BR Class 104

The British Rail Class 104 diesel multiple units were built by Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Companyfrom 1957 to 1959. The first units ordered were for the London Midland Region, with the majority of the class for use in North West of England. Sets were also used in Tyneside, replacing the former LNER Tyneside electric units following the de-electrification of the North Tyneside Loop line in 1967, but were themselves made redundant by the opening of the Tyne & Wear Metro in 1980. In the mid-1980s a few units reallocated to Scotland, with one unit being repainted in a unique maroon and white livery for services to Oban – it became known as the "Mexican Bean". Other vehicles spent time in London and the last vehicles could be found there in the early 1990s, notably on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.

The class was gradually taken out of service from the early 1980s. The final vehicles were withdrawn in 1995.

Departmental Use
A number of Class 104s were used following their withdrawal from passenger services.

The last two London Midland DTCL vehicles to survive, M54182 & M54183, were converted in 1987/1988 into loco hauled Sandite cars and renumbered ADB977554/ADB977555 respectively.undefined Used until 1994, M54183 was scrapped in February 1994undefined while M54182 was stored at Buxton until June 2000 and was saved for preservation.

Other Sandite cars included 53472, 53478 & 53530 which were used in Scotland until April 1989.undefined

Derby RTC, known for their railway testing, used 53475, 53506 & 53422 (renumbered 977342, 977343 & 977344 respectively) as carriage washing test coaches. They also used 53451 & 53529 as part of DMU auto-gear experiments until February 1991.undefined

M54182 was the only vehicle converted for non-passenger use to survive into preservation.undefined In 2008 after several years in storage, the vehicle was restored externally, retaining its departmental condition and run in a demonstration capacity with Class 37 37075 for a gala weekend at the Churnet Valley Railway.[9] It was believed by the organisers to be the first and only time that departmental DMU Sandite operations had been recreated in a heritage setting.

Accidents

 * On 18 January 1986, a Class 104 unit (vehicles 53433 & 53482) suffered a brake failure, ran past three signals at danger and collided with Class 47 locomotive 47 111 near Preston. Forty-four people were injured.undefined

Preservation
13 Class 104 vehicles are preserved, all owned privately by two individuals.undefined 12 vehicles were preserved in 1992 in a bulk tender from British Rail who at the time were reluctant to sell individual vehicles or sets.undefined The thirteenth was saved in 2000 after protracted storage after departmental use.undefined