Post Office Railway 1980 Stock

The Post Office Railway operated under the streets of London linking London Paddington and London Liverpool Street with Royal Mail sorting offices. Unmanned electric trains, consisting of two motor units either end of post carrying compartments, carried post under London from 1927 until the network was shut down in 2003 [1]. The 1980 Stock was built to replace older trains built by English Electric in the 1930s.

A preserved 1980 Stock train at the Postal Museum

Information
Number built:	34
Built:	1980-82
Builder:	Greenwood & Batley, Hunslet Engine Company
Motor:	English Electric (440v DC third rail)
Power:	22 hp (16 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	2w-2-2-2wRE

The origin of the 1980 Stock goes back to the 1960s and two prototypes built as the 1962 Stock. These were updated versions of the 1930/1936 Stock with new motors for better acceleration, disc brakes and improvements for loading and unloading mail [2]. These prototypes were extensively tested though the decision to built a series fleet based on the prototypes did not come about until the late 1970s [3].

The new fleet was an updated version of the prototypes. An order was placed with Greenwood & Batley though the manufacturer went into administration in 1980 after just three were built. Hunslet Engine Company, who took over Greenwood & Batley, built the bulk of the fleet despite that the 1980 Stock are often referred to as Greenbats.

The 1980 Stock formed the backbone of the Post Office Railway (which was re-branded as Mail Rail) along with some 1930/1936 Stock until the system was shut down. Some 1980 Stock was fitted with aerodynamic covers to reduce air resistence in the tunnels.

A number of 1980 Stock trains have been officially preserved, it is thought the rest are also still extant stored on the Mail Rail network which is closed (apart from the Postal Museum tourist attraction at Mount Pleasant - a Museum Train now runs on some of the track) but mostly intact.

Number 30 at Mount Pleasant

The system was renamed Mail Rail in it's latter years

Side view of the motor compartment of 21

How the post was carried on the trains, the trollies transferred at stations

Number 30 at Mount Pleasant, dwarfed by the station tunnel

[1] Peter Johnson, Mail by Rail (Ian Allan, 1995) p. 115
[2] Mike Sullivan, Mail Rail (Red Shank Books, 2019) p. 24
[3] Johnson p. 122

Class 159 Express Sprinter

The Class 159 is a sister class to the Class 158, indeed the twenty-two original sets were built as Class 158s but were converted at Babcock Rail for London Waterloo services to replace locomotive hauled trains to Exeter [1].

SWR 159 012 at Woking

The conversion took place before their entry into traffic and the modifications included adding first class compartments and retention toilets. Eight more were converted from Class 158s in 2006-7 forming the 159/1 (the original sets are 159/0).

Information
Number built:	30 3-car sets
Built:	1989-93, 2006-7 (159/1)
Builder:	BREL Derby / Babcock Rail (159/0) BREL Derby / Wabtec Doncaster (159/1)
Motor:	Cummins NTA855R diesel per car
Power:	1, 200 hp (900 kW) - 159/0 1, 050 hp (780 kW) - 159/1
Formation:	Driving Motor Composite Lavatory (DMCL)+Motor Standard Lavatory (MSL)+Driving Motor Standard Lavatory (DMSL)

They were originally operated by British Rail Network South East, later South West Trains. They are now all operated by South Western Railway. They mostly operate on services from London Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter as well as Bristol. In the past they have also worked services to the likes of Penzance, Southampton and Reading.


One of the SWT fleet of Class 159s, 159 007, was chosen to take part in a Network Rail bio-fuel test in 2008 [2]. It ran for several months on a mixture of diesel, soya bean and oil seed rape oil. The fuel mixture did not affect performance or cause any damage to the engines of the unit though was found to be more expensive than conventional fuel.

SWT 159 108 at Clapham Junction

SWT 159 005 at Clapham Junction

Cab end of 159 010 at London Waterloo

[1] Colin J. Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 146
[2] John Balmforth, South West Trains (Ian Allan, 2011) p. 57

Reading Corporation Tramways

Reading Corporation Tramways began operations in 1901, taking over from the horse-drawn trams operated by the Reading Tramway Company. The company operated a network that stretched for nearly twelve kilometres, and was to 1, 219mm gauge (the gauge used by the horse trams [2]). The network began to decline in the 1930s as the company struggled to maintain it's network and renew the track. The network was gradually replaced by buses and trolleybuses with the final trams operating in 1939.

A Reading Corporation tram [1]

Information for single bogie cars
Number built:	30
Built:	1901
Builder:	Dick, Kerr Ltd.
Motor:	2 DK25A electric motors (DC OHLE)
Power:	50 hp (37 kW)

All of the Reading trams were built by Dick, Kerr of Preston. Most of the fleet consisted of thirty four-wheeled Brill truck trams with some more powerful double bogie cars added in 1904 [3]. A water car was also bought for maintaining the network.

The tram car fleet was rebuilt in the 1920s with improved facilities for passengers including more windows. However due to the low railway bridge on Oxford Road no Reading tram car received a covered top deck.

Oxford Road [1]

Bath Road [1]

Aboard a Reading tram [1]

[1] Walter Jackson, "The Zone Fare in Practice: Reading", Electric Railway Journal (June 28, 1919) Vol. 53 No. 26 p. 1258
[2] E. Jackson-Stevens, British Electric Tramways (David & Charles, 1971) p. 72 
[3] Ibid. p. 74

Hunslet Engine Company 7010-7013 (MOD Lydd Ranges)

These four diesel-hydraulic shunters were built by the Hunslet Engine Company for use on the Ministry of Defence's Lydd Ranges in Kent replacing earlier Ruston & Hornsby locomotives [1]. The ranges had an extensive railway network (610mm gauge) and these locomotives were used to transport personnel and equipment.

Information
Number built:	4
Built:	1971 (rebuilds 1988)
Builder:	Hunslet Engine Company, rebuilds Andrew Barclay
Motor:	Diesel
Power:	40 hp (30 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	4wDH

Several of the locomotives were rebuilt by Andrew Barclay in 1988 (HE 7010 as HAB 6941 and HE 7012 as HAB 6014). They were withdrawn from use at Lydd in 2007. All four were sold into preservation at the Old Kiln Light Railway in Farnham, one was subsequently sold to the Statfold Barn Railway near Tamworth.

Hunslet 7010 rb Andrew Barclay 6941

Hunslet 7010 is at the Statfold Barn Light Railway where it carries the number 35

[1] Ian Dean, Andrew Neale and David Smith, Industrial Railways of the South-East (Middleton Press, 1984) Fig. 88

Class 171 Turbostar

The Class 171 is part of the Turbostar family of diesel multiple units. It has been built for the non-electrified routes operated by Southern such as the Oxted line.

Southern 171 201 at Oxted

Information
Number built:	56 (20 2 or 4-car sets)
Built:	1999-2004
Builder:	Adtranz / Bombardier Derby
Motor:	MTU 6R 183TD diesel per car
Power:	422 hp (315 kW) per motor car
Formation:	(171/2 or 7) DMCL(W) (Driving Motor Composite Lavatory Wheelchair) + DMSL(W) (Driving Motor Standard Lavatory Wheelchair) (171/4 or 8) DMOCL(W)+MS (Motor Standard)+MS+DMOSL

In 1999 South Central (later Southern) bought six two-car Class 171/7s and six four-car Class 171/8s to replace it's Class 205 and 207 DEMUs on the non-electrified parts of it's network [1]. They are used on the Marshlink and Oxted lines. As time has gone on some Class 170s have been transferred to strengthen the fleet and reclassified as Class 171s (171/2 and 171/8 depending on the number of cars).

The Class 171 is nearly identical to the Class 170 but one difference is the fitting of a Deliner 12 coupler instead of the BSI coupler fitted to other Turbostars. This is so the Class 171 can be coupled to Southern's Class 377 EMUs.

It is planned to transfer the Class 171s to East Midlands Railway (and convert them back to Class 170) in 2021 [2].

171 723 at Crowborough

Aboard 171 202

171 730 at Eridge

171 202 and friend at London Bridge

171 802 arrives at Crowborough

[1] Colin J Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 160
[2] "EMR kicks off new era", Modern Railways (October 2019) p. 56