30th Annual Railcar Convention

Battlefield Line, 2nd-4th October 2026.

Report and photographs by Chris Moxon, additional images Paul Hughes.

Introduction

The 2026 event was held at the Battlefield Line, who had hosted exactly 20 years previously. Both conventions were masterminded by Ritchie Marcus, the lead of the resident DMU group, who presented all three of the suburban design vehicles in the long-term collection. A fourth Class 101 vehicle, recently arrived at the railway and involved in third party works, was delightfully able to be resurrected specially for the event in an unrestored but operating condition. This certainly provided a fun addition to the line up and provided an additional draw more normally associated with a visiting gala vehicle!

Friday

Friday saw the traditional driver experiences operate, using unique Class 118 51321 paired with the only operating Class 116 powercar 51131. For most, if not all, the participants this was their first opportunity to take the controls of these rare classes, so it represented a unique experience. Surprisingly the slots did not completely sell out with one remaining unsold, hopefully not a fact that will be repeated too often in the future and a reminder that if these experience days are to continue, they must be supported by members.

The 116/118 pairing shuttled up and down all day between Shackerstone and Shenton complete with intermediate stops at Market Bosworth, whilst preparations for the main day (Saturday) continued to be made at Shackerstone. Some members even assisted with some window cleaning whilst waiting for their turn in the driving seat!

Saturday

The main day of the gala saw an all-DMU service provided on an hourly frequency from Shackerstone and a total of nine round trips operated successfully, significantly more than the four trips normally operated at this time of year. The original plan was for the Class 116/118 to operate as one set with the Class 122 and "extra" Class 101 51511 paired as a second 2-car set, each operating three trips each with a further three trips in the middle of the day as a 4-car. However, due to some multiple working issues the roster was juggled around with the Class 101 only performing for a couple of well selected trips, with the 4-car happening for one trip which was a great sight and achievement given the challenges of getting a vehicle out of bed that had been sleeping for over 13 years!

Everything was different compared with the previous convention of 2006, with the Class 122 now in blue (previously green) and the 116/118 sporting original green (previously blue & grey). Market Bosworth station had been opened/developed since last time which supported a full complement of buffets, shops and museums that the line has to offer.

Also present was 51511's former partner, DMBS 50204, which was on display at Market Bosworth in the closed loop/platform. It was clear how much better condition 51511 was in bodily compared to 50204, which has a future involving providing spare mechanical parts for '511 before being configured for static use.

Formal Meeting

The annual meeting was held in the goods shed at market Bosworth, perfectly timed to connect with the 4-car 14:00 service from Shackerstone. The meeting was conducted between 14:30 and 16:00 and there were 33 delegates in attendance (sadly no dogs this year!) from a variety of railways. Apologies were received from Ben Darby, Kevin Dowd, Tom Hatton, Nigel Smith and Simon Thomas.

The meeting kicked off with Paul Moxon's Chairman's welcome where he thanked Ritchie Marcus and the Battlefield Line for hosting us before speaking briefly on our continued cooperation for parts manufacture, including the very latest development on freewheel overhaul units. He then raised the topic of the changing heritage landscape and the challenges of falling numbers but noted the important developments with young volunteers.

The main presentations commenced with Coen Bos from the Battlefield Line giving an interesting brief history of the line itself. Built by the Ashby and Nuneaton joint, collieries and the resulting traffic provided the impetus for the construction and whilst including a passenger service originally, this ceased early on in 1931 with full closure in the 1960's. Other interesting facts included Market Bosworth's supply connections with the liberation of France and the use of London North Western Railway steam railmotors. Coen finished with an explanation on what was built and artifacts moved to create the heritage railway we know today.

Main host and Battlefield stalwart Ritchie Marcus followed with a verbal history of the DMU's at the Battlefield. Starting in the 1970's the railway had a two rare Class 103 vehicles used as hauled stock/pseudo-observation cars until the 1990's. Proper (i.e. powered) DMU use started with Class 122 bubblecar 55005 which came about following a failed tender bid of an LMS observation car. The DMU proved to be so fun that a matching trailer car, class 121 56289, was obtained to form a 2-car set at busier times. Reliance on one powercar was deemed vulnerable so Class 116 51131 was bought from Tyseley and proved to be in excellent condition initially requiring very little work. The final addition for the DMU group was unique Class 118 51321 which in comparison was a "silly purchase" as it was badly stripped and damaged. However, the work was done using parts from donor 116 50881 by 1998 with 51321 restored to traffic, most fortuitously as it became the only Class 118 to escape scrap. An interesting comment was that the 118 was not bought for its historical significant, it was a coincidence and was "just an available vehicle from Tyseley" at that time. With the fleet completed, the 121 trailer was eventually deemed surplus and sold on, leaving the 116, 118 & 122 powercars as the long term fleet we know today, each vehicle being able to substitute for each other so a 2-car set can be available at all times with one of the three out for maintenance or bodywork etc. There were also a series of hauled stock centre cars throughout the 1990's and 2000's that were separate and administered by the railway. These included a unique Class 110, later swapped and acquired to run in a full 110 set elsewhere, an also unique Class 107, which was again extracted to complete a 107 3-car, and three 117's (59496, 508 & 522). Ritchie's original shareholding partner for the DMU's, Dave, eventually finished and Ritchie has held the reigns ever since. A recent twist has been the arrival of the ex NYMR 101 set, one half of which was able to be battered into life for the gala with permission from its owner.

The next presentation was Chris Moxon's annual roundup of the year, which showed people had been doing well with plenty of restorations ongoing and several vehicles returned to traffic. Overall numbers of preserved vehicles were slightly down following a couple of disposals, but numbers of restorations in progress and vehicles operation had increased significantly since the previous year. It is still however true that less than half of the total vehicles preserved are in traffic!

The next presentation was the annual ORR & HRA update by Evan Green-Hughes. Both online IO groups are doing well with 271 members in 1st Gen and 84 in 2nd Gen. 1st Gen had 8 members leave but 13 more join and 200 messages were posted in the year. 2nd Gen gained 3 members and posted 110 times. The ratio of 1st Gen being around double the size and activity of 2nd Gen seems to have settled. The HRA's national standards committee still appears to have come to nothing and there is no appetite for them to attempt to cover ground we have already completed. A similar situation also exists with the HOPS version which didn't gather momentum. Evan continues to represent us at the various HRA meetings and ORR workshops and inspectors have a good relationship with us through Evan. There had been a Working at Height fatality in the past two weeks and derailments, some including railcars were a focus for the ORR at present. So were SPADS, several of which caused by poor training and competency especially on Pacers, so it is recommended that Pacer training is not overlooked. It is also recommended to attend ORR free workshops where possible. The latest focus with ORR are restoration inspections, such as managing COSHH, welding fumes, lifting gear inspections, tool vibration, wheelset standards etc. A tramway was recently pulled up on a running tram which had a rotten chassis so ORR are now looking more closely at engineering as well as operations. HRA guidance on young volunteers was also mentioned.

This fed neatly into a safety presentation by Chris Nesbitt who returned to the topic of Working at Height, reminding that inspection pits act as negative height. Fire extinguishers were then covered with AFFF (itself introduced in 2004) is now being abolished by 2028. This affects 2nd Gen units significantly but a derogation for handheld extinguishers mirroring 1st Gen practice is being progressed for preserved Pacers. Finally, Martin's Law was discussed, specifically the enhanced trauma kits that will be looking likely for public trains including railcars.

The final main presentation was by Ian Souter who gave a fascinating insight into Scottish DMU engine performance in the 1980's. This was found to be extremely poor so a one-off purchase from Leyland was agreed for 100 engines, which became the 4041 derivative. Whilst they were nominally to replace Scottish AEC's, they ended up spread around the network on various vehicles and replacing various engines. Springburn works did the swaps and other than flywheel output shaft failures they performed well. However when their first overhaul was due they went into general pools with normal 680 engines and parts scattered, which was a disaster as the 4041's were different in several ways. A reasonable handful of 4041's are still around today, with 122 55005 running at the Battlefield Line that day having one fitted.

Any Other Business was then conducted with a question raised whether to include DEMU's into the association. The simple answer was no as the technology is so different. The Dean Forest proffered an unloader valve modification involving a new rubber ball from the Precision Plastic Ball Company which so far has greatly enhanced the performance without high expense. Next year's convention was then discussed with the Aln Valley, Dean Forest and Kent & East Sussex railways potentially on the cards.

Fish & Chip Special

An enjoyable Fish & Chip special using the 116/118/122 3-car then followed which was its usual social occasion, followed by a pub visit afterwards!

Sunday

The railway operated a normal 4 trip service on the Sunday using the same116/118/122 3-car used the previous evening. This allowed a few members who were making a weekend of it to enjoy the line at a quieter time and explore the various shops, museums etc that weren't possible on Saturday when things were so busy. It proved to be a great event and there were no regrets coming back to the Battlefield Line after 20 years. Thanks must go to Ritchie Marcus and everyone at the railway who helped host the weekend which we think was another great success.