The following is a Llangollen and Corwen Railway press release.
The Llangollen and Corwen Railway is set to get a taste of Yorkshire in North Wales! The popular Heritage Railway is delighted to announce that its Railcar Department has, via its sister charity Llangollen Railcars, secured a rare and interesting Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) to bolster its fleet following the withdrawal of the much-loved Class 104 last year.
The only remaining three-car Class 110 will soon be joining the Railway’s fleet. Built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in 1961, the 110 was designed to work on the steeply-graded lines in and around West Yorkshire, earning them the moniker of ‘Calder Valley’ units. Utilising Rolls-Royce engines, the class had a higher power-to-weight ratio than similar railcars of the era, making the 110 also well suited to working on the railway’s steeply graded line, including the fearsome 2.5 mile, 1 in 80 Berwyn Bank. This unit is not a stranger to our Railway, visiting in two-car configuration for the 2018 Railcar Gala – when it proved both popular and capable.
Comprising power car numbers 51813 and 51842 and centre trailer number 59701, the unit gave 29 years of reliable BR service before being withdrawn in 1990. It has now been in preservation even longer than this and has seen service on both the East Lancashire and Wensleydale Railways.
The Calder Valley Railcar is expected to arrive by road at the Llangollen and Corwen Railway imminently, and the team will immediately start work on an interior and exterior refresh, and a full mechanical inspection, with the aim of having the first vehicle back in service by Summer 2026.
John Joyce, Head of the Railcar Department said, “We’re very pleased to have the 110 coming back as a resident member of our fleet. One of our dedicated team of volunteers is particularly looking forward to being reunited with it, having spent many of the early years of his career working on maintaining it for British Rail before moving on through more technical roles. Our other members are also familiar with the class after two of the cars visited our line in 2018 for our Railcar Gala. It’s not very often you can say you’re being moved by Rolls-Royce power, and the 110 has four Rolls-Royce diesel engines delivering some 720hp. Progress towards Corwen and accelerating up to our line speed of 25mph will be swift!”
Tez Pickthall, Press Officer for the Railway added, “It really is great that John and his team have secured the 110. I can remember riding on these distinctive railcars as a kid around the North-West. You could always tell when a Calder Valley was coming from their distinctive and large trapezoidal front windows. If you could get a seat at the front, they always offered a great view of the line ahead and the driver at work. I also used to love sitting at the back and watching the railway and countryside pass by. Most of our midweek services are handled by railcars and they are getting more and more popular. Having a three-car set like this will bring us more capacity. This is also an excellent opportunity to remind everyone that tickets are already on sale for our Heritage Railcar Gala on 17th and 18th October 2026, where at least one of the 110’s vehicles should be playing a starring role alongside our varied and interesting home fleet of historic railcars.” Tickets and more information can be found by visiting: https://llangollen-railway.co.uk/heritage-railcar-gala/.
The class 108 was used to provide the 'Berwyn Explorer' services on 14, 15, 18 and 21 February. The following picture shows it at Berwyn Station on the last of those days...
Restoration continued with some woodwork in the cab and toilet compartment and some attention to the bodywork at the back of the vehicle as shown below.
We temporarily hid the light fitting but at least there's a ceiling in there at last. Beading to come next time.
Woodwork coming together in the toilet compartment. The next jobs will be fitting some insulation, and sourcing the interior panelling.
The facilities in the toilet compartment have been described as 'basic'. Just needs holes cutting in the chair and the floor now!
"Fell off in my hand guv" ... the lamp brackets were removed from the back to enable sanding work to be completed, when we get some time. The buffers came off as well, to make better access for, yes, more needle gun work.
The class 108 was given a wash in readiness for the start of the running season...
Some stubborn black streaks on the yellow warning panels that had been caused by rainwater running off the windscreen rubbers managed to survive the cleaning cycle but subsequent attention with various proprietary cleaning potions resulted in the panels looking good as new again...
After being brought back into the daylight following its winter hibernation inside the shed the Wickham was given a thorough wash and clean, inside and out, to prepare it for the start of the running season...
It was also taken for a trip along the 'back road' in order to test the recent modifications to its brakegear...
During the turn-around at Llangollen Goods Junction it was passed by the class 108 on one of the 'Berwyn Explorer' services...
Preparing the secondman's side of long-term resident 51618 for varnish. It was glossed a couple of years ago, but weather and sunlight soon take the shine off it. A coat of varnish should keep it shiny for some more years.
Applying varnish to the secondman's side of 51618.
After some stepboards that were past their use-by date were turned into firewood with a little attention from a large hammer, the stepboard brackets were cleaned up with a needle gun and then painted.
Various parts of the solebar on the driver's side of 56223 were needle-gunned and then painted with etch primer and micaceous black. That will then be followed by a coat of chassis black.
and finally...
It isn't just about work on trains because some time was spent assembling a flat-pack cupboard using a combination of the instructions and some viewings of an adjacent 'worked example'. The cupboard will be used to house the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
It will be left as 'an exercise for the student' to decide if one of the two Cupboards-R-Us technicians was included in the above picture to (a) provide a sense of scale, or (b) ensure that the components held together at least until the picture had been taken.
Thanks to Allen Chatwood, Dewi Davies, John Joyce, Andy Lowe, Mike Martin and Martin Plumb for supplying the pictures that were used in this edition.