Class 303s/311s - Memories, favourite liveries etc.

[AY1975]

Back on Saturday August 14th 1982 i was festering at Nuneaton for the 1608 Llandundo - Euston back to Rugby.
Then unexpectedly 303050 rumbled in on the 1815 Tamworth - Rugby and i was soon aboard this classic unrefurbished beast of a unit this far South.
At Rugby the Llandudno - Euston roared in with 83005, not required, but a biggie, no regrets my only 303 on the Trent Valley more than made up for it!!

NR
www.leightonlogs.org

I didn't know that any 303s were transferred to the North-West as early as that, unless it was just one unit that was taken there for test running in preparation for the transfer of more 303s to the area (which I thought happened in about 1983/84, as the Hadfield and Glossop line was converted from 1500 V DC to 25 kV AC in December 1984).

 

[47271]

There was a unrefurbished 303 that was repainted into original caledonian blue livery that ran on specials and was destined for the Transpott Museum at kelvinhall before being scrapped due to asbestos issues.

And considering the 314s are near indentical to the 313s (one of which is already going to NRM in York) and the fact no-one wants to maintain an obscure footnote in scottish railway history the only survivor is destined for hydrogen (which is much more interesting than rotting in a shed somewhere like the last 303)

I totally agree that we don't want anything rotting in a shed, but my frustration is around that they couldn't even deal with the asbestos sufficiently to mount a restored cab on the wall.

And quite right that a whole unit of a 314 would've eaten up masses of space in the hall, but surely a cab mounted alongside the 303 would've represented a bit more than an obscure footnote in Scottish railway history.

I don't know anything about the stated priorities of the Riverside Museum but my impression is that they're a lot more interested in displaying an unchanging collection of old trams and buses from a period only just about within anyone's living memory than reminding the city of how it's got around since the mid 1960s.

 

[matchmaker]

I grew up in the West End of Glasgow in the 1960s and the 303s (or AM3s) were the trains I was most familiar with. I remember them in the original Electric (or Caledonian) Blue and then in Rail Blue. From 1969 until 1975 I used them daily to travel to school from Hyndland to Charing Cross.

The unit with the sliding plug doors (Dean door gear) was 035. All the rest had conventional sliding doors (Peters Power Doors).

Certainly at that time the 311s (or AM11s) were very rare on the North Clyde lines.

 

[Logan Carroll]

I totally agree that we don't want anything rotting in a shed, but my frustration is around that they couldn't even deal with the asbestos sufficiently to mount a restored cab on the wall.

And quite right that a whole unit of a 314 would've eaten up masses of space in the hall, but surely a cab mounted alongside the 303 would've represented a bit more than an obscure footnote in Scottish railway history.

I don't know anything about the stated priorities of the Riverside Museum but my impression is that they're a lot more interested in displaying an unchanging collection of old trams and buses from a period only just about within anyone's living memory than reminding the city of how it's got around since the mid 1960s.

For context when you say “cab” do you mean the whole dtso or just the front part cut off? The latter would be pointless as no one woulb be able to recollect the train without seeing the interior.

 

[47271]

For context when you say “cab” do you mean the whole dtso or just the front part cut off? The latter would be pointless as no one woulb be able to recollect the train without seeing the interior.

Just the front end and maybe the first passenger section, or even just the cab. I don't agree that the cab only would be pointless, especially with something as evocative as a blue train restored front. It wouldn't even need to occupy any floor space.

Anyway, we're off topic. To conclude the point, whatever it would be exactly would be more than what we have at the moment - which is absolutely nothing.

 

[Albaman]

Without hesitation, my favourite colour scheme for the class 303s, was Caledonian Blue . I have always wondered why us Glaswegians were so fortunate in receiving the class 303 units with their particular design and colour scheme and not units like the class 304s which were intended for the Crewe - Liverpool/Manchester electrification.

 

[Southof1E]

I didn't know that any 303s were transferred to the North-West as early as that, unless it was just one unit that was taken there for test running in preparation for the transfer of more 303s to the area (which I thought happened in about 1983/84, as the Hadfield and Glossop line was converted from 1500 V DC to 25 kV AC in December 1984).

12 303 sets were transferred to Longsight in 1981, they even worked a Euston - Manchester railtour (303066/067) on September 4th 1982. They survived in the North west a good few years.
I wander if 303s have worked the full length of the WCML (Carstairs-Carlisle-Preston) being doubtful....

top units

NR

www.leightonlogs.org

 

[Beebman]

12 303 sets were transferred to Longsight in 1981, they even worked a Euston - Manchester railtour (303066/067) on September 4th 1982. They survived in the North west a good few years.
I wander if 303s have worked the full length of the WCML (Carstairs-Carlisle-Preston) being doubtful....

top units

NR

www.leightonlogs.org

It would appear that 303s were used on electrical testing over Beattock in 1973 according to the Hidden Glasgow forum:
http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3156&start=90#p173284

The post has a photo of units at Lockerbie and also has the following info:

"and both 303048 and 303066 are recorded as having worked Crewe - Carlisle relief services in 1984 and 1985"

 

[Southof1E]

It would appear that 303s were used on electrical testing over Beattock in 1973 according to the Hidden Glasgow forum:
http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3156&start=90#p173284

The post has a photo of units at Lockerbie and also has the following info:

"and both 303048 and 303066 are recorded as having worked Crewe - Carlisle relief services in 1984 and 1985"

Fascinating snippets of 303 gen there "Beebman" i have found a Liverpool 303 working

303059/304005 1738 Liverpool - Crewe 181182 odd pairing!!

NR

 

[Helvellyn]

Without hesitation, my favourite colour scheme for the class 303s, was Caledonian Blue . I have always wondered why us Glaswegians were so fortunate in receiving the class 303 units with their particular design and colour scheme and not units like the class 304s which were intended for the Crewe - Liverpool/Manchester electrification.

The only thing I can think is that the 303s were considered inner-suburban units with the sliding doors, longitudinal seating against the door pockets and low backed seating in general. A bit tube like I suppose. Whereas the 304s, etc, tended to work a lot of outer suburban type stuff as well where slam doors seemed preferred (including provision of toilets and first class).

An example of sorts of this type of thinking can be seen with the Great Northern electrification of the 1970s - Class 313 PEP derived units with sliding doors for the inner suburban routes (including Moorgate) with low backed seats and no toilets or first class. Whereas for the outer suburban services to Royston there were the slam door Class 312/0s with toilets and first class!

 

[Whistler40145]

I remember doing 303049 from Cambridge to Stansted Airport as part of an Open Day at Cambridge

 

[Strathclyder]

The revised link works, thank you.

More pictures? Certainly... and the first few here are older ones; the rest are from the same trip as the other batch.

Some more crackers there, Peter. Certainly made the most of your trip up here!

 

[d9009alycidon]

I didn't know that any 303s were transferred to the North-West as early as that, unless it was just one unit that was taken there for test running in preparation for the transfer of more 303s to the area (which I thought happened in about 1983/84, as the Hadfield and Glossop line was converted from 1500 V DC to 25 kV AC in December 1984).

Guys - if you follow the links at the bottom of the original webpage that I linked to there is a history and timeline of the units, dredged from various sources: https://web.archive.org/web/20040312155851/http://www.jhowie.force9.co.uk/303tributepage4.htm The first units transferred to North West England were in January 1981 when units 303041/9/50/9/66/7 were transferred to Crewe as temporary replacements for Class 310s which were having braking problems. Two of those units, 303066 and 303067 reached London Euston on Hertfordshire Railtours' "Blue Train Railtour" on 04/09/82 a further 7 units went south in 1983/84. EMUs are not historically associated with Wales, but 303049 & 303066 appeared in storage at Llandudno Junction once they were replaced by more modern stock

​

 

[Mag_seven]

Lots of 303 action in this (silent) clip by "Douglas Thomson", including a fascinating trip down to the old Bridgeton Central station.

GLASGOW'S DISUSED RAILWAYS - High street to Bridgeton Central, driver's cab view return journey 1983 - YouTube

 

[Strathclyder]

Lots of 303 action in this (silent) clip by "Douglas Thomson", including a fascinating trip down to the old Bridgeton Central station.

GLASGOW'S DISUSED RAILWAYS - High street to Bridgeton Central, driver's cab view return journey 1983 - YouTube

Watched that a few weeks back, fascinating ain't the word! Seeing a 314 parked at Bridgeton Central never fails to raise a eyebrow, even though it really shouldn't lol

 

[Beebman]

Watched that a few weeks back, fascinating ain't the word! Seeing a 314 parked at Bridgeton Central never fails to raise a eyebrow, even though it really shouldn't lol

That has reminded me sadly of a collision between 303026 and 314210/211 which occurred at Bridgeton on 11/09/1986 when two railway staff lost their lives as a result of the 314 combination being reversed in a shunting move without adequate supervision. Report at the Railways Archive:

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/DoT_Bridgeton1986.pdf

 

[Dr Hoo]

Thank you for posting that link, Beebman. I remember the 1986 collision. Unit 314210 was re-built and eventually returned to traffic but had demonstrated that the 'PEP' design had very little resistance to severe damage.

A very sad and tragic incident.

(Sorry that this is strictly OT for 303/311.)

 

[Bikeman78]

"Gordon Thomson" has a photo of the return working of that service at Kilwinning on Flickr:

Kilwinning - 303054 - 28-08-1997

This was the only timetabled working of a class 303 into Ayrshire. The 17.35 from Glasgow Central to Ardrossan Town and the 18.33 return gave the former 'blue trains' a trip to the seaside. 303054 calls at kilwinning on its way back to Glasgow.

www.flickr.com

Looks like it was the 17.35 from Glasgow and 18.33 return.

I travelled on that turn in September 2000 so it must have run for a few years.

I know there's been a few threads on this subject over the years, but seeing as they're all locked, I thought I'd start this one.

With the 18th anniversary of their last revenue-earning run fast approaching (30th December 2002), I thought it appropriate to start a thread on one of the best-known of the early EMU classes outwith the Southern Region 'slammers': the 303s aka 'The Blue Trains' aka AM3s. As the title suggests, you can share your fondest/most vivid memories of these fine units in service, what livery/liveries you think suited them best (or your fave livery on them, period), whether they looked better with their original wrap-around cab windows or the later flat-glass design etc. The 311s are of course also permitted (hence the thread title), given their similarities to their elder sister units and how they worked interchangably with the 303s (much in the same manner as the 318s & 320s do now).

I'll kick things off with this video of the aforementioned last revenue-earning run by BONESS27001, some of the highest-quality footage of 303s in service out there. The creaks, groans, nearly every sound the Gresley bogies make, the squealing brakes.... brings it all flooding back.

Right, that's enough waffle from me, I'll turn it over to you fine folk.

I was on that last run. A lot of effort for a one way trip to Helensburgh. The 303s were crazy units. I never actually timed them but they took off quickly, much faster than the 320s. They were ideal for the Cathcart routes, as were the 314s which replaced them. I used to enjoy waiting at Glasgow Central low level where you hear the motors howling as they departed from Anderston or Argyle Street.

From late 1999 onwards, the remaining 303s were concentrated on the North Clyde, Argyle & Inverclyde Lines (sharing the latter pair with 318s and the North Clyde with the 320/3s; not sure how common 318s were on the NCL at this time), while the 314s took over most of the Cathcart Circle duties, although I imagine they still appeared every now and then between then and final withdrawal in Dec. 2002, becoming less and less frequent as their numbers dwindled.

My favourite 303/311 liveries are SPT Carmine & Cream (4 303s received this livery), SPTE Orange/Black (or Red/Black), original 'Caley Blue' and BR Blue/Grey.

Looking through my records they still ran to Neilston, Newton, Wemyss Bay and Gourock in April 2001. By September, all my runs were on the low level lines through Central and occasionally Queen Street.

 

[GordonT]

Can remember that for a number of years in the Ian Allan number books the two 303 units which had symbols attached to them were (as mentioned in previous posts) 035 - Equipped with Dean door gear but also 071 - Fitted with silicon rectifiers.

I travelled on that turn in September 2000 so it must have run for a few years.


I was on that last run. A lot of effort for a one way trip to Helensburgh. The 303s were crazy units. I never actually timed them but they took off quickly, much faster than the 320s. They were ideal for the Cathcart routes, as were the 314s which replaced them. I used to enjoy waiting at Glasgow Central low level where you hear the motors howling as they departed from Anderston or Argyle Street.


Looking through my records they still ran to Neilston, Newton, Wemyss Bay and Gourock in April 2001. By September, all my runs were on the low level lines through Central and occasionally Queen Street.

"Gordon Thomson" has a photo of the return working of that service at Kilwinning on Flickr:

Kilwinning - 303054 - 28-08-1997

This was the only timetabled working of a class 303 into Ayrshire. The 17.35 from Glasgow Central to Ardrossan Town and the 18.33 return gave the former 'blue trains' a trip to the seaside. 303054 calls at kilwinning on its way back to Glasgow.

www.flickr.com

Looks like it was the 17.35 from Glasgow and 18.33 return.

I've a feeling that the 1735 journey and its return working were dependent on a couple of sets being released from Shields Road depot to traffic from maintenance.

 

[Strathclyder]

Looking through my records they still ran to Neilston, Newton, Wemyss Bay and Gourock in April 2001. By September, all my runs were on the low level lines through Central and occasionally Queen Street.

Aye, that sounds about right, gleaming from photographic and video evidence of the period. What I said in my opening post was most likely the allocation plan as it was originally drawn up all that time ago, but as we all know, operational needs often require deviation from such plans. Here is hybrid set 043 (with the rear driving trailer, 75766, having come from by-then withdrawn set no. 056. Note the original sliding windows and the shortened TOPS number on the cab end) departing Gourock in July 2001 (from the Donald Anderson YT channel).

 

[d9009alycidon]

Can remember that for a number of years in the Ian Allan number books the two 303 units which had symbols attached to them were (as mentioned in previous posts) 035 - Equipped with Dean door gear but also 071 - Fitted with silicon rectifiers.

Pictures of 035 (sub class 303/2) are somewhat scarce, here it is at Hyndland, http://ftp.sasolchevron.com/photo/scaled/6093/ the doors can be seen to be flush with the side of the coach and moved out and along when open, the two slots can be seen just above the solebar on either side of the doors. These were removed and converted to standard doors in 1971 as in service the equipment suffered a failure rate 150 per cent worse than that of the standard door gear on the other units. I have an unconfirmed source that mentions another experimental "Peters" style doorgear. This type of door was originally to be applied to 50 or 60 units, but the plan was abandoned because of manufacturing difficulties.
035 then became the test bed for Thyristor control with oil cooled rectifiers from 1971 - 1981 and was designated 303/4. Unit No.091 was originally earmarked to be fitted with thyristor equipment eventually fitted to 035.
303071 was designated 303/3 and was fitted with silicon rectifiers and oil cooled fans, this was a success and eventually all mercury arc rectifiers were gradually replaced with silicon rectifiers, but of smaller dimensions than those fitted in No. 071. Sadly this unit was involved in the fatal head on collision (with 303005) at Bellgrove on the 6th March 1989.

 

[Strathclyder]

Pictures of 035 (sub class 303/2) are somewhat scarce, here it is at Hyndland, http://ftp.sasolchevron.com/photo/scaled/6093/ the doors can be seen to be flush with the side of the coach and moved out and along when open, the two slots can be seen just above the solebar on either side of the doors. These were removed and converted to standard doors in 1971 as in service the equipment suffered a failure rate 150 per cent worse than that of the standard door gear on the other units. I have an unconfirmed source that mentions another experimental "Peters" style doorgear. This type of door was originally to be applied to 50 or 60 units, but the plan was abandoned because of manufacturing difficulties.
035 then became the test bed for Thyristor control with oil cooled rectifiers from 1971 - 1981 and was designated 303/4. Unit No.091 was originally earmarked to be fitted with thyristor equipment eventually fitted to 035.
303071 was designated 303/3 and was fitted with silicon rectifiers and oil cooled fans, this was a success and eventually all mercury arc rectifiers were gradually replaced with silicon rectifiers, but of smaller dimensions than those fitted in No. 071. Sadly this unit was involved in the fatal head on collision (with 303005) at Bellgrove on the 6th March 1989.

Interesting - never knew those subclasses even existed (obviously on paper only). Of course, when the technology was sufficently mature, such doors were fitted as standard to all new EMU classes (in Scotland's case, the 334s onward) as standard. The trial with 303035 was nonetheless a interesting one and in many respects forward-looking.

 

[b0b]

I remember how high those door buttons were on 303's but maybe I was a kid was part of it!

 

[Strathclyder]

I remember how high those door buttons were on 303's but maybe I was a kid was part of it!

Even to my adult eyes, they do seem a tad high on the refurbished sets. Wonder why that was, or if it just seems like they were higher up than on their 314/318/320 stablemates.

 

[grumpyoldman01]

Without hesitation, my favourite colour scheme for the class 303s, was Caledonian Blue . I have always wondered why us Glaswegians were so fortunate in receiving the class 303 units with their particular design and colour scheme and not units like the class 304s which were intended for the Crewe - Liverpool/Manchester electrification.

I've read somewhere recently (I think it was in David Clough's book about BR's modernisation plan) that the Scottish Region general manager of the time insisted that passengers had a view forward in the 303s so that they could see out over the Clyde; this meant that the existing design of EMU couldn't be used, and the cab was styled with BR Design Panel assistance

My strongest memory of a 311 is seeing one steam-hauled, which might be ... unusual.

I was by the Independent Lines at Crewe when a 9F (pretty sure it was 92001) appeared heading north and hauling a 311, presumably on a delivery run.

The 311s were described as the work of Cravens of Sheffield, but I've seen suggestions that they ceased building railway stock in 1966. So were the 311s built at Washwood Heath by Met-Camm?

The contract to construct the 311s was awarded to Cravens, but they were completed by Met-Camm. You're quite correct about Cravens ceasing to exist, and I can't remember if the 311 contract contributed to their demise but there was a big problem with the jigs passed to them by Pressed Steel; this was recorded in the railway press at he time, and I think in the end completely new ones had to be made

On a general point, some 303s were down in the Manchester area in 1961; I don't know how many came south, but some transformer rectification work was undertaken at Gorton Works