loco prep
33019 and the Waggon und Maschinenbau railbus at the North End of the Battlefield Line at Shackerstone during the 2008 Summer gala
The five British Railways Waggon und Maschinenbau railbuses were delivered in April 1958. They were based at Cambridge until 1964. They were withdrawn in 1966 and 1967. Four are preserved.
Initially the buses worked the Maldon, Braintree, and Saffron Walden lines. They had too few seats for the Braintree branch and were used on the Mildenhall line from July 1958. Mildenhall closed in 1962. E79961/3/4 had their Buessing engines replaced by AEC A220X engines, also of 150 hp, in 1962-3, due to the cost of importing replacements from Germany. Their other branches closed in 1964, after which they spent most of their time in store at Cambridge. In 1965 79963 and 79964 were trialled on the Alston Line, but couldn't haul parcels vans and had heating problems in winter. 79961 and 79964 were transferred to serve Millers Dale in 1966, but that branch closed in 1967. M79961 was the last to be withdrawn in August 1967 and was scrapped at Rotherham in 1968
loco prep
33019 and the Waggon und Maschinenbau railbus at the North End of the Battlefield Line at Shackerstone during the 2008 Summer gala
The five British Railways Waggon und Maschinenbau railbuses were delivered in April 1958. They were based at Cambridge until 1964. They were withdrawn in 1966 and 1967. Four are preserved.
Initially the buses worked the Maldon, Braintree, and Saffron Walden lines. They had too few seats for the Braintree branch and were used on the Mildenhall line from July 1958. Mildenhall closed in 1962. E79961/3/4 had their Buessing engines replaced by AEC A220X engines, also of 150 hp, in 1962-3, due to the cost of importing replacements from Germany. Their other branches closed in 1964, after which they spent most of their time in store at Cambridge. In 1965 79963 and 79964 were trialled on the Alston Line, but couldn't haul parcels vans and had heating problems in winter. 79961 and 79964 were transferred to serve Millers Dale in 1966, but that branch closed in 1967. M79961 was the last to be withdrawn in August 1967 and was scrapped at Rotherham in 1968