Which type of train still in service today will you miss most when they've all been withdrawn from use on the national network?

[daodao]

TPE nova 3, class 68 n stock.

Unaffordable and unreliable. I don't understand TOCs who hanker back to the days of loco-hauled carriages on the modern railway. Are they nostalgic for the days of kings and castles (and first class dining cars in the case of TfW)?! The new TPE management have made the sensible decision to ditch them.

 

[DarloRich]

Kids today, wouldn't know a decent train if it bit them on the ars.........

The answer is HST, followed by mkiv, followed by class 350 ( mainly because they are solid, reliable trains I have used almost everyday for more than a decade and had one failure)

Voyagers, 170's, 180's, 222 etc: Push into sea and let the waves take them.

No further debate will be needed.

 

[Chris 1980]

The Merseyrail class 507 and 508s. They have been amazing and have served the network superbly for over 40 years!

Very fond memories of going on them as a kid when I was small to Liverpool shopping with my mum. I was born in 1980 so they are all I have ever known!

Will miss their sounds, their unique character, everything about them! Merseyrail somehow, will never seem the same ever again.

I know they are old but for me personally, I don't think you will ever better these!! The 777s 100% won't last anywhere near as long!

 

[Sun Chariot]

The Tractors. Over 60 years of sterling service. And what a sound under load!

What's not to love. Here's Colas's 37418 today, on the West Coastway (deep inside SWR/Southern land).
I have fond memories of being hauled by 37/4s in Scotland and Wales. It was the "sound of the 1980's" for me.

 

[Ben Anslow]

156,158,170,185,195 migh suprise a lot of people I know they are poor in alot of respects however still like them and the sound of their engines especially one with a turbo whine, 220/221 323,350,390,444

 

[Sun Chariot]

156,158,170,185,195 migh suprise a lot of people I know they are poor in alot of respects however still like them and the sound of their engines especially one with a turbo whine, 220/221 323,350,390,444

After 60-mile commutes on a 444, it's easy to go off 'em. The seats leave me aching....

 

[Ben Anslow]

After 60-mile commutes on a 444, it's easy to go off 'em. The seats leave me aching....

Almost all the rolling stock needs better seat comfort nowadays to be honest

 

[dorsetdesiro]

Definitely the 444, like the 442 it is unique as third rail gangwayed & single door intercity stock.

The 442 & 444 will be memorable in the future when the SWML & Southern Region inevitably gets OHLed/battery operated when the future rolling stock probably will be generic in appearance like the 80xs etc.

 

[Anonymous10]

After 60-mile commutes on a 444, it's easy to go off 'em. The seats leave me aching....

Strange I've done several long distance stints on them usually including Bournemouth-London, Southampton-London and Southampton-Dorchester and never found them uncomfortable.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Strange I've done several long distance stints on them usually including Bournemouth-London, Southampton-London and Southampton-Dorchester and never found them uncomfortable.

I'm 6 foot 6, so that might be why I find the seat pitch so uncomfortable. I miss the deep sprung cushions of the DMUs and EMUs I rode in the 1980s and early 1990s.

 

[Anonymous10]

I'm 6 foot 6, so that might be why I find the seat pitch so uncomfortable. I miss the deep sprung cushions of the DMUs and EMUs I rode in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Ah being 5 foot 8 I find them very comfortable indeed, then again im used to 153s being from West Wales. Strangely enough I'll probably miss the 153s and 175s the most.

 

[capital12]

I also found the 444 seats quite comfortable and the 350s with them. Don’t get me started on IET seats though - back can be hurting before the thing has even moved!

 

[miklcct]

For me it's the 455. If this question was asked last year, it would be the 315.

It is such a great commuter train similar to the first / second generation electric trains used on KCR British Section (now East Rail Line), which by travelling on it in London suburbs reminds me about my childhood travelling on the train across the New Territories. The similarity of the 315 to the first / second generation KCR electric trains was even greater because it ran under 25kV AC and operated by the same operator MTR as well.

 

[Juniper Driver]

I will miss the 159s

Same here.Been driving them for 22 years and 455s 33 years.

 

[Westerndiesels]

Got to be the 37s for me too.

Just before covid I went back to stay in Great Yarmouth where I was from and had my first experience of trains aged about 5 in mid 70s. More of that in a bit.

Had family with me and brought returns for a day out in Norwich and to my suprise top and tailed 37s turned up. Mk 2 coaches.

I couldn't believe it. What a sound and a thrill.


Back to my first railway memories

The smell under the train shed of leaked oil, creosote on sleepers and diesel fumes must have hit something with me and I seem to remember what would have been a class 03 shunter moving about. This added to the numerous mark 1 carriages and parcel vans about in the sidings or on the quayside. The link to Quay had gone I know now but the carriages were definitely there in 75.

Funnily enough I can't remember being in a loco hauled train that young. Just an all blue dmu and the sound of the getaway buzz or double buzz.

I think turning up at Norwich really affected my neurological side and it seemed to be a railway paradise unlike today.

Happy days and something I'm slowly taking to later middle age.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Of tghose still in service, probably the 455s and HSTs. But the ones that bring back nostalgia for me are the 1st generation DMUs - particularly the 114s, which were usually both the prelude and the epilogue to most railway adventures when I first took up the hobby.

 

[Farigiraf]

Class 755s. Although since they are so good, GA and future franchise holders will keep them for as long as possible that by the time 755s are the sprinters of their age, we will all have personal flying Heathrow-style pods

 

[Ladder23]

319’s

childhood memories living on the MML, love the look and sound of them

 

[QSK19]

319’s

childhood memories living on the MML, love the look and sound of them

Yep, I remember when I was a kid taking the HST as far as Luton, and then transferring onto the old Thameslink 319 to Brighton.

Just love the sound they produce when departing, especially on AC.

 

[Sun Chariot]

319’s

childhood memories living on the MML, love the look and sound of them

I feel old. when I was young and living within sight of the southern MML, it was Rail Blue everywhere - 45s and 47s

 

[Samzino]

Class 465/1 and 0s especially in their original Brel & ABB traction. Class 395s as their solid units alongside the 720s, 745, 444 & 450s.

 

[plugwash]

Some that I will miss.

158s, Intercity ambiance in a 2 car DMU.
323s, their distinctive traction noise has been part of my life for as long as i've been riding trains.
390s, smooth, fast and despite being tilting trains they feel far more spacious than the voyagers. I'm not fully sold on the recent refurb, the seats don't seem as bad as IET seats but I preffer the originals, on the plus side the better charging provision in standard class is something I will really appreciate.
MK4, the final generation of Intercity Greatness. Sadly it's been a few years since I've had the pleasure of travelling on one and with the recent drive for cost cutting on UK railways I suspect they are not long for this world.

In general I feel the late BR/early privitisation era was a golden age for british trains.

 

[Janet T.]

Not sure if there's a previous thread on this, but from all current traction and rolling stock on the national network, which type will you miss the most when they've gone, and why?

I had to think for a while, but eventually decided on class 60. I've rated these since they were new, and find them impressive on heavy trains. They sound powerful with 29 102 tonne oil tanks in tow. I remember them too on the Port Talbot to Llanwern iron ore trains ascending Stormy Bank.

Over to you....

Has to be the 125.

 

[SLTRegular]

Met my wife on Sydney Trains Waratah A69 that would be my favourite in the world but favourite uk would be the 150/1 Especially the native Northwest ones.

 

[YourMum666]

A bit controversial but IETs. I have a weird soft spot for them

 

[Kaliwax]

Lived in the North all of my life, so will have to say 150s. If you had asked me a few years back I'd have said the pacers, except the MR refurbed 142s.