British Rail Class 401

Last updated

SR 2-BIL
British Rail Class 401
BR Class 401 2-BIL EMU no. 2090, London Waterloo, 22 November 1986.jpg
2090 at London Waterloo in 1986
In service1935–1971 [1]
Manufacturer Southern Railway
Order no.
  • HO806
  • HO898
  • HO903
  • HO948
  • HO949 [2]
Built at
Constructed1935–1938
Entered service1935 [2]
Number built152 sets
Number preserved1 set
Number scrapped151 sets
Formation2-car sets:
DMBTL-DTCL [2]
Diagram
  • 2111 (DMBTL)
  • 2115 (DMBTL)
  • 2700 (DTCL)
  • 2701 (DTCL) [2]
Design code2-BIL
Fleet numbers2001–2152
Capacity
Operators
Specifications
Car body constructionSteel-panelled wooden-framed body on steel underframe
Train length129 ft 6 in (39.47 m)
Car length62 ft 6 in (19.05 m) [2]
Width9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) [3]
Doors Slam [3]
Maximum speed75 mph (121 km/h) [3]
Weight
  • 74 long tons 15 cwt (75.9 t) (total)
  • 43 long tons 10 cwt (44.2 t) (MBSL)
  • 31 long tons 5 cwt (31.8 t) (DTCL) [3]
Traction motors
  • 2 × MV339
  • 2 × EE507C (MV339 replacements)
  • 2 × EE339 (as built) [2]
Power output2x 275 hp (205 kW) (as built)
550 hp (410 kW) (total, as built) [3]
2 x 250 hp (186 kW) (replacement)
500 hp (373 kW) (total, replacement) name=TRC1 />
Electric system(s) 750 V DC Third rail [3]
Current collector(s) Contact shoe
UIC classification Bo′2′+2′2′
Braking system(s) Automatic air
Coupling system Screw [3]
Multiple working SR Standard system (1936 Type)
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2-BIL to the DC third rail electric multiple units built during the 1930s to work long-distance semi-fast services on the newly electrified lines from London to Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Reading. This type of unit survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated TOPS Class 401.

Contents

Construction

The 2-BIL units (2-car Bi-Lavatory stock) were so-called because each set had two lavatories, one in each car. They were built in four batches, each for service on newly electrified lines:

UnitsBuiltIntended Use
2001–20101935 London to Eastbourne
2011–20481936London Waterloo to Alton and Portsmouth slow services
2049–21161937 Portsmouth to Bognor Regis
2117–21521938 London Waterloo to Reading

The different batches were broadly similar, though in the first one, the driving motor brake car had a smaller brake compartment and seven full compartments, rather than six-and-a-half in the later batches.

Several of the cars were destroyed in World War II at various points on the system. Some unit numbers were withdrawn, while others received a single replacement car from the small batch of postwar all-steel 2-HAL units which were built as replacements.

Formations

The first two batches of 2-BIL stock were subject to the EMU renumbering scheme implemented during January and February 1937. The renumbering of these units, and the original formations of all 2-BIL units, are set out in the table below (*Unit 1890 was renumbered 1900 in January 1936):

Units (pre-1937)Units (post-1937)DMBTDTC
1890 / 1900*20101056712101
1891–18992001–200910568 to 1057612102 to 12110
1901–19202011–203010577 to 1059612034 to 12053
1954–19712031–204810597 to 1061412054 to 12071
-2049–207710615 to 1064312072 to 12100
-2078–215210644 to 1071812111 to 12185

The first ten 2-BIL units (2001 to 2010) had an earlier form of multiple unit control. They were compatible with the 4-LAV units of the same era, but not with the remainder of the 2-BIL sets. They normally operating from Brighton, where the 4-LAV were also based, on local services. The remaining sets spent their lives on the services for which they were constructed, although they were fully mixed in operation, and it was common for units to be exchanged between areas of operation even within a day's normal work. Commuter services into London Waterloo, Victoria and London Bridge found them typically marshalled up to 8-car units.

An unusual feature of their operation in the 1950s and 1960s was that there were about 30 more diagrams for these units than sets actually existed, while for the subsequent 2-HAL units (Class 402) there were more than 30 spare units, so a significant number of the daily 2-BIL diagrams were operated by the latter units, typically marshalled together as one of the sets in a full 8-car formation.

7TC

In 1963, a 7-coach trailer set was formed by placing five former 4-SUB trailer cars between the two driving cars from unit 2006. The set was intended for use on the Oxted line, where it was hauled by diesel locomotives.

The motors from former DMBS car number 10573 were removed, and the whole set was re-wired to enable the hauling diesel locomotive to provide the electric train heating. Six out of nine compartments of one of the 4-Sub Trailer Second cars (number 11485) were refitted as first class compartments, thereby making it a Trailer Composite.

The set was originally numbered 900 in the old hauled carriage set number series, but this was amended in February 1966 to 701 in the new series for trailer control units. Despite this, and its designation as 7-TC (7-car Trailer Control stock), it was not a real trailer control unit in that a locomotive could not be operated remotely from the unit's driving cars.

The unit was stored from December 1967 and then withdrawn in April 1969. However, while the two driving cars were scrapped the following year, all five trailers were reused in other units. Four returned to 4-SUB formations, but 11485 underwent a further conversion, this time to a 4EPB Trailer Second, and was renumbered 15084. Full details of the 7-TC formation, the origin of the individual cars and their subsequent disposal are set out in the table below:

Carriage NumberCarriage TypeFormer UnitRe-use/Disposal
10573TBS (ex-DMBS)2-BIL 2006Scrapped (1970)
10351TS4-SUB 43284-SUB 4132
10353TS4-SUB 43524-SUB 4364
11485TC (ex-TS)4-SUB 41154-EPB 5115 (as TS 15084)
10349TS4-SUB 43464-SUB 4132
10346TS4-SUB 43294-SUB 4131
12107TC (ex-DTC)2-BIL 2006Scrapped (1970)

Accidents and incidents

Withdrawal

After withdrawal in 1971, various 2-BIL units in company with 2-HAL units were noted at Stratford in east London destined for scrapping by Kings of Norwich, or being hauled west for scrapping in the Newport area. [5]

Preservation

Only one 2-BIL unit has survived into preservation, namely number 2090, formed of carriages 10656 [6] and 12123, [7] which is in the care of the National Railway Museum, York. This unit is also the only pre-war main line EMUs in existence, which is still in original formation. A Class 503, which was kept at the Locomotive Storage Ltd facility in Margate, [8] has 2 carriages slated for scrap [9]

Unit number
(current in bold)		DMBTKDTCKBuiltLiveryLocation
2090-10656121231937 EastleighBR(S) Malachite Green National Railway Museum

Model railways

In 2013, Hornby Railways introduced a DCC-ready OO gauge model of the 2-BIL, with versions in both SR green and BR green. [9] [10]

In 2010, Electrifying Trains produced a BR green 2-BIL model in O gauge. [11]

Notes

  1. ↑ Originally 3rd class seating.

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References

  1. ↑ "2-car units for main line semi-fast and stopping services (2 Bil)". Southern Electric Group. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Longworth 2015, pp. 38–40, 213–215, 240–242
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Class 401". The Railway Centre. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ↑ Earnshaw, Alan (1989). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 5. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 41. ISBN   0-906899-35-4.
  5. ↑ "Motive power miscellany". Railway World. Vol. 32, no. 378. Shepperton: Ian Allan. November 1971. p. 508.
  6. ↑ "Motor coach, driving trailer composite, SR 2-Bil Unit". Our collection. National Railway Museum. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  7. ↑ "Motor brake 3rd, SR 2-Bil Unit". Our collection. National Railway Museum. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Last surviving Mersey Rail Class 503 train arrives at Locomotive Storage in Margate". 30 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Burkin, Nigel (March 2013). "Hornby 2-BIL". British Railway Modelling . Vol. 20, no. 12. Bourne: Warners Group Publications. pp. 98–101. ISSN   0968-0764. OCLC   1135061879.
  10. ↑ Leigh, Chris (Spring 2013). "Hornby SR '2-BIL' EMU". Model Rail . No. 181. Peterborough: Bauer. pp. 16–18. ISSN   1369-5118. OCLC   173324502.
  11. ↑ Wild, Mike (March 2010). "Electrifying Trains launches 'O' gauge 2-BIL". Hornby Magazine. No. 33. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 78–79. ISSN   1753-2469. OCLC   226087101.

Sources

Further reading

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