British Rail Class 404

Infobox DMU
name = British Rail Class 404


imagesize = 300px
caption = Class 404 4Cor, no. 11179 from set 3131, at the National Railway Museum, York on 3rd June 2004.
background = #D5005E
Manufacturer = SR Eastleigh Works
Formation = power car + 2 trailer cars + power car
Built = Unknown
InService = 1937-1972
Weight = Total - 158 tons 5cwt
Capacity =
MaxSpeed = 75mph 121km/h
Brakes = Air
Engine = 4 x 225 hp traction motors
total 900 hp (671 kW)
Operator = Southern Railway and British Railways|

The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designations 4Cor, 4Res, 4Buf and 4Gri to the different types of electric multiple unit built to work the route between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour. The 4Cor type units survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated TOPS Class 404. The Cor designation had previously been used for the 6Pul units and was reused by them during World War II when the Pullman car was stored, but this stock was different from the 4Cor units.

Phase 1 units

The SR electrified the London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Woking line in the mid-1930s, and full electric services commenced over the route from April 1937. For this service, 29 4Cor units (4-car Corridor units, numbered 3101-3129) and 19 4Res units (4-car Restaurant units, numbered 3054-3072) were built.

Corridor connections were provided throughout each unit, including between units. This gave them a distinctive front-end appearance as the headcode display was placed on the opposite side of the gangway connection to the driving cab window, leading to their nickname of Nelsons (referring to Lord Nelson's eyepatch).

It was intended that for principal services, 12-car formations would operate with a 4Res unit (providing the kitchen and dining facilities for the train) sandwiched by two 4Cor units. While all the other carriages for these units were built by the SR at their Eastleigh works, the Trailer First carriages (which were laid out as dining cars) were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company (BRCW) and the Trailer Restaurant Kitchen Third carriages by Metropolitan Cammell.

Phase 2 units

The SR then electrified the line from Three Bridges to Portsmouth via Horsham and the coastal route from West Worthing to Havant, with services over this route commencing in July 1938. For services from London Victoria to Portsmouth over these lines, another 26 4Cor units (numbered 3130-3155) were built, together with 13 4Buf units (4-car Buffet units, numbered 3073-3085).

These new units followed the same design as the Phase 1 stock, except that the restaurant and kitchen facilities of the 4Res units were replaced by the simpler provision of a buffet. All of these units were built by the SR at their Eastleigh works.

Formations

Initial formations of these units were as follows:

External links

* [http://www.southernelectric.org.uk Southern Electric Group - Owners of Set no. 3142.]
* [http://www.southernelectric.org.uk/features/stockdir.html Southern Electric Group - Details of class designation.]