19850223_ZD_AdrianNicols
Railbus RB004 at Whitrope Siding Halt. Border Union Railway.
Prototype BRE/Leyland built Railbus no.RB004 is seen in the platform at Whitrope Siding on the Border Union Railway which is operated by the Waverley Route Heritage Association. This was taken on the official opening day for the new heritage line although passenger services had run on the previous day. The new halt is just a few yards south of the famous Whitrope Summit on the Waverley route which closed under BR ownership on the 6th January 1969. The track has been laid south for a distance of ╛ mile but the operating licence only allows trains to proceed for 240yds to bridge no.200 over the B6399 road which is waiting funds for a full structural survey., , Railbus RB004 is one of a batch of three demonstrators built in 1984 by BRE/Leyland purely to test the export market. RB004 left Derby in 1984 for trials in the USA and its first use was for two months starting in July 1984 on the Old Colonial Railroad, Newport, Rhode Island. It then toured other US states - Conneticut, Long Island, Washington, Alabama, New Orleans and Cleveland before ending up in Canada by 1985-86. With no real interest in purchasing such vehicles from the US or Canadian Railroads it eventually returned in 1986 to the UK and ended up dumped at BREL York Works as an office. It was rescued for preservation in 1994 by the Yorkshire Dales Railway and moved to Embsay. It has since been sold again to the fledgling Northumbria Rail Group who are reinstating the Alnmouth to Alnwick branch in Northumberland and they intend to use it once the line reopens. As the BUR does not have any serviceable passenger stock the railbus was hired in for this inaugural opening of the line event.
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