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Third-Rail EMU Photos


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1 hour ago, 4630 said:

 

Yes, I had the misfortune to visit my old stamping ground recently.

 

I only get to visit once or twice year at most now and I know its been on a downward spiral for sometime, but as I said to Mrs 4630 on the way back to West Yorkshire, "I really don't want to visit there again".  All very sad.

That was pretty much my reaction when we paid a day visit to Brighton (not a place I know well) last year; it seems to be really trendy amongst a certain demographic but I'd never seen so much deprivation and anti-social people in a place that's apparently so affluent and appealing.   And I work in Central London.

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Brighton and especially its neighbour Worthing (both places I know very well and have had long associations with) have gone a long way down the moral gurgler in recent years. Not necessarily in quite the same way but I no longer feel comfortable in either place.  Whether it is down to the antisocial behaviour of (largely) the drinking generations or the influx of those from (especially but by no means exclusively) Eastern European nations with somewhat different cultural ways and norms I cannot honestly say.  

 

Brighton is no longer the frivolous and slightly risqué post-Victorian seaside resort where you could get away with all sorts after dark and a certain amount in broad daylight on the beach.  The sheer number of students - at its universities and language schools among others - can make navigating the city centre streets a challenge when finding the tidal-wave of humanity is determined to go the other way ten abreast.  One no longer needs to be at least 80 to qualify for residence in Worthing;  one needs instead a lifestyle where occasional violence and frequent verbal abuse go hand-in-hand with derogatory treatment of others.  

 

Meanwhile back at the storyline at the House of Fun, a/k/a Clapham Junction .....

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Brighton and especially its neighbour Worthing (both places I know very well and have had long associations with) have gone a long way down the moral gurgler in recent years. Not necessarily in quite the same way but I no longer feel comfortable in either place.  Whether it is down to the antisocial behaviour of (largely) the drinking generations or the influx of those from (especially but by no means exclusively) Eastern European nations with somewhat different cultural ways and norms I cannot honestly say.  

 

Brighton is no longer the frivolous and slightly risqué post-Victorian seaside resort where you could get away with all sorts after dark and a certain amount in broad daylight on the beach.  The sheer number of students - at its universities and language schools among others - can make navigating the city centre streets a challenge when finding the tidal-wave of humanity is determined to go the other way ten abreast.  

 

Interesting. I lived in central Brighton for nearly three years in the 80's, and have frequently re-visited since. It does seem to have changed, but not entirely the way you describe. You could hardly get around the (recently pedestrianised) city centre streets then - in fact, when I lived there, the DHSS contingent was far higher, especially around Kemp Town, now a very trendy area. London Road was one long, doss house, but I couldn't afford to buy a house there now. University faculties have moved further out, as has the football stadium. Hove, once the home of choice for a quiet life, is now extremely in vogue, and the Marina has livened up the other end, albeit unaccountably. Binge drinking is possibly greater, with the intro of several Wetherspoons, and I can scarcely afford to drink there anyway now. There is evidence of greater numbers of immigrants and students, but more so from Turkey, the Middle East and the Far East than far flung parts of the EU.

 

I think it may be the rich and not quite so rich, with their lack of social graces, that are spoiling your enjoyment, rather than the usual suspects you cite.

 

Perhaps it is simply our age? At least there is still a Third Rail........

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On 10/05/2017 at 13:18, bingley hall said:

 

Yes I noticed that after I scanned the image. No idea what was going on there.

the image was probably caught out by a fast camera shutter speed as the signal changed aspects,  the signal head has filament bulbs and the circuits are by relays

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On 15/12/2019 at 22:01, Gwiwer said:

Brighton and especially its neighbour Worthing (both places I know very well and have had long associations with) have gone a long way down the moral gurgler in recent years. Not necessarily in quite the same way but I no longer feel comfortable in either place.  Whether it is down to the antisocial behaviour of (largely) the drinking generations or the influx of those from (especially but by no means exclusively) Eastern European nations with somewhat different cultural ways and norms I cannot honestly say.  

 

Brighton is no longer the frivolous and slightly risqué post-Victorian seaside resort where you could get away with all sorts after dark and a certain amount in broad daylight on the beach.  The sheer number of students - at its universities and language schools among others - can make navigating the city centre streets a challenge when finding the tidal-wave of humanity is determined to go the other way ten abreast.  One no longer needs to be at least 80 to qualify for residence in Worthing;  one needs instead a lifestyle where occasional violence and frequent verbal abuse go hand-in-hand with derogatory treatment of others. 

 

This is a thread for third rail EMU photos not a place for people to vent their predjudices about foreigners and young people.

 

Darius

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1 hour ago, 4630 said:

A threesome of EPBs stabled, at Orpington I believe

I think the nearest one, with the red band, is one of those reformed with two six-a-side compartment trailer coaches, only to be used in the rush hours. The two compartment coaches had red bands along their entire length, so I guess the red band over the cab was a reminder to staff.

They reshuffled the coaches round so that the "no-escape" compartments were confined to the rush hours and those in more general use were all open coaches. This happened after some horrific attacks in the compartments I believe. 

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1 hour ago, dvdlcs said:

What determined whether the unit number was placed centrally on the cab end or above each window? Was one (or both) of these treatments a feature of having visited a particular works or depot?

They all had central ones until the refurbishment* started, and then the dual numbers were (I think) applied only to refurbished ones. 

*Refurbishment in the loosest sense of the word - adding fluorescent lights and gaudy moquette was about the size of it as I remember. Were the refurbished ones reformed to be all open coaches? Hence the spare all-compartment ones that got reformed into the rush hour-only 55xx sets.

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5 hours ago, eastwestdivide said:

I think the nearest one, with the red band, is one of those reformed with two six-a-side compartment trailer coaches, only to be used in the rush hours. The two compartment coaches had red bands along their entire length, so I guess the red band over the cab was a reminder to staff.

They reshuffled the coaches round so that the "no-escape" compartments were confined to the rush hours and those in more general use were all open coaches. This happened after some horrific attacks in the compartments I believe. 

 

Precisely because of this single horrific incident …………………..

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiE1Kmilb3mAhX2TxUIHWfGD_0QFjAAegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMurder_of_Deborah_Linsley&usg=AOvVaw2MpmzIgI8pN7QNzYejnv5Q

 

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6 hours ago, eastwestdivide said:

I think the nearest one, with the red band, is one of those reformed with two six-a-side compartment trailer coaches, only to be used in the rush hours. The two compartment coaches had red bands along their entire length, so I guess the red band over the cab was a reminder to staff.

They reshuffled the coaches round so that the "no-escape" compartments were confined to the rush hours and those in more general use were all open coaches. This happened after some horrific attacks in the compartments I believe. 

Correct.  Sub-class 415/5 gave rise to unit numbers 55xx and was used for the re-formed compartment-only units.  These were a short-term response to the tragic incidents which occurred aboard two (or was it three) trains, at least one on the SR and one on the LT&S route which had compartment-only coaches in its class 302s.  In order to mitigate risk and to identify to waiting passengers which coaches did not have central aisles the red stripes were applied above the windows of compartment-only areas.  These included the 415/5 (4EPB) units, the compartment-only class 302 coaches and half-coaches of some class 416/4 (64xx) 2EPB units.  Only the 4EPBs were reformed and that because it was impractical to deal with the other types.  Only the 55xx units were renumbered because of their compartments and the red stripe was added later (IIRC) over cab and guard's van as a reminder to staff.  

 

Class 415/5 units were semi-permanently paired and were assigned specific duties and largely restricted to peak-hour use where their maximum seating capacity was of more benefit.  They did stray but only to avoid cancelling a service if no other unit was available.  

 

At the time new rolling stock was on the horizon but not yet available for service.  As soon as Networkers of classes 465 and 466 became available the 415/5s were the first to be withdrawn quickly followed by the 2-car units.  Class 312 units replaced the LT&S 302s.  

 

As an aside the 55xx units had a brief life away from SE London.  Their compartment-only style made them ideal for the annual "Bicycle Belle" trains which were used to return thousands of cyclists from Brighton to London after the annual London - Brighton bike ride.  In deference to the possibility that compartment-only trains might deter some users not all trains were so formed; others utilised non-compartment units.

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Since we're looking at EPBs at Orpington, here's one I took at the same location, one very wet spring day in 1991:

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This has been cropped a bit but I always liked the pattern from the repetition of the door handles and hinges in this shot.

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45 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Since we're looking at EPBs at Orpington, here's one I took at the same location, one very wet spring day in 1991:

DSC00042_2.jpg.8e3ba1ba4e37603c34d1a84d7601b7de.jpg

This has been cropped a bit but I always liked the pattern from the repetition of the door handles and hinges in this shot.

 

Except there seems to be something wrong with the fifth vehicle as nothing aligns with the forth, either up and down, or left to right....

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The difference between SR design and BR design units, perhaps.  That and the dip in the track causing one carriage to dip and which is fairly common in bay platforms.

 

The units centre and right (the BR Standard design) are 2HAP not 2EPB as evidenced by the blank panels where the lavatory compartments are.

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Another three today.

 

These were taken at Stewarts Lane TMD open day which, courtesy of this useful website - BR Open Days - I'm reminded was held on 10th April 1988.

 

As film and processing was relatively expensive for me in those days, I probably concentrated on taking photos of the more unusual items; those pieces of rolling stock that were less frequently seen out and about.

 

De-icing unit 007.  Formed from former all-steel 4 Sub motor coaches 10993 and 12659, which were originally in units 4127 and 4604 respectively.

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Stores unit 018.  Formed from former 'Tyneside' 2 EPB 5788, which was originally built for use on the Newcastle-South Shields third-rail line.  That line was de-electrified in January 1963 after which the units were transferred to BR(S).  5788 was withdrawn in May 1984 and converted in 1985 to its new use.

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What at the time was probably the closest that BR(S) had to a heritage train were 2 Bil 2090 and 4 Sub 4732.  The units, which were still operational, were paired together 'in service' a number of times at BR open days and regional events during the late 1980s.  Here's 4 Sub 4732, on its own on this occasion, in the shed at Stewarts Lane.

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Fortunately, 4732 is now in the care of The Heritage Electric Trains Trust at the Locomotive Storage Limited facility in Margate. 

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I've been back in third rail land, this time to Higham, where a Javelin passes through in particularly dull conditions:

1509928593_HighamJavelin25jan20.jpg.10b95c891f6ecbe7eae7b0a82c93c6cf.jpg

 

 

Interesting view from the down platform through the twin Higham (1529 yards*) and Strood (2332 yards*) tunnels - green, green, yellow, red, and an up train over 2 miles away, just entering Strood tunnel:

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*according to the Kent Rail website

 

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This photo (below) was taken on the last day of passenger services on the South London Line (Victoria-London Bridge) on 8th December 2012. Now a historic pic already as the 295ft tall rigid gas holder (Battersea no.7) has also since been demolished. It was built in 1930/2 and could hold 6.5m cubic feet of gas.

 

DSC_4488.JPG.8cc8ba1f49876476ffceb1e680d694a1.JPG

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On 17/12/2019 at 09:54, 4630 said:

 

An area that has seen tremendous change to the railway and surrounding area over the intervening 30 years.  I'm pretty sure that nothing in that view still exists.310625732_5268LondonBridge199-RMweb.jpg.17331c0c3b88c217d031875ef1242a43.jpg

 

 

Yep, everything gone. The train scrapped, the platforms replaced, the brown canopies and footbridge gone, the train shed (upper left) gone, Southwark Towers (top left) demolished and New London Bridge House (top right) also demolished. 

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