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Hornby 2 BIL


Colin parks
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Thanks for the nostalgia Chris. I went to Strodes [1959-66] but used to travel on the 18 to Weybridge [2-EPBs] and then onto the SW main line. I've no third rail and I model post-war GWR but my BR 2-BIL is on order!!

 

I remember them best on the Brighton - Portsmouth Harbour, 60 (Semi-fast) / 62 (Slow).

This is in the days of the 2-NOL Brighton - West Worthing 'Flyer', Number 1. Much easier to bunk, being non corridor. (Not that I'm advocating such behaviour, of course)

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Was NoL 'No Lavatory' and HaL 'Half a Lavatory? :stinker:

 

JE

 

Exactly so.

 

Nol = No Lavatory

Bil = Bi-lavatory (i.e. two per 2-car unit)

Hal = Half Lavatory (i.e. one per 2-car unit or half the coaches so equipped)

Lav = 4-car Lavatory unit (but it neither had 4 lavatories nor were all 4 coaches equipped .....

Hap = Half Lavatory electro-Pneumatic brake unit

 

The SR had something of a toilet fixation but note that

 

Pan = 6-car Pantry unit and had nothing to do with toilets!!!

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Gwiwer wrote: "As the two types were very similar in accommodation, power and style they became more freely mixed under BR (SR) management which then resulted in mixed Bil and Hal formations being seen."

 

According to my trusty 1966 Ian Allan combi, Unit 2056 had a BIL motor coach and a 1939 type HAL trailer.

 

Units 2069, 2100 and 2133 had BIL motor coaches and post war all-steel HAL trailers.

 

Also, units 2001 - 2010 inclusive seated 56 in the Motor Brake Second as opposed to 52 for all the others. According to IA, 2014, 2105, 2088 and 2131 did not exist by 1966, so careful with those numbers out there! This looks like a winner from Hornby....

 

Best wishes,

 

Alastair M

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Which ever it was it had a very basic metal flap in the pan rather than a water trap. It became common practice on the last "crawler" back from Brighton (01.05 to West Worthing) to relieve oneself of some of the evening's alcohol intake and compare how many times the force of nature caused the flap to lower .....

 

I think the claimed record was a "six-flapper" but of course there was never any proof :scratchhead:

 

I note that the direction of this topic has gone down the Pan of late ;)

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Which ever it was it had a very basic metal flap in the pan rather than a water trap. It became common practice on the last "crawler" back from Brighton (01.05 to West Worthing) to relieve oneself of some of the evening's alcohol intake and compare how many times the force of nature caused the flap to lower .....

 

I think the claimed record was a "six-flapper" but of course there was never any proof :scratchhead:

 

I note that the direction of this topic has gone down the Pan of late ;)

Was this the one where you could see the track underneath when you pulled chain ?
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Talking about "BIG jobbie" ....whoops

Which explains why 2088 is missing in message #151! It was, according to the 1961/2 ABS (ABCs at dawn, huh?) also paired with a HAL trailer. This accident happend in the intervening years, no doubt.
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Are Hornby going to do a model of that one then ? :scratchhead:

Unlikely as 2088 had a HAL trailer, but if Hornby did so, it would be very welcome.

 

Mr Monk, SM at Barnham in the accident report, later became a Relief SM, and used to relieve at Dorking North when I first worked there in 1966.

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I suspect it will be perfectly possible to run two powered sets together without problems. Haven't tried it with Hornby units but I can easily run two Bachmann 4-CEPs and an MLV (That's THREE power units) and they run together beautifully on analog DC (with an ancient H&M controller, too!)

CHRIS LEIGH

 

It was more a question of cost rather than the units not running together,as surely a pair of unpowered would be little more than a pair of coaches in cost.

 

4,6,and 8 car sets then become a possibility.

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It could be that you are posting a picture subject to copyright (the rights of which you do not own) Tigermoth.

 

Spot on Colin.

 

Tigermoth - the image had been flagged up as a breach of copyright. I note that it was uploaded to Imageshack and hotlinked from there, I've replaced the image with the link as displaying the image in such a fashion could have caused copyright issues.

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Have I got this right ? The buffers on the Olive models have flat tops and bottoms and oval ends , the BR versions are pure oval. Is this correct ?

 

I hope I'm right in saying this, 'The NRM, early BR version, appears to have the flat top / bottomed oval buffers'. We'll find out, soon enough.

 

All the best

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Are Hornby going to do a model of that one then ? :scratchhead:

 

 

One way of getting rid of those rivets. I s'pose.

 

On a more serious note, there were other incidents / accidents involving 2-BILs running the West Coastway route... IIRC, one was a rear end collision at Ford, in the early '50s, and a later one, at Angmering, where an Emu formation, including a 2-BIL, hit a Southdown 'bus, in fog, on the level crossing, there.

 

Not a subject to dwell on, or make light of, but, it's strange how these things stick in the mind.

 

Regards.

Edited by Ceptic
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and a later one, at Angmering, where an Emu formation, including a 2-BIL, hit a Southdown 'bus, in fog, on the level crossing, there.

Strictly speaking this was at Roundstone level crossing which is a short distance to the east of Angmering station, and not at the station level crossing. The bus was Southdown "Queen Mary" 969 working route 31 but I don't recall the number of the Bil involved. IIRC a red signal was passed at moderate speed in the fog.

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at some point after unit 2090 was built, 2 BILs were constructed with self-contained, heavy-duty buffers. 2 BILs were built in batches specifically for use on certain routes. Quoting from Michael Welch 'A Southern Electric Album' p. 19, unit 2134 was: "..one of the final series (unit Nos. 2117 - 2152) built betweeen August and November 1938 for the Waterloo to Reading /Guildford via Ascot electrification scheme."

 

So , sticking my neck out, I would surmise that from unit 2117 onwards, 2 BILs were fitted with the heavier buffers.

 

Your neck is safe. According to volume 2 of David Brown's "Southern Electric" (2010, p.106, column 2):

 

For the Reading line electrification a final batch of 36 2BILs, 2117-2152, were ordered ... detail differences included the provision of a stronger 62ft underframe, with end-loading increased from ninety to 120 tons, achieved by cross-bracing ... [and] large Spencer Moulton self-contained cab-end buffers were fitted, as on the express stock.

 

Paul

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