British Rail Class 203

Infobox DMU
name = British Rail Class 203


imagesize = 300px
background = #0033cc
caption = 55993
Manufacturer =
Operator = British Rail
Formation = unknown
Built =1958
LinesServed =
InService = 1958-
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Weight =
Capacity =
MaxSpeed = unknown
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Traction =
Engine =English Electric 4-cylinder type 4SRKT Mark II of convert|500|bhp|abbr=on at 850 rpm
SafetySystem= |This was the final version of Hastings Restriction 0 diesel trains, classified 6B, later class 203. They were delivered in 1958 and consisted of units 1031-1037. They differed from class 202 by the substitution of a trailer buffet car for one of the three trailer second opens in all the earlier units. Their roofs were free of conduit like class 202's 1014-1019.

Usage

They worked initially on the Hastings-Tonbridge-London Charing Cross/Cannon Street line and were delivered in green livery. Also, for many years, two units worked a Brighton-Southampton-Salisbury-Exeter St. Davids buffet car train returning later the same day. In 1963 following the accident which wrote off some class 201 vehicles the number of buffet cars was reduced to five to reflect falling demand, one car became the Southern Region General Manager's saloon DB975025, and the other a paint store at Micheldever. The two units concerned were 1031 and 1032; 1031 was converted to standard 6L(202) formation while 1032 lost further cars to replace damaged cars in other units and ran with two TFKs, downgraded to TSK, from class 6S(201); units 1002-1004. These two cars had the earlier roofs with electrical conduit. The rest of these units being used in the formation of Tadpole/3R(206); units 1201-1206. These cars were later transferred to a 6S(201) unit and replaced with two standard 6L(202) TSOs thus becoming another standard class 202 unit.

At least one 6B(203) unit was repainted in all-over Rail Blue with the carriage numbers repositioned higher, before all five remaining buffer units became blue and grey. At about this time yellow squares then yellow ends were added piecemeal. In the 1980s the remaining five buffet cars were withdrawn and scrapped. The remaining five units then became 5Ls(202) with one latterly being shortened to 4L(202) to run the Tonbridge-Tunbridge Wells shuttle when the Tunbridge Wells-Eridge service was withdrawn as part of the Tonbridge-Bopeep Junction electrification scheme.

Upon the completion of this scheme all Hastings Diesel units were initially withdrawn, although a motor brake second open and trailer composite corridor (TCK) were used briefly to reinstate Tadpole unit 1206.

Technical details

Power car (two per six-car set)

* Introduced: 1958
* Weight: 55 tons
* Engine: English Electric 4-cylinder type 4SRKT Mark II of convert|500|bhp|abbr=on at 850 rpm
* Transmission: Electric, two English Electric traction motors
* Maximum tractive effort: Not known
* Driving wheel diameter: Not known
* Coupling code: Not known
* Train heating: Electric

Preservation

Two vehicles survive: DB975025 and S60750. S60750 had been used for tilt tests in the 1980s for the Advanced Passenger Train. This vehicle was fitted with a centre executive section, a urinal, and a classroom at one end which also had windows fitted for use when the vehicle was propelled at the Old Dalby test track, and was later used for airflow tests before being rescued first by Hastings Diesels Ltd at St. Leonards Depot and subsequently by the Hastings 60750 Group and is being restored by the Lowhall Steam and Transport Museum, retaining features from all stages of its life, at Walthamstow Pump House Museum.

External links

* [http://www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk Hastings Diesels Ltd]