The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2-NOL to the

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

s built during the 1930s from old

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

carriage bodies on new

underframe An underframe is a framework of wood or metal carrying the main body structure of a railway vehicle, such as a locomotive, carriage or wagon. See also * Chassis * Headstock * Locomotive bed * Locomotive frame A locomotive frame is the struct ...

s. None of these units survived long enough in

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

ownership to be allocated a TOPS class.

Construction

The 2-NOL (2-car NO Lavatory stock, numbers 1813–1890) units were built in 1934–1936 by taking former LSWR carriage bodies, lengthening them, and placing them on new underframes. They were intended for use on slow services on the South Coast and in South London. The motor third brakes were produced by taking a 48-foot eight-compartment third (378 of which were built between June 1894 and December 1902 of which 32 were originally 2nd/3rd composites), removing half of one compartment, and adding on a steel-panelled guard's van and a driving cab. The driving trailer composites were also produced from 48-foot eight-compartment thirds, but two whole compartments were removed, and three first-class compartments from a 46-foot six-compartment lavatory first (70 of which were built between 1895 and 1900) were added at one end, and a steel-panelled driving cab at the other.

Formations

Initial formations of these units were as follows (carriages were not necessarily formed in numerical order):

Accidents and incidents

*On 2 December 1955, two units of the class formed a passenger train that was in collision with a freight train at , London due to a signalman's error. A fire broke out due to electrical arcing. Thirteen people were killed and 41 were injured. Unit 1853 was gutted by the fire and was consequently withdrawn.

Withdrawal

Four units were withdrawn between 1941 and 1955. Of these, two units (1828 and 1855) were withdrawn in 1941, one being the result of bomb damage. Two units sustained accidents in 1951, damaging one coach in each unit; but it was possible to form one good unit from the two undamaged coaches, so only one unit (1838) needed to be withdrawn. Unit 1853 withdrawn following an accident at Barnes in December 1955, as detailed above. The majority of these units were withdrawn between 1956 and 1959, when the old bodies were scrapped and the underframes were re-used. Four units (1870/1/7/8) donated their frames to new 4-EPB coaches, but the frames from 70 units were used to construct 34 new 2-EPB and 36 new 2-HAP units. There remained 31 units in stock in the Summer of 1959,''ABC of British Railway Locomotives'' (Summer 1959), p.229. but they had all been withdrawn by the end of August 1959.

References

* {{British Rail EMU 2NOL SR 2Nol Train-related introductions in 1934 750 V DC multiple units