Of the hundreds of electric multiple units built for service on the Southern suburban network a few have passed into preservation. A guide to what is saved and where it can be found follows:
SOUTHERN RAILWAY 3-SUB Driving Motor Brake No.8143
Photo By Alan Butcher |
Preserved at the National Railway Museum, York this vehicle is typical of the type of unit built in 1925 by the Southern Railway to cater for the expansion of their third rail network across all parts of South London and beyond. This particular car was built by Metro-Cammel at their Wednesbury works and is normally on display at the NRM. The vehicle is preserved without either of it's traction motors but is otherwise complete. |
SOUTHERN RAILWAY Class 487 Waterloo & City DMB Car 61
Photo By Graeme Gleaves |
Although built by the Southern Railway this single car never carried passengers in the light of day...... as it was built for the underground Waterloo and City route which was built by a subsidiary of the London & South Western Railway and remained in the ownership of the Southern and British Railways until 1994. This car was built in 1940 and lasted in service until 1993. The cars either worked as motor pairs or with three trailers between the motors. Car 61 is at the NRM. |
SOUTHERN RAILWAY 4-DD (Double Deck) Unit No. 4902
Photo By Howard Johnston |
Only the two driving motor brake coaches survive of this four car unit which was designed by the Southern Railway but not built until 1949, after nationalisation. Two of these units were built as an experiment to tackle the problem of severe overcrowding on suburban routes, and rather unusually featured two levels of seating which gave each unit an extra capacity of 35% greater than a standard four car unit. The experiment was not deemed successful enough to warrant further units being built. The preserved cars are both privately owned and can currently be found at sites near Ashford and the Northampton Ironstone Railway (pictured left) respectively. |
BRITISH RAILWAYS Class 416\3 2-EPB Unit No.6307
Photo By Graeme Gleaves |
This unit was built in 1959 by British Railways but in time honoured tradition of the Southern Railway as it featured new bodies mounted on secondhand underframes re-claimed from withdrawn 2-NOL units. This type of unit saw service across the whole range of southern routes until withdrawal in 1995. 6307 was purchased privately by Paul Martin and is currently under restoration at a temporary site at Winkleigh, near Exeter. |
BRITISH RAILWAYS Class 416\2 2-EPB Unit No. 6259
Photo By Graeme Gleaves |
An example of the British Railways standard design of suburban rolling stock. Similar style of units were built for service in North London, Essex, Tyneside and also steam hauled commuter stock was built to this profile. As with the previous unit 6259 saw service from its construction in 1955 until withdrawn in 1995 across the southern network. The unit is owned by the EPB Preservation Group and being restored at the East Kent Railway in Shepherds Well. |
Other Southern region third rail stock is preserved but is not mentioned here as it does not fall within the scope of being considered suburban in nature, also stock that worked on the southern system but was originally built for service elsewhere has been excluded from this survey. If you would like a list of the main line EMU cars from the Southern Railway/Region that have found their way into preservation such as the Brighton Belle units and the complete 4-COR set then you can obtain this information from the Southern Electric Group web site which is reached from our LINKS page.
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