A Stock withdrawals - Discussion

Only car 6116 was part of the unit involved in the collision, and according to the accident report 'sustained relatively little damage'. Any damage to the car would have been repaired when it was returned to service, there couldn't have been anything serious anyway as trailers 6208 and 6209 had been withdrawn and stored by the time the new 5116 was formed, they weren't scrapped until over a year later. The unit has also been in service for nearly 20 years since then.
If there is a reason not to preserve unit 5116, it's more likely to be that it's not an original formation, or because it has the numbers of the cars that were damaged in the collision.

I've often wondered why 5036-6116-6037-5037 became unit 5116 when it returned to service, as 5008 (ex 5034)-6008-6009-5009 were renumbered as unit 5234. Of course 6116 couldn't have been renumbered to 6036 unless the Rail Adhesion Car was also renumbered, but then why didn't the unit become 5236? Or why didn't 5008 keep its existing numbers?
All I can think of is that the two units were to become double ended with de-icing equipment, and 5116 was in a series of similar units. However 5008 was in a series used for A end units so it was renumbered to the end with 5232, also double ended but not a de-icing unit. Then there's the question of why were 5000 and 5004 fitted with such equipment when they were refurbished, instead of 5232 and 5066, as that would've kept the numbering neater and there wouldn't have been any single ended de-icing units. But this has got very off topic by now.