Class 377 Electrostar

The "Electrostar" Class 377 is the largest fleet of electric multiple unit (EMU)s built since rail privatisation in the late 1990s. The Class 377 was built to replace "slam door" stock, most notably 4-CIG and 4-VEP EMUs on commuter services around London and rural services in the South East [1].

Southern 377 327 at Leigh

The Class 377 usually operates off the former Southern Railway/Region 750v DC 3rd rail system though some have pantographs and can operate 25kV AC overhead lines for cross-London services and can venture up as far as Milton Keynes Central and St. Albans. Some Class 377s have been converted from the similar Class 375 as detailed below.

Information
Number built:	211 sets (plus 28 sets converted from Class 375)
Built:	2002-14
Builder:	Bombardier Derby
Motor:	6 or 4 Bombardier traction motors
Power:	2, 120 hp (1, 500 kW) or 1, 341 hp (1, 000 kW)
Formation:	Driving Motor Composite Open (DMCO)+Motor Second Open (MSO)+Trailer Second Open (TSO)+DMCO

They are in service with Southern and Southeastern, having also been used by Thameslink. The fleet is split into a number of sub-classes with various detail changes and in a variety of train lengths as detailed below.

Sub-class	Details
377/1	Original, third-rail DC 4-car operated by Southern
377/2	Dual voltage 4-car operated by Southern and Thameslink
377/3	Third rail DC 3-car units converted from Class 375s operated by Southern
377/4	Third rail DC 4-car operated by Southern
377/5	Dual voltage 4-car operated by Thameslink
377/6	Third rail DC 5-car operated by Southern
377/7	Dual voltage 5-car operated by Southern

As well as the Class 377 there are also similar EMUs in the Electrostar family including the Class 375 and 387.

377 316 at Reigate

377 327 at Tonbridge

Southern 377 622 at Clapham Junction

Southern 377 705 at Hemel Hempstead

Southern 377 161 at Portsmouth Harbour

[1] Colin J. Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 288

Early Metropolitan Railway Electric Multiple Units (1904, 1905, 1906 Stock)

Faced with competition from electric trams (and deep-level tube trains) and a growing reluctance from passengers to travel on steam trains underground, the Metropolitan Railway began the process of electrifying its lines in the early 1900s. An experimental train was built jointly with the District Railway [1] and tested in 1900 between Earl's Court and High Street Kensington. The line used twin 600v DC conductor rails either side of the track.

Preserved 1904 Stock trailer car at LT Museum Depot, Acton

Information
Number built:	535 cars
Built:	1902-06
Builder:	Metropolitan Amalgamated
Motor:	Westinghouse electric motors (600v DC Fourth Rail)
Power:	600 hp (440 kW)

Following the success of this test the Metropolitan Railway pushed ahead. A 3kV AC overhead electric system was considered, but in the end the Metropolitan decided to stick with DC conductor rails as was being adopted by London's other electric railways (and of course is used to the current day). The stock for this initial phase of electrification was built in three batches, known as the 1904, 1905 and 1906 Stock. A mixture of motor cars and trailers were built, open lattice gates used for passenger access. The initial batch of trains used Westinghouse electrical equipment though later units used more powerful British Thomson-Houston GE69 motors.

The units began operation from Uxbridge to Baker Street in 1905 [2]. The trains had first and third class seating. The open platforms proved to be troublesome in the open air parts of the line and were covered over after a short time [3]. Central sliding doors were also added in the early 1910s. One trailer has survived into preservation though is still in a poor state.

Car under test at Westinghouse track in Manchester (using AC OHLE) [4]

[1] Mike Horne, The Metropolitan Line (Capital Transport, 2003) p. 28

[2] Brian Hardy, Underground Train File Surface Stock 1933-1959 (Capital Transport, 2002) p. 4

[3] Piers Connor, The London Underground Electric Train (Crowood Press, 2015) p. 41

[4] "The Single Phase Railway System", The Electrician (July 6 1906) (Supplement Bulletin 10)

Burton and Ashby Light Railway

The Burton and Ashby Light Railway was opened in 1906 by the Midland Railway, running for sixteen kilometres between Burton-upon-Trent and Ashby-de-la-Zouch [1]. The tramway used the tracks of the Burton Corporation Tramway in Burton and then it's own tracks when it reached Swadlincote. The tramway used 1, 067 narrow gauge like a number of tram networks in the Midlands. It had to deal with some steep gradients on it's route, one tram being involved in a serious accident when it was a runaway backwards down a steep slope and overturned in 1919.

Number 14

The tramway was electric from the start, power was generated by two diesel engines in Swadlincote (which also housed the tram depot) rather than steam as was usual practice [2]. Open-topped double decker trams, built by Brush, were operated, a maximum of twenty were owned by the tramway. The tramway was taken over by the LMS in 1923 and closed down in 1927.

Information
Number built:	20
Built:	1906 No. 14 rebuilt 2014
Builder:	Brush
Motor:	2 Westinghouse 80 electric motors (DC OHLE) (No. 14) Clayton battery electric motors
Power:	50 hp (37 kW)

Tram number 14 managed to survive scrapping, the body was used as a garden shed until 1970. The tram body was exported to the USA and married to a 900mm gauge Lisbon tram truck. The tram returned to the UK in 2014 and was fitted with a Clayton battery electric traction system for use on the Statfold Barn preserved railway, able to run without wires!

No.14 on the Statfold Barn Railway

Side view of No. 14

Oak Tree Halt is the terminus of the short tramline on the Statfold Barn site

View from the top deck

Another view of No. 14 at Oak Tree Halt

[1] Charles Knapper, The Golden Age of Tramways (David & Charles, 1974) p. 34
[2] Ibid. p. 135

Class 69

The Class 69 is a rebuild of the Class 56 with an EMD 710 engine and updated controls and some equipment (similar to those used on the Class 66). GB Railfreight ordered the rebuilds from sixteen Class 56s they bought in 2018, some of which had been out of service for some time. Ten are to be rebuilt in the initial batch with an option for six more.

69 005 leads a convoy into Kidderminster

Information
Number built:	10 (conversions from Class 56)
Built:	1976-84 (Conversions 2020-)
Builder:	BREL Crewe, Doncaster, Brush Traction Electroputere (Conversions Progress Rail)
Motor:	EMD 12N-710G3B-EC-T2 diesel
Power:	3, 200 hp (2, 390 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	Co-Co

The first Class 69 began trials on the Severn Valley Railway in early 2021. The locomotives began to enter service in 2022. Each of the locomotives built to date has been in a different livery, mostly updated versions of heritage liveries.

69 005 is in British Railways green, seen here at Kidderminster Town (SVR)

69 005 was originally 56 007, one of the earliest Class 56s which was built in Romania