Year in Review 2025

A combined team, complete with new stall branding at the first major event for the newly formed ACMU, The Greatest Gathering in Derby. Note there are still a couple of “Legacy” shirts, something we hope to remedy in 2026! Tim Hancock

It’s once again time for the yearly tradition, to sit down and reflect, with 2025 now over and done. Happy new year to all of our followers and supporters. I will start by rounding up the year's events, before giving a brief update of the current status of all of the ACMU Fleet and look forward to 2026.

Again, What a difference another year can make! When the year started we were still the Clacton Express Preservation Group, and we only had one EMU that we supported. Now look how far we have grown. Obviously the biggest change is the group merger with the Class 315 Preservation Society, becoming the ACMU Society, and taking on formal ownership of 315856. That's all before mentioning the huge milestone of rolling out 309624 from an intensive 6 month restoration period, a major milestone and the completion of the original ambition for the CEPG. Last, we can't forget to mention our expanded horizons, teaming up with the Fife Heritage railway to support sister unit 313121.

I want to once again thank every single person who has continued to support the ACMU into this next chapter of its life.

In no particular order;

The new directors team, and the ACMU Committee, who have helped run the group and build a strong foundation to move forward with.

To the team at The East Anglian Railway Museum for continuing to collaborate with the restoration of the the 309 BDTC and MBS

To The team at the Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway for continuing to home the 309 DT vehicle and continuing its restoration.

To Everyone at the Fife Heritage Railway for allowing us to collaborate and support 313121, working towards our goal of unity in EMU preservation.

And to everyone who has volunteered their time with the ACMU this year, either with the trade stall or helping in the restoration so far.

And thank you if you have helped and supported the group in any other way, donating money, sharing historical artefacts or photos, or just simply liking and sharing our posts. It all helps us grow.

The year started off much more positively in January. We had just revealed the repaint of the front corner of 309624. It generated so much positive publicity it was agreed to press ahead with the full repaint, with an ambitious target to be ready in time for the winter beer festival in February. But before then, we started the year off strong by participating in the Railway 200 "Whistle up" celebrations, and soon after appearing on TV with a feature on BBC Look East to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the entry into service. Work was really picking up pace, with both sides of the vehicle going from undercoat to full NSE in a little under 2 weeks. The new glass arrived and was all fitted, and the unit came together all in good time.

We even had time for a "Side Quest", giving a cosmetic restoration to Permaquip HCT008, which was also planned to also feature in the upcoming Essex Electrics Exhibition. 

Then the big day came, on the 27th Feb BDTC 75965 rolled out of the workshop, fully repainted and resplendent in 1987 Original Network SouthEast. It was amazing to finally "put our money where our mouth is" and show everyone that despite every setback, we did it. The vehicle is safe, and in better condition now than it has been in the last 20 years. Proving every voice of doubt wrong. It took pride of place in the winter Beer Festival, on display and lit up in the evening.

After the excitement, the vehicles were swapped and MBS 61928 finally got its turn in the shed. Although progress has been a little slower with this vehicle, we are still committed to get them back to its former glory.

Next finally came the Essex Electrics Exhibition, The Headline event for the group in 2025. While the exterior was finished for the Beer Festival, the interior still required more work. Volunteers spent this month intensively working on the floors, ripping up the old planks that had rotted due to water damage and replacing the entire corridor in a little under 3 weeks.

Then the big day, The Essex Electric Exhibition marked the first public open day for 75965 since it was at the Electric Railway Museum in 2018. Volunteers pulled overtime to get the vehicle in a presentable condition and this event was the fruit of the labours. It was a great success, reuniting traincrew who all worked on and loved the units.

Next came a major shift for the group. Our original chairman began a new career and had to step back from leading the group. To ensure the group could remain active, It was decided to team up and merge with the Class 315 Preservation Society, a group with similar aims and goals, who look after 315856.  This is another unit that got pretty down on its luck in the previous year through no fault of its own. 

So come July 13th, at Chapel's Rail200 event, we announced a soft launch of the ACMU Society, with the goal of Unity in EMU preservation. We brought together both halves of the 309, 315 and 317 all under one group. Chris Green, Director of NSE, also attended the event and was most pleased to see the progress on the 309.

Next stop was the biggest event of the year, The Greatest Gathering in Derby. It was the more formal launch of the group and a great chance to get our new name on the national stage.

Through October and into November group visits continued to Wales to check up on 856 and begin to plan on how we could turn the units fortunes around.

In November, it was announced 313121 would be joining the ACMU's "Meet the Fleet" initiative, bringing another unit under our banner and working together alongside another PEP-Derived EMU.

And finally, this December we launched Project Yellow Submarine, a targeted fundraiser to carry out work on the unit. The project hit its target in under 3 days, which is probably the best way we could have asked to end the year.

So, looking forward to 2026, PYS will begin with the unit due to be shunted in late January. An intensive work week will begin and we hope to get many outstanding jobs completed. We are still open to volunteers so if you want to come help out, please get in touch!

After last year's successful event, we have The Essex Electrics Exhibition 2 scheduled for July 26th 2026. Save the date in your calendars, more Info will be released soon! We are celebrating NSE40 alongside the Network SouthEast Friends. We have many more very exciting plans in the pipeline for 2026 that we can't wait to share with you, so keep following the page, liking and sharing!

And finally, we are looking to continue with our aim of bringing more unity to EMU preservation. What other AC EMUs would you like to see us support, and potentially join our "Meet The Fleet" Initiative?

We wish all our followers a very happy new year, and hope that you all continue to follow our journey.

-The ACMU Directors Team.