Hastings 7L DEMU

[Lancastrian]

Popped over to Aylesbury Vale Parkway station to meet friends who were aboard the Neasden Nonsense railtour, with Hastings Diesels Ltd 1001 DEMU with three power-cars. A short video can be viewed via the following link:

 

[oldravendale]

I wish I'd known that was happening. All power to those who've preserved those vehicles (at least, I'm assuming they are preserved). And I say this as one who heartily disliked the DEMUs when we went as a family to Bexhill to visit an ancient aunt.

Brian

 

[Lancastrian]

I wish I'd known that was happening. All power to those who've preserved those vehicles (at least, I'm assuming they are preserved). And I say this as one who heartily disliked the DEMUs when we went as a family to Bexhill to visit an ancient aunt.

Brian

Brian,

Yes, they are preserved.

 

[oldravendale]

Brian,

Yes, they are preserved.

Thanks Ian. That's really good. In honesty I'm a bit iffy about seeing some of the more modern DMUs and such being delivered to heritage railways (with the HST being an exception) but they are actually quite important, will be valued by the railway enthusiasts of today and give us a continuity which would otherwise be lacking. I'd have ridden on that DEMU if only to remind myself of days long gone. This DEMU is a case in point and we'd be poorer without it.

Brian

 

[Lancastrian]

Brian,

I've read they have 5 power cars (DMBS) and 15 vehicles in total from the "Hastings" units, as well as Mk1's from 4-BIG and 4- CEP.

 

[David Waite]

Thank you for showing the video I never knew until now that there is a whistle and horn sound on the units.
David.

 

[Martin Shaw]

We should perhaps remember that the Hastings DEMU's are very nearly as old as me (70) and were built before BR stopped building steam locomotives. They were and are superbly reliable and a credit to the SR who in their idiosyncratic way showed the rest of BR how diesel multiple units should be done, apart from the ride. The need to hard limit body roll for the tunnels meant they crashed form side to side if pushed, Chislehurst Junction on the down fast was notorious.
Martin

 

[Peter Insole]

Ah, the old Hastings DEMU's! I'm afraid I have a big soft spot for those things; mainly because I spent so much of my childhood visiting, and later, briefly living with relatives in Wadhurst!

My favourite Auntie, Joyce Sharp, took this transparency for me in 1962:



I'm sorry it is only a low-res scan, (the best I could manage) and it barely shows that the leading (Down, through) unit is sans those b****y awful, farty, two tone "trumpets" on the roof - and still retains it's perky little whistle! The vague, horizontal line above the motorman's windscreen wiper just about reveals!

Those trains did tend to get a bit "lively" at some locations, but with the distinctly narrow, 2+2 seats and passages in standard class, all but the skinniest grownups could find themselves fairly firmly wedged in! The performance, and being delightfully deafened in the tunnels at Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells was all part of the fun for an impressionable youngster!

Pete.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the image also shows part of Aunties own little NSU "Quickly", parked at the right, and just outside the porter's room! As yet, still a young woman, she used to whizz around the lanes, with one of those cream coloured, "pudding basin" bone domes on her head, and wearing a pair of absolutely massive, brown leather gauntlets... but with no other type of protective gear, apart from a heavily woven, and fairly tight fitting skirt that is!!

 

[timbowales]

Pete, what an absolutely superb photo of Wadhurst. That footbridge wandering up the cutting side would not be believed if one did it on a model, unless it was Wadhurst of course.
Tim T

 

[Peter Insole]

Yes indeed Tim, the footbridge also doubled as a public footpath! There was a gate at the boundary between the timber stairway and the bridge landing, but presumably it should never have been locked!

It would also seem that walkers access also required routing round the front of the signal box and along the platform as far as the porter's gate... where Auntie had wheeled in and parked her NSU!

Pete.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

We should perhaps remember that the Hastings DEMU's are very nearly as old as me (70) and were built before BR stopped building steam locomotives. They were and are superbly reliable and a credit to the SR who in their idiosyncratic way showed the rest of BR how diesel multiple units should be done, apart from the ride. The need to hard limit body roll for the tunnels meant they crashed form side to side if pushed, Chislehurst Junction on the down fast was notorious.

I would say the Southern Region were forward thinking rather than idiosyncratic as they didn't have the potpourri of the first generation of diesel multiple units foisted upon them.

By opting for diesel electric multiple units (DEMU) at the outset BR(S) could design a handful of units suitable for their services, make sure their BR built DEMUs could couple up to each other - none of the blue square or other multi coloured shapes denoting what unit could couple up to each other which afflicted other regions. And of course maintenance was easy as they used electric traction motors for which they would have a large pool for their electric fleet. I would also hazard a guess the DEMU cab layouts were identical to the BR built electric units so there was no unfamilarity for the drivers.

The other Southern Region DEMUs were the Oxted line (3D; later class 207) and the Hampshire units (2H, 3H, 3T; later classes 205/204).

The Southern Region was virtually the only one where all of their BR built stock could work in multiple with each other and their inherited ex-SR built units could operate in multiple. However you could not mix the BR built units with the SR built units.

 

[Martin Shaw]

Whilst I wholly agree with you Dave my use of idiosyncratic is actually a compliment even though and largely because it went against the general thinking at the BRB, in much the same way that the WR decided on hydraulic transmission for their diesel fleet. Generally speaking examples of individualities that have probably disappeared from the railways of Britain today.

Regards
Martin

 

[76043]

Generally speaking examples of individualities that have probably disappeared from the railways of Britain today.

Regards
Martin

Isn't everything now bespoke on the railway? There seems to be no standard stock / track / overhead / service vehicles of any kind.

All the train operating companies have unique specifications too it seems.
Tony

 

[Martin Shaw]

I don't agree with you Tony however I think we may be looking at the issue from different directions. My comment was a reaction to every franchise being subject to a rigidly defined and controlled set of circumstances by the DoT/TFS/WT with virtually no scope for changing much at a local level, I was going to say regional but we don't have regions any more.
Martin

 

[76043]

That's true Martin, I agree you are right to say that DfT has overall control in franchising, so the end product must be the same. Certainly the seats are all the same, they are all ironing boards!!! I recall a trip to Edinburgh on these new Hitachi things and my posterior was complaining by Stevenage.
Tony