Britain Rail

Class 405

4 SUB: Suburban

 

This was a class designation which covered quite a range of varied stock formations. Up until the outbreak of World War II, Southern Railway suburban electric rolling stock was generally flat-sided, and the largest carriage compartments accommodated a maximum of ten passengers, sitting in two rows of five across. Much of this had been converted from ex-steam stock, and subsequent new builds were also constructed to these profiles. In 1939, the company decided to address overcrowding and the ever-increasing peak-time traffic on its London suburban network, which had been instigated by electrification. The SR’s Annual Meeting in February of that year brought to light the possibility of seating no less than six passengers in a row, thus twelve to each compartment. To accomplish this, the profile of the carriages would be to a design which later became famous on the rolling stock produced by O.V.S. Bulleid: curved steel sides, welded into place, could produce additional width above underframe level, whilst remaining within the required loading gauge. In the following year, a prototype carriage based on these parameters was completed at Eastleigh Works. The SR’s Chairman visited the Hampshire complex to experience first-hand the six-across seating arrangement in the vehicle, and was favourably impressed. By September 1941, a complete four-vehicle set was available for service, comprising 456 seats, 60 of them First Class. The formation was equipped with four English Electric motors, each generating 275 HP, and these were split between the two driving vehicles. English Electric was the SR’s exclusive supplier of traction equipment, the two parties having signed a ten-year agreement in 1936. The unit was fitted with an air braking system supplied by contractor Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company Ltd, and the control gear was wired for the electro-pneumatic system. Finally, the formation was numbered 4101 and designated 4 SUB – i.e. four vehicles Suburban. From the outset, the prototype 4 SUB worked exclusively on the South Eastern Division, being confined to the Victoria to Orpington route. As mentioned at the beginning of this section, the ‘’4 SUB’’ term did not refer to a specific type of unit, but rather, was a general description for all those suburban formations which consisted of four vehicles.

 

Prototype Unit

On 6th October 1941, all SR suburban services became third class only, and World War II also ensured that a heavily reduced service was operating on the network. On the plus side, the SR now had no shortage of stock, with surplus units being stored out of use during the skeleton timetable. However, the Board concluded that the capacity of those three-vehicle units which were deployed should be enhanced by the addition of a fourth vehicle. This extensive stock reformation programme was begun in 1942, with eighty-one ex-LSWR 1201 series units being dispatched to Eastleigh for the insertion of a compartment trailer. This produced a batch of forty-one units with a total seating capacity of 353, and a second group of forty units accommodating 350 seats, numbered in the series 4131 to 4171 and 4195 to 4234 respectively.

In 1944, a second newly-built four-vehicle suburban unit, externally and mechanically identical to No. 4101, emerged from Eastleigh. Numbered 4102, this unit comprised just Third Class accommodation, in light of the 1941 decision, which gave a total of 468 seats. In January of the following year, a short production line of identical four-vehicle units began, and by April, eight had been produced, these being numbered in the 4103 to 4110 series. A note should be made that all new-build 4 SUB formations considered so far were built with dome-shaped cab fronts, complete with a pair of the distinctive square cab windows associated with pre-1939 SR electric stock. After completion of the latest new batch, attention was again turned to bolstering existing three-coach stock with an additional trailer. By the end of 1945, Eastleigh Works had converted twenty-six ex-LSWR 1285 Class units to four vehicle formations. Indeed, with World War II now over, normal service could now be resumed, thus the surplus stock situation no longer presented itself. Furthermore, air raids had seen over fifty SR suburban EMU vehicles destroyed. Therefore, the strengthening of the 1285 Series units differed from previous exercises; rather than receiving redundant trailers from disbanded units, Eastleigh works produced new trailers. These were built to the wider curved profile used in 4101 to 4110 series, thus comprised ten twelve-seat compartments. Consequently, the inserted vehicles immediately stood out as an afterthought, their curved profile being distinctly wider than the flat sides of earlier trailers. Twenty-nine 1496 Class units were similarly treated, and were numbered in the 4326 to 4354 range, the final examples emerging from Eastleigh in 1946.

 

In 1946, in addition to suburban stock reformations, the construction of new-build 4 SUB units recommenced. These later batches differed from the 1941 prototype; firstly, the cab was now slab-fronted, to a design similar to that later used by Bulleid on the EPB units; secondly, the all-Standard Class seating capacity had dropped to 420. The removal of seats permitted more spacious compartments, creating more standing room. The thinking behind this revolved around the fact that, even if there were still seats available during the peak, commuters would still be standing in other portions of the train. For instance, for those passengers returning home from the capital, it would be natural to embark on the rear of the train, simply because it is the shortest distance from the concourse. Therefore, the back of the train becomes crowded, whilst the front remains under-utilised. Unit Nos. 4111 to 4130 were assembled at Eastleigh during this year, and a further thirteen units were produced in 1947 to the same design, these being numbered in the 4364 to 4376 series. In accordance with the SR’s long-standing and well-known practice of recycling stock, many of these supposedly new units re-used components from withdrawn sets. Steel underframes, originally built at the ex-LB&SCR’s Lancing Works for earlier classes, were reused, and second-hand bogies were also incorporated into the construction programme. Running concurrent with this new-build scheme were further extensive unit strengthening exercises, which eventually produced no less than 204 re-numbered formations. Vehicles in these sets dated back to the pre-Grouping era: some were ex-SE&CR or ex-LSWR steam-hauled carriages, whilst others were formerly part of the original AC electric sets of the LB&SCR.

British Railways was formed in January 1948, but 4 SUB production at Eastleigh continued. Twenty-three new-build units had been produced by the end of 1949, numbered in the 4277 to 4299 series, but internally, these differed from their earlier classmates. They featured central corridors, incorporated in response to popular passenger demand, which created a greater amount of standing room for the busier peak periods. 134 units of this design were produced at Eastleigh between 1949 and 1951 inclusive, built in three batches of thirty-two, fifty-seven, and forty-five sets respectively. 1951 marked the final year of 4 SUB production, and the type had become native to the South Eastern, South Western, and Central Divisions of the Southern Region. Hereafter, suburban unit construction continued in the form of the EPB units, the first of which had been completed by the end of the same year, subsequently being deployed into revenue-earning service in January 1952. The advent of this more recent breed of EMU allowed the progressive withdrawal of those 4-SUB units which had been derived from ex-three vehicle formations, particularly those constituted of pre-Grouping carriages. Those 4 SUB units produced from 1949 onwards were equipped with four EE507 traction motors rated at 250 HP each. The EE507 was English Electric’s standard traction motor, and this model continued to be used by the Southern Region during the EPB suburban unit production.

Withdrawal of new-build production line stock did not commence until 1972, the first casualties in the October being the dome-shaped cab examples built to the 1941 design. The culling of the fleet was undertaken over an eleven year period; the final units to go were those on the Central Division in September 1983, the last of the type operating in revenue-earning service on 6th of that month. These units were wired for 660 Volt DC operation, which meant that only after their total withdrawal could further parts of the SR suburban network be upgraded to a current of 750 Volts. Continuing the SR tradition of recycling, a number of 4 SUB trailers from the final builds of the 1946 design were retained. Subsequently, these were restored and inserted into refurbished 4 EPB units.

 

Storage locations of units awaiting scrapping

One 4 SUB unit, No. 4732, was retained by British Rail, and subsequently returned to Southern Railway livery (although with front yellow warning panel). This 4 SUB had survived for the sole purpose of operating with preserved 2 BIL No. 2090 on the British Rail network; the latter no longer had a safety case to operate on its own.

 

1st June 1984

 

Many of the 4 SUB units were stored and subsequently scrapped at Hoo Junction, by Smeeth Metals. No. 4714

is observed at the western end of Hoo Junction ''up'' yard - the open doors give a good indication of the unit's

curvature. In the background, to the left, is the diminutive ''down'' platform of Hoo Junction Staff Halt, which

was brought into use during 1956. David Glasspool Collection

 

July 1985


4 SUB No. 4633 was observed at the end of its existence, at Frank Berry's Scrap Yard in Leicester. Although the

4 SUB fleet became Class 405 under TOPS, these units retained pre-TOPS numbering. David Glasspool Collection

 

1987

 

Preserved 4 SUB No. 4732 was observed at Strood during 1987, pairing with 2 BIL No. 2090, forming

the shuttle service for the Gravesham Edwardian Fair. Chris

 

1987

 

Our old friend, No. 4732, is seen once again, this time at Higham. The 4 SUB was using a stencil ''63''

head code. Chris

 

 

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