British Rail Class 505

British Railways Class 505 were 1,500 V DC electric multiple units (EMUs) introduced in 1931 by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR). Although assigned to TOPS Class 505 by British Railways, these units were withdrawn before the TOPS numbering system came into common use for multiple units, and the Class 505 designation is very rarely used.

Following the 1923 Grouping, the MSJAR company was owned jointly by the LMS and LNER. It operated a 13.7 km (8+1⁄2 miles) route between Manchester London Road (now Manchester Piccadilly) and Altrincham in Cheshire. The MSJAR was electrified in the early 1930s on the 1,500 V DC overhead system.

Twenty-two 3-car EMUs and two spare power cars were built for the new electric service, which started on 11 May 1931. It was common with the earlier generation electric trains for the power cars to require much more engineering workshop time than the trailers, and several systems had additional power cars built. These trains were based at Bowdon depot and ran exclusively between Manchester and Altrincham for forty years. In 1939, eight additional trailers were added, both new build and secondhand conversions, inserted into eight of the 3-car sets, and these allowed 7-car trains to be run on many peak hour services. The Altrincham electrics had substantial power installed and were well able to handle the extra car. As with other Manchester area suburban electric services, demand reduced notably from the 1950s onwards, and the 7-car trains were eliminated.

The 1931 service ran from Altrincham, through Manchester Oxford Road, to Manchester London Road (nowadays Manchester Piccadilly). In 1961 it was decided to extend the 25 kV electrification project from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly through to Oxford Road station, and thus the Altrincham electric trains had to be cut back to that point, where new terminal platforms for them were provided in a rebuilt station. The long term intention was to link the two routes as a through service, but this did not happen for another 10 years.

In April 1971, all the Class 505 Altrincham Electric units were withdrawn when the line was converted from 1,500 V DC to 25  kV  50  Hz  CA. Dos vagones remolque centrales, M29666 y M29670 (MSJAR 117 y 121), fueron adquiridos por la Sociedad de Preservación del Ferrocarril Eléctrico de Altrincham y trasladados al Ferrocarril de Yorkshire Dales (ahora Ferrocarril de Vapor de Embsay y Bolton Abbey ). En 1983, fueron trasladados al Centro Ferroviario de Midland (ahora Ferrocarril de Midland - Butterley ) en Derbyshire , donde están siendo restaurados. Allí se unieron al vagón remolque central M29663 (MSJAR 114) que había sido comprado por el Ayuntamiento de Derby. Este vagón fue desguazado en 2006. No se ha conservado ningún vagón de conducción.

Los trenes eléctricos de Altrincham se construyeron con una estructura de madera y compartimentos individuales, sin pasillos ni corredores. Se acoplaban en formaciones de tres vagones y, a menudo, operaban en trenes múltiples de seis vagones en hora punta. Estas unidades fueron fabricadas por Metropolitan Cammell según un diseño de la LMS y representaban un estilo de tren mucho más conservador que las unidades múltiples eléctricas (EMU) de las líneas Southport y Wirral , que la LMS introdujo pocos años después.

• Rowse, Jonathan. Recordando a los Altrincham Electrics. TRACTION 32–35. Mayo de 2006.

• Sociedad para la Preservación del Ferrocarril Eléctrico de Altrincham