Railcar of the Year 2020
Congratulations to the winner of the Railcar of the Year award: Class 108 M51909/M56271.
The Nominations
Class 108 M50933/E52064 (Severn Valley): This class 108 set was nominated in recognition of the hard work put in by multiple groups to solve a problem. Almost two years previously the entire Class 108 fleet at the railway (5 vehicles) was withdrawn from traffic following the discovery of mechanical defects preventing further use until rectification. Compounding the issue was the very busy nature of the facilities required to undertake the work which created a "waiting list" effect. Towards the end of 2020, in spite of restrictions caused by the pandemic, the first major signs of recovery were shown with a 2-car set formed of vehicles which had received work. E52064 in
particular had gone through a thorough bogie overhaul. The 2-car set, which was used on staff support services for the festive season, was symbolic of the fruits to return the fleet to the status they had enjoyed since the early 1990's, serving the Severn Valley Railway.
Class 108 M51909/M56271 (East Somerset): For some years the East Somerset Railway had been undertaking serious work overhauling their Class 108 2-car set which had been on the line since 2013. It had been very difficult judging the right time to include it ion the award nominations, for the reason that their style of restoration was to undertake tasks on a rolling basis rather than having a vehicle out of traffic for a long time and a subsequent relaunch into service. Lots of interior and mechanical improvements had been made over the years, but the exteriors still remained scruffy. However 2020 saw the exterior restoration of powercar 51909 undertaken on a contract basis, including a high quality repaint to match similar work undertaken to the trailer car the previous year. This work, although only one chapter of a much bigger story, at last transformed the set so that the outside now properly represented the real amount of hard work that the group had been putting in the previous 7 years. The 2-car unit looked excellent both inside and out, so rightly took its place in the list of nominations, for the quality of the restoration work described.
Class 108 M51914 (Dean Forest): The Dean Forest Railway DMU Group had continued to do
sterling work on their Class 108 fleet of five vehicles, and it was no coincidence that their vehicles had come up as nominations for the awards on multiple occasions. In 2020 the group completed the overhaul of DMBS M51914, the only single vehicle to be nominated that year, which was taken out of service in 2015. Although the group had been turning around their vehicles fitting new cab fronts in around a year, similar work on M51914 was to prove more time consuming. Whilst the vehicle was resurrected for the 2016 railcar convention, the following three years were spent on the remaining interior rebuilding work which focussed on the cab and front passenger saloon. As always one job had led to another and a great deal more work undertaken. M51914 was nominated in 2020 for the proper conclusion of the work, and a full return to passenger service paired with M56492 as a 2-car set for use on the Dean Forest going forwards. In the short term, it allowed their 3-car set to be taken out of service for repairs after holding the fort alone for 5 years.
Class 117 W51356/W59486/W51388 (Swanage): A project that had been followed with fascination by enthusiasts over the last six years was the major contract overhaul and mainline registration of the Swanage Railway's Class 117 3-car set. Believed to be the most expensive first generation DMU overhaul to date, the work saw groundbreaking measures taken such as the manufacture of brand new wheelsets, in order to gain permission to use the vehicles on Network Rail between Worgret Junction and Wareham. Whilst the unit had yet to operate on the mainline, it was nominated for the conclusion of this milestone overhaul, the set having been returned home in February 2020. The pandemic sadly prevented test running and driver training to progress as planned. Since the withdrawal of the Chiltern Railway "bubble cars", the mainline network had been without first generation DMU's in passenger service, so it was firmly hoped that the set would go some way towards reversing this.
Voting Pattern
In previous years the outcome of the final result has often emerged in the first 2 or 3 days of voting, with the remainder of the month being a two horse race between 1st and 2nd places. This year was quite different, with the Swanage 117 taking on an early lead in the first few days and the East Somserset 108 trailing at the back. After around a week, everything had changed with a lrage number of votes coming in for the Severn Valley 108 which took first place, the Dean Forest 108 being last at this point. Halfway through the voting process some Dean Forest votes came in elevating their set to 2nd place and the Swanage 117 (which had been 1st) being relegated to last place, where it would stay for the remaining time of the voting. The second half of the month saw the Severn Valley, East Somerset and Dean Forest sets all occupy 1st, 2nd and 3rd place at different times, suggesting that the winner was to be a 108 and that there were three in the frame. However as Christmas passed it became clear that the Dean Forest 108 wasn't attracting enough votes and slipped into third place, but the Severn Valley and East Somerset sets were remarkably close, with only a few votes in it. The Severn Valley set was in first place until right in the last moments the East Somerset 1908 took the lead with just a additional votes. Well done to all of the nominations, but particularly to the Severn Valley and winning East Somserset sets, who both proved popular with voters!
551 votes were cast in total, not the most popular year yet but a good number nevertheless. The votes were more even this year, with the winner attracting 37% of the total vote, the runner up having a respectable 36%. 51909/56271 become the first Class 108 to win the award for 5 years and the first complete 108 set to win. Many thanks to all those who took the time to nominate and vote in this strangest of years.
| Place | Vehicle | Number of Votes |
| 1st | Class 108 M51909/M56271 | 205 |
| 2nd | Class 108 M50933/E52064 | 198 |
| 3rd | Class 108 M51914 | 89 |
| 4th | Class 117 W51356/W59486/W51388 | 59 |