The East Kent Railway (EKR) is a heritage railway in Kent, England. It is located at Shepherdswell station on the London and Chatham to Dover mainline. The line was constructed between 1911 and 1917 to serve the Kent Coalfields. See East Kent Light Railway for details of the original lines. The Kent Collieries were mostly a failure with only Tilmanstone on the line producing any viable commercial coal and commercial traffic over the line. The line is operated by heritage diesel locomotives. It is home to a collection of heritage diesel locomotives including a British Rail Class 08, DEMU and electric multiple units including an in service British Rail Class 404 built in the 1930s and a more modern British Rail Class 365, which is to be used as a restaurant and a major events venue.
The British Rail Class 205 (3H) diesel-electric multiple units were built by BR at Eastleigh from 1957 to 1962, and in service for 47 years from BR Southern Region to Connex South Central and finally to the Southern franchise. They were eventually replaced by Class 171 Turbostar units.
The British Rail Class 311 alternating current (AC) electric multiple units (EMU) were built by Cravens at Sheffield from 1966 to 1967. They were intended for use on the line from Glasgow Central to Gourock and Wemyss Bay, which was electrified in 1967.
The British Rail Class 485 and British Rail Class 486 electrical multiple units were originally built for the London Electric Railway from 1923-31 as its 'Standard' tube stock. They were purchased by British Rail in 1967 and transported to the Isle of Wight to work 'mainline' services on the newly electrified Ryde to Shanklin line, where they worked for an additional quarter of a century. At the time of their purchase the units had already worked for over 40 years on the London Underground, but their introduction allowed the last steam locomotives on the line to be withdrawn.
The British Rail TC multiple units were unpowered fixed formations of 3 or 4 carriages with a driving position at each end of the set, converted by BR's Holgate Road carriage works from locomotive-hauled Mark 1 carriages in 1966–1967 and 1974. The units built on experience gained from the prototype 6TC unit. In time the 3 car units were reformed into four car units to match the rest of the fleet and later classified as Class 442. This was later changed to Class 491, under which they spent the majority of their working lives. Shortly before withdrawal they were reclassified Class 438 and the units were renumbered to 8001-8034.
The British Rail Class 202 diesel-electric multiple units were built from 1957-58 at Eastleigh and Ashford Works. These units were built to work the London Charing Cross to Hastings services. Several tunnels along the route had restricted clearance, meaning that these units were built with a narrow body profile. Similar to the Class 201 they were built to the longer BR Mk1 standard and therefore had 288 seats compared to the 242 (200+42) of the 6S units.
The Oxted line is a railway in southern England and part of the Southern franchise. The railway splits into two branches towards the south and has direct trains throughout to London termini.
The British RailClass 303 electric multiple units, also known as "Blue Train" units, were introduced in 1960 for the electrification of the North Clyde and the Cathcart Circle lines in Strathclyde. They were initially classified as AM3 units before the introduction of the TOPS classification system, and were the dominant EMU on the Glasgow suburban railway network for over 25 years before being progressively phased out by newer rolling stock. The final units were withdrawn from service in 2002. The fleet's lifespan was 42 years.
The British Rail Class 171 Turbostar is a type of diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger train built by Bombardier Transportation at Derby Litchurch Lane Works in England. It is identical to the Class 170, except for the replacement of the BSI coupler with a Dellner coupler. This provision was made to allow emergency joining with Class 377 DC third-rail electric units, which Southern runs extensively on most lines. The units work on the southern regions of the British railway system, operating services from London Bridge to Uckfield and from Eastbourne to Ashford International, these routes being unelectrified between Hurst Green Junction and Uckfield and between Ore and Ashford International, respectively.
The British Rail Class 201 six-car diesel-electric multiple units (DEMUs) were built in 1957–1958 at Eastleigh and underframes were built at Ashford.
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The region was largely based upon the former Southern Railway area.
This article contains a list of jargon used to varying degrees by railfans, trainspotters, and railway employees in the United Kingdom, including nicknames for various locomotives and multiple units. Although not exhaustive, many of the entries in this list appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. There may be significant regional variation in usage.
The British RailClass 414 were two-car electric multiple units that were built between 1956 and 1963. They were withdrawn in 1995.
The British Rail Class 126 diesel multiple unit was built by BR Swindon Works in 1959/60 to work services from Glasgow to Ayrshire and comprised 22 3-car sets and were a development of the earlier Swindon-built trainsets that had been introduced in 1955 to work the Edinburgh Waverley - Glasgow Queen St services. These vehicles formed the first Inter City service to be operated by diesel units in Great Britain.
The British Rail Class 119 DMUs were used throughout the Western Region and on services in the Midlands sourced by Tyseley Depot. Built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd, the body design was based on the Swindon Cross-Country sets, but with a Derby cab. Sets were normally formed of three cars.
The British Rail Class 210 was a type of diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) passenger train designed and constructed by British Rail Engineering Limited's Derby Litchurch Lane Works.
The British Rail Class 203, initially classified 6B, was a type of diesel-electric train. Seven units, numbered 1031-1037, were constructed in 1958 for use on the Southern Region. They were similar to the earlier Class 202 units, differing only in the substitution of a trailer buffet car for one of the three trailer second opens.
The British Rail Class 206 or 3R was a type of Diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU), introduced in 1964. They were not 'built' as such but rather re-formed from Class 201 and EPB vehicles for use on Reading-Redhill-Tonbridge services. Six three-car sets were created, numbered 1201-1206.
Preserved EMUs of Southern Railway. This is a list of preserved Southern Railway (UK) designated electric multiple units (EMUs).
Network SouthEast (NSE), the sector of British Rail which ran passenger services in London and southeast England between 1986 and 1994, operated a wide variety of rolling stock during its existence. The majority of the network was electrified, and further electrification schemes took place during the 1986–1994 period; and the 7,000 vehicles owned by NSE in 1986 consisted of a mixture of electric, diesel-electric and diesel multiple units, diesel locomotives and the coaches they hauled.
