@modeltrainteen95 No,but l did work on the CEPs when they were all blue,then they went blue and grey,and then brown,orange,and beige (known as "Jaffa Cake livery"),then red white and blue,and there was even one accidentally painted in "Connex" livery! The model ones are very true to how the real thing looked,in all their colours.When refurbished some CEPs were done out in blue and grey,but most were at first in Jaffa Cake.This was in the early 80s.1592 was green towards the end too,mid 90s.
I haven't had a ride on a class 411 cep. but i do remember riding on a class 423 vep EMU stock. There really nice trains. it's sad that they have gone. It would be good if some slam door EMUs were preserved to do mainline railtours on the southern region. Now that would be cool!:)
@BR75069 Yes indeed it is a shame they've all gone.There are however a few preserved,the East Railway has a 4CEP,and then there's also a VEP,painted up in approximately 1960s livery,that's really looking for a home.As for mainline use,the elf'n'safety nazis and other PC Jobsworths have put an end to that :-(
I missed this vidio when you posted it, just found it. The 4CEP was a very innovative EMU in its day, wooden interiors, very quick, mk1 stock. I allso have the Bachmann model 4 car EMU set 411, and what a good model it is thankfully minus the Blue Asbestos. Shame about the China conection!!!
@stuartthegrant lt was a while back.l liked driving the CEPs,you knew where you were and if the old thing did pack up,which was very rare,you'd always get back on one motorcoach.
l second your thoughts about the asbestos,and the China connection.Made in Margate would've been most appropriate for a Kent Coast set...
@MatthewBuick Quite so.Their rubbish cheapo goods are already filling up our landfills!But at least they do make some good things,glad you liked the train.Spent many happy hours working on them,the 1:1 scale ones that is:-)))
Thank you for a very interesting commentary. The cep"s were our local trains, and the head code 50 We always used to get when We changed at Chatham. after getting off the train from Dartford. to the Kent coast. in the 60's/70's We could had got a train right thru to the coast from Dartford but 9.9 times out of 10 it was the non corridor suburban stock. (not half as good) they could get up to a fair old speed. I'm sure that We were doing 90 mph sometimes. I want 1 with 1/2 the yellow front.
@heezabirddog Thanks.Some of the non-corridor suburbans (EPBs,HAPS) were geared for 90 mph,and had very similar electrics to a CEP.l'm old enough to remember the half yellow panel days too...
i got myself the blue and grey model i am really looking foward when Hornby brings out the NSE version later this year ;-) also be great if the Jaffa Cakes gets released 1 day too
wow that was bright orange/yellow interier looking back :-)
i also recall the Ashford line to Hastings had the older yellow face trains in the mid late 80s what was they called? some had i think a big black triangle painted on the front
@skimrok lt'd be good to see a Jaffa-Cake one wouldn't it?! The interiors of the refurbished sets were best described as bright :-)
The trains you recall on the Ashford - Hastings were the old class 205/206/207 DEMUs.The black triangle was painted on the end of the motor coach,this being where the baggage compartment was,so staff could be ready to load parcels and mails quickly.This triangle also appeared on 2-car electrics where there was only the one motor coach.
i come clean in the late 80s i was a toe rag and started to do Graffiti , i look back it was a phaze as a teenager , i got out of it after 2 years, im not proud but i cant change my teenage life, anyway i remember these very well and recently i have got into buying 00 trains myself because i have great memorys either going to Hastings from Folkestone changing at Ashford to go to Hastings.i also remember they did a day travel ticket to go most places in Kent
@skimrok Well at least you don't bother with all that crap any more.Used to take us an AGE to clean up and it wrecked the paint finish :-( And of course from time to time someone would get fried on the live rail!
Yes l recall the Kent Ranger,l think they called it,that took in the line across the marsh to Rye and Hastings.Happy days,before all the plastic rubbish trains came!
I really enjoyed the history story on these, thank you, as a boy i lived in London in the late 70s early 80s i moved to Folkestone Kent around 82, i have great memorys of the blue and grey 4 cep in and out of Charing Cross I also remember the network south east colours and the Jaffa Cakes, i went to boarding school in Ashford Kent so was always on them,my parents was separated hence on the trains either to Folkestone or London in the 80s
@skimrok Thanks for that,l too recall the odd one still in blue and grey after refurb,we didn't get that many down here at first as we had our own dedicated units and fitters shed to maintain what were called the "1066 Electrics".These were all in Jaffa-cake paintscheme.Shame about your parents,had the same sort of thing myself really,but at least those old trains took your mind off the problems for a while l guess.
I used to live in Hastings,and i caught these all the time.It was sad when they all went.I used to prefer these to the new air conditioned stock.You could stand at Tunbridge Wells station and watch these units come through at speed,slewing and snaking from side to side! Also nice to sit by an open window,something sadly lacking in modern trains.
@blaster2012 lt was indeed a sad day when the elf-n-safety nazis finally caused all these oldies to vanish.They didn't even give any bits,such as mirrors and wall lights from first class,away.l recall many people used to wait for one of these trains rather than ride in the souless clammy plastic replacing 375s.And it was nice opening the window too.From our viewpoint they were much easier to run and maintain too,and we ran trains in the snow.lt'd seem they can't do that with the crappy 375s...
@AG3304 I would too wait for a 4-CEP rather than a 375,until one day there wasn't one,and i thought "oh well,i guess thats that then".I have never liked train travel as much since.I tell you what aswell,after the demise of the 4-CEPs,i saw a definate increase in delays!
@blaster2012 Sadly that's what happened.l was still on the railway for a few years after the 375 take-over,and l too noticed delays,especially the ridiculously long time it took to attach and detach units at Tun Wells Central.Many complaints came in from those in "First" class too - what a rip-off THAT was.lt became apparent that in the event of ANY snow there'd be no trains at all.The timings are such that it now takes longer to go to London than on a CEP,and uses TWICE the electric.
@blaster2012 lt uses Windows 95.Connex's idea these monstrosities.They went on the bugger up the service in Melbourne,Australia too,until the Aussies gave them the boot.Strangely the new trains Connex ordered for that place were complete gimmicky crap too.
Please mind the gap between the timetable and reality!
@AG3304 Windows 95?? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!!! OH! my god stop the world i want to get off!! No wonder there were delays.The only other thing i owned that would crash more than Windows 95 is my RC helicopter.They should have used something much more stable,like an operating system specifically designed to run trains.It's a bit like using a pocket stopwatch when you should be using an atomic clock. No wonder Connex went out of business. I may never catch another train again...
@blaster2012 Alas no.But we didn't NEED a computer on those trains.Keep it SIMPLE so it'll be RELIABLE ! But no,Connex seemed to think all this computerisation was the way ahead.And of course they found a whole new way to demoralise the staff,which they thought excellent.Excrement'd be more like it.All this paranoid spying on everyone started with those trains.This is why a driver can't open doors if not booked to stop,as he'll get a rocket.Never mind if he also helped some passengers.
@AG3304 Your'e right.Computerisation and automation seem to have caused more harm than good a lot of the time,de-personalising the populus,and generally making people feel more and more paranoid over the last 40 - 50 years it's been (gradually) happening.Supposing in the event of an accident or fire the computer won't let you open the doors? Then what? Pandemonium and chaos. Are you a driver then? I'm guessing your'e employed by the railways in some capacity.
@blaster2012 Well those are certainly my feelings on this mad rush to computerisation.Those trains have CCTV too which is used to spy on the crews to an extent.lf a guard is assualted,it always took an age to get the footage,as only some people can do it (more control freakery) but they'd always "loose" it.Funny how this didn't happen if passengers got the same.You can pull a handle to open the doors,if the body was distorted it'd be hard to open it.
Another question to the wise (of West Marina?). Modelzone are bringing out a limited edition of the 4-CEP in all over blue livery. I can't recall a CEP ever wearing this livery - am I wrong?
Ah!Marina it was,during the jaffa-cake 1066 Electric days.With the odd phase one CIG in jaffa cake too.l seem to recall there were a very few CEPs done out in all-over blue.Certainly this was applied to some COR units,but they'd not got long to run by then.The CEPs soon appeared as blue and grey.
I remember the blue CORs used on the Coastway services around 1970 (before the BR HAPs moved in - a distinctly downward move). Just couldn't recall any CEPs in all over blue. Thanks again
The Central Division were still using the HAPs when l went down there.They were always four cars,coupled motor to motor.Very often there weren't any controls in the unused cabs.Doing away with a corridor unit in favour of these seems odd now,but l suppose the CORs were seen as obsolete and non-standard,a bit like the 442s now!And the HAPs were only HALs with EP brake,and the HALs turned up regularly.Now the 508/313s are to be used,they have character but no loos!
The CEPs in all over blue were around in between the green and blue/grey eras. Not many appeared it all over blue. Modelzone actually used a picture of a real one in all over blue when they announced their limited edition over 18 months ago. I'm pleased to say I have acquired one and a vid will appear soon on my channel
Now does anyone have a really good memory? I recall that if I was standing on the footbridge at Faversham (or anywhere else for that matter) one certain way of telling the early sets from the later ones was that the lighting conduits were mounted on the roof, rather than in it. Looked a bit messy, but certainly a distinguishing feature - and I think that the first refurbed set 7153 still featured this. Anyone recall?
The early CEPs had these conduits.7153 was the first in the second phase,so had hidden ones.This was eventually renumbered as 1500,with the prototype CEPs being 1501-1504 l think,then the production refurbs 1505 onwards.lnternally all but 1500 had the same look,but underneath 1501-1504 retained their "1951" control equipment.The last time l saw 1500 its two power cars were coupled as departmental set 080,and the TBC ended up in 1547.Today only the TSO survives,at Coventry!
I received my blue and grey version today. Captures the real thing to almost perfection as I recall them. I'm really nitpicking when I spot that the tabletops on the model are black (they were grey) and there is a table fitted in every bay (they were detachable and stored in the vestibules - there was never enough to go round!). Commonwealth bogies would be nice too, though the existing were fitted prior - so there's another variation to come?
The model captures these well doesn't it?Commonwealths were only fitted to this first batch of units after their refurb.Among other oddities were one unit with Commonwealth MOTOR bogies,but they had trouble with fitting the electric shoe collectors so it was fitted with the standard MK3/4s again.The tables were grey formica,so black's not right,but it's about the only quibble really.
All I do know is I always headed for them if they were in the make up of the train to London because the 4-CIGs & VEPs didn't have 2nd class compartments (apart from one in a CIG at one end). I'm waiting ever so patiently for the blue/grey one which is how i remember them the most. I've got the decoder chip.. all i need now is the train to put it in!
The arrival of this model has been almost as big a cock-up as the real railway made when they ordered the 375s!Their introduction was also put back on many occasions...
Well you can bet it will be featured on my videos running round my garden layout when it does arrive. My aim ios to have two of them eventually so i can do what the southern was and still is so famous for, and that is ensuring you are in the right bit of the train for the each destination!
l'll look foward to seeing an 8-car then!Front 4 cars for the Gazebo,rear 4 for the Shed via Greenhouse!This train will divide at the Nasturtium bed.Passengers please make sure you're in the right portion of the train.
Seriously though,l do miss these units badly.Your name Metadyneman sounds like you know about the old London Transport O and P stock trains.
I do indeed.. they became the CO/CP stock and the medaydne was/is an early form of electro/mechanical motor control not very successful on LT stock though and I believe only fitted to the O stock. I was born in London but now live in Sussex.
Both the O and P stock had Metadynes,but they differed between the two types.The system was a motor-generator based arrangement with regenerative brakes-pretty high tech for 1937/38!The arduous service conditions on the Circle line,in particular,proved too much for it and in the 50s all cars were changed to the PCM camshaft control used on the 1938 tube cars.When the R stock came these too used the PCM system.Shame these art deco trains no longer run.
It is a shame but The LT museum Depot are working on a 4-car Q stock train whick involves two of the flared side Driving Motors. Whether it will ever run or not is a different kettle of fish! I've just been mailed to say my blue 4-CEP is on it's way so i'm a happy bunny now
Let's hope this doesn't go the way of units 1705 and 1698,a 1963 CIG and a 1959 CEP respectively,which the tin-pot govia were to preserve,if you believed all their hype.
Good to hear you'll soon be wallowing in those blue and grey nostalgic days!
Phase 1 CIG unit 1753 is still intact and in one piece so fear not, I also believe the CEP on the eask Kent railway is a Phase 1 CEP too. Knights rail services are currently working on Phase 2 CIG 1881 at Eastleigh to bring it up to main line HSE standard with central door locks etc for charter heritage use, They ain't dead yet!
I travelled on these things for over 20 years from Faversham to Victoria. Far better before they were refurbished - the new seating and hopper vents were a disaster in passenger comfort terms. Reliable as old boots though - two traction bogies and not a lot to go wrong apart from losing the odd shoe and sometimes the brake rigging.
Always noticed the non-refurbished sets filled with passengers sooner than those that had had the treatment!The new seats fell apart and l was forever fixing them!Never did see why they changed the windows or the seats.Or the driver's cab controller handle-they were like the 1951 EPB stock deadman before.Spent many happy hours working on these old things,the odd brake rigging fault and lost shoe,and the camshaft sometimes acting up!
I have very fond memorys of this train, often travelling from London Victoria to Margate when going on holiday. I used to love the real springy seats and that classic sounding horn. I used to travel on these as a child in the late 80s and early 90s. I used to enjoy traveling on the north kent line then. Now i dont bother. The 375s are boring and without character. Theres just no sense of excitement anymore. Bembom Brothers cheap day return (Dreamland fun park Margate) on hot summer days.
l was one of the people that kept these going,and remember them before their refit at Swindon too.Glad they bring back happy memories,l don't think people will think of the souless,plastic,rough-riding,bouncing 375s with much affection when their time comes!
Glad you liked it.l recall the CEPs being blue and grey,before and after their refit.After the refit,perhaps the nicest colour was the old LSE "Jaffa-cake" livery.The first time l saw one thus painted,l said good lord it's a huge Jaffa Cake! The name stuck!
Thank you for that - very interesting. I traveled on these units quite frequently when I worked in the London Area and I can also relate to cross channel rail travel - Dover station used to be so inhospitable, and the trains shabby compared to the other side of the channel at the time. Having said that, give me these types of trains over air conditioned sterility any day of the week!! 5* - Mike
Glad you liked it-this was a long-awaited model.But at least it came in the end.A bit like a 375 on a frosty morning in a way.Except you wait for that,and it doesn't come in the end.Usually a bus does after about 2 hours wait at an unstaffed grotty station with an LED display to tell you the service is f*****d!Give me the old'un any day.With a good body overhaul they'd have been okay for a while longer.-River.
Where l worked on the railway we had a fleet of trains dedicated to the Hastings line,which we kept in spotless order.Everything worked on ours!
But once they shut the inspection shed and we got trains from elsewhere,standards began to slide,and are now dreadful so l'm told.While Connex ran the "service" the old trains were dreadfully neglected.What we needed was a new version of what we had.Not a glorified plastic tube train with iffy air con!
Guilty as charged!lt was a shame to see our line worsen due to cheapskates and bean counters.First class on those new 375 trains is a joke!They're the same seats as standard for heaven's sake!What a rip-off.Taken as a whole the 375s are far too complicated.What we needed was the bomb-proof reliability of the old train,with the electric doors,and air con that worked properly.We didn't get any of that!There's also no way those 375s will last 50ish years...
Seeing your video shortly after you uploaded it inspired me to get my 4CEP. Really good aren't they? Thank you.
Ballinalower 1 month ago
gettin this in br blue finish for xmas
cant wait
modeltrainteen95 8 months ago
@modeltrainteen95 l'm old enough to recall these in blue when it was done on the real thing....LOL
AG3304 8 months ago
@AG3304 what do u mean by recall do u own a shop or something
which ones are the most realistic to the real thing
these green ones or the blue one
modeltrainteen95 8 months ago
@modeltrainteen95 No,but l did work on the CEPs when they were all blue,then they went blue and grey,and then brown,orange,and beige (known as "Jaffa Cake livery"),then red white and blue,and there was even one accidentally painted in "Connex" livery! The model ones are very true to how the real thing looked,in all their colours.When refurbished some CEPs were done out in blue and grey,but most were at first in Jaffa Cake.This was in the early 80s.1592 was green towards the end too,mid 90s.
AG3304 8 months ago
I haven't had a ride on a class 411 cep. but i do remember riding on a class 423 vep EMU stock. There really nice trains. it's sad that they have gone. It would be good if some slam door EMUs were preserved to do mainline railtours on the southern region. Now that would be cool!:)
BR75069 10 months ago
@BR75069 Yes indeed it is a shame they've all gone.There are however a few preserved,the East Railway has a 4CEP,and then there's also a VEP,painted up in approximately 1960s livery,that's really looking for a home.As for mainline use,the elf'n'safety nazis and other PC Jobsworths have put an end to that :-(
AG3304 10 months ago
I missed this vidio when you posted it, just found it. The 4CEP was a very innovative EMU in its day, wooden interiors, very quick, mk1 stock. I allso have the Bachmann model 4 car EMU set 411, and what a good model it is thankfully minus the Blue Asbestos. Shame about the China conection!!!
Stuart..
stuartthegrant 1 year ago
@stuartthegrant lt was a while back.l liked driving the CEPs,you knew where you were and if the old thing did pack up,which was very rare,you'd always get back on one motorcoach.
l second your thoughts about the asbestos,and the China connection.Made in Margate would've been most appropriate for a Kent Coast set...
AG3304 1 year ago
China will cause us a wealth of problems one day, and I expect that's when we'll see production move back home.
Beautiful little train though!
MatthewBuick 1 year ago
@MatthewBuick Quite so.Their rubbish cheapo goods are already filling up our landfills!But at least they do make some good things,glad you liked the train.Spent many happy hours working on them,the 1:1 scale ones that is:-)))
AG3304 1 year ago
Thank you for a very interesting commentary. The cep"s were our local trains, and the head code 50 We always used to get when We changed at Chatham. after getting off the train from Dartford. to the Kent coast. in the 60's/70's We could had got a train right thru to the coast from Dartford but 9.9 times out of 10 it was the non corridor suburban stock. (not half as good) they could get up to a fair old speed. I'm sure that We were doing 90 mph sometimes. I want 1 with 1/2 the yellow front.
heezabirddog 1 year ago
@heezabirddog Thanks.Some of the non-corridor suburbans (EPBs,HAPS) were geared for 90 mph,and had very similar electrics to a CEP.l'm old enough to remember the half yellow panel days too...
AG3304 1 year ago
i got myself the blue and grey model i am really looking foward when Hornby brings out the NSE version later this year ;-) also be great if the Jaffa Cakes gets released 1 day too
wow that was bright orange/yellow interier looking back :-)
i also recall the Ashford line to Hastings had the older yellow face trains in the mid late 80s what was they called? some had i think a big black triangle painted on the front
all the best from Stephen
skimrok 1 year ago
@skimrok lt'd be good to see a Jaffa-Cake one wouldn't it?! The interiors of the refurbished sets were best described as bright :-)
The trains you recall on the Ashford - Hastings were the old class 205/206/207 DEMUs.The black triangle was painted on the end of the motor coach,this being where the baggage compartment was,so staff could be ready to load parcels and mails quickly.This triangle also appeared on 2-car electrics where there was only the one motor coach.
AG3304 1 year ago
@AG3304 Yeah it be great to see the jaffa cakes ;-)
oh great i will look for info on the class 205/206/207 now , the internet is so great for this sort of thing
also thank you for confirming what the black triangle was for on them trians
all the best from Stephen
skimrok 1 year ago
i come clean in the late 80s i was a toe rag and started to do Graffiti , i look back it was a phaze as a teenager , i got out of it after 2 years, im not proud but i cant change my teenage life, anyway i remember these very well and recently i have got into buying 00 trains myself because i have great memorys either going to Hastings from Folkestone changing at Ashford to go to Hastings.i also remember they did a day travel ticket to go most places in Kent
skimrok 1 year ago
@skimrok Well at least you don't bother with all that crap any more.Used to take us an AGE to clean up and it wrecked the paint finish :-( And of course from time to time someone would get fried on the live rail!
Yes l recall the Kent Ranger,l think they called it,that took in the line across the marsh to Rye and Hastings.Happy days,before all the plastic rubbish trains came!
AG3304 1 year ago
I really enjoyed the history story on these, thank you, as a boy i lived in London in the late 70s early 80s i moved to Folkestone Kent around 82, i have great memorys of the blue and grey 4 cep in and out of Charing Cross I also remember the network south east colours and the Jaffa Cakes, i went to boarding school in Ashford Kent so was always on them,my parents was separated hence on the trains either to Folkestone or London in the 80s
skimrok 1 year ago
@skimrok Thanks for that,l too recall the odd one still in blue and grey after refurb,we didn't get that many down here at first as we had our own dedicated units and fitters shed to maintain what were called the "1066 Electrics".These were all in Jaffa-cake paintscheme.Shame about your parents,had the same sort of thing myself really,but at least those old trains took your mind off the problems for a while l guess.
AG3304 1 year ago
@AG3304 Thanks for your reply, yeah the trains was great for that for sure ;-)
skimrok 1 year ago
Very nice video. I really enjoyed your commentary! You have a good narration voice.
MINTARKA101 1 year ago
@MINTARKA101 Thanks very much for that!
AG3304 1 year ago
I used to live in Hastings,and i caught these all the time.It was sad when they all went.I used to prefer these to the new air conditioned stock.You could stand at Tunbridge Wells station and watch these units come through at speed,slewing and snaking from side to side! Also nice to sit by an open window,something sadly lacking in modern trains.
blaster2012 1 year ago
@blaster2012 lt was indeed a sad day when the elf-n-safety nazis finally caused all these oldies to vanish.They didn't even give any bits,such as mirrors and wall lights from first class,away.l recall many people used to wait for one of these trains rather than ride in the souless clammy plastic replacing 375s.And it was nice opening the window too.From our viewpoint they were much easier to run and maintain too,and we ran trains in the snow.lt'd seem they can't do that with the crappy 375s...
AG3304 1 year ago
@AG3304 I would too wait for a 4-CEP rather than a 375,until one day there wasn't one,and i thought "oh well,i guess thats that then".I have never liked train travel as much since.I tell you what aswell,after the demise of the 4-CEPs,i saw a definate increase in delays!
blaster2012 1 year ago
@blaster2012 Sadly that's what happened.l was still on the railway for a few years after the 375 take-over,and l too noticed delays,especially the ridiculously long time it took to attach and detach units at Tun Wells Central.Many complaints came in from those in "First" class too - what a rip-off THAT was.lt became apparent that in the event of ANY snow there'd be no trains at all.The timings are such that it now takes longer to go to London than on a CEP,and uses TWICE the electric.
AG3304 1 year ago
@AG3304 It probably uses twice the electric to run all those useless bloody computers it's got on board!
blaster2012 1 year ago
@blaster2012 lt uses Windows 95.Connex's idea these monstrosities.They went on the bugger up the service in Melbourne,Australia too,until the Aussies gave them the boot.Strangely the new trains Connex ordered for that place were complete gimmicky crap too.
Please mind the gap between the timetable and reality!
AG3304 1 year ago
@AG3304 Windows 95?? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!!! OH! my god stop the world i want to get off!! No wonder there were delays.The only other thing i owned that would crash more than Windows 95 is my RC helicopter.They should have used something much more stable,like an operating system specifically designed to run trains.It's a bit like using a pocket stopwatch when you should be using an atomic clock. No wonder Connex went out of business. I may never catch another train again...
blaster2012 1 year ago
@blaster2012 Alas no.But we didn't NEED a computer on those trains.Keep it SIMPLE so it'll be RELIABLE ! But no,Connex seemed to think all this computerisation was the way ahead.And of course they found a whole new way to demoralise the staff,which they thought excellent.Excrement'd be more like it.All this paranoid spying on everyone started with those trains.This is why a driver can't open doors if not booked to stop,as he'll get a rocket.Never mind if he also helped some passengers.
AG3304 1 year ago
@AG3304 Your'e right.Computerisation and automation seem to have caused more harm than good a lot of the time,de-personalising the populus,and generally making people feel more and more paranoid over the last 40 - 50 years it's been (gradually) happening.Supposing in the event of an accident or fire the computer won't let you open the doors? Then what? Pandemonium and chaos. Are you a driver then? I'm guessing your'e employed by the railways in some capacity.
blaster2012 1 year ago
@blaster2012 Well those are certainly my feelings on this mad rush to computerisation.Those trains have CCTV too which is used to spy on the crews to an extent.lf a guard is assualted,it always took an age to get the footage,as only some people can do it (more control freakery) but they'd always "loose" it.Funny how this didn't happen if passengers got the same.You can pull a handle to open the doors,if the body was distorted it'd be hard to open it.
l worked on there repairing the old trains.
AG3304 1 year ago
I remember these trains well used to go to Sussex from victora station slam door fun
foxcell 1 year ago
@foxcell Yes,happy days...
AG3304 1 year ago
nice chat
thomasking55 1 year ago
@thomasking55 Thanks!
AG3304 1 year ago
thanks for the commentary found that interesting
doctorcroc 2 years ago
Thanks,well l thought it'd be good to explain a bit about where these ran,and so on.
AG3304 2 years ago
I like your talk very much! Please do more!
odo1rex 2 years ago
Thanks! Maybe they'll do more model trains if this one sells well.l think it might,as there's been very few EMU trains made.
AG3304 2 years ago
i think the lighing in the unit is good apart from the dummy power car which only has 1 led to light the whole coach
mk1emufan 2 years ago
Yes you're right there.l wonder if something could be frigged in there!
AG3304 2 years ago
It actually has two but the front one lights up the guards /Luggage area!
metadyneman 2 years ago
Another question to the wise (of West Marina?). Modelzone are bringing out a limited edition of the 4-CEP in all over blue livery. I can't recall a CEP ever wearing this livery - am I wrong?
viscount812 2 years ago
Ah!Marina it was,during the jaffa-cake 1066 Electric days.With the odd phase one CIG in jaffa cake too.l seem to recall there were a very few CEPs done out in all-over blue.Certainly this was applied to some COR units,but they'd not got long to run by then.The CEPs soon appeared as blue and grey.
AG3304 2 years ago
I remember the blue CORs used on the Coastway services around 1970 (before the BR HAPs moved in - a distinctly downward move). Just couldn't recall any CEPs in all over blue. Thanks again
viscount812 2 years ago
The Central Division were still using the HAPs when l went down there.They were always four cars,coupled motor to motor.Very often there weren't any controls in the unused cabs.Doing away with a corridor unit in favour of these seems odd now,but l suppose the CORs were seen as obsolete and non-standard,a bit like the 442s now!And the HAPs were only HALs with EP brake,and the HALs turned up regularly.Now the 508/313s are to be used,they have character but no loos!
AG3304 2 years ago
The CEPs in all over blue were around in between the green and blue/grey eras. Not many appeared it all over blue. Modelzone actually used a picture of a real one in all over blue when they announced their limited edition over 18 months ago. I'm pleased to say I have acquired one and a vid will appear soon on my channel
metadyneman 2 years ago
And very nice it looks too!
AG3304 2 years ago
Now does anyone have a really good memory? I recall that if I was standing on the footbridge at Faversham (or anywhere else for that matter) one certain way of telling the early sets from the later ones was that the lighting conduits were mounted on the roof, rather than in it. Looked a bit messy, but certainly a distinguishing feature - and I think that the first refurbed set 7153 still featured this. Anyone recall?
viscount812 2 years ago
The early CEPs had these conduits.7153 was the first in the second phase,so had hidden ones.This was eventually renumbered as 1500,with the prototype CEPs being 1501-1504 l think,then the production refurbs 1505 onwards.lnternally all but 1500 had the same look,but underneath 1501-1504 retained their "1951" control equipment.The last time l saw 1500 its two power cars were coupled as departmental set 080,and the TBC ended up in 1547.Today only the TSO survives,at Coventry!
AG3304 2 years ago
Thanks!
viscount812 2 years ago
Amazing the rubbish l remember...
AG3304 2 years ago
I received my blue and grey version today. Captures the real thing to almost perfection as I recall them. I'm really nitpicking when I spot that the tabletops on the model are black (they were grey) and there is a table fitted in every bay (they were detachable and stored in the vestibules - there was never enough to go round!). Commonwealth bogies would be nice too, though the existing were fitted prior - so there's another variation to come?
viscount812 2 years ago
The model captures these well doesn't it?Commonwealths were only fitted to this first batch of units after their refurb.Among other oddities were one unit with Commonwealth MOTOR bogies,but they had trouble with fitting the electric shoe collectors so it was fitted with the standard MK3/4s again.The tables were grey formica,so black's not right,but it's about the only quibble really.
AG3304 2 years ago
There was a small allocation of CEPs based in Brighton before the Hastings Electrification so we did have them in Sussex before then.
metadyneman 2 years ago
That's true,l think they were the prototypes from memory,with the 1951 type equipment...Amazing the rubbish l remember!
AG3304 2 years ago
All I do know is I always headed for them if they were in the make up of the train to London because the 4-CIGs & VEPs didn't have 2nd class compartments (apart from one in a CIG at one end). I'm waiting ever so patiently for the blue/grey one which is how i remember them the most. I've got the decoder chip.. all i need now is the train to put it in!
metadyneman 2 years ago
The arrival of this model has been almost as big a cock-up as the real railway made when they ordered the 375s!Their introduction was also put back on many occasions...
Hope you get your blue/grey version soon.
AG3304 2 years ago
Well you can bet it will be featured on my videos running round my garden layout when it does arrive. My aim ios to have two of them eventually so i can do what the southern was and still is so famous for, and that is ensuring you are in the right bit of the train for the each destination!
metadyneman 2 years ago
l'll look foward to seeing an 8-car then!Front 4 cars for the Gazebo,rear 4 for the Shed via Greenhouse!This train will divide at the Nasturtium bed.Passengers please make sure you're in the right portion of the train.
Seriously though,l do miss these units badly.Your name Metadyneman sounds like you know about the old London Transport O and P stock trains.
AG3304 2 years ago
I do indeed.. they became the CO/CP stock and the medaydne was/is an early form of electro/mechanical motor control not very successful on LT stock though and I believe only fitted to the O stock. I was born in London but now live in Sussex.
metadyneman 2 years ago
Both the O and P stock had Metadynes,but they differed between the two types.The system was a motor-generator based arrangement with regenerative brakes-pretty high tech for 1937/38!The arduous service conditions on the Circle line,in particular,proved too much for it and in the 50s all cars were changed to the PCM camshaft control used on the 1938 tube cars.When the R stock came these too used the PCM system.Shame these art deco trains no longer run.
AG3304 2 years ago
It is a shame but The LT museum Depot are working on a 4-car Q stock train whick involves two of the flared side Driving Motors. Whether it will ever run or not is a different kettle of fish! I've just been mailed to say my blue 4-CEP is on it's way so i'm a happy bunny now
metadyneman 2 years ago
Let's hope this doesn't go the way of units 1705 and 1698,a 1963 CIG and a 1959 CEP respectively,which the tin-pot govia were to preserve,if you believed all their hype.
Good to hear you'll soon be wallowing in those blue and grey nostalgic days!
AG3304 2 years ago
Phase 1 CIG unit 1753 is still intact and in one piece so fear not, I also believe the CEP on the eask Kent railway is a Phase 1 CEP too. Knights rail services are currently working on Phase 2 CIG 1881 at Eastleigh to bring it up to main line HSE standard with central door locks etc for charter heritage use, They ain't dead yet!
metadyneman 2 years ago
Thank heavens for that!lt'd be such a loss if these all went the same way as the old Southern 6PANs,etc.
AG3304 2 years ago
I travelled on these things for over 20 years from Faversham to Victoria. Far better before they were refurbished - the new seating and hopper vents were a disaster in passenger comfort terms. Reliable as old boots though - two traction bogies and not a lot to go wrong apart from losing the odd shoe and sometimes the brake rigging.
viscount812 2 years ago
Always noticed the non-refurbished sets filled with passengers sooner than those that had had the treatment!The new seats fell apart and l was forever fixing them!Never did see why they changed the windows or the seats.Or the driver's cab controller handle-they were like the 1951 EPB stock deadman before.Spent many happy hours working on these old things,the odd brake rigging fault and lost shoe,and the camshaft sometimes acting up!
AG3304 2 years ago
Comment removed
MrPlanetthanet 2 years ago
I have very fond memorys of this train, often travelling from London Victoria to Margate when going on holiday. I used to love the real springy seats and that classic sounding horn. I used to travel on these as a child in the late 80s and early 90s. I used to enjoy traveling on the north kent line then. Now i dont bother. The 375s are boring and without character. Theres just no sense of excitement anymore. Bembom Brothers cheap day return (Dreamland fun park Margate) on hot summer days.
MrPlanetthanet 2 years ago
l was one of the people that kept these going,and remember them before their refit at Swindon too.Glad they bring back happy memories,l don't think people will think of the souless,plastic,rough-riding,bouncing 375s with much affection when their time comes!
AG3304 2 years ago
Thanks for the interesting video.
Waiting for the Blue/Grey model since the green livery is a little before my time.
Paul (Felixjaz)
Felixjaz 2 years ago
Glad you liked it.l recall the CEPs being blue and grey,before and after their refit.After the refit,perhaps the nicest colour was the old LSE "Jaffa-cake" livery.The first time l saw one thus painted,l said good lord it's a huge Jaffa Cake! The name stuck!
AG3304 2 years ago
Thank you for that - very interesting. I traveled on these units quite frequently when I worked in the London Area and I can also relate to cross channel rail travel - Dover station used to be so inhospitable, and the trains shabby compared to the other side of the channel at the time. Having said that, give me these types of trains over air conditioned sterility any day of the week!! 5* - Mike
NN2Blue 2 years ago
Glad you liked it-this was a long-awaited model.But at least it came in the end.A bit like a 375 on a frosty morning in a way.Except you wait for that,and it doesn't come in the end.Usually a bus does after about 2 hours wait at an unstaffed grotty station with an LED display to tell you the service is f*****d!Give me the old'un any day.With a good body overhaul they'd have been okay for a while longer.-River.
AG3304 2 years ago
River
Love the video and your history knowledge
I do not miss these trains - old slam doors - hot and sweaty in the summer and steamed up windows in the winter - if the heater worked.
From West Malling to Victoria
Richard
spannerworks1 2 years ago
Richard
Thanks for that!
Where l worked on the railway we had a fleet of trains dedicated to the Hastings line,which we kept in spotless order.Everything worked on ours!
But once they shut the inspection shed and we got trains from elsewhere,standards began to slide,and are now dreadful so l'm told.While Connex ran the "service" the old trains were dreadfully neglected.What we needed was a new version of what we had.Not a glorified plastic tube train with iffy air con!
AG3304 2 years ago
River
Now I know your connection with your interest in railways.
I as a boy had a friend Bill Jarvis who inspected the line and in those days the trains - steam - just phasing out worked well.
Richard
spannerworks1 2 years ago
Richard,
Guilty as charged!lt was a shame to see our line worsen due to cheapskates and bean counters.First class on those new 375 trains is a joke!They're the same seats as standard for heaven's sake!What a rip-off.Taken as a whole the 375s are far too complicated.What we needed was the bomb-proof reliability of the old train,with the electric doors,and air con that worked properly.We didn't get any of that!There's also no way those 375s will last 50ish years...
Regards,
River
AG3304 2 years ago