British Rail Class 504

Infobox EMU
name = British Rail Class 504

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imagesize = 300px
caption = A Class 504 train at Manchester Victoria station just weeks before closure for conversion to the Metrolink light rail system.
background = #012545
Manufacturer = BR
Operator = British Rail
Formation = power car + driving trailer
Built = 26 sets
power cars: M65436-M65461
driving trailers: M77157-M77182
InService = 1959-1991
Weight = Total - 82 tons
CarLength = 133ft 3 1/2in
CarWidth = 9ft 3in
CarHeight = 12ft 7in
Capacity =
MaxSpeed = 70mph 112 km/h
Power = sources disagree - see discussion page
Gauge = standard gauge
Voltage = 1,200V dc side contact third rail

The British Rail Class 504 was a unique type of electric multiple unit that ran on 1200 V DC third rail with side-contact current collection. The type was used only between Manchester and Bury. The units were originally built as three-car units. Overhaul at Wolverton saw the centre car removed and inserted into Class 304 sets instead.

All units of this type were withdrawn in 1991 when the line was closed for conversion to form part of the Manchester Metrolink light rail system. A proposal was made by various MPs about the re-opening of the railway from Manchester to Leigh, using the Class 504 stock, but this plan never caught serious public attention.

One unit, no. 65451+77172, is preserved at the East Lancashire Railway.

Points of interest

Some Class 504 units suffered early ends to their careers. All maintenance was conducted by the constructing workshops of Wolverton. The units were diesel hauled from Bury to and from Wolverton. On one occasion a 504 carriage caught fire near Stoke. This carriage was later condemned. It was dumped in the sidings just north of Stoke station (still in BR Green) until the early 1980s.

The remaining car was overhauled and returned for spares to Bury and did receive Standard BR Blue and Grey paint scheme. In 1986 the carriage was also condemned and given (on temporary bogies) to the newly formed East Lancashire Railway. The carriage was used for a mock fire emergency exercise in Bury Tunnel (at Bolton Street station) with local fire services, British Rail Staff, and soon-to-be volunteers of the new East Lancashire Railway.

After the exercise this carriage was sold to a local scrap merchant in Bury and cut up early in 1987. The bogies were returned to the Bury BR depot.

The bogies themselves were of interest, being a set of the original Lancashire and Yorkshire EMU unit bogies, which after the scrapping of L&Y 1920's EMUs were retained to move objects around Bury Depot. These bogies were cut up into parts and dumped in a skip at Bury depot on its closure in 1991.

Withdrawal from service

The line was converted in three stages. The first stage saw the closure from Crumpsall to Manchester Victoria. Until this point the Class 504 units were running in six-car formations (3 × 2 car sets in rush hour).

The first batch of redundant Bury Class 504 units were hauled from Bury to Warrington before going to MC Metals of Glasgow for scrapping in early 1991. After this point the Bury–Crumpsall service was operated in four-car formation. In August 1991 the entire line was closed. The next day a Class 31 diesel (31306) hauled all the units from Bury to Warrington in two trains of units. From Warrington, the entire collection was towed to MC Metals in Glasgow.

Two units remained at Bury, one purchased for the East Lancashire Railway, and another bought, reputedly as a joke, for £504 by Harry Needle. The latter was sold to the ELRPS. Much debate took place amongst ELR volunteers as the Class 31 pushed the units over the Buckley Wells crossing to a waiting Class 40. (The Bury Depot side of the crossing was still owned by BR until midnight that Saturday and the ELR was prevented from using its own locomotives to collect the units). From the Sunday after closure, the ELR moved over the crossing and took possession of the (BQ) Bury Depot Complex.

Preservation

The ELR found itself with two unique Class 504 Units, having only expected one. One unit was refurbished in the late 1980s, with modern strip lighting, and complete running boards outside. The other unit was refurbished in the 1970s, and has incandescent bulbs and individual running boards to each door. The unit was eventually gifted to the ELRPS.

In October 1991 at the ELR annual diesel gala, Harry Needle, with his then owned Class 25, (25262) placed his locomotive in the centre of the 2 units. The units were through wired to have the diesel in the middle and the capability to be driven from both ends of the units in a push pull mode. This was a major success for the October diesel gala, and pointed numerous possibilities to the future for having two units (and not least giving the ELR an example of four coaches of suburban stock). This weekend saw possibly for the first time ever, a Bury Class 504 Unit running north of Bury station.

One unit has since been scrapped and the parts stored in a container at Buckley Wells. The remaining unit suffers largely from neglect and, although part of Bury's history, it is treated as another piece of unrestored coaching stock with an uncertain future.

Besides the Class 504 at Bury, an example of the unique side contact third rail gear and a section of electric rail was retained for the National Railway Museum at York; this is now restored and on display. (All other UK third rail has the electric "shoe" on top of the rail).

ee also

* Bury to Holcombe Brook Line

External links

* [http://www.therailwaycentre.com/Pages%20EMU/Recognition%20EMU/IllusEMU_504.html The Railway Centre]