Ourcity Metro "N" Stock

The Ourcity Metro "N" Stock (also known as N62 stock) was a rolling stock type used on the Circle, Metropolitan (and breifly Wirral) Lines of the Ourcity Metro from 1962 until 2006, constructed by Canadian rolling-stock manufacturer WAGGON UNION between 1961 and 1962.

## History

In 1958, Ourcity Transport entered consultation regarding the urgent replacement of the ageing P and Q stocks of trains used on the Circle, Wirral and Metropolitan lines of the Ourcity Metro. These units were constructed in the early 1920s and were rapidly approaching the end of their lifespan. OT quickly decided that the Metropolitan line was to receive a fleet of new "A" (later A1 and B1) stock trains constructed in-house at the Acton Works, although took longer to decide what units would be planned for use on the Circle and Wirral lines. In January 1959, OT was approached by Canadian manufacturer WAGGON UNION, based out of Ontario, who had been constructing trains for the Toronto Subway since its opening in 1954, as well as a number of other metro systems across North America. WAGGON UNION proposed a fleet of 4-car electric units for use on the Circle and Wirral lines featuring a mix of 3 or 4 sets of doors per carriage (former on motor cars and latter on trailer cars) which would provide a large capacity upgrades. After discussions over specification, Ourcity Transport agreed to purchase a fleet of these units, marked as the "N" stock, for primary use on the Circle Line. The 4-car design was not ideal for the Wirral Line (which was far more suited to a 3 car setup that was able to be coupled to 6 car during busy times), however WAGGON UNION were unwilling to produce a 3-car version, so OT included enough units in the order to be able to serve the Wirral line temporarily as well as the Circle line until a more permanent solution could be found for the Wirral, and the excess N Stock units could be used to top-up extra services on the Metropolitan line alongside the A stock once the Wirral had received its long-term trains.

Construction began in January 1961 at WAGGON UNIONs factory in Hamilton, Ontario. The first unit arrived in Ourcity for testing in June of that year, followed by approximately half of the ordered fleet between June and December. The units had a mix of longitudinal and latitudinal seating, and were painted in a metallic silver colour. In February 1962, it was deemed that enough units had completed testing to be able to fully enter the trains into service on the Circle Line. On March 4th 1962, the Q stock units ran the Circle Line service for the very last time. The next day on March 5th, all of the days Circle Line services were operated using the new N stock units. All but 2 of the Circle Line's Q stock trains were immediately sent for scrap, with the 2 that were retained being used as spares for if an N stock obtained a fault, although neither was ever used in service again, joining the rest in the scrapyard by September. The Wirral Line continued to use the P stock trains until later on in the year when the final few N stock units arrived in Ourcity during October 1962. Between October 3rd and October 16th, the N stock trains were gradually introduced into traffic on the Wirral Line, and by October 17th, the last P stock train had completed its final service and was withdrawn.

The initial plan was for the N stock trains to be run on the Wirral line for a maximum of 5 years whilst OT came up with a more permanent solution, however by 1970, still no long term order had been placed. In July 1971, OT placed an order for a full fleet of new trains for use on the Wirral line in the form of mainline-style Class 313 EMUs in a 3 carriage formation. These units were due to be in service by 1975, although due to delays they entered service in mid-1976. The final N stock train ran on the Wirral line in August of that year. The N stock units that were used on the Wirral line were then sent back over to the Circle line to be used as spares in case of a break down, as well as to the Metropolitan as capacity-boosting extras for busy times.

In 1980, OT began construction on 12 brand new "D" stock units to be introduced on the Circle Line alongside the N Stock. 12 units was at the time the operating requirement for a day of service on the Circle line (10 in use + 2 standby), although at this point the plan was not to withdraw the N stocks, but to just compliment them with the new D stock units. Despite this, Once the D stock units arrived for service in 1981, it was announced that around half of the N stock units that were in use on the Circle line would be sent for storage at a freight yard in Portsea docks (as they were still considered too new for full withdrawal and scrapping). During October 1981, the D stock units were introduced on the Circle line alongside the remaining N stocks.

The remaining N stock units continued running on the Circle and Metropolitan lines throughout the 1980s and early 1990s without any further changes or too many issues. By 1993, they were beginning to look considerably tired and battered having not been refurbished or painted since their introduction in the early 60s. Their metallic silver paintwork was beginning to look more like a dull grey. In late 1993, Around half the fleet of the Metropolitan line's A stock units had been fully overhauled into the B1 stock, with the remaining unrefurbished examples being named the A1s. As a result of this overhaul, The N stock were withdrawn from use on the Metropolitan line as extras, and the excess units were sent for storage at Portsea Docks alongside their Circle Line counterparts that had already been sitting there unused for over 10 years. It was rumoured that scrapping of all of the withdrawn units would begin during the mid-90s, although nothing was officially announced.

In May 1996, it was decided regarding the D stock units that over the next few years they would gradually become fully utilised on Circle Line services with the remaining N stock units to become spares and substitutes for any failed D stock trains. The final scheduled N stock ran on the Circle line to little fanfare during April of 2000, although they were still usually seen a few times a week as substitutes for failed D stocks.

In November 2005, An announcement was made that all N stock units would be withdrawn by the following June, being fully replaced by the D stock units. An entire fleet of new trains for the Circle and Metropolitan lines were planned to be ordered within the next 5 years, so it was decided that the N stocks were no longer required to assist the D stocks on the Circle line whatsoever. May 16th 2006 was the last time an N stock train was used in regular service on the Circle line as a substitute for a faulty D stock train.

On June 1st 2006, a farewell railtour for the N stock was announced by Ourcity Metro. Tickets were put on sale at the Transport Museum Shop, and were sold out by the end of the following day. The farewell tour occurred on June 25th 2006, and was the last time an N stock train ever carried members of the public on the Ourcity Metro. The tour started from Etford Broadway and travelled along the Metropolitan line all the way up to Highfields (the N stock were never used in service between Highfields, Aldridge and Moorford, so those two spurs were excluded from the railtour), before heading back down to Stafford Junction, reversing and heading towards Marlowe, before travelling express back down to Edgware Road. An anti-clockwise trip around the Circle line then begun and upon reaching Edgware Road again, the N stock finished its farewell tour with a trip down to Pattersmith (City). Passengers were then detrained for the final time, and the unit was shunted into Pattersmith depot.

## Post-withdrawal

During April 1997, all of the units withdrawn during the 80s and early 90s that were sitting in storage at Portsea Docks began being transported by rail to A.D Alders scrapyard in Eastbourne to be dismantled.

After final withdrawal from service in June 2006, Two carriages from the N stock unit that was used for the farewell railtour were sent to Acton Works to be prepared for display in the Ourcity Transport Museum. The remaining two carriages of this unit, and one full other unit were purchased by a Metal Retrieval company based in The Cutaway States and were transported up there in early 2007 where they remain intact yet abandoned to this day.

One other unit was also sent to Acton Works to be transformed into a Rail Adhesion Train for use across the Sub Surface network. As of 2023, this unit is still occasionally ran across the Circle, Metropolitan and Wirral lines during cold weather and during heavy leaf-fall.

The rest of the remaining N stock units were sent for scrap at N.T.S Recovery in Warhampton during 2007.