It has been decided that the restoration of the three-car Class 503 ‘Wirral' EMU will not be pursued.
The Heritage Electric Trains Trust says it has not taken the decision lightly, but have decided to retain the driving motor brake second car for a future project.
The Driving Motor Brake Second car will be moving to another storage site soon, but the driving trailer and centre trailer cars will be disposed of in the coming months.
The HETT says the decision has come from multiple factors, with one of the reasons down the disposal being that the unit will not be able to run under its own power, with the infrastructure not available, and the unit would never be restored to the standard needed for mainline use.
Significant funding to support the unit has not materialised and current support will only cover the cost of “very basic storage” of one coach.
There is also no alternative site for the whole unit, and with the Margate One:One Collection Museum opening, they cannot have the unit on show in poor condition.
The HETT says that the trailer cars are in very poor condition and would need extensive restoration to be brought up to display standard. HETT also says that having a single unit restored would help tell the class' story with significantly less cost.
HETT has confirmed that the coaches will be sent for scrap once useful components have been recovered, but has reiterated that if any preservation groups would like to save the vehicles, they need to contact the HETT (email below) without delay.
They have said that any potential groups need to show evidence that they can remove, at their own cost, the coaches within two months and have a guaranteed location for them as well as indications as to their plans.
The contact email for the HETT is hello@HETT.org.uk
If I Had The Money,I Would’ve Bought It With The Classes 502,507 And 508 EMU’s And Merseyrail And Network Rail Would’ve Offered Me The Old Railway Tracks And Ex-Platforms Along The Route On The Chester Line (Merseyrail Line Side)!
Im sure Merseyrail or whatever it’s called these days could free up some space at Kirkdale depot and give it a tidy up while it’s there this and the 502 and 507 001 would be a great money spinner on heritage tour days i hate seeing Liverpool losing it’s history through the palm of it’s hands but this unit should be saved at all costs it did work the grand national trace on race trains around 1986 be sad to see it chopped come on someone
As always plenty of comments about what should be done. But the people making those comments don’t come up with the money or the unpaid labour to do what they are suggesting. Before anyone puts me down I have been involved in railway preservation as an active volunteer for over 40 years. It has cost me 10s of £1000s of pounds and 1000s of hours of my time over that period. I’m not complaining as it is my interest. What I am complaining about is those people like those on this site who come around saying you should be doing this and you should be doing
that but then are nowhere to be seen when money and labour are required.
Quite correct. It annoys me when those who are critised by those who don’t. Preservations equivalent to armchair warriors.
Hear hear Anthony, my position and views line up with yours exactly, even the timeline.
Richard Harman
Sadly as a movement we have saved far too much and a great deal of it will in the next decade end up back in a scrap yard. The generation (I am one of them) who raised the funds and did/do the work are mostly in their 50s and 60s now once we are gone the interest in such traction will end , sad but true. Others make a good point , those who say it must be preserved it must be saved are never providing practical help or putting their hands in their pockets , so do us a favour either put your money where your mouth is or get out and help.
Sadly I always thought that what the heritage lottery fund was for to keep our heritage for future generations..given that the arts gets millions in handouts year after year but sadly it’s probably not diverse enough…
Perhaps the owners could start a ‘Just Giving’ appeal. You never know how much this could raise and possibly a rich person may make a substantial donation to get it back up to the Wirral. Some how it’s got to be saved!
It’s sad, but better to save one driving car than nothing. As a static exhibit, the visitor will not get much more from seeing a whole train than seeing one car, so it seems to me a sensible balance in view of limited resources.
This looks beyond restoration. The money would be better spent on a replicarr. Regards Mark
Such as the 502 which is in Liverpool. Or in this case the 4SUB.
Don’t forget there is now a Class 507 Preservation Group which could equally do with the funds and support.
Always looking for someone else to pay for your enjoyment .
One of these carries would look great at Hadlow Road Station in Willaston and maybe turned into a restaurant car. I know they are all volunteers there so maybe a wealthy railway fan could step forward.
Possibly James & Sybil are referring to my comment, but to make things clearer for them, this wreck has been rotting away for years uncared for and unloved then suddenly when a decision is finally made about its future the armchair warriors pop up demanding it be saved. Where were you all when with your money when it was first offered up as a preservation project. I think if you’re honest you’ll know what the answer is.
It’s the last of its class and it should be saved for future reference and exhibitions to show the public how these trains were made and run and the history of the lines they covered
Its disgusting and shameful. I’m my opinion the unit should be offered as a free donation to any party who wishes to save it. A very basic cosmetic tidy up is better than scrap. One coach does not tell the story of a train. This is the sort of thing the NRM should have been looking at rather than upsetting the residents of Darlington, and throwing millions at a loco that is neither orthentic or historically correct.
I’d rather see the unit just given a coat of protective paint and covered up by tarpaulins than scrapped! Sadly it’s entirely up to its owners to do as they see fit with it.
The HETT, as mentioned on Facebook, there is no money coming in for the support of this unit, but the 4SUB on the other hand.
If you feel you could do a better job then make an offer for the it.
Shame about this. It should remain on Merseyside and not become another Royal Iris tragedy. They are both part of our heritage. Steve.
A tragedy and a scandal. This unit is as much, if not more, worthy of preservation as many of the steamers. They are building new steam engines to old designs, whereas this unit is unique.
As someone said,Pete Waterman is a busy man – it will need a lot of money just to get the project started – email Paul McCartney,a drop in the ocean to a Merseysider like him
Everyone wants to save it ignoring the fact that it will cost a fortune to even move it to a heritage railway or storage depot where it will slowly rot away while everyone rings their hands together and does nothing. Scrap it and stop suggesting that Pete Waterman takes it on he’s got his hands full of worthwhile projects.
If everyone had such a disgusting attitude as yours, nothing would ever have been saved!
Hardly a disgusting attitude.
The carriages are past their best, have been left to rot, and there’s no practical prospect of them running mainline.
Why throw money after a piece of scrap?
So, how much would it cost to restore it to full working order, and certify it for use on the mainline? No cost has been quoted. It certainly should not be scrapped!
Having been involved in other preservation projects, I would suggest a starting point of around £1m to do it properly and fit the required safety equipment.
Contact Pete Waterman. Be nice if he gets to restore it at his business in Crewe. Not far to travel once completed back to the Wirral..
Good luck
It’s sad the Class 503 might be scrapped hopefully someone will save her and bring her to her hometown.
Pete Waterman… business at Crewe????? How many years have you been asleep for??? LOL
That’s going back a few years, he’s not been at Crewe for ages!
It’s sad I might be scrapped hopefully someone will save it and return her her
Hopefully somebody with the dosh and with interest reads this article.
I’m not a lover of sliding door modern trains but can honestly say I feel this is one unit that does need saving. Sadly it is always down to cost. To get this mainline certified is almost an impossible task now due to costs and the stringent standards. To read it will be scrapped saddens me.
Amazing as they look like the old southern electrics after the
2 Bill out of Waterloo & Victoria to Brighton with the 3rd rail pickups as they used to make a noise in the stations building up brake pressure but always in green livery
I wouldn’t call a 1938 buit train a modern design. The fact that it looks modern just demonstrates how much it was an innovation at the time. Other 3rd rail areas were still producing slam door stock on separate underframes and were still doing so till dragged into the 20th century. Virtually all current day commuter stock can trace its ancestry back to the LMS designed 502 and 503 units. For that reason it should be preserved
It would be such a shame to see this historically significant EMU unit go under the cutters torch. Can’t anything be done to save the unit for future generations?
Here here Paul.
Unfortunately, too late to save it
John Harrison
Save our Wirral electric train class 503 emu
Bring the engine back home to the Wirral let’s make a shadow down on the old brunch line next to the old tram museum so she can be stored and looked after hoping she can be restore to a pride and glory condition as well running backwards and forwards from rock ferry station to Birkenhead North along the old duck line where people can get the feeling of the old train how they used to run along the old branch lines keeping the history alive not scrapped.
So please bring our old train back to the Wirral where we can put her in the shed next to the old tram museum on the old branch line
Totally agree , needs to be back home on Wirral.
This 1930s emu needs to be saved, it is the forerunner of all modern emus.
This would have been the EMU type driven by my Grandfather following his transition from Steam.
Colin
Shame that, very historic LMS design. Would have made excellent disabled access to a loco hauled heritage operation and push pull opportunity. A huge investment to achieve though.