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British Rail Class 504
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British Rail Class 504
The British Rail Class 504 was a unique type of electric multiple unit that ran on 1,200 V DC third rail with side-contact current collection. All other mainline UK third rails have the electric "shoe" on top of the rail. The type was used only on the Bury Line between Manchester and Bury. They were built in 1959 at Wolverton Works, and the body was a standard type used for several electrification schemes of the time, but the high DC voltage through a side-contact third rail was unique in Britain. The trains replaced the previous five-car units built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) for the route, which had inaugurated this electrification scheme in 1916.
All were withdrawn in 1991 when the line was closed for conversion to form part of the Manchester Metrolink light rail system. One unit, No. 65451+77172, is preserved at the East Lancashire Railway.
British Railways numbers were:
For an explanation of terms, see British Rail coach type codes
All maintenance was conducted by the constructing workshops of Wolverton. The units were diesel hauled from Bury to and from Wolverton.
In 1986, a condemned vehicle (possibly 77169) was given (on temporary bogies) to the newly formed East Lancashire Railway (ELR). 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 ELR. After this exercise, the carriage was sold to a local scrap merchant in Bury and cut up early in 1987. The bogies were returned to the Bury EMU Depot. The bogies themselves were of interest, being a set of the original Lancashire and Yorkshire EMU unit bogies, which after the scrapping of LYR 1920s 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.
Substantially more units were built than were soon required, and the unique electrical system prevented redeployment. By the 1966 LMR timetable, only 6 to 7 years after the units were introduced, the peak hour service was down to a 10-15 minute interval. This required only five 4-car trains in service, so only ten units from the fleet of 26 were required each day by this time. The reduced service (off peak was down to a 30-minute interval, requiring just two 2-car units) was responsible for much business being driven away to the frequent parallel bus services on this quite short urban route.
By the early 1970s, only 18 sets remained in use, reduction in demand on the service having led to years of storage for the first seven sets from the late 1960s onwards (65436-65442; 77157-77163). Additionally, Driving Trailer 77164 was transferred to the Tilbury lines of the Eastern Region 1970 to replace car 75292 in 302244, which had been written off in an accident. Its running mate 65443 was thereafter a spare car at Bury depot. 65436 and 65437 were used as the depot shunting set for a time, having had some front wiring and internal fittings removed, and were repainted in plain blue with yellow ends. The train was known locally for its speed and power over a normal power-trailer set.[citation needed]
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British Rail Class 504 AI simulator
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British Rail Class 504
The British Rail Class 504 was a unique type of electric multiple unit that ran on 1,200 V DC third rail with side-contact current collection. All other mainline UK third rails have the electric "shoe" on top of the rail. The type was used only on the Bury Line between Manchester and Bury. They were built in 1959 at Wolverton Works, and the body was a standard type used for several electrification schemes of the time, but the high DC voltage through a side-contact third rail was unique in Britain. The trains replaced the previous five-car units built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) for the route, which had inaugurated this electrification scheme in 1916.
All were withdrawn in 1991 when the line was closed for conversion to form part of the Manchester Metrolink light rail system. One unit, No. 65451+77172, is preserved at the East Lancashire Railway.
British Railways numbers were:
For an explanation of terms, see British Rail coach type codes
All maintenance was conducted by the constructing workshops of Wolverton. The units were diesel hauled from Bury to and from Wolverton.
In 1986, a condemned vehicle (possibly 77169) was given (on temporary bogies) to the newly formed East Lancashire Railway (ELR). 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 ELR. After this exercise, the carriage was sold to a local scrap merchant in Bury and cut up early in 1987. The bogies were returned to the Bury EMU Depot. The bogies themselves were of interest, being a set of the original Lancashire and Yorkshire EMU unit bogies, which after the scrapping of LYR 1920s 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.
Substantially more units were built than were soon required, and the unique electrical system prevented redeployment. By the 1966 LMR timetable, only 6 to 7 years after the units were introduced, the peak hour service was down to a 10-15 minute interval. This required only five 4-car trains in service, so only ten units from the fleet of 26 were required each day by this time. The reduced service (off peak was down to a 30-minute interval, requiring just two 2-car units) was responsible for much business being driven away to the frequent parallel bus services on this quite short urban route.
By the early 1970s, only 18 sets remained in use, reduction in demand on the service having led to years of storage for the first seven sets from the late 1960s onwards (65436-65442; 77157-77163). Additionally, Driving Trailer 77164 was transferred to the Tilbury lines of the Eastern Region 1970 to replace car 75292 in 302244, which had been written off in an accident. Its running mate 65443 was thereafter a spare car at Bury depot. 65436 and 65437 were used as the depot shunting set for a time, having had some front wiring and internal fittings removed, and were repainted in plain blue with yellow ends. The train was known locally for its speed and power over a normal power-trailer set.[citation needed]
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