1997 Slam Door EMU's at Ewell West, Hastings, Sittingbourne, Lewes & Brockenhurst Traction 421886 421842 421878 421753 421845 421405 423565 423805 411544 930002. See my Railway photos at oliverashmole.f...
That one at Brockenhurst was an arrival from Lymington in the evening !! They arrived about 21 past the hour and went back about 32 and arrived back at 52 and left about 02 again for Lymington ! Or was it 58 !!?
Thanks.I have no interest in trains but that said i have been used to going on slam doors all my life. You get used to your surrounding. Its a bit like red phone boxes. You never noticed them when they were there but you soon notice when they are missing. What makes places all over the world more interesting is 'difference'. Thing that are unique to one particular country. It could be architecture, or something as simple as a post box. There was something so 'British' about those old trains.
@carlisleboyz the last slam door train ran on the branch last weekend saturday 22nd May, with the 450 starting on the 23rd May, and the 158 starting on 24th May.
Lets be honest, from a passenger view, Electrostars are much better. Though I did love my CEPs and CIGs, I hated the VEPs, due to the every door to seating compartment. In the last clip, the noise the slammers made when "idling" brought back some great memories of when I did the Margate slammers. Thanks Oashmole!
The only line they run on now is between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier, the 2 units are in 3 car sets 421497 painted in BR Blue & Grey and 421498 painted in BR Green. plus soon there will be another running on the main line which is being done up for railtour use.
@dauntz88 I agree to an extent, they were more reliable and certainly more comfortable than the units that replaced them. However, they weren't really suitable for the growing number of passengers using them - and, as Clapham Junction and Cannon Street accidents demonstrated, they fell a long way short of modern crash worthiness standards.
No - not on the regular rail network. They are only used on Heritage railways now - like the Mid Hants, Gloucestershire & Warwickshire, Severn Valley, East Lancs, NY Moors and so on!
In my view.. NOTHING beats a well maintained Mark 1 coach... sadly they were so badly run down by Connex that everyone wanted something new by the time electrostars arived. If it was not for the HSE.. we would still have perfectly serviceable slam door stock running!