Railcar of the Year 2022
Congratulations to the winner of the Railcar of the Year award: Class 104 50455
The Nominations
Derby Lightweight M79612 (Ecclesbourne Valley): One of the most important railcar vehicles in the country was 79612, the trailer car of the “Holy Grail” Derby Lightweight twin set, considered to be the father of the First Generation DMU. The set had been on an incredibly long road of restoration, with many stalls and challenges, after originally being saved in the 1990's. 79612, the trailer car, was reduced to a stripped out shell following major departmental modifications and an invasive asbestos decontamination. With focus traditionally being on the powercar, 79612 was stored until 2008 when its restoration, amongst the largest ever undertaken in preservation, commenced. Three years of good progress was made before another break was taken and the vehicle moved to its current home. From 2018-2022, restoration work had returned with vigour, with most of the exterior and mechanical work completed followed by the total construction of a new interior, utilising many salvaged parts of similar classes. 79612 was nominated quite simply in recognition for the huge effort put in to what had been one of the largest restorations ever achieved on a railcar. Although not released into public service, 79612 had been declared substantially complete, workthen being focused on its partner powercar, bringing forwards the long awaited return of another “Holy Grail” DMU set to the scene.
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Class 104 M50455 (East Lancs): The Railcar of the Year awards do not solely honour major restoration projects, with credit being given to other criteria as well. One such example was 50455, which had been a firm favourite on the preserved scene for some years since its original restoration in 2004 and relaunch with a new home and new livery in 2017. Five years on since that relaunch, the interior condition of 50455 had slowly slipped from the ideal over the years since the original works nearly 20 years previously (the 2017 work focused on the exterior). Ceilings were damaged, seats were ripped and the lino flooring was breaking up. It was decided during the summer of 2022 that the vehicle could not continue in service any longer in such condition, with the ambitious target set of completing an interior refurbishment before that year's DMU Gala in the November. A ten week epic effort followed with replacement ceiling panels produced, painted and fitted, followed by reupholstered seating married to powder coated seat framing. The flooring was removed, lower layers repaired and brand new lino fitted. Period materials were used throughout with the lino pattern and seat material being correct for the vehicle in late 1970's condition, historically improving on what went before. 50455 was nominated not only for the quality of the interior refurbishment, but also the historical choices of material used and the speed at which such a large amount of work was completed, the vehicle successfully being returned to service on time at the gala.
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Class 108 56491 (Keith & Dufftown): Occasionally a stand-out project emerges from otherwise familiar territory. Prior to 2022, 56491 was a standard Class 108 trailer car, one of a total of 14 identical sisters preserved. Originally based at the East Anglian Railway Museum, it had spent most of its preservation life at its second home the Keith & Dufftown. For many years it provided accommodation for all of the railway's standard services (they currently do not operate any steam) and was a solid workhorse before falling out of use in the late 2010's, having been effectively replaced by sister 56224. 56491's role had however changed dramatically after being brought into the workshops for an unusual conversion project. 56491 had been transformed into a function/bar car, specifically a whisky bar now known as “The Dram Tram”. Completed using volunteers and three government backed apprentices, 56491's new interior featured a snug with a larger saloon incorporating the bar. 56491 was to be used for the annual whisky festivals and be available for private hire. Although perhaps not to the purist's taste, the vehicle was nominated for being an undoubtedly unique conversion that would go down well with the tourists that ply the “whisky line” on which 56491 is based.
Class 142 142011 (Midland Railway Butterley): 2022's second generation nomination was 142011, which whilst not receiving major restoration work (which was still a rare occurrence for these classes) had in a similar fashion to 144011 last year made the headlines by being swiftly returned to a heritage livery. In the case of 142011, it became the first vehicle in preservation to return BR's Provincial colour scheme to the scene. The newly preserved Pacer fleets had been much maligned by enthusiasts and members of the public who still had recent memories of winter commutes on them. However they had steadily been proving themselves in the heritage world and one of the best ways to show them off at their best was quickly returning them to classic 1980's liveries. 142011 was completed over the spring and launched at their DMU weekend in the summer where it made a colourful stable-mate to Metro Red 141113. In doing so, 142011 had instantly become the most striking Class 142 in preservation, with the remainder of the fleet either still carrying Northern Purple, in the process of being painted, or carrying non-authentic “in house” colours. 142011 was nominated for its popularity and recognition of the value in applying an accurate and historical exterior finish.
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Swedish Railcar 1987 (Nene Valley): Last but by no means last was Swedish Railcar trailer 1987. The very first Railcar of the Year award back in 2012 was won by 1987's partner 1212, which had been rapidly restored returning railcar services to the Nene Valley Railway. After five years of use, a friend for 1212 was imported and the project to restore trailer 1987 was born. Although delayed by Covid, 1987 had been restored to similar standards and with impressive drive, coming into use in 2022. Work included stripping down and comprehensive repairs to the interior and exterior, and of course a full repaint into the striking orange and cream livery, no BR green here! 1987 had been an interesting project being configured slightly differently to 1212, and also incorporating multiple working alien to the UK! The end result was stunning and 1212 can now operate either singly or upgraded to 2-car format towing 1987. 1987 is an interesting comparison with the UK practise of “bubble cars” pulling a separate trailer (two of which survive).
Voting Pattern
This year's voting was very different to last years for several reasons. Last year saw a record number of votes cast, in part due to the use of advertising to drum up support from outside the traditional clientele of railway enthusiasts. This year the number of votes dropped dramatically, returning back to 2015 levels having been generally on an upward trend since then. Another factor was that new controls were put in place to eliminate the cheating we sadly saw last year from Second Generation traction fans, so in conclusion this year, whilst more modest in number, was probably a better representation from our community.
This year was also a very smooth process, with the order of winners almost consistant from the start. Within the first week the Class 104 had come out in the lead with the Derby Lightweight narrowly behind. There was then a large gap with the Class 142, 108 and Swedish Railcar some way behind on votes sitting in 3rd, 4th & 5th respectively. As the weeks went on the order remained fairly consistent, though at one time the Derby Lightweight was less then five votes behind! Towards the back end, the order changed slightly as the votes came in with the Class 108 proving less popular and passing from 4th down to 5th.
By the end of voting 50455 had clocked up, somewhat appropriately, 104 votes! Gaining just under half of the vote, with a total of 239 being cast. 50455 becomes the first Class 104 to win the award (although it was nominated back in 2017).
| Place | Vehicle | Number of Votes |
| 1st | Class 104 50455 | 104 |
| 2nd | Derby Lightweight 79612 | 72 |
| 3rd | Class 142 142011 | 30 |
| 4th | Swedish Railcar 1987 | 18 |
| 5th | Class 108 56491 | 15 |