Pressed Steel Class 117 by Bachmann

Background to the model

BUILT between 1959 and 1960 by the Pressed Steel Company for suburban services originating from London Paddington, the Class 117 has a long service history which reaches deep into the Privatisation era, although not as deep as their sister DMUs, the Class 121 single car units. They share the same features including doors that open on to individual seating bays in Standard Class, the classic 'Derby' designed cab and under-floor but (AEC) and Leyland engines.

The 123 vehicles making up the Class 117 fleet comprised of 42 Driving Motor Brake Standard (DMBS); a matching 42 Driving Motor Standard (DMS) and 39 Trailer Composite Lavatory (TCL) vehicles, allowing 39 three-car sets to be diagrammed for traffic alongside the provision of spare vehicles.

Class 117s were based at Reading and Southall for most of their lives until