British Rail Class 205

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Class 205, no. 205009 at London Victoria on 15th August 2003, with a service to Uckfield. This service no longer runs, with all trains to Uckfield now diverted to London Bridge. 2004 was the final year of service of these elderly units. This unit is now preserved on the Eden Valley Railway.

Class 205, no. 205032 at London Bridge on 15th August 2003, with a service to Uckfield. These units have now been replaced on Southern by new Class 171 Turbostar units. This unit is now preserved on the Dartmoor Railway.

The British Rail Class 205 (or 3H) diesel-electric multiple units were built by BR at Eastleigh from 1957-1962.

1 Description
2 Current operations
3 Preservation
4 Fleet Details
5 External links

[edit] Description

This class of unit were built in four different batches for use on different lines. The first batch of units, numbered 1101-1118 were built in 1957 as two-car units and were classified as 2H. They were built for services on the non-electrified routes from Portsmouth-Salisbury-Andover and Alton-Winchester-Southampton. However, due to increasing passenger numbers, all eighteen units were strengthened to three cars, with the addition of a centre trailer, and therefore were reclassified as 3H units. Upon the introduction of TOPS they were reclassified as Class 205

The second batch of 2H units, numbered 1119-1122, were built as 2-car units in 1958. These units were built for services on the Marsh Link Line from Hastings to Ashford, and associated branch lines. These units remained as two-car sets until 1979, and were reclassified as Class 204 upon the introduction of TOPS.

The third batch of units were built as three-car sets in 1959, and were numbered 1123-1126. These units were built to supplement the first batch on services in Hampshire. Therefore collectively, the first and third batches are often called Hampshire sets.

The final batch of units, numbered 1127-1133, were built in 1962 as three cars sets. These units have some detail differences from the earlier batches, such as a different internal layout, and smaller route indicators (compare the two photos). They were built for services from Reading to Salisbury, and other services in Berkshire. Therefore this final batch of units are often called Berkshire sets.

[edit] Current operations

The final units, nos. 205001/009/033 were withdrawn in mid-December 2004.

[edit] Preservation

Due to a generous disposal policy by Porterbrook Leasing, nearly all of the final units in service were preserved. The only unit not preserved was no. 205012, which had poor bodywork and donated its engine to the only surviving unrefurbished Class 207 unit.

205001 - East Kent Railway
205009 - Eden Valley Railway
205018 - Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway
205023 - Hampshire & Sussex Unit Preservation Society (HSUPS) at the Lavender Line
205025 - Mid-Hants Railway
205028 - Dartmoor Railway
205032 - Dartmoor Railway
205033 - Lavender Line
205205 - North Yorkshire Moors Railway

In addition to the above complete units, a driving trailer from unit 205008 (DTCsoL 60820) has been preserved by Hastings Diesels at St. Leonards-on-Sea.

[edit] Fleet Details

Key:	In service	Withdrawn	Preserved	Rebuilt	Reformed	Departmental Use	Scrapped

Unrefurbished Class 205/0

Unit No.		Batch	Year Built	Final Livery	DMBSO	TSO	DTCsoL	Withdrawn	Status
New	Old	Batch	Year Built	Final Livery	DMBSO	TSO	DTCsoL	Withdrawn	Status
205001	1101	Batch 1	1957	Connex	60154	60650	60800	12/2004	Preserved
205002	1102	Batch 1	1957	NSE	60155	60651	60801	1993	Scrapped
-	1103	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60102	60652	60802	1979	Converted to Class 204 no. 1403
-	1104	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60103	60653	60803	1979	Converted to Class 204 no. 1404
205005	1105	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60104	60654	60804	?	Scrapped
205006	1106	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60105	60655	60805	?	Scrapped
205007	1107	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60106	60656	60806	?	Scrapped
-	1108	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60107	60657	60807	1979	Converted to Class 204 no. 1401
205009	1109	Batch 1	1957	Connex	60108	60658	60808	12/2004	Preserved
205010	1110	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60198	60659	60809	?	Scrapped
-	1111	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60110	60660	60810	1980	Converted to 205101
205012	1112	Batch 1	1957	Connex	60111	60661	60811	02/2004	Withdrawn - for scrap
205013	1113	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60112	60662	60812	?	Scrapped
205014	1114	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60113	60663	60813	?	Scrapped
205015	1115	Batch 1	1957	NSE	60114	60664	60814	1993	Scrapped
205016	1116	Batch 1	1957	NSE	60115	60665	60815	1993	Scrapped
205017	1117	Batch 1	1957	Blue/Grey	60116	60666	60816	?	Scrapped
205018	1118	Batch 1	1957	Connex	60117	60674	60828	08/2004	Preserved
205019	1119	Batch 2	1958	Blue/Grey	60118	60653	60818	?	Scrapped
205020	1120	Batch 2	1958	Blue/Grey	60119	60652	60819	?	Scrapped
205008	1121	Batch 2	1958	NSE	60120	60657	60820	1993	Preserved
-	1122	Batch 2	1958	Blue/Grey	60121	-	60821	1979	Converted to Class 204 no. 1402
205023	1123	Batch 3	1959	NSE	60122	60669	60822	1998	Preserved
205024	1124	Batch 3	1959	NSE	60123	60668	60823	1999	Scrapped
205025	1125	Batch 3	1959	Connex	60124	60670	60824	05/2004	Preserved
205026	1126	Batch 3	1959	Blue/Grey	60125	60671	60825	?	Scrapped
205027	1127	Batch 4	1962	NSE	60145	60672	60826	1993	Sandite unit 930301
205028	1128	Batch 4	1962	Connex	60146	60673	60827	11/2004	Preserved
205029	1129	Batch 4	1962	BR Green	60147	60667	60817	1994	Scrapped after Cowden rail crash
205030	1130	Batch 4	1962	Blue/Grey	60148	60675	60829	1992	Scrapped
205031	1131	Batch 4	1962	Blue/Grey	60149	60676	60830	1993	Sandite unit 930301
205032	1132	Batch 4	1962	Connex	60150	60677	60831	10/2004	Preserved
205033	1133	Batch 4	1962	Connex	60151	60678	60832	12/2004	Preserved

Refurbished Class 205/1

Unit No.		Batch	Year Converted	Final Livery	DMBSO	TSO	DTSOL	Withdrawn	Status
205101	1111	Batch 1	1980	NSE	60110	60660	60810	1995	Converted to 205205

Refurbished Class 205/2

Unit No.		Batch	Year Converted	Final Livery	DMBSO	TSOL	DTSOL	Withdrawn	Status
205205	205101	Batch 1	1995	Connex	60110	71634	60810	07/2004	Preserved

Departmental Units

Unit No.		Batch	Year Converted	Final Livery	DMB	T	DMB	Withdrawn	Status
930301	951069	Batch 4 (*Batch 1)	1993	Railtrack Brown	977939 (60145)	977870 (60660*)	977940 (60149)	-	In service

[edit] External links

British Rail diesel multiple units
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