Leyland Railbus Prototypes

British Rail returned to the idea of railbuses from the mid-1970s, and a prototype four wheel vehicle was developed jointly by British Leyland and the British Rail Research Division. A number of single and two-car railbuses were built and tested, in co-operation with Leyland (hence the generic term for these vehicles as LEV (Leyland Experimental Vehicle) railbuses). The first three single car prototypes were essentially Leyland National bus bodies mounted on a modified HSFV1 four wheeled rail chassis. The prototype two-car railbus was allocated Class 140 and is dealt with on that page, but the prototype single car railbuses were not classified and are set out in the table below:

## Units

### LEV1

In 1978 tests were carried out with a modified double ended Leyland National bus body placed on an unpowered wagon chassis derived from HSFV1, this was LEV1 (Leyland Experimental Vehicle 1). Whilst in its unpowered state this vehicle never left the Railway Technical Centre in Derby. In 1979 a powertrain was added to LEV1, the engine being a Leyland 510 diesel, and the transmission a mechanical type with self-changing gears.

Even though some of these vehicles carried numbers in the departmental coach series, they were actually used in ordinary passenger service. LEV1 was tested in passenger service at first in East Anglia, and then elsewhere, before being temporarily exported to the USA in the early 1980s. LEV1 was withdrawn and transferred to the National Railway Museum in 1987, it was until recently at the North Norfolk Railway where it underwent restoration. In 2012 it was moved to the NRM's Shildon site, later to the Wensleydale Railway.

### LEV2

LEV2 was built especially for the USA at 15.3 m (50 ft) was a stretched version of LEV1 and sometimes known as R3. Following export around 1981 it was used on an experimental extension of MBTA (Boston) commuter service to Concord, New Hampshire. When that experiment was ended in 1981 the LEV2 was sold to Amtrak for use on the Northeast Corridor, but it was quickly put out of service after an accident at a crossing. It was subsequently sold to the Steamtown Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania for use as a shuttle,[7] but was damaged during repair and sold for scrap. It was bought from the scrap dealer by the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, a tourist railroad in West Virginia, and later sold to the Connecticut Trolley Museum, where it remains to this day.

Similarly, the BR version of R3 (RDB977020) was run in service on BR for a few years before eventually being sold to Northern Ireland Railways in late 1982, and being converted to 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Irish gauge. R3, also known as RB003, was withdrawn in 1990 and preserved, initially at the Ulster Transport Museum, then in 2001 at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway.

### RB004

Another version, RB004 was built at Derby in 1984. The body was built at the Leyland plant at Workington and BREL Derby C&W were responsible for the underframe and final assembly. This is preserved in running order at the Waverley Route Heritage Association site at Whitrope.

### RB002

Yet another BREL-Leyland product from c1984, RB002, was exported as a demonstrator, going to the USA and Canada, then Denmark and Sweden. Afterwards, the RB002 was used in the Netherlands and Germany for a demonstration of light rail vehicles on the then defunct railway between Enschede and Gronau. It returned to the UK, having gained the nickname, "The Denmark", and was used as a classroom/office by BREL for a while and somehow it too ended up in Ireland. Its present location is believed to be at the now closed standard gauge Riverstown Old Corn Railway near Dundalk in Ireland but it is understood to be in a poor state of repair.

These railbuses were sent abroad in the hope of gathering export orders, but they never transpired.

### RDB977091

In addition, there was an experiment with a loco-hauled Leyland-built vehicle. A National bus-type body was placed on the 63-foot (19 m) underframe from Mk1 BCK coach number 21234. This was numbered RDB 977091 and was run in normal service around the London Midland region alongside ordinary coaching stock until withdrawn as being unsuitable. The only direct connection with railbuses was the use of the same type of bus based body shell to reduce costs to a minimum. The coach is now preserved at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway.

## References

1. ↑ Gilchrist, A. O. (2009) [2006]. *Working Papers in Railway Studies*. Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History (10): 54. ISSN 1368-0706
2. ↑ *Railway Magazine*. April 1987. p. 252.
3. ↑ Colin J Marsden (2008). *Second Generation DMUs*. Ian Allan. p. 12. ISBN 978-0860936244
4. ↑ NVBS: Op de Rails: Nieuwsberichten. 3-1985
5. ↑ NVBS: Op de Rails, W. Miedema: BOREG, Spoorwegmaatschappij voor één dag? 11-1985
6. ↑ http://www.pacerpreservationsociety.co.uk/uploads/1/0/5/2/10525174/issue\_03\_of\_pps\_bulletin\_jan12.pdf
7. ↑ http://www.ukprsl.uk/final-results.asp?action=display&Id=17105
8. ↑ http://www.ukprsl.uk/final-results.asp?action=display&Id=43599
9. ↑ http://www.ukprsl.uk/final-results.asp?action=display&Id=44274