Rover
Member
When the 50s were named in the late 70s BR were expecting them to be called "Warships" but it was never going to happen with the enthusiasts, the 42s and 43s would always be the "Warships".
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Fleet names that weren't widely adopted
- Thread starter Jayden99
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Sad Sprinter
Established Member
Appalling names.
The Southern Region designation for rolling stock 4-CEP etc was carried on by SWT for a while, but no one ever referred to a class 450 as a 4-DES. Likewise, the class 378s have never widely been referred to as Capitalstars.
Even before that, did "5WES" enter the common vernacular or were they known as "442s" or "plastic piggies" to most?
VioletEclipse
Member
I don't think I've ever heard someone actually use 'AT200' to describe 385s, likely as its easier to just say 385 and a fleet name with numbers in it often isn't very memorable.
Also, few people say 'Express Sprinter' for 158s and 'Super Sprinter' for 153s and 156s, most folk just use 'Sprinter' for all of them.
Also, few people say 'Express Sprinter' for 158s and 'Super Sprinter' for 153s and 156s, most folk just use 'Sprinter' for all of them.
I think actually they did, or at least were supposed to, do something.
As CPU speeds increased, sometimes it wasn't an improvement (e.g. playing a game where timing just relied on how fast the computer ran rather than timing).
So you had a button to slow it down to the speed of an older computer.
But a "turbo" button sounds better than a "slow down" one.
GatwickDepress
Established Member
460s as 8-GAT as well, but everyone seemed to just refer to them as 460s or 'Darth Vaders' or just 'Vaders'.
Sad Sprinter
Established Member
Yet it's funny we never referred to Networks as 4-NET. Might have made more sense to do so to differentiate between the MetCam and BREL set. So something like; 4-MET and 4-BRE, or just 4-GTO as they were the first trains to have such motors.
To turn pedant mode on, it was 142s that squealed and slipped round branchlines in the Southwest until sense prevailed. The ones that eked out their days on the Devon Metro were (some of) the 143s - a long way from their original home -Heaton.
gg1
Established Member
Hadn't 110mph running on the WCML already been in place for 15 years or so by the time the DVTs were introduced?
At least with the InterCity 225 branding the design speed was a new high for production trains in the UK, even if they never actually ran that fast in service.
Sun Chariot
Established Member
Post #47's photo (pair of 142s in GW blue) is at Barnstaple, I think?
Strathclyder
Established Member
5-JUP for the 458s and 5-DES for the 444s too, though the latter example is/was entirely unofficial I beileve.
Only nickname that I've really accepted for the 70 is Super Bone due to the aforementioned resemblance to the 58s, but I can also accept the fact that it's anything but widespread lolSome certainly tried to brand the Class 70s as fuglies but I don't see that term used enough to say with confidence it's a well used name, thankfully...
Come to think of it, aside from that and perhaps bone (due to resemblance with 58s), the 70s really don't have a proper nickname (certainly not one I'd accept haha)
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Ashley Hill
Established Member
Indeed it is Barnstaple in 2011.
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Generally they allowed your PC to drop the clock speed to that of an original 8088 CPU so some older games wouldn't run too fast, but often weren't connected at all.
But back then it was meant to invoke the image of a sports car. In 2024 pretty much every new car has one so it's a bit normal.
142s did return to Exeter depot, and they actually fitted proper driving seats.
If I started playing motor-racing and football manager games on computer at work...
Deepgreen
Established Member
I think that's a model, though...NSE did try to market them as South Western Turbo in their very early days.
Indeed, SWR seemingly still do.
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/our-trains/class-159-south-western-turbo
I agree that the name "Turbo" is much more associated with the 165s and 166s.
hexagon789
Veteran Member
The real life 159s carried the same branding, as did the timetables in the column headers for a time.
CarrotPie
Member
It is indeed.
43096
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4-JOP originally for the 458s - for Juniper Outer-suburban Porterbrook (if I remember correctly), but due to their inital reliability alternatively known as Jump Out and Push.
What's wrong with Arterio?
City Beam is silly though.
northwichcat
Established Member
When First/Kelios had TransPennine Express they printed seating plans in the timetable booklets for the "Class 185 Pennine" and "Class 170 Turbostar" trains.
As I recall the 159s were branded West of England Turbo in their early days under NSE.NSE did try to market them as South Western Turbo in their very early days.
Indeed, SWR seemingly still do.
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/our-trains/class-159-south-western-turbo
I agree that the name "Turbo" is much more associated with the 165s and 166s.
As discussed in this speculative thread from late 2020 and early 2021 on alternative three-letter acronyms for Southern Region EMUs https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/alternative-three-letter-acronyms-for-sr-emus.212661/ the 508s were officially designated 4-PER (no idea what that stood for) when they ran on the SR before moving to Merseyside while the 455s were designated 4-HIT (HIgh density, Tightlock coupling) but in both cases they were rarely referred to as such.
43096
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1. Why does it need a name at all?
2. “Blocked Arterios” (similarity to “blocked arteries” rather sums up the current, ongoing fiasco with them, and any future service interruptions if they ever actually enter service.
Because it’s better PR to have a name.
They had 'Class 185 Pennine First class' antimacassars. Thought it was pointless for pax and cranks alike.
onlinespotting
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I recall referring to 155’s and 156’s as ‘Super sprinters’ when frequently travelling with a friend in the 80’s and early 90’s
In the later 90’s I remember a trip to Manchester where the tutor was expecting an ‘express’ (ie a transpennine express 158), yet thought our Metro WYPTE liveried 158 was the wrong train when it turned up! She actually remarked ‘we’re expecting an express train, that’s a metro train so surely it can’t be that one’
northwichcat
Established Member
Some films show Sprinter trains in this livery: https://paulbigland.files.wordpress...ff.-manchester-piccadilly.-19.06.1991crop.jpg and you can see the word Sprinter.
onlinespotting
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This is what I remember. Maybe it was the 156’s that showed ‘Super sprinter’