Third-Rail EMU Photos

[4630]

Looking back through my archives searching for something else unearthed a few from the South West Trains era, all taken at Hinton Admiral on 3rd December 2006.

 

Green 3-Cig 1498 passing through...

 

...and kicking up the leaves.

 

I seem to recall that 1498 and its sister unit 1497 periodically did a 'turning move' from Bournemouth T&RSMD via Southampton-Fareham-Eastleigh-Southampton-Bournemouth T&RSMD, to even out tyre wear.  I presume that's probably what this move was all about.

 

SWT 444028 approaching for its booked stop with a service to Winchester...

 

 

SWT 444036 passes with a service for Bournemouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jbqfc]

 

new cross 4/11/22

[Gwiwer]

450060 is one of many SWR class 450 units to have appeared with White Ribbon decals in support of the campaign to end men’s violence towards women. Seen in Clapham Yard on 9th Nocember - its first day so adorned. 
 

[73c]

Not sure when I took this photo. EMU running into Blackheath station, not particularly good photography or weather.

[Nearholmer]

Somehow encapsulates that part of the suburbs at that time better than any super-clear, brilliantly-lit photo.

Edited November 16, 2022 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Somehow encapsulates that part of the suburbs at that time.

[4630]

Several more of various South West Trains (SWT) from my archives;

 

On 10th April 2006 a class 442 heading west, away from Brockenhurst...

 

...and 444011 heading east towards Brockenhurst, passing the site of the former Lymington Junction, and if you go back far enough, also the separate junction for the 'old road' to Ringwood, West Moors and Broadstone to Poole...

 

...whilst blue-grey 3-Cig 1497 heads towards Brockenhurst...

 

 

...and is also seen at Setley Plain approaching Lymington Junction.

 

On 5th August 2006, 442407 stands at New Milton with a service towards Bournemouth.

 

On 6th August 2006, green 3-Cig 1498 at Lymington Town.

 

I also came across a short video that I took at the beginning of August 2006 of various SWT units at Eastleigh, Brockenhurst, Bournemouth and Lymngton Town.  The video can be seen here.

 

 

 

[John M Upton]

From when I were young, slim and single 🤣

A selection of SWT slammers:

 

[phil_sutters]

The three SWT ones may have been uploaded before - but have been lost in the wash. 

The 377 has been running some of the trips previously taken by our venerable 313s. Is the 3-car formation the future for the Coastway services, I wonder? I am sure our regular serving contributor(s) can enlighten us.

Edited November 19, 2022 by phil_sutters

[John M Upton]

It's 313 flat spot season, availability due to them needing to be pulled out of service for a trip to the Selhurst wheel lathe increases alarmingly during November into December each year and a three car 377 (or three on one day the other week) vice 313 is not uncommon. 

 

The winding down of 313's commences with the December timetable change, one Brighton/Portsmouth circuit and the Hove Shuttles go over to 377 (length uncertain) on weekdays from the December timetable change.

 

First 313 to be binned may have already happened (313217 has been OOU for some time now) but don't believe any of the so called enthusiast wibblings on certain sites and social media, 99% of what is being posted there as gospel truth is complete nonsense. 

Edited November 19, 2022 by John M Upton

[John M Upton]

Another three a.m. view of The Office...

 

Night Shift down Bognor, had to wake four of them up ready for the morning.

[Welly]

^^

It's striking that the only digital technology in the 313 cab is the cab telephone.

[Gwiwer]

Of note the 377/3 duty on the Brighton main line, which should be 4x3-car for a 12-car train, is often 9-car (3x3) arguably due to the need for one unit to be used on the coast instead.  

 

Southern persist in running empty 10-car train around their Metro area formed 5+5 or 4+3+3 with the latter normally found on West Croydon or Victoria - Crystal Palace - London Bridge workings.  Those could spare the 4-car unit almost all the time and run happily as 6-car formations with a little standing at peak times.  

 

The 5+5 are used on Epsom / Epsom Downs / Caterham / Tattenham Corner and Dorking / Horsham runs some of which cannot be shortened because they operate as two combined portions.  Horsham-via-Dorking is also a very quiet run these days but shedding a 5-car unit isn't always going to help out elsewhere because they are longer than numerous coastal platforms.  It is probably easier to keep the 5-car units in the London area and release 4-car units for the coast.  

 

My experience, and that of friends, has been that except for during Covid travel restrictions the 3-car units west of Brighton have been inadequate and - especially as the timetable has also been cut - people have the choice of extremely cramped and unpleasant conditions if they can board at all or of being left behind.  

 

 

[Northmoor]

I can report that commuting continues to recover.  Last Thursday (busiest day of the week now) I caught the 1741 Waterloo to Basingstoke service which pre-pandemic was always a busy service - it used to be non-stop to Brookwood - and it had multiple standees in every vestibule of a 12-car rake.  Now admittedly people are still reluctant to sit three abreast and sometimes to sit next to anyone, but I would still reckon that train was 95% loaded.  Pre-pandemic, it might have been 110%.

[Oldddudders]

13 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Horsham-via-Dorking is also a very quiet run these days

The three stations beyond Dorking were ever quiet. Sherry's late sister travelled from Ockley & Capel to school in Leatherhead in the late 50s. In the run-up to the 1967 re-cast, staff at Dorking wondered if there would be any trains at all! [ISTR all three SR Divisions had a re-cast that year, a monumental task that didn't all go well.] In fact their apprehension was not misplaced, and Holmwood, Ockley and Warnham (trains were invariably announced by the Dorking staff as "'Olmwood, Hockley, Warn'emanOrshem") lost their off-peak services. Meanwhile the Mid-Sussex fasts, eschewing those three stations, increased in regularity to one an hour, but only until the 1978 re-cast, when Gatwick demanded their attention, too. 

[Gwiwer]

16 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I can report that commuting continues to recover.  Last Thursday (busiest day of the week now) I caught the 1741 Waterloo to Basingstoke ..... I would still reckon that train was 95% loaded.  Pre-pandemic, it might have been 110%.

My experience from observing every weekday morning peak at Clapham Junction is that Wednesdays are the busiest day with Thursdays close behind and Tuesdays a little behind those two.  Mondays are not as busy as the others and Fridays are distinctly quiet until the weeekend-traveller off-peak folk come out.  

 

Many trains into Waterloo are shorter than they were immediately before the pandemic (10 or 8-car replacing 12 or 10-car, mostly, but with some 12 or 10 car trains having been replaced with 5-car) and the once-endemic end-to-end standing has gone.  The West of England diesel trains which had been mostly 9-car with one booked 10-car are now mostly one unit shorter than before so 5, 6 or 8-car formations.  It hasn't helped that 1590102 was lost at Salisbury a year ago but the reduction in services via Frome, which are very lightly used, and the cessation of those to Bristol has covered that loss.  

 

Some trains on some days are well above 100% loading.  But over all the operator states that loadings are steady at around 65% overall.  That allows for the significant reduction in commuting, the variable pattern across the (former?) five-day working week and the fact that some areas and some lines have performed better than others since travel restrictions eased.  Suburban trains are mostly 8-car not 10-car after the withdrawal of the 456s plus some 458s and 707s so even a full-and-standing load is only 80% of pre-pandemic numbers and slightly fewer trains are running over all taking the peak closer to 75% at best

.

4 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

The three stations beyond Dorking were ever quiet

Indeed they were.  It hasn't helped that they are curiously named and poorly sited.  

 

There are three villages with Holmwood in their name (North, Mid and South) yet the station named Holmwood is in none of them; it is in Beare Green quite some way down the road.

 

Ockley & Capel lies between those two villages but has lost its "& Capel" in recent years.  It is arguably closer to Ockley but Capel is the larger.  However to walk to the station now requires a difficult and dangerous crossing of the main A24 Capel By-Pass and as both villages are "ribbon" in nature - strung out along their respective main roads - much of both settlements is well beyond comfortable walking distance of the railway.  

 

Warnham is a very long way from the village it purports to serve and again beyond what some folk would find a comfortable walk.  A little light industry has grown up around the station but no residential settlements at all.  

 

I recall the "Mid-Sussex fasts" which left Victoria with calls at MItcham Junction, Sutton, Dorking, Horsham and principal stations to Bognor Regis / Portsmouth (splitting at Barnham) and which were provided with a buffet car.  Even in the 1970s when I knew them they were not busy trains.  The stopper via Crawley was better used.  

[4630]

A few from Brockenhurst, taken on 5th September 2004.

 

3-Cep 1198 in the evening sunlight waiting to form the next departure to Lymington Pier...

 

An unidentified 442 passes over the level crossing...

 

...with 2413 being the second unit.

 

4-Cig 1308 arrives with a semi-fast service to London Waterloo...

 

...with sister unit 1304 on the rear.

 

 

[John M Upton]

Just occasionally the planets align or two consecutive numbers wind up alongside each other:

 

[Northmoor]

A pair of 458s approaching Ascot last Tuesday morning:

[4630]

A handful more of South West Trains from 2004...

 

4-Cig 1887 stands at Eastleigh on 6th September with a service to Portsmouth Harbour.

 

On 7th December a 4-Vep heads west from Hinton Admiral on the embankment towards Christchurch.

 

On 8th December, 2416 draws into Bournemouth...

 

...while 4-Vep 3569 stands at platform 3...

 

...before departing towards Poole.

[EmporiaSub]

And the other 3rd Rail land, October this year, one Sunday morning.

[4630]

Several more from Brockenhurst on 5th September 2004.

 

Slammers occupying three of the four platforms...

 

At platform 3, 4-Vep 3508 forming a stopping service towards Bournemouth...

 

Platform 1 was occupied by two former 4-Beps by that time operating as 4-Ceps, 2311 and 2313, and then very much in the twilight of their careers.  As usual the very helpful Blood and Custard website gives the history of these units.

 

The pair were I believe working a staff/private railtour - unfortunately nothing is listed on the Six Bell Junction website - as the '54' 'code on 2313 is not one that I recognise along this part of the SW mainline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John M Upton]

One circuit of Brighton/Portsmouth Coastway West trips lost its 313 from Monday:

 

[Wickham Green too]

C'mon - sunshine and blue sky ... that wasn't Monday !

 

THIS was Monday : -

 

Sevenoaks, approx. 14.48 : 375.810/809 forming 14.16 to Charing Cross approaching past 700.021 just about to re-enter service after lay-over ( The driver took a photo of it before boarding - I wonder if he's on RMWeb ? ).

[John M Upton]

The 377/3 was taken Thursday (no trains down here Tuesday and Wednesday, nor Friday either) and as for snow, not a flake has been seen on the Coastway West west of Worthing whatsoever.