British Rail Class 205

Description

This class of unit was built in four different batches for use on different lines.

The Southern Region class 201 to 207 DEMUs are nicknamed 'Thumpers' owing to the noise they made while in motion.

The first batch of units, numbered 1101–1118, was built in 1957 as two-car units and classified as 2H. They were built for services in Hampshire on the non-electrified routes between Portsmouth Harbour, Salisbury and Andover and between Alton, Winchester and Southampton Terminus. The first units entered service in September 1957. However, owing to increasing passenger numbers, all eighteen units were strengthened to three cars in 1958 and 1969, with the addition of a centre trailer, and therefore were reclassified as 3H units. Upon the introduction of TOPS they were reclassified as Class 205. Some of these were later converted back to 2 car sets, but they retained their Class 205 designation.

The second batch of 2H units, numbered 1119–1122, was built as 2-car units in 1958. These units were built for services on the Marshlink Line from Hastings to Ashford, and associated branch lines. These units remained as two-car sets until 1979, and were reclassified as Class 204 upon the introduction of TOPS. In May 1979, following the disbandment of the four Class 206 units, they were strengthened to three cars and redesignated as Class 205s.

The third batch of units was built as three-car sets in 1959, and numbered 1123–1126. These units were built to supplement the first batch on services in Hampshire. Collectively, the first and third batches are often called Hampshire sets. The final batch of units, numbered 1127–1133, was built in 1962 as three car sets. These units have some detail differences from the earlier batches, such as a different internal layout, and smaller route indicators (compare the two photos). They were built for services from Reading to Salisbury, and other services in Berkshire. The final batch of units is sometimes referred to as Berkshire sets.

Technical details

Power car (one per set)

Number 1129 was experimentally fitted with a Dorman 12QTCW V-12 diesel engine of 725 shp (541 kW)

Operations

The first examples of the class entered service in September 1957 after a month of testing. They were initially used on services linking Portsmouth and Southampton to Salisbury, as well as those between Southampton and Portsmouth Harbour and from Southampton to Alton/Andover. Journey times were around two-thirds of those required by the steam locomotives which the units replaced. The new services proved so popular that the class was temporarily taken off the route to Alton and Andover to provide extra capacity on the other lines prior to the fitting of a third carriage to the first 18 units.

The delivery of the second batch of four units saw the class introduced to the Marshlink Line between Ashford and Hastings. These units also ran on the Bexhill West Branch Line and the short line to New Romney and Littlestone-on-Sea, and a Sunday-only service on the Fawley Branch Line. All of these routes except for the Marshlink Line had been closed by 1967, by which time the route between Reading and Salisbury was also operated by the class. The units also operated on the Wareham to Swanage route from 1966 until its closure in 1972. Other routes served included the Steyning Line between Brighton and Horsham, which closed in 1967; the Cuckoo Line, which closed in 1968; the Lymington Branch Line, which was served by the units for two months in 1967 prior to its electrification; and some journeys on the Oxted Line, which was also served by the newer Class 207 units. In 1973 some services from Portsmouth to Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare were converted to Class 205 operation.

Soon after introduction, units were equipped with a luminous orange-Vee painted on the motor-coach in order to provide an early visual indication to station staff that there was no brake van at the other end of the unit. With the introduction of yellow warning panels the orange-Vee was replaced by an inverted black triangle; this being extended at this time to all Southern Region 2 & 3-car multiple units. As units such the 6-car Hastings sets or the 4 EPB stock had a brake van at each end of the unit they were not equipped with an inverted black triangle.

The electrification of the line to East Grinstead in 1987 saw the majority of the class withdrawn. Those which survived largely operated on services from Ashford to Hastings and from London to Uckfield. The privatisation of British Rail in 1995/6 saw the surviving Class 205s, most of which now carried Network SouthEast livery, pass to the new Connex South Central franchise.

In 1966, unit number 1102 was used in the film "The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery".

When Govia won the South Central franchise in 2001, a franchise commitment was to replace all Mark 1 rolling stock by 2005, as it did not meet modern health and safety requirements. Southern ordered Turbostar trains of Class 171 and Class 170 (later converted to Class 171) from 2003 onwards to replace the Class 205s. The final units, nos. 205001/009/033 were withdrawn in mid-December 2004.

Fleet details

Unrefurbished Class 205/0

Refurbished Class 205/1

Refurbished Class 205/2

Departmental Units

Preservation

Due to a generous disposal policy by Porterbrook Leasing, nearly all of the final units in service were preserved. The only unit not preserved was no. 205012, which had poor bodywork and donated its engine to the only surviving unrefurbished Class 207 unit.

Models

An OO gauge kit is available from DC Kits. Dapol announced (May 2008) that a limited edition OO RTR model (to be followed by an N gauge version) of the Class 205 would be produced in collaboration with Kernow Model Rail Centre. Manufacture was switched to Bachmann in March 2010 and the model was released in February 2013.