I would imagine there are axle driven generators on all loco hauled stock. Been on trains formed of mk 2d/e/f or mk 3 stock hauled for reasonable distances with no heat locos and light remained on. Happy to be corrected on that. Think advent of central door locking required an ETH (later ETS) fitted loco to prevent batteries going flat? Still remember no heat locos hauling said stock well into 1990s, though.
All Mk 1 and at least up to Mk 2 c. Heating on them has no link to lighting
I would imagine there are axle driven generators on all loco hauled stock. Been on trains formed of mk 2d/e/f or mk 3 stock hauled for reasonable distances with no heat locos and light remained on. Happy to be corrected on that. Think advent of central door locking required an ETH (later ETS) fitted loco to prevent batteries going flat? Still remember no heat locos hauling said stock well into 1990s, though.
Think they used the set that terminated at BDI in the afternoon, which I believe was later commandeered to run a peak extra to Hebden Bridge for Northern... think the crew would have run out of hours if they'd gone all the way to London sadly.That would have been excellent - even better with a run down to The Cross though!
I remember the previous early LMS electric stock on that line, which were compartment coaches, like all compartment stock, it was up to the passengers to switch on the lights.I remember when I was a kid that Merseyrail trains on the Ormskirk line used to have lights off until stopping at Walton, then on for Kirkdale tunnels etc.
I remember the previous early LMS electric stock on that line, which were compartment coaches, like all compartment stock, it was up to the passengers to switch on the lights.
But quite often low/dim was so dim the lights barely glowed!!But you've got that wrong - theswitch in compartment stock changed between low and high. The lights were on all the time
There's no axle driven generators on Mark 3s certainly (and I would think Mark 2DEF as well), battery charging is off the ETH.I would imagine there are axle driven generators on all loco hauled stock. Been on trains formed of mk 2d/e/f or mk 3 stock hauled for reasonable distances with no heat locos and light remained on. Happy to be corrected on that. Think advent of central door locking required an ETH (later ETS) fitted loco to prevent batteries going flat? Still remember no heat locos hauling said stock well into 1990s, though.
I was on a railtour a few years ago (The Fifty-Niner) and on the way back the lights in the coach I was in weren't working. It was very dark inside...
I think they are more insistent nowadays due to health and safety concerns which is a shame for us who like it dark, but I can see it from the on-train staff's perspective!When the WCML was still the preserve of Mk2s and Mk3s there was often a coach with failed lighting, I used to seek it out on purpose for the excellent night-time view out. Sometimes staff asked you to move, but if you didn't they didn't do anything more.
I think they are more insistent nowadays due to health and safety concerns which is a shame for us who like it dark, but I can see it from the on-train staff's perspective!
I'm pretty sure that years back it was normal for carriage lights to be off during the day and only turned on for tunnels. That meant that on the services I used most, up to and down from Waterloo, the lights were only turned on when it got dark. On the North London Line, which I used every so often, the lights would go on for the tunnel at Hampstead, but that's all. I can't recall whether at that time the lights on the District Line trains to and from Richmond were kept on after they surfaced at West Kensington (and likewise for other places where LT routes surfaced), but I suspect that they were.
There would be the odd time after dark when the lights in one carriage would be out. I've heard that it used to be the case on Southern electrics that if one bulb blew it would turn off all the carriage's lights, but I don't know if that is true.
Yes the slam door north London trains had lights off generally in daytime. I regularly got the Richmond bound train at Hampstead Heath in that period (mid 80s) and recall lights on for the tunnel only.It was apparently true for the 4SUB's.
Certainly I have been on the white and orange livery Thumper DEMUs (in the non corridor compartment at the end near the driver's cab) to Uckfield at evening rush hour with no lights except in tunnels, and then back with no lights at all. It was quite eerie!I'm pretty sure that years back it was normal for carriage lights to be off during the day and only turned on for tunnels. That meant that on the services I used most, up to and down from Waterloo, the lights were only turned on when it got dark. On the North London Line, which I used every so often, the lights would go on for the tunnel at Hampstead, but that's all. I can't recall whether at that time the lights on the District Line trains to and from Richmond were kept on after they surfaced at West Kensington (and likewise for other places where LT routes surfaced), but I suspect that they were.
There would be the odd time after dark when the lights in one carriage would be out. I've heard that it used to be the case on Southern electrics that if one bulb blew it would turn off all the carriage's lights, but I don't know if that is true.
Excellent!I once caught a long loco-hauled train from Brig in Switzerland to Domdossola in Italy. I settled myself down in an empty compartment and it was only as we entered the mouth of the Simplon Tunnel just outside Brig station that I realised the lights in my coach weren't working! The only light was the small amount that filtered through from the vestibules of the carriages either side of my coach.
You literally couldn't see the hand in front of your face, and the tunnel is 12.3 miles/19.8 km long; an interesting experience!
On 4Sub units (and their 3 car predecessors, together with 2Nol, 2Bil, 2 Hall and 4 Lav) carriage lighting was provided using 600V traction supply. The bulbs were arranged in series with separate circuits for each side of the carriage - ie. each compartment or bay had two bulbs which were on the two different series circuits. So if one bulb failed, each compartment would still have the other bulb lit. I believe that this arrangement was due to their being no motor generator on these units.I've heard that it used to be the case on Southern electrics that if one bulb blew it would turn off all the carriage's lights, but I don't know if that is true.
I remember when I was a kid that Merseyrail trains on the Ormskirk line used to have lights off until stopping at Walton, then on for Kirkdale tunnels etc.