CLASS 121 single-unit DMU No. W55024 made its first appearance on May 7 following thorough restoration and repaint at the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway (C&PRR).
It entered BR traffic in 1960 on Western Region London suburban and branch line services. No. W55024 was displaced on the Thames and Chiltern lines when Class 165 ‘Turbos’ entered service, and was converted into a route-learning car and as a ‘Sandite’ unit for rail-head treatment during the leaf-fall season.
It was later allocated to Aylesbury, where it was out-shopped in BR maroon with departmental number 960 010 and lettered ‘Railtrack Clearing the Way’ along both sides in white.
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The unit was later replaced by special high-pressure water jet trains under Chiltern Railways ownership, and then moved to Tyseley, where it remained until bought by the C&PRR.
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