The British Rail Class 415 (or 4EPB) was a suburban 750 V DCthird railelectric multiple unit commissioned by the Southern Region of British Railways. Built between 1951 and 1957, it became the most numerous class on the region after the withdrawal of the 4SUBs. The final trains were withdrawn in the 1990s, replaced by Class 455, 456, 465 and 466.
The British Rail designation Class 415 was applied to a group of four coach, third railelectric multiple units constructed between 1951 and 1961 and in service from 1951 to 1995.
Construction
5115 4-EPB unit approaching London Victoria
The 4EPB units (4-car Electro-Pneumatic Brake) were a development of the Southern Railway (SR)4Sub design, but incorporating electro-pneumatic brakes, unit-to-unit buckeye couplings, roller blind headcode displays in place of the stencil holders used previously, a revised front and without external doors to the driver's cab – access was via the adjacent guard's compartment. There were motor-generators for the lighting and current control whereas previous practice had been to use series lighting and a voltage divider for the control circuits.
The first units built were designed by Oliver Bulleid[1] and as a consequence were based on Southern Railway designs and utilised standard Southern railway jigs, being constructed using standard Southern Railway components such as doors and being built to a standard Southern body profile; they were mounted on underframes reclaimed from older cars, the wooden bodies of which were scrapped. The doyen of the class, unit 5001, was completed at Eastleigh in 1951. Further examples were built at Eastleigh up until 1957. Altogether, 213 units were built: in 78 of the units, one car was a former 4-SUB trailer rewired to operate with 4-EPB stock. The motor bogies of cars 14001–106 (units 5001–53) were known as the "eastern" type, and had a wheelbase of 9 feet (2.7m); those of cars 14201–520 (units 5101–5260) were known as the "central" type, and had a wheelbase of 8feet 6inches (2.59m). The "eastern" motor bogies were later replaced by the "central" type, the process being completed in 1964, but the cars (and units) were not renumbered.[2]
The formation of each unit was similar to the later 4-SUB units. That is, there were two driving motor brake third open cars comprising a driving cab, guard's compartment and eight-bay passenger saloon having 82 seats; between these were a trailer third having ten compartments providing 120 seats (cars 15005 and 15038 had nine compartments seating 108) and a trailer third open having ten seating bays providing 102 seats. The total capacity of each unit was accordingly 386 seats, except units 5005 and 5220 which seated 374. Third class was renamed second class in 1956, and the car designations became driving motor brake second open (DMBSO), trailer second (TS) and trailer second open (TSO).[2]
In 1960, the first British Railways design units appeared. Intended to replace the 1925 design Southern Railway suburban electric stock, these units were based on British Railways Mark 1 coaching stock with a different body profile and underframe length from the earlier Class 415 units. The first two units (5301/02), however, were composed of Mark One profile Driving Motor Brake Seconds and Southern Railway profile intermediate vehicles. Unit 5303 was the first to sport intermediate trailers of Mark 1 profile. Two units differed from the rest of the batch in featuring B5 (S) bogies to enable use on peak hour commuter trains to Eastbourne. Reformations over the years, following accidents and incidents, led to a few units becoming composed of a mixture of original design stock of Southern Railway outline and the later, Mark 1 based, British Railways stock.
Orders and numbers, BR Standard design units[4][5]
In the earlier, Southern-style 5001-5053, 5101-5260 series, most units (all of which were one class only) comprised a driving motor open saloon including brake at each end of the set, sandwiching a trailer open and a high-density (6 per side) trailer ten-compartment vehicle with access from the passenger doors only; there was no gangway down the coach. A very small number of these 4-EPBs comprised either two open-trailers or two compartment-trailers. A small number of the trailers had been built as 'composites' – a mixture of First and Third Class – and were later fitted out as 9-compartment one-class vehicles but with the former 1st accommodation still identifiable with extra-wide compartments. In the mid-1960s, a number of compartments were marked as women-only, because of the density of cigarette smoke at rush-hour in the general compartments, but as these were not well-regarded they were withdrawn in the late 1960s in favour of non-smoking cars, marked by red triangles on the windows. At first one car per set was allocated to non-smoking, but soon one driving car and one trailer in each set were the norm.
The production vehicles in the BR series 5301-5370 had slightly higher capacity motor coaches, identical vehicles at each end of the set, with an internal partition splitting the saloon into two smaller ones, and a pair of identical trailers each comprising 5 compartments and a 5-bay open saloon, with the compartment end of each coach always back-to-back with its neighbour.
However, on 23 March 1988, a woman was found murdered in a compartment EPB car on an Orpington/London Victoria working which led to Network SouthEast reconfiguring the then-remaining unrefurbished SR-design 4-EPBs; as a result all compartment stock ran limited workings in busy periods and had a red stripe at the cantrail (the place where the bodysides meet the roof). This stock did not work in service after 8pm and was known as 4COM. These units, being heavier than the EPBs were retained for the winter of 1988/1989 to run overnight keeping the tracks clear of snow.
Most British Rail Class 415 units were withdrawn in the mid-1980s, owing to their partial replacement by newer stock such as the British Rail Class 455 units and the fact that many units contained asbestos. However, a significant number of the units were "facelifted". The asbestos was removed and the units' interiors were improved. This resulted in some re-numbering of stock, so that the earlier units built in the style of the Southern Railway became the 54xx series whilst the British Railways style units became the 56xx series. Some of the 56xx series units received express gear ratios to allow them to work services between London and Kent Coast destinations. Although all the non-refurbished BR Class 415/2s were withdrawn, three Class 415/1s of Southern Railway outline survived until the final withdrawal of Class 415 stock in 1995. These units included 5001, the first unit constructed, and 5176. Both of these units were repainted into liveries previously carried by the class, 5001 receiving British Railways green livery with yellow warning panels and 5176 receiving British Rail blue livery with full yellow ends.
Interior fittings
A refurbishment in the late 1970s/early 1980s started converting the six-seat compartment stock to 3+2-seat open saloons. At the same time, the red-brown horsehair seating and metal-framed cord overhead luggage racks were replaced with standard Mark 2 seats and metal racks. 2 x 25w. ceiling bulbs lit each compartment, and the partitions were initially painted in light cream: three publicity panels about 15cm x 40cm (6" x 16") filled the space on the compartment walls between the top of the seats and the luggage racks – the central panel was originally a mirror, but as these proved dangerous in service they were soon replaced with normal advertising. The other fittings were a chain alarm-cord in a recess above and to one side of the door, and the door-lock itself, a simple spring-loaded slide: the slam-doors could be opened at speed, albeit at considerable risk to the passenger doing so. The door window could also be opened full-length into a recess in the door panel beneath, initially supported at the bottom by a leather strop, which was soon replaced by a metal friction-bar at the top, bearing on the side-rails – in general they were either closed or with a one- or two-inch opening. The flooring was a strong linoleum on wooded baulks: the linoleum was not present in the guards compartments, which together with the cabs were painted in a dark green. A mirror to a roof periscope facing along the length of the unit was fitted centrally to the guard's side of the rear compartment partition, together with a handle for the sweep-arm cleaner of the roof glass. Underneath was a small worksurface about 2'x1', a swivel-chair screwed to the floor, and variously a short ladder for evacuating coaches, sometimes a medical cabinet, and a rail-shorting bar would be fixed to the side of the compartment. The driver's cab was fitted with one flap-down seat on each side: the driver occupied the left-hand position.
415/1 – unrefurbished 4EPB stock of Southern design, built 1951–57, numbered in the 50xx, 51xx and 52xx series.
415/2 – unrefurbished 4EPB stock of BR design, built 1960–63, numbered in the 53xx series.
415/4 – refurbished 4EPB stock of Southern design (from 1980), numbered in the 54xx series.
415/5 – Consolidated compartment 4EPB stock of both designs, numbered in the 55xx series.
415/6 – refurbished 4EPB stock of BR design, numbered in the 56xx series.
415/7 – refurbished 4EPB stock of BR design, with express gearing to 90mph. These units retained *56xx series numbers.
Accidents and incidents
On 9 August 1957, car 14450 of unit 5225 was destroyed in the Staines rail crash.[6] In 1958 it was replaced by 14407 from 5204.
On 4 December 1957, car 14408 of unit 5204 was destroyed in the Lewisham collision.[7] The unit was disbanded and the remaining cars later used in other units.
On 4 July 1958, 5023 was in a head-on collision with an empty stock train at Maze Hill, London after it overran signals. Forty-five people were injured and leading car 14045 written off. The unit was disbanded and the other cars later used in other units.[8] One of its cars, 14046, was transferred into unit 5031, which was later renumbered 5484 and was involved in the Cannon Street accident in 1991.[9]
On 12 October 1972, 5220 was standing at Wimbledon station when a freight train ran into it. Twelve people were injured. Car 14440 was written off and replaced by 14260. The accident was caused by inattention on the part of the driver of the freight train which was hauled by E6001.[10]
On 23 March 1988, Deborah Linsley was murdered travelling from Petts Wood in the compartment of a class 415 operating a service to London Victoria. Her body was discovered at the train's final destination.The murder is still unsolved.
On 8 January 1991, 5618 and 5484, along with 2EPB 6227 formed the train involved in the Cannon Street station rail crash, in which a train from Sevenoaks slammed into the buffers at LondonCannon Street station. Although the speed was low, telescoping of two carriages occurred. Two passengers were killed and 542 injured. The accident was caused by a misjudgement on the part of the driver, possibly due to the effects of cannabis use.[9]
Preservation
One unit, Class 415/1 unit 5176, survives. One of the two "heritage" units (along with 5001), it was repainted in British Rail blue in the early 1990s and survived until the end of EPB workings in 1995. After spending several years in storage, in 1999 the unit was split, with three vehicles going to the Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust and one intermediate trailer vehicle to the Electric Railway Museum, Warwickshire near Coventry. Class pioneer 5001 was also stored at Kineton Ministry of Defence base following withdrawal in 1995 but no buyer could be found and the unit was stripped and sold for scrap in 2004. Only two vehicles remain at the Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway, with Trailer 15354 having been moved from now-closed Electric Railway Museum to the 1:1 Collection Building at Margate, as a donor/spares vehicle for the 4SUB unit 4732, and Trailer 15396 sold to the Swanage Railway to be broken up as spares for the railway's fleet of Bulleid loco hauled stock. [12]
The British RailClass 411 (4CEP) electric multiple units were built at Eastleigh works from 1956–63 for the newly electrified main lines in Kent. These units, which used the British Railways Mark 1 bodyshell, were based on the earlier Southern Railway 4 COR design, built in 1937. Variants of the class 411 design included the class 410 and class 412 4 BEP units, which contained a buffet car in place of a standard trailer. They were later used on services in Sussex and Hampshire; following the privatisation of British Rail in 1995, the units were used by the Connex South Central, Connex South Eastern and South West Trains franchises. They were replaced by Juniper, Desiro, and Electrostar units. The fleet's lifespan was 49 years. These units are the longest-lived BR Mark 1 EMUs.
The British Rail Class 423, electric multiple unit passenger trains were mostly built by British Rail (BR) at York Works from 1967 to 1974, although the MBSOs and TSOs of the first 20, 7701-7720, were built at Derby Works. They have manually opening doors next to every seating row and were the last coaching stock built in this pattern for BR. They were mostly found working outer-suburban services in South London and rural services in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, up to 2005 when they were finally replaced by Electrostar and Desiro units. The fleet had a working life of 38 years.
London Underground rolling stock includes the electric multiple-unit trains used on the London Underground. These come in two sizes, smaller deep-level tube trains and larger sub-surface trains of a similar size to those on British main lines, both running on standard gauge tracks. New trains are designed for the maximum number of standing passengers and for speed of access to the cars.
The Standard Stock title was applied to a variety of Tube stock built between 1923 and 1934, all of which shared the same basic characteristics, but with some detailed differences. This design is sometimes referred to as 1923 Tube Stock, 1923 Stock, or Pre 1938 Stock. Most of the Standard Stock was built to replace the first generation of "Gate Stock" Tube trains or to provide additional trains for extensions built in the 1920s and early 1930s. Standard Stock cars consisted of motor cars, with a driver's cab, behind which was a "switch compartment" occupying approximately one-third of the length of the car, plus trailer cars and "control trailers", with a driving cab but no motor. All were equipped with air operated sliding doors. The guard's door on the earlier trains was a manually operated, inward-opening hinged door.
The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1970s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the High Speed Train (HST).
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.
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 25years before being progressively phased out by newer rolling stock. The final units were withdrawn from service in 2002. The fleet's lifespan was 42years.
The British Rail Class 465 Networker is a class of 147 electric multiple units built by Metro-Cammell, British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) and ABB Rail between 1991 and 1994. Originally operated by Network SouthEast, these units are now run by Southeastern.
The British Rail Class 432 (4-REP) electric multiple unit passenger trains were built by BR at York Works from 1966 to 1967 and in 1974. The units were built to power the TC trailer units on services on the South West Main Line. Fifteen four-car units were eventually built. The motor coaches were new build, but the trailers were converted from Mk1 hauled stock. They were initially classified as Class 441 and numbered 3001–3015. This was later changed to Class 430, under which they spent the majority of their working lives. Shortly before withdrawal they were reclassified Class 432 and the units were renumbered as 2001–2015. The fleet had a lifespan of 26 years.
British Rail Class 416 (2-EPB) was a class of third-rail electric multiple units in service between 1953 and 1995. They were intended for inner suburban passenger services on London's Southern Electric network. There were two subclasses of Class 416: Class 416/1 to an SR design on salvaged 2-NOL underframes, built between 1953 and 1956, and Class 416/2 based on a British Railways Mark 1 coach design.
An electric multiple unit (EMU) is an electric self-powered train, capable of operating in multiple with other EMUs and without the need for a locomotive; these are typically passenger trains with accommodation in every vehicle and a driving position at each end. The term can also be used to describe a train that is a permanent formation with a non-driving power car, such as the Advanced Passenger Train. As of December 2010, two-thirds of the passenger carriages in Great Britain are formed in EMUs.
The British Rail Class 501 electric multiple units were built in 1955/56 for use on the former LNWR/LMS suburban electric network of the London Midland Region. A total of 57 three-car units were built.
The British Rail Class 304 were AC electric multiple units designed and produced at British Rail's (BR) Wolverton Works.
The British RailClass 414 were two-car electric multiple units that were built between 1956 and 1963. They were withdrawn in 1995.
The Tait trains were a wooden bodied electric multiple unit (EMU) train that operated on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They were introduced in 1910 by the Victorian Railways as steam locomotive hauled cars, and converted to electric traction from 1919 when the Melbourne electrification project was underway. The trains derived their name from Sir Thomas James Tait, the chairman of commissioners of the Victorian Railways from 1903 to 1910. The first cars were built during 1909 with the last entering service in 1952.
The Intercity Materieel or ICM is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Netherlands. The train received the nickname Koploper, because it had a so-called "walk through head". After these trains were modernized, the "walk through heads" were removed. The modernized train sets are referred to as Intercity Materieel Modern (ICMm).
The Southern Railway (SR) and the British Railways used the designation Sub to cover a wide variety of electric multiple-unit passenger trains that were used on inner-suburban workings in the South London area. The designation 'Sub' was first officially used in 1941 to refer to newly built 4-car units. However, during the 1940s large numbers of earlier '3-Car Suburban Sets' were increased to four cars by the addition of an 'Augmentation' trailer, and became part of the 4-Sub category. The SR and BR (S) continued to build or else rebuild 4-car units to slightly different designs which became part of the 4-Sub Class. Many of these later examples survived in passenger use until late 1983, by which time British Rail had allocated to them TOPS Class 405.
District Railway electric multiple units were used on London's Metropolitan District Railway after the lines were electrified in the early 20th century.
The Taiwan Railway EMU100 series was a set of rail cars fabricated by British Rail Engineering Limited and the General Electric Company in 1976 that has operated in Taiwan. The alternating current electric multiple unit (EMU) fleet entered full squadron service in 1979, and was withdrawn from service in 2009. This class of railcars were the first to operate on the electric Tzu-Chiang Express. Due to the unit's British origin, rail buffs have variously nicknamed them "British Girl", "British Lady", or "British Grandma".
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.
1 2 Brown, David (2010). Southern Electric - A New History: Volume Two - Main line electrification, the war years and British Railways. Capital Transport. pp.195–6. ISBN978-1-85414-340-2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
