SR Class 4Sub
Encyclopedia
The Southern Railway and the British Railways (Southern Region)
(BR(S)) used the designation Sub to cover a wide variety of electric multiple unit
s that were used on inner-suburban workings in the South London area. The designation ‘Sub’ was first officially used in 1941 to refer to newly-built 4-car units. However, during the 1940s large numbers of earlier ‘3-Car Suburban Sets’ were increased to four cars by the addition of an 'Augmentation' trailer, and became part of the 4-Sub category. The SR and BR (S) continued to build or else rebuild 4-car units to slightly different designs which became part of the 4-Sub Class. Many of these later examples survived in passenger use until late 1983, by which time British Rail
had allocated to them TOPS
Class 405.
s from the London and South Western Railway
(LSWR), dating from 1914. These could be enhanced by the use of a further 24 2-coach trailer sets which could be coupled between two units creating 8-car formations.
Over the next eighteen years the SR acquired a further 516 3-car sets. These were either constructed from new, rebuilt from existing steam stock inherited from the LSWR, the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway
, or else rebuilt from existing LBSCR AC multiple units. Some of these rebuilt units has ‘torpedo style’ front ends, others had the newer, flatter, front ends used on the main-line stock introduced during the early 1930s. All the suburban sets were designated ‘3-Car Suburban Sets’ to differentiate them from mainline units, and were numbered between 1201 and 1800. They are sometimes referred to as ‘3-Sub units’, but this designation does not appear to have been used whilst they were in use.
The 3-car units ultimately proved to be inadequate for most trains and inconvenient as the trailer sets had no driving cabs and so had to be marshaled between two 3-car units. Therefore many were enhanced by the addition of a new trailer car and rebuilt as 4-Sub units between 1942 and 1948. The remainder of the 3-car units were withdrawn. The last 2-car trailer set was withdrawn in September 1948, and the last 3-car formation ran in 1949.
as Chief Mechanical Engineer
, the SR announced a new welded steel 4-car suburban unit with curved sides which could seat 6 passengers across rather than the normal 5. The prototype unit, numbered 4101, was not however completed until 1941 due to the advent of the Second World War. This had composite (both ‘First Class’ and ‘Third Class’) seating accommodation in one trailer car and a domed cab roof. A further nine units were built during 1944-5 with only ‘Third Class accommodation. A further twenty newly- built units were introduced from 1946 with a vertical, ‘slab’ front end, and ‘Third Class’ only accommodation. The under-frames for these units were built at Lancing Carriage Works
and the coach bodies at Eastleigh Works.
As mentioned above, between 1942 and 1948 many of the existing 3-Car Suburban Sets were rebuilt and enhanced by the addition of a new 'Augmentation' trailer car to create new 4-Sub unit. This was done by inserting new steel trailers rather than one of the existing trailer cars. The rebuilt units were all renumbered between 4131 and 4249.
BR (S) continued to introduce 4-car units, either from new or else converted from existing units, until 1951.
under the TOPS
computer system.
The table below illustrates the basic details of units within the broad number ranges used:
Southern Region of British Railways
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex...
(BR(S)) used the designation Sub to cover a wide variety of electric multiple unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
s that were used on inner-suburban workings in the South London area. The designation ‘Sub’ was first officially used in 1941 to refer to newly-built 4-car units. However, during the 1940s large numbers of earlier ‘3-Car Suburban Sets’ were increased to four cars by the addition of an 'Augmentation' trailer, and became part of the 4-Sub category. The SR and BR (S) continued to build or else rebuild 4-car units to slightly different designs which became part of the 4-Sub Class. Many of these later examples survived in passenger use until late 1983, by which time British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
had allocated to them TOPS
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...
Class 405.
History
The history of these units is very complex and the ‘class’ is made up of several different categories with different origins.3-Car Suburban Sets
In 1923 the Southern Railway inherited 84 3-coach suburban electric multiple unitElectric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
s from the London and South Western Railway
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
(LSWR), dating from 1914. These could be enhanced by the use of a further 24 2-coach trailer sets which could be coupled between two units creating 8-car formations.
Over the next eighteen years the SR acquired a further 516 3-car sets. These were either constructed from new, rebuilt from existing steam stock inherited from the LSWR, the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between...
, or else rebuilt from existing LBSCR AC multiple units. Some of these rebuilt units has ‘torpedo style’ front ends, others had the newer, flatter, front ends used on the main-line stock introduced during the early 1930s. All the suburban sets were designated ‘3-Car Suburban Sets’ to differentiate them from mainline units, and were numbered between 1201 and 1800. They are sometimes referred to as ‘3-Sub units’, but this designation does not appear to have been used whilst they were in use.
The 3-car units ultimately proved to be inadequate for most trains and inconvenient as the trailer sets had no driving cabs and so had to be marshaled between two 3-car units. Therefore many were enhanced by the addition of a new trailer car and rebuilt as 4-Sub units between 1942 and 1948. The remainder of the 3-car units were withdrawn. The last 2-car trailer set was withdrawn in September 1948, and the last 3-car formation ran in 1949.
4-Sub Units
In 1939, following the appointment of Oliver BulleidOliver Bulleid
Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid was a British railway and mechanical engineer best known as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway between 1937 and the 1948 nationalisation, developing many well-known locomotives.- Early life and Great Northern Railway :He was born in Invercargill,...
as Chief Mechanical Engineer
Chief Mechanical Engineer
Chief Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotives and rolling stock...
, the SR announced a new welded steel 4-car suburban unit with curved sides which could seat 6 passengers across rather than the normal 5. The prototype unit, numbered 4101, was not however completed until 1941 due to the advent of the Second World War. This had composite (both ‘First Class’ and ‘Third Class’) seating accommodation in one trailer car and a domed cab roof. A further nine units were built during 1944-5 with only ‘Third Class accommodation. A further twenty newly- built units were introduced from 1946 with a vertical, ‘slab’ front end, and ‘Third Class’ only accommodation. The under-frames for these units were built at Lancing Carriage Works
Lancing Carriage Works
Lancing carriage and wagon works was a railway carriage and wagon building and maintenance facility in the village of Lancing in the county of West Sussex in England from 1911 until 1965.-History under the LB&SCR:...
and the coach bodies at Eastleigh Works.
BR (S) continued to introduce 4-car units, either from new or else converted from existing units, until 1951.
Formations
The usual formation for the newly built units was to have a Driving Motor Brake Third (DMBT) car at each ends, with accommodation for 108 passengers in nine compartments, together with two Trailer Third (TT) cars between with ten or eleven compartments giving a total passenger accommodation for 456 in all four coaches. (After the renaming of 'Third Class' to 'Second Class' in 1956 these became DMBS and TS respectively.) However some of the rebuilds had Trailer Composite (TC) cars. The earlier coaches provided compartments, whereas the post war newly built carriages tended to provide saloon or semi-saloon style accommodation to allow for more standing room. These new 'open' carriages were designated DMBTO or TTO.Usage
Throughout their careers the 4-Sub units were used on the London suburban services of all three divisions of BR (S).Withdrawal
The rebuilt units began to be withdrawn in the late 1950s and all had been withdrawn by the end of the 1960s. Apart from a few some accident damaged units, the newly built units began to be withdrawn in 1972, and had all been withdrawn by 1983. Those units surviving in the early 1970s were designated as British Rail Class 405British Rail Class 405
Under the British Rail TOPS computer system, Class 415 was allocated to surviving examples of the Southern Railway 4-Sub Class electric multiple units built between 1941 and 1951...
under the TOPS
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...
computer system.
Preservation
A handful of Sub stock carriages have survived in preservation, thus:- Driving Motor car number 8143 (formerly of Sub unit 1293, later 4Sub 4308) is in the care of the National Railway MuseumNational Railway MuseumThe National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
, YorkYorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. - 4Sub unit number 4732, formed of DMBTO 12795, TT 10239, TTO 12354 and DMBTO 12796, was retained by British RailBritish RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
after withdrawal from normal passenger service for use on special occasions. It is currently Stored at the Electric Railway Museum, BagintonCoventry Railway CentreThe Electric Railway Museum is located in Warwickshire, south of Coventry city, outside Baginton, and near to Coventry Airport. The heritage railway centre was also known as "The Airfield Line" as the railway was built on the site of a greenfield...
, after spending many years stored in the open at various locations.
Sources
- ’’The ABC of Southern Electrics’’, Ian Allan 1968.
- G.T. Moody, ‘’Southern Electric 1909-1968, Ian Allan, 1968.
- Southern E-Group, ‘’4-Sub (Class 405)’’, http://www.semgonline.com/gallery/class405_01.html
- Suburban Electric Railway Association, ‘’ 4-SUB Units - Principle Data‘’ http://www.emus.co.uk/sub.htm
The table below illustrates the basic details of units within the broad number ranges used:
| Unit Numbers | Type | Introduced | Formation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 989-1200 | - | 1920–1937 | Various | Two-car Sub Trailer sets. Converted from LSWR London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in... , SECR South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between... and LBSCR London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base, and a large part of Surrey... steam stock and LBSCR AC electric stock. Disbanded between 1941–1948, some cars used to augment 3-car Suburban to 4Sub. |
| 1201–1284 | 3-car Suburban | 1914–1917 | DMBT+TC+DMBC | Built by London and South Western Railway London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in... , their numbers E1-E84, ex-steam stock. Most augmented to 4131-4171 and 4195-4234 series in 1942-1948. |
| 1285–1310 | 3-car Suburban | 1925 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Western Section (London to Guildford & Dorking) units, new-build, short frames. Augmented to 4300-4325 series in 1945-1946. |
| 1401–1495 | 3-car Suburban | 1925–1926 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Eastern Section units, ex-SECR South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between... steam stock. Most augmented to 4431-4594 series in 1946-1949. |
| 1496–1524 | 3-car Suburban | 1925 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Eastern Section units, new-build, standard frames. Augmented to 4326-4354 series in 1945-1946. |
| 1525–1534 | 3-car Suburban | 1926 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Eastern Section units, ex-SECR South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between... steam stock. Most augmented to 4431-4594 series in 1946-1949. |
| 1579–1599 | 3-car Suburban | 1932–1937 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Ex-LSWR steam stock. Most augmented to 4401-4594 series. |
| 1601–1630 | 3-car Suburban | 1927–1928 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Central Section units, ex-SECR South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between... steam stock. Most augmented to 4431-4516 series. |
| 1631–1657 | 3-car Suburban | 1928–1929 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Central Section units, ex-LBSCR steam stock. Most augmented to 4517-4614 series. |
| 1658–1701 | 3-car Suburban | 1927–1928 | DMBT+TC+DMBC | Central Section units, ex-LSWR steam stock. Most augmented to 4172-4194 and 4235-4250 series. |
| 1702–1716 | 3-car Suburban | 1928 | DMBT+TC+DMBC | Central Section units, ex-LBSCR steam stock. Most augmented to 4517-4614 series. |
| 1717–1772 | 3-car Suburban | 1929–1930 | DMBT+TC+DMBC | Central Section units, ex-LBSCR AC electric stock. Most augmented to 4517-4579 series. |
| 1773–1785 | 3-car Suburban | 1930–1931 | DMBT+TC+DMBC | Ex-LSWR steam stock. Most augmented to 4517-4614 series. |
| 1786–1796 | 3-car Suburban | 1931–1932 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Ex-LSWR steam stock. Most augmented to 4517-4614 series. |
| 1797–1801 | 3-car Suburban | 1932 | DMBT+TC+DMBT | Ex-LBSCR steam stock. 1801 later renumbered 1600. Some augmented to 4580-4614 series. |
| 4101 | 4-Sub | 1941 | DMBT+TT+TC+DMBT | Prototype new-build, steel bodied 4-Sub unit with domed cab roof. |
| 4102-4110 | 4-Sub | 1944–1945 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | New-build, steel bodied 4-Sub units with domed cab roof. |
| 4111-4120 | 4-Sub | 1946 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | New-build, steel bodied 4-Sub units with vertical cab roof. |
| 4121-4130 | 4-Sub | 1946 | DMBTo+TTo+TT+DMBTo | New-build, steel bodied 4-Sub units with vertical cab roof. |
| 4131-4171 | 4-Sub | 1942–1948 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Ex-3-car Suburban units, with additional ex-3-car Suburban trailer car. |
| 4131-4132 | 4-Sub | 1969 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Second use of unit numbers. Formed from spare steel-bodied Sub cars, including those used in the 7TC unit. |
| 4172-4194 | 4-Sub | 1947–1948 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Ex-3-car Suburban units, with steel-bodied Augmentation trailer. |
| 4195-4234 | 4-Sub | 1942–1948 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Ex-3-car Suburban units, with additional ex-3-car Suburban trailer car. |
| 4235-4249 | 4-Sub | 1947–1949 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Ex-3-car Suburban units, with steel-bodied Augmentation trailer. |
| 4250-4257 | 4-Sub | 1942–1948 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Formed from a variety of spare Sub cars. |
| 4277-4299 | 4-Sub | 1948–1949 | DMBTO+TTO+TT+DMBTO | New build, steel-bodied 4-Sub units. |
| 4300-4354 | 4-Sub | 1945–1946 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Ex-3-car Suburban units, with steel-bodied Augementation trailer. |
| 4355-4376 | 4-Sub | 1947–1948 | DMBT-TT-TT-DMBT | New build, steel-bodied 4-Sub units. |
| 4377 | 4-Sub | 1947 | DMBT-TTO-TT-DMBT | New build, steel-bodied 4-Sub unit, including prototype full saloon trailer car. |
| 4378-4387 | 4-Sub | 1948 | DMBTO+TTO+TT+DMBTO | New build, steel-bodied 4-Sub units. |
| 4401-4594 | 4-Sub | 1946–1947 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | Ex-3-car Suburban units, with steel-bodied Augmentation trailer. |
| 4601-4608, 4610/13/14 | 4-Sub | 1947 | DMBT+TT+TT+DMBT | First use of unit numbers. Ex-3-car Suburban units, with steel-bodied Augmentation trailer. |
| 4601-4607 | 4-Sub | 1950 | DMBTO+TT+TT+DMBTO | Second use of unit numbers. New Driving Motor cars formed with trailers built between 1946-48. |
| 4617-4620 | 4-Sub | 1972–1976 | Formed from spare Sub cars built between 1946-1950. | |
| 4621-4754 | 4-Sub | 1949–1951 | DMBTO+TT+TT+DMBTO | Most cars had new bodies on old frames, though some were entirely new build. 4667-4754 included an Augmentation trailer from withdrawn units. |