British Rail Class 201
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The British Rail Class 201 (or 6S) six-car
diesel-electric multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s (DEMUs) were built in 1957–1958 at
Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
and underframes were built at
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. The Southern Region Class 201-207 DEMUs are nicknamed 'Thumpers' due to the noise they made while in motion, owing to the four cylinder engines. These units were built for the London-Hastings line, with a narrow body profile to accommodate the restricted tunnel
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...
on that line.


Technical details

Power car (two per six-car set) * Introduced: 1957 * Weight: * Engine:
English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...
4-cylinder type 4SRKT Mark II of at 850
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* Transmission: Electric, two English Electric type EE507 traction motors rated at each. (Equivalent to per 6-car set) * Maximum tractive effort: per car; per unit * Driving wheel diameter: Driving Bogie; Trailer Bogie * Coupling code: ' Buck-Eye' Type allowing coupling to any BR(S) 20x,4xx Units * Train heating:
Electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...


Fleet details

Original 6S Units Departmental Units


Reformations

Some units were disbanded during the mid 1960s to provide stock for the Class 206 'Tadpole' Units and to reform other 'Hastings Sets' after the
Hither Green rail crash On 5 November 1967, a busy Sunday evening train service from to derailed near the Hither Green maintenance depot in London, between and railway stations. Of the twelve coaches, many full of standing passengers, eleven were derailed and four ...
. Set 1002 was later reformed to its original formation in 1979, but set 1004 was reformed with only its original power cars and some trailers from sister Class 202 and 203 Hastings Sets. Set 1003 was reformed only for the last few months of Hastings DEMU service after its power cars were used for spares, again with none of its original trailers. Set 1007 also suffered a reformation in 1969 but it remained as a full six coach set until withdrawal in 1986.


Preservation

Most units were withdrawn and scrapped following electrification of the route in 1986. However, one complete unit, no. 1001, was preserved by Hastings Diesels Ltd., which is based at
St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origina ...
. Vehicle no. 60000 has been named ''
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
'' after the town which it previously worked to. This was mainline operational from the unit's revival in 1996 to 2006, but this motor coach was not prioritised when it needed fitting with Central Door Locking (CDL) & On-Train Monitoring Recorders (OTMR). 60000 also needed an overhaul to its bodywork and because of the costs involved, both financial and manpower, this work has not been carried out yet, which means it is currently in storage at St Leonards Depot. The two mainline certified motor coaches that are currently in use on the Hastings Diesel and are fitted with CDL and OTMR are 60116 '' Mountfield'' (certified in 2003) and 60118 ''
Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...
'' (certified in 1996). The unit operates several mainline railtours a year, starting from Hastings and going to various destinations; mainly across the South of England, but sometimes further afield. Additionally, the unit has been used in some unusual non-passenger workings. In July 2015, a crash-damaged
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Class 375 ''Electrostar'' EMU was dragged very slowly at 5 mph by HDL's 2 motor coaches from Canterbury West to Ramsgate Depot using a special Dellner coupling-adapter, having collided into a herd of cattle that had strayed onto the line between Wye and
Chilham Chilham is a mostly agricultural village and parish in the English county of Kent with a clustered settlement, Chilham village centre, in the northeast, and a smaller linear settlement, Shottenden. Well-preserved roads and mostly residential liste ...
. In August 2015, the 2 motor coaches spent a week at
Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...
's new depot in Three Bridges shunting some of the new-built Class 700 ''Desiro City'' trains. Hastings Diesels Limited owns thirteen non-mainline certified vehicles which are in various states of readiness. Two of these are part restored trailer 60527 and unrestored motor coach 60001, which formed the motive power for the original unit 1001. They have said that there will be no serious work done to 60001 until work to motor coach 60019 is completed, as this one apparently needs less work done to it, which is cheaper, and returning 60000 ''Hastings'' to front line service is also finished. One other vehicle survives, the former buffet car 60750, the only survivor of the Hither Green crash. It was taken into BR's Research division as RDB 975386 and heavily modified to test the tilt and suspension systems for the APT-P. Previously under restoration at the Electric Railway Museum, it moved to Shakerstone on the
Battlefield Line The Battlefield Line Railway is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : It runs from Shackerstone (Grid ref ) to Shenton (), via Market Bosworth, a total of . Shenton is near Bosw ...
in 2017.


See also

*
British Rail Classes 201, 202 and 203 Class 201, Class 202 and Class 203 were the TOPS codes for a series of Diesel-electric multiple units built for the Southern Region of British Railways in 1957–86. They were classified by the Southern Region as 6S, 6L and 6B respectively, an ...


References


Further reading

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External links


Hasting DieselsPreserved Thumpers
{{British Rail DMU
201 Year 201 ( CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 '' Ab urbe condi ...
Diesel electric multiple units Train-related introductions in 1957