Railcar of the Year 2023
Congratulations to the winner of the Railcar of the Year award: Class 101 M51189/Sc51803
The Nominations
Class 101 M51189/Sc51803 (Worth Valley): Since 2013 the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway's DMU services had been dominated by this Class 101 2-car "power twin" which replaced a similar Class 108 unit which had operated for the previous 15 years. It was one of the first Class 101 sets in preservation to have a serious interior overhaul rather than being placed straight into service with a quick repaint, so had to some extent always stood out from the crowd. Fast forward to 2023 and the set was being nominated due to the rapid efforts of the volunteers and staff to give the set a much needed intermediate overhaul. Following ten years of work corrosion was starting to take hold, particularly around the windows and the set removed from service. The ambitious target of having both cars through works within the year and back in service in time for the October Railcar Convention was set. The unit was nominated due to the success of delivering the work in time, the quality of the bodywork and repaint, and for the bold decision to switch from safe BR Green colours to the less common and more controversial BR Blue.
Class 104 M56182 (North Norfolk): The year's nomination for longest running and highest quality of overhaul was unique Class 104 M56182. The last survivor of its sub class (all other surviving 104 driving cars have engines), it was stored for over 15 years in preservation waiting its turn in a restoration queue and declined in condition to near scrap during that period. In addition to this, prior to preservation its interior had been gutted when it was used in departmental service as a Sandite vehicle. A whopping nine and a half year super-restoration then followed with a newly formed team at the North Norfolk Railway. The rebuild was total with no stone left unturned and the exterior, underframe and interior all stripped to a shell and rebuilt fully back to as-built passenger carrying condition. Authentic Class 104 parts (from scrapped sisters) were used to ensure the reconstructed interior in particular was indistinguishable from a restored 104 that wasn't a departmental. Even the chassis frames and underside of the floor were cleaned back and individually repainted! The end result after so many years of work was nothing short of stunning and the vehicle returned to passenger traffic for the first time in 36 years in September. M56182 was nominated for the attention to detail of the restoration which was one of the best in preservation, for the authenticity of the back conversion from Sandite vehicle to as-built, for securing the long term future of a unique sub-class of vehicle which would otherwise have been lost, and for bringing some much needed variety to the North Norfolk's running DMU fleet, which for over ten years had only consisted of Class 101 vehicles.
Class 127 M51618 (Llangollen): Nominated from the Llangollen Railway was oddity Class 127 M51618. Whilst the outside bodywork resembled a conventional Derby suburban design, the interior and power transmission were anything but standard. The 127's had high backed seating and a heavyweight hydraulic transmission which during their working lives were considered the peak incarnation of the Derby works developed DMU. Sadly, this complexity, whilst providing superior power, had made preservation far more challenging with spares harder to come by and knowledge to maintain them even rarer. Additionally, the suburban bodies also suffered from corrosion and there were many more doors to maintain than low density units. As a result of all the above, by the 2020's not a single Class 127 remained operational in heritage service with the entire fleet either scrapped, in storage or being used as hauled coaching stock. All except M51618, which had bravely been under overhaul at Llangollen for several years after coming out of service for bodywork and interior restoration. The vehicle was returned to traffic at their October Railcar Gala resplendent in BR Green with speed whiskers, the livery in which it was built. M51618 was nominated for this year's awards for the quality of the exterior overhaul but also for the historical merit for seriously investing in a complex vehicle such as a 127 when others had struggled. Also, being able to complete the restoration in addition to the large commitment maintaining and crewing the largest operating 1st generation fleet in the country was extraordinary.
Class 143 143623 (Wensleydale): The year's second-generation candidate was 143623 based at the Wensleydale Railway. The railway had recently become home to the largest Pacer collection in preservation so maintenance and development of the fleet beyond basic maintenance was a challenge. Most sets remained in as-withdrawn Northern Rail purple livery but over 2022/2023 143623 became the first of their units to be backdated externally to a more classic livery from earlier times. The set became the first Class 143 to carry Regional Railways colours and indeed was the first of the class in preservation to be re-liveried back into a BR scheme. The unit was nominated for this pioneering development in Class 143 preservation along with contributing a positive heritage angle to a controversial 14X fleet that was dominating Wensleydale Railway metals.
Project Wareham (Swanage): For the first time in the award's history, a fixed vehicle or unit was not the subject of this nomination. Rather, a wider project with two sets (4 vehicles) at it's heart: Project Wareham. Preserved first generation railcars had never operated on the mainline carrying passengers... until 2023! The railway's "Project Wareham" was arguably almost half a century old, it being part of the railway's founders original aim to run services through from Swanage to the mainline junction at Wareham. However, the project "proper" in terms of rolling stock had been around ten years in the making, with the Class 117 set undergoing a six-year restoration (2014-2020) at Eastleigh Works involving many exceptional tasks such as wheelset replacements. The Class 121 was also so treated with the combination being a four vehicle mainline registered passenger fleet able to run regular Swanage-Wareham services. 2023 was the year that the units finally fulfilled this service, putting railcars at the heart of the realisation of a major preservation ambition. Therefore, the project as a whole was most worthy of nomination.
Voting Pattern
With voting having dropped dramatically last year, in a yo-yo effect this year's voting surged back upwards dramatically. Astonishingly, over 3,000 votes were cast, treble the number of the previous record year (2021). Sadly once again we detected a huge amount of cheating from voters and hundreds of votes were "docked" from the Worth Valley candidate in particular. Regrettably cheating in this competition has been on the rise in recent years so we will have to seriously consider whether the awards can continue as a public vote.
The first week of voting was strong with several hundred votes coming in. It saw Class 104 56182 quickly emerge as a leader, with Class 101 51189/51803 second, followed by Class 127 51618, Project Wareham and 143623 last. Around halfway through the month however, the order had changed completely and the Class 101 had taken the lead. The Class 143 attracted significant support elevating it to second leaving the Class 104 third, the Class 127 fourth and Project Wareham last. The following two weeks saw more and more votes pour in, particularly for the Class 101 whose lead stretched further and further ahead from the runners up, but the overall order remained consistent. The final week of voting saw a second wind of voting for the Class 104, which switched places with the Class 143 to reach second place.
This year will be remembered for the sheer number of votes, 3,215, more then treble the previous record year (2021). The record for the most number of votes ever placed for one nomination was also smashed, with the 101 and 104 both attracting more than the previous record holder, 55024 in 2019. Almost exactly half the votes were for the winning Worth Valley 101, which make it the fourth year a Metro Cammell has won the award, proving them to be the most prolific class for success! Congratulations to the Worth Valley and the KWVR Diesel Railcar Group for the win!
| Place | Vehicle | Number of Votes |
| 1st | Class 101 51189/51803 | 1599 |
| 2nd | Class 104 56182 | 984 |
| 3rd | Class 143 143623 | 509 |
| 4th | Class 127 51618 | 80 |
| 5th | Project Wareham | 43 |