Spotted today - Loo-less for over an hour!

Today I travelled to Portsmouth Harbour (from Angmering in West Sussex) to have a look at the Spinnaker Tower and was dismayed to find that in amongst all the shiny, new(ish) Class 377 'Electrostars' that Southern uses all over it's network there are also a number of these in use…

313201 stands at Portsmouth Harbour station, 21/5/15

A class 313/2, one of 19 three-car electric multiple units dating from the mid-1970s. Day in, day out, they ply their trade up and down the 'West Coastway' from Brighton to Hove, West Worthing and Portsmouth Harbour… The latter being a 45 mile journey that takes around 80 minutes.

313201 stands at Brighton station with another Portsmouth Harbour service.

Whilst I acknowledge that anyone taking a four minute trip from Brighton to Hove may not have need of a loo en route, a 45 mile, 80 minute journey on a train without a toilet is a very different prospect and the Class 313s are sadly lacking in that department! During my journey one young mum was forced to leave the train with her pre-school son for him to use a station toilet and of course would have to continue their journey on a later train. Perhaps the Class 313s should carry adverts for TENA® and Huggies® products?

Southern units… In Rugby!

Having spent a bit of time in the Brighton area recently I quickly became accustomed to seeing Southern's fleet of Class 377 'Electrostars' plying their trade along the south coast and up to London and back.

What came as a bit of surprise though was seeing two such units as far north as Rugby under their own power this week!

Class 377/7 'Electrostar' 377703 at Rugby, 11/6/14

Eight five-car Class 377/7s have been built by Bombardier in Derby with dual-voltage capability allowing them to run on both 750V DC third rail and 25kV AC overhead power supplies.

Dual-voltage Class 377/7 'Electrostar' PTSO 65604 (377704) at Rugby, 11/6/14

The units are due to enter service later this year but are currently undergoing mileage accumulation runs on the West Coast Main Line in pairs with 377703 and 377704 in action on Wednesday.

As an aside, Bombardier recently celebrated completion of their 1000th vehicle for Southern in the form of MSO 70707 which is included in unit 377707.

Class 506 remains at the Electric Railway Museum

Class 506 cab at the Electric Railway Museum, 25/5/13

This rather sorry looking specimen is all that remains of the eight 3-car Class 506 1,500V DC EMUs built for local services between Manchester, Glossop and Hadfield on the legendary 'Woodhead Line' linking Manchester and Sheffield.

Ordered in 1938, built in 1950 and finally entering service in 1954 these units were withdrawn in 1984 following both closure of the Woodhead line east of Hadfield and conversion of the remaining section to the 25kV AC overhead system. One unit was saved for preservation but deteriorated severely in open storage (at Dinting Railway Museum and the Midland Railway-Butterley amongst other places) and was sent for scrap in 1995.

This driving end of DMBSO M59404M (b.1950, Metro-Cammell) recently moved from Barrow Hill Roundhouse to the Electric Railway Museum near Coventry is all that survives.

From the (Vuescanned) archives - Class 308s

308137 at Skipton station with a Bradford Forster Square service, 30/5/00

May 2000 was the first time I remember thinking "I'll take some photographs of xyz before they're all gone" In this case it was the Class 308 EMUs working between Leeds, Skipton, Ilkley and Bradford that were due to be replaced by new Class 333 units. Displaced from their original duties on the Great Eastern Main Line by Class 321 units BR chose to overhaul some Class 308s for use on the electrified lines that had spread north from Leeds in 1994-95.

An afternoon was spent at Skipton station during a trip to the Yorkshire Dales in May 2000 and a number of photographs were taken of 308s on services to and from Leeds and Bradford Forster Square. Reduced from four cars to three (with the scrapping of the intermediate trailers) and repainted in West Yorkshire PTE red and cream livery at Doncaster Works the 308s were really showing their age during the last year of operation, the final units going for scrap in 2001.

BDTCOL 75881 from 308136 is preserved at the Electric Railway Museum at Coventry.