56490 Class 108 Driving Trailer Composite Lavatory

Home Railway	Midland Railway Butterley	Location History	Llangollen Railway Sep 93-Nov 17
Current Location	Midland Railway Butterley		Midland Railway Butterley Nov 17-Present
Current Status	Operational
Current Livery	BR Blue & Grey
TRA Designation	4
Partner Vehicle(s)	51907
Owner	Evan Green-Hughes
Website	www.llangollenrailcars.com
Record Last Updated	19 November 2022
Preservation Modifications A public address system is fitted to the vehicle which was used for scenic tours and for educational tours for Welsh language learners when the vehicle was located at the Llangollen Railway.
Preservation Information Withdrawn from British Rail's Longsight depot in Manchester during 1993, 56490 was selected for preservation on the Llangollen Railway, which at the time was expanding the DMU fleet. The vehicle was in good condition, having been through works as late as 1990, so entered service at Llangollen immediately after the fitting of a few replacement seats. In 1999 the vehicle received a full body overhaul & repaint. In 2009, the vehicle was partially repainted and revarnished on one side. More recently a refurbished first class interior has been fitted. Late 2017 saw 56490/51907 sent on hire to the Midland Railway Butterley where it was to replace their Class 127 set which required repairs. As has often been the case in the past, the hire went so well that the set later relocated (on paper) permenently to Butterley. After arrival some deferred maintenence work was undertaken to keep 56490 in good condition. This included the complete wetblasting of the roof down to bare metal, replacing several hundred rivets, and then repainting. The cab dome was also painted with gell paint as it had become porous. The vehicle had a partial repaint on the bodysides, mainly on the grey areas. Internally, all of the metal seat frames were repainted, and the upholstery replaced in the two second class saloons. It also had repairs to the floor outside the toilet area which had been affected by a leak. These works would set 56490 up for its next period of use. An interesting feature of the vehicle is that it is preserved in its final condition, with later Blue & Grey colour scheme, and the refurbished orange Formica interior & strip lighting. As and increasing number of railways "backdate" their DMU vehicles back into original condition (the interiors losing the orange and the exteriors going green), vehicles such as 56490 which truly represent the 1970's/80's/90's are becoming increasingly rare. Interestingly, 56490 & 51907 have never seen separated. They have run their entire BR lives as an original pairing and continue to do so in preservation.
Future Plans To maintain in service.

	M54490 in service at Swanwick Junction, 10/7/22. Ken Jones

	M54490/M51907, with repainted roofs on show, at Swanwick Junction working services on New Years Day, 1/1/20. Evan Green-Hughes

	M54490/M51907 bringing in the New Year operating services at Swanwick Junction, 1/1/19. Stuart Clark

	M54490/M51907 departing Butterley, 18/11/18. Alex Fowles

	M54490/M51907 stabled at Pentrefelin, 14/10/17. Richard Moxon

	M54490/M51907 pass Class 108/127 M56223/M51618 at Carrog during the annual railcar gala, 12/6/16. Michael Cawood

	M54490/M51907 cross the Dee Bridge, 18/10/15. Peter Dickinson

	M54490/M51907 arrive into Llangollen during the "Railcar 60" event, 5/10/14. Chris Moxon

	M54490's cab front in primer, 11/11/13. Llangollen Railcar Group

	M54490's cab front prepped for a repaint, 11/11/13. Llangollen Railcar Group

	M54490/M51907 at Berwyn during the Railcar Gala, 24/6/12. Chris Moxon

	56490 is seen here during the bus rally weekend entering Deeside Halt, 29/8/11. Llangollen Railcar Group

	M54490/M51907 depart Glyndyfrdwy bound for Llangollen, 2/10/10. Chris Moxon

	With Glyndyfrdwy station behind it the class 108 accelerates away in the direction of Deeside Halt, the trailing unit is the Wickham, June 2010. Llangollen Railcar Group

	The class 108 set is often used on the first and last trains of the day during the summer months and is seen here approaching Llangollen Goods Junction with the first Carrog-bound train of the day, 3/5/10.Llangollen Railcar Group

	M54490/M51907 in the beautiful countryside around Glyndyfrdwy, 17/5/09. Chris Moxon

	With the Berwyn mountains in the background M54490 crosses the River Dee and begins its climb into the hills. Llangollen Railcar Group

	An unusual movement during the 2007 gala was of units using tracks to the West of Carrog station for the first time - here M54490 runs back into platform one and is seen from the station overbridge, June 2007. Llangollen Railcar Group

	M54490 rattles across the Dee Bridge at Pentrefelin, with about a mile and a half left to complete its journey to Llangollen, 25/5/07. Llangollen Railcar Group

	M54490 undergoing a repaint at Glyndyfrdwy, 1/5/99. On tour with the class 13 army

	M54490 & M51907 in service at Carrog, 18/6/98. Stuart Mackay

Interior

	M54490's cab, drivers side, 17/3/19. Chris Moxon

	M54490's cab, secondmans side, 17/3/19. Chris Moxon

	M54490's first class saloon, 17/3/19. Chris Moxon

	M54490's middle saloon, not long after the seats were reupholstered, 17/3/19. Chris Moxon

	M54490's rear saloon, not long after the seats were reupholstered, 17/3/19. Chris Moxon

	Old and new driving controllers to be fitted to M54490. Llangollen Railcar Group