Thanks for your updates across the various threads regarding status of stock at Sims, greatly appreciated
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Merseyrail legacy fleet updates (Class 507/508)
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R
RailUK Forums
Your updates are very much appreciated
Thanks for making the effort .
MR-507508
Member
Thanks for the update, did you get a picture by any chance?
Too far down from the gates
Wezz
Member
140 is the next unit to go and will be leaving us this month. unsure on what date though.
WarrenTManager
Member
The air tanks are red in the diagram.
Sam 76
Member
Are Merseyrail confident of bringing the new trains in soon then? Maybe the deal for drivers is closer than thought ?
warwickshire
On Moderation
Are the units going to Newport Docks Simms by road from Seaforth or Kirkdale by any chance? Rather than by rail?
WarrenTManager
Member
Have something looking mighty similar on 455/7 TS. It has the heater control equipment
315801
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I contacted angel trains who are the leasing company for the class 507 / 508 units to find out roughly how much the units were expected to sell for if any preservation groups expressed interest in preserving them.
I was informed that they were expected to sell for around £20,000 per unit and sold as seen.
Currently as far as I know, 508111 has already been gifted to the people of Liverpool so at least that unit is certain to escape the breakers but I was also informed that several preservation groups have expressed interest in preserving some.
I must add also that I do not know the names of any of yhe preservation groups that have expressed their interest in the 507 / 508 units but who knows, maybe more of the units will be saved from the breakers yards, certainly 507001 & 002 are worthy candidates as they carried our late Queen around the Northern Line on their 1st day of service
I was informed that they were expected to sell for around £20,000 per unit and sold as seen.
Currently as far as I know, 508111 has already been gifted to the people of Liverpool so at least that unit is certain to escape the breakers but I was also informed that several preservation groups have expressed interest in preserving some.
I must add also that I do not know the names of any of yhe preservation groups that have expressed their interest in the 507 / 508 units but who knows, maybe more of the units will be saved from the breakers yards, certainly 507001 & 002 are worthy candidates as they carried our late Queen around the Northern Line on their 1st day of service
Is there a source for the 508111 claim, please? Meaning no offence, that's just social media wibble from what I've seen.
There has been talk via one or two people I consider trustworthy that a unit (presumably one of the last 507s to be withdrawn) will be saved for the future Birkenhead Transport Museum.
Mind you, as long as it isn't 508130 they save. The noise that unit makes when air is released (under carriage 64721) is horrifying. It wouldn't sound out of place in a horror film.
There has been talk via one or two people I consider trustworthy that a unit (presumably one of the last 507s to be withdrawn) will be saved for the future Birkenhead Transport Museum.
Mind you, as long as it isn't 508130 they save. The noise that unit makes when air is released (under carriage 64721) is horrifying. It wouldn't sound out of place in a horror film.
315801
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Here is the reply I received from angel trains when I wrote to the company back in 2018.
For security reasons I have edited the screenshot of the email reply as it contained my own personal email address aswell as the name of the person who replied to me.
Razorblades
Member
'Coming of lease' and 'brought as seen.' Looks like the ROSCos are cost-cutting on proof-readers these days.
That was 4 years ago. They might donate it to 'the people of Liverpool' but it doesn't mean that anyone still wants it or has a place to store it.
If a Class 507 / 508 is being donated to the local authority, then I am not sure where it would go, certainly not at any of the Museums as they do not have a space for even one coach of a three car set. Good god, the local Museum cannot even display a former Mersey Railway 0-6-4 loco 'Cecil Raikes' which was last known to be stored in a Liverpool Museum warehouse (updates welcome). If one was being kept as a runner for special occasions then no problem but I don't see that happening especially in the present climate.
We know what happened with Wirral Borough Council had the Class 503 unit along with the Class 03, they got rid with the Class 03 now permanently at the Llangollen Railway with the Class 503 unit travelling around without any restoration and now stored in Margate. Thankfully the former two Class 502 unit eventually rescued from the NRM and is now slowly but surely being restored under secure accommodation. Unless discussion has taken place already to find a location for a three car Class 507 / 508 unit (along with money and maintenance) then best thing to happen is scrap the lot and make do with memories and images. Sorry.
We know what happened with Wirral Borough Council had the Class 503 unit along with the Class 03, they got rid with the Class 03 now permanently at the Llangollen Railway with the Class 503 unit travelling around without any restoration and now stored in Margate. Thankfully the former two Class 502 unit eventually rescued from the NRM and is now slowly but surely being restored under secure accommodation. Unless discussion has taken place already to find a location for a three car Class 507 / 508 unit (along with money and maintenance) then best thing to happen is scrap the lot and make do with memories and images. Sorry.
D821
Member
The unit for Wirral will be given to a transport museum opening in Dock Branch Park.
Razorblades
Member
That would suggest that it's about to run out of miles before a scheduled overhaul.
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You mean this - https://www.wirral.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/major-projects/dock-branch-park-green-corridor and https://op-en.co.uk/projects/dock-branch-park As for transport museum, I assume you mean Wirral Transport Museum which was refurbished in 2018. Unless they have a new building and large enough to house a three car unit then if not safely under cover then it will trashed / rot in due course staying outside. Again it comes back to money and maintenance, in the present climate, it is the bottom of priorities. Regardless if that is the plan, good luck to them.
(PS: It would be better to offer a new home for the Class 503 Unit, so it it back home so to speak rather than having a Class 507/508 unit, far more relevance and historic in my opinion but again will cost money).
Wirral borough council have an outstanding reputation on delivering long lasting attractions .
The fountain in the sky dock thing.
The Chinese development centre.
Bidston dock
Woodside heritage centre
Birkenhead light transport system.
Neptune development swimming pool.
Plus the davis golf vanity project the council paid to nicklaus
The fountain in the sky dock thing.
The Chinese development centre.
Bidston dock
Woodside heritage centre
Birkenhead light transport system.
Neptune development swimming pool.
Plus the davis golf vanity project the council paid to nicklaus
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I've also heard the Dock Branch plan mentioned as a place to store the preserved 507/8 unit, should it happen. All ifs, buts and maybes at this stage.
Sorry to say but that reply from Angel Trains doesn't quite sit right for some reason: 'the people of Liverpool'? 508111 is likely to be withdrawn relatively early and wouldn't any preservationist want to restore it to an earlier livery? Better to take one of the last units to finish or, if paying attention to numbers, a unit with genuine value over the others such as 507001 or 507033.
If there is no space for a full set, then just save a driving carriage: better than nothing. They will have given over 45 years of service by the time they're withdrawn, so there is as much value (or as little, depending on one's point of view) in saving one as in the case of the 502s and 503s.
Sorry to say but that reply from Angel Trains doesn't quite sit right for some reason: 'the people of Liverpool'? 508111 is likely to be withdrawn relatively early and wouldn't any preservationist want to restore it to an earlier livery? Better to take one of the last units to finish or, if paying attention to numbers, a unit with genuine value over the others such as 507001 or 507033.
If there is no space for a full set, then just save a driving carriage: better than nothing. They will have given over 45 years of service by the time they're withdrawn, so there is as much value (or as little, depending on one's point of view) in saving one as in the case of the 502s and 503s.
Razorblades
Member
I note your Liverpool location and PEP credentials, so understand that you've a foot in each camp; the relevance of the Beatles unit is surely its resonance with the City, which in and of itself is irrelevant to preservationists (unless this was to secure additional financial/ volunteering/ other support). Whereas the numerical sequence is only of relevance to preservationists, and even then, of inferior importance to the job of saving a unit, any unit, if push came to shove.
D821
Member
From what I've read, a new museum is to be built . I think I read that Wirral Transport Museum were involved and possibly National Museums Liverpool, too.
I'll have a look in the morning to try and find where I read that. As it has been said above, Wirral doesn't have the best record for delivering this sort of thing.
The Beatles vinyl. Apparently it's all our city is known for (the Beatles, not the vinyl).
Herefordian
Member
The unit being called The Beatles and its livery depicting the band, apparently.
Personally, I don't think those credentials should come into it.
What matters more is historical significance. The 507s have more of that than the 508s.
So, should a partial or full unit be preserved, it should be a 507.
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