Southern Electric preservation

Several items of DC electric rolling stock are preserved by organisations other than the SEG in varying states of restoration or storage. These include pre-World War 2 complete units or coaches such as a 1285 class motor coach, complete 2Bil unit 2090, cars from 5Bel units 3051-3053, cars from 6Pul units, and further Cor type vehicles from units other than 3142 Examples of both Waterloo & City and former Isle of Wight pre-1938 tube stock have also been retained for preservation.

Post war trains are represented by 4SUB unit 4732 and 4DD coaches 4EPB units 5001 and 5176 2EPB units 6307 5759 and 578x, and single MLV vehicle 68001. Preserved third rail locomotives include Class 71 (HA) booster electric E5001, Class 73 (JA) electro-diesel 73003 and former LSWR Waterloo & City Bo shunter DS75. Diesel electric and non-powered vehicles from various 4TC and DEMU trains sets are also in preservation.

Items of preserved rolling stock from low voltage DC systems outside the Southern Electric include examples from the LMSR group with a Euston-Watford vehicle and 1930s Wirral & Mersey and Liverpool & Southport trains, and items from the former Tyneside system of the LNER group. A number of vehicles from the London Underground have connections with the Southern Electric system for example former Metropolitan Railway BoBo electric locomotives No.5 "John Hampden and No.12 "Sarah Siddons" together with the surviving City & South London tube locomotive.

The National Railway Museum collection houses driving motor coach 8143 from a 1925 built 1285 class three car suburban unit. 8143 was built 1925 by Metropolitan Cammell and is powered by two Metropolitan Vickers traction motors. This car was originally formed in SR unit 1293 later 4308.

2Bil 2090 is also part of the National Railway Museum collection and is formed of Motor Brake Second 10656 and Driving Trailer Composite 12123. 10656 weighs 43 tons, seating 52 second class passengers in six and a half compartments. 12123 weighs 31 tons, and seats 24 first class and 32 second class passengers in eight compartments with side corridor and lavatory.

2Bil units are of 1936 type stock so are powered by EE339 traction motors. 2090 was built at Eastleigh works in 1937 and was withdrawn from BR operating stock in August 1971. 2090 was formerly available for special workings, including charter by SEG railtours but in after such use was placed in store. 2090 suffered from vandalism and grafiti while stored in West Worthing car shed but is currently located at the St.Leonards engineering depot. This site is not open to the public and 2090 is not accessable.

5Bel units 3051-3053 were the world famous "Brighton Belle" electric train sets formed of Pullman cars only. All 15 cars from the three units were saved for preservation or for further use. However, no 5Bel unit made its way to a single owner, the sets were disbanded after withdrawal in April 1972, and individual cars going to various locations, some static. None are in use as electric multiple units with those remaining railworthy hauled by locomotives. Certain Bel cars are today part of the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) luxury charter fleet and operate regularly over Railtrack routes.

3051-3053 were formed of two 900 hp Motor Brake Pullman Seconds (288-293) flanking two Trailer Pullman Firsts (279-284) and one Trailer Pullman Second (285-287). All were built in 1932 by Metropolitan Cammell with BTH traction and control equipment In keeping with the Pullman traditions names were carried by the first class cars. The names were: 279 Hazel, 280 Audrey, 281 Gwen, 282 Doris, 283 Mona, 284 Vera.

A recent survey located the former 5Bel cars at
279 The Black Bull, Moulton
280 VSOE
281 VSOE
282 C.I.L. Shopfitters, Finsbury Park
283 The Brighton Belle, Winsford
284 VSOE
285 location unknown
286 VSOE
287 North Norfolk Railway
288 VSOE
289 Little Mill Inn, Rowarth
290 East Lancashire Railway
291 North Norfolk Railway
292 Brighton Railway Museum
293 Brighton Railway Museum.

In addition to the all Pullman "Brighton Belle" electric train sets, some 6Pul six car pre-war express units were formed with one Pullman car and five ordinary coaches. Two of the Pullman coaches survive - cars 264 Ruth and 278 Bertha. Both were built 1932 by Metropolitan Cammell. 264 was withdrawn by BR in September 1965 and is now part of the VSOE fleet. 278 was withdrawn by BR June 1966 and is currently located on the Bluebell Railway.

The other Cor car still preserved is 4Cor motor coach 11179, part of the National Railway Museum collection. Today 11179 looks like this. 11179 from unit 3131 was built 1937/38 and withdrawn by BR in September 1972. 4Buf car 12529 from unit 3084 was also retained for preservation but was extensively damaged by fire around twenty years ago during restoration in a government job creation programme. This vehicle is currently stored. 6Pul trailer composite 11773, built Eastleigh works 1932, was retained at the Swanage Railway but was recently broken up.

Waterloo & City car 61 forms part of the National Railway Museum collection. Motor coach 61 was one of a batch of tube size cars built for the SR owned Waterloo & City line in 1940 by English Electric at Preston. Power is from two EE500 tractions motors with a maximum service speed of 35 mph. All other cars of this type were immediately broken up after replacement by 1990s generation trains.

In 1967 BR transferred former London underground tube cars to the Isle of Wight. These were of the type generally known as "standard" tube stock and survived in BR use until 1990. Six cars - 2, 7, 26, 27, 44 and 49 were returned to the mainland earmarked for preservation and now owned by London Underground Ltd. 2 and 7 are driving motor cars built 1931/32 by Metropolitan Cammell, 26 and 27 driving trailers of 1925 from the same builder, and cars 44 and 49 trailer seconds built by Cammell Laird in 1924. In addition car driving motor car 19 remains on the Isle of Wight preserved by the IOW Steam Railway. All were supplied new to the London Electric Railway.

Other "standard" or pre-1938 tube stock of similar types survive in preservation although the actual cars did not run on the Isle of Wight. LT 3327 is in the Science Museum Kensington, London. Motor ends of LT cars 3080 and 3109 were spliced together in 1964 by LT to form BoBo depot shunting locomotive L11 which was taken out of use only recently. The pre-1938 trains on the Isle of Wight were themselves replaced on the island by 1938 type trains in 1990. Although the Island Lines 1938 trains remain in service, LT car 11182 of this type forms part of the London Transport collection alongside LT District Line Q23 surface car 4248.

4Sub 4732 consists of Motor Brake Open Second 12796, Trailer Second Compartment 10239, Trailer Open Second 12354 and Motor Brake Open Second 12796. Each motor coach weighs 39 tons and is powered by two axle hung traction motors mounted on the outer bogies. The trailers both weigh 28 tons. Each motor coach seats 82, the open trailer 102 and the compartment trailer 120, all second class.

4732 was formerly available for special workings, including charter by SEG railtours. Currently located at Long Marston but may soon move to Coventry Railway Centre.

Two 4DD motor coaches remain in existence. Car 13004 is located at the Northampton & Lamport Railway. Car 13003 was located at a private site near Ashford, Kent, although its current whereabouts are unknown. 4DD units were constucted in 1949 at Lancing Works and were withdrawn from BR service in October 1971. Go here and here to see images of 4DD stock in BR service before preservation.

Several items of SR (Bullied design) and BR (standard design) 4EPB and 2EPB cars are now in preservation. 4EPB 5001 was restored to green livery in its final days in BR traffic and was available for special traffic purposes. As such it was used by the Southern Electric Group for railtours including the very final EPB stock tour. Located at Long Marston and the subject of a preservation attempt by the Bullied Electric Preservation Society.

4EPB 5176 in its final days in BR traffic 5176 was restored to British Rail corporate image blue and grey livery and was part of the final EPB stock railtour operated by the SEG. Located at Long Marston and the subject of a preservation attempt by the Bullied Electric Preservation Society. 2EPB 6307 is owned by Paul Martin and located at Winkleigh, Devon. 2EPB 5759 is preserved by the EPB Preservation Society and located on the East Kent Light Railway in Kent. 2EPB 578x is owned by the Suburban Electric Railway Association and consists of cars 65322 and 77110 last used as departmental 977505 and 977507 respectively.

Kent Coast electrification boat train Motor Luggage Van 68001 is preserved by the EPB Preservation Society and located at Bournemouth depot.

Class 71 (HA) E5001 is part of the National Railway Museum collection and recently it has been suggested it may return to regular use on the VSOE luxury train. Before its recent period in store, E5001 was used on a number of special workings and railtours.

EDL 73003 is preserved by the Electro-Diesel Locomotive Group and located at Isfield, Sussex. The EDLG also own 73004 but this is currently being cannibalised for 73003 and is destined to be broken up when all usuable parts have been removed.

Withdrawn with the number DS75 this small Bo electric locomotive was built 1898 to shunt coal wagons at the Waterloo & City line power station. It was built by Siemens London and is powered by two Siemens 45 kW traction motors. It was numbered 74S by the Southern Railway, although may never have actually carried this, possibly retaining anonymity from its LSWR days. It was overhauled in the early 1940s for depot shunting work and withdrawn by BR in May 1968. It is now part of the National Railway Museum collection and today looks like this.

Eight cars formerly running in Bournemouth line 4TC trailer units were acquired by London Underground for special traffic use on the Metropolitan Line. These cars were converted from early 1950s Mk.1 locomotive hauled coaches in 1966/67 or 1974 at York works and withdrawn from BR traffic in 1992. Cars 70823, 70824, 70855, 71163, 76297, 76298, 76322 and 76324 are based at Ruislip depot. 4TC units 410 and 417 survived for special traffic use by Network SouthEast but are now out of use. It is likely that some or all of the vehicles will be acquired for preservation.

DEMU motor coaches 60000, 60001, 60016, 60018 and 60019, together with trailers 60500, 60501, 60502, 60527, 60528, 60529, 60700, 60708, 60709, 60750 and 60820 from various SR six and three car units are based at St.Leonards depot. Some of these are passed for operation over Railtrack routes with one five coach unit frequently hired to regional passenger train operating companies for scheduled services. One Cep and one Big trailer from electric stock have also been acquired to operate with these diesel units.

Two examples of 1930s built sliding door rolling stock as used on the LMSR Merseyside third rail DC network survive into preservation. The Wirral & Mersey and Liverpool & Southport lines were adsorbed into the LMSR company in 1923 and are part of today's Merseyrail. BR Class 507 and 508 units introduced to the area in the 1980s replaced the pre-war trains. The 630 V Liverpool & Southport Class 502 trains were built by the LMSR at Derby works in 1938 with English Electric traction equipment. Driving motor car 28361 and driving trailer car 29896 are two cars from a normal three car unit stopped in August 1980. On the Wirral & Mersey lines, Class 503 650 V units from Birmingham RC&W and Metropolitan Cammell with BTH electrical equipment were also built in 1938. A complete three car unit of driving motor 28690, trailer 29720 and driving trailer 29289 was saved after withdrawal in March 1985.

Also in Merseyside, the former Liverpool Overhead Railway was never absorbed into a main line company. Cars 5 (driving motor) and 7 (trailer) are in SERA care at a site in Coventry.

An early survivor also from the LMSR group is ex-LNWR Oerlikon equipped car 28249 built by Metropolitan Cammell in 1915 from the Euston to Watford "new line" electrification. This car is also part of the National Railway Museum collection.

The third rail DC system around Newcastle-upon-Tyne was de-electrified by BR in the 1960s. Subsequently electric traction returned to parts of the network by a further conversion of heavy rail routes to the Tyne & Wear Metro. None of the North Eastern Railway or LNER built passenger trains survive although the standard units introduced in the 1950s found later use on the Southern Electric. However, two other items of NER remain in existance today, both part of the National Railway Museum collection.

E26500 is a BoBo electric locomotive built by the NER at Gateshead in 1903 for special work over ashort but difficult freight connection with severe grades and tunnel sections. This and a similar machine were equipped by BTH for both third rail and overhead 600/630 V DC operation. E26500 was originally NER No.1 later LNER 6480 before designation as class ES1 by BR. 1904 built single motor coach numbered 900730 survived until 1938 on winter de-icing duties. This was originally a motor parcels and luggage van built by the NER at York works.

In 1922/23 the Metropolitan Railway placed in traffic twenty 1200 hp BoBo electric locomotives. Of these two, No.5 "John Hampden" and No.12 "Sarah Siddons" survive. Two different types of BoBo locomotive had been in operation from 1906. 1-10 were of British Westinghouse built centre cab design and 11-20 of a box-car type by BTH. In 1918 the Metropolitan Railway authorised rebuilding of these. After one of each type, no.6 and no.17, it became clear construction of new locomotives would be more cost effective due to substantial underframe strengthening required. The replacements were built by Metropolitan Vickers again to a box design but of less severe lines.

At the end of regular locomotive hauled operations in 1962, four of the remaining fifteen machines were transferred to departmental use. 1 and 3 were subsequently broken up but 5 became a static museum exhibit in todays London Transport collection. 12 continues in LU operation having been motive power for test trains and more recently special traffic. 12 has in the past been traction for railtours operated by the Southern Electric Group. 12 remains in full working order.

Opened in late 1890, the City & South London Railway was the world's first deep level tube railway. The commercial success of CSLR influenced the LSWR over its Waterloo & City tube line leading in turn to the adoption of low voltage DC surface electrification. Originally the CSLR was worked by small four wheel electric locomotives of which 52 locomotives were built. One of the original batch of fourteen locomotives built c.1889 by Mather & Platt is preserved and today is part of the London Transport collection. This machine is numbered "1" but is known not to be the original No.1.