseley having just been preserved, 28/4/15. Mark Miller

Interior

A somewhat stripped out interior inside 51371, 20/4/20. Carl Watson