Banner Credits: Class 423/1 4-VEP 3560 at Wandsworth Road (CC BY-SA 4.0 – Steve Jones)
The Class 423, along with familiar classes like the Class 411 and 421 have been a staple of Southern Electric Traction along the London and Coastal corridors from the 1960s up to the early 2000s. As a local and railwayman of the region, I’m proud to welcome 423 905 to the Rail Tags fleet in partnership with our friends at the 400 Series Preservation Group.
Class 423 4VOP 3905 stands still at the East Kent Railway in September 2024 awaiting a one way trip to Unimetals Newport.
The Class 423: Pre History & Production:
1: The need to to replace steam traction in the Southern Region.
In September 1964 British Rail placed an order for twenty electric multiple units to coincide with greenlighting of electrification of the South Western Mainline from Southampton Central to Bournemouth which would also see withdrawal of steam traction on semi fast services out of London Waterloo. The units would be built on the profile of the BR MK1 coach which had been introduced back in 1951, this was as deemed the most economically viable option and would follow the design of the 4CEP / 4BEP and 4CIG / 4BIG unit built between 1956 and 1963.
Due to Eastleigh Works ending all carriage building in 1963 and the adoption of the British Rail MK2 coach design in other regions it was decided to split the twenty unit order between the works at Derby Litchurch Lane and Holgate Works in York.
The Driving Trailer Composites were built by Holgate Works whilst the Trailer Second Open and Motor Brake Second Open coaches were built at Derby Litchurch Lane, the units would be numbered from 7701 to 7720. The new units would be designated as the 4VEP which stands for 4 carriages, Vestibule Electro Pneumatic. Whilst cosmetically being similar to the design of the 4CEP / BEP units the carriage windows differed, being smaller and having more per carriage which was tailored to the internal suburban seating layout. The 4VEPs were given EE507 traction motors which were mounted onto each MK6 motor bogie on the MBSO carriages, the traction package was standard across the Southern Electric Slammers at the time. All 4VEPs were geared for a max operating speed limit of 90mph.
The modern electrification works across the SWML saw the fitting of the new Westinghouse Automatic Warning System (AWS) which the new VEPs would also have built.
The first day of fully electric operation on the SWML was set for the 10th of June 1967, however due to slow delivery of the new stock this was set back a month to the 10th of July.
A unique modification was made to 4VEP unit 7711 which saw it carry an experimental Southern Region Advanced Warning System for use in between Southampton and Bournemouth. The previous and next aspect would be displayed in the cab to test it’s viability on the Southern Region’s inner suburban lines where trains we’re frequently chasing yellows due to route capacity. This experiment ended in 1975 after it was agreed to standardise the AWS system across the entire British Rail network.
4VEP 7713 stands at Petersfield Station on the 10:33 Portsmouth & Southsea to London Waterloo service on July 7th 1984 (CC BY-SA 4.0 Lamberhurst)
1.1: The Second to Fifth Batch and further unit allocations.
In April 1967 prior to the rollout of the electric services on the South Western Mainline a second batch of 4VEPs numbered 7721 to 7755 had entered production solely at York Holgate Works with a few modifications made to the design. This included painting the entire cab front yellow to comply with new safety standards for visibility reasons. The second batch was ordered for the Southern Central Division of British Rail to facilitate the withdrawal of 4-LAV, 2-BIL and 2-HAL units on the Brighton Mainline out of London Victoria. Oddly these South Central based units were not built with AWS and units 7739, 7741 and 7742 never made it into operational service.
Later in 1970 a third batch of 4VEP units were constructed which would be split between the South Western and South Central divisions to further allow the withdrawal of other 2-BIL and 2-HAL sets, this saw the 4VEP fleet expand to sixty 4 car EMUs.
A further fourth batch of thirty eight units was constructed starting in May 1972 and would be numbered from 7186 to 7853 which saw the second batch eventually split between the South Western and South Central regions.
Production of the 4VEP line of rolling stock ended in March 1974 after the completion of units 7584 to 7894 for the South Eastern division which displaced a number of 2-HAP units which was cascaded to the South Western Region to allow the withdrawal of 4-SUB rolling stock. Units 7816 onwards was painted in a new corporate blue and grey livery.
4VEP 3025 stands at Upper Warlingham Station in October 1987 (CC BY-SA 4.0 Lamberhurst)
2: The Network SouthEast Era.
From the period of production up to the Network SouthEast era, the 4-VEPs would act as stop gap measure for the failed 4-REP units and also come into to act as Gatwick Express Units.
Coming back to the time period of the 1980s multiple developments happened for the 4-VEPs. Most notably was the introduction of the TOPS rolling stock management system which saw the 4-VEPs given the designation of Class 423.
In June 1986 the British Rail London & SouthEast sector was rebranded to the now iconic Network SouthEast, this rebrand saw 4VEP 7850 repainted into the stunning and iconic Network SouthEast “toothpaste” livery.
Further in 1987 the first batch of 4VEPs (7701 – 7720) were sent to Eastleigh Works for asbestos removal with earlier 4-CEP / BEPs following suit. In the same year a major renumbering of the entire fleet took place which was satisfyingly done in order of units numbered lowered to highest with a refurbishment commencing a year later.
It started with 7701 – 7720 becoming 3001 – 3194, the renumbered units were refurbished in 1988 at Eastleigh Works which saw additional seating added to the MBSOs. Unlike the renumbering, the refurbishments did not take place in numerical order with 3168 being the first, this unit became 3421.
Class 423/2 4-VOP 3907 “Brighton Royal Pavilion” at Hurst Green on 07/04/01 (CC BY-SA 2.0 Steve Jones)
3: Connex South Central, VOP Facelift and 3905.
Now we will bring our attention towards the South Central Region post privatisation, the VOP facelift of the late 1990s and the withdrawal of these units.
Railway privatisation saw Connex take over the South Central and South Eastern franchises in 1996, three years later in 1999 Connex would send nineteen Class 423/1s to ADtrans Chart Leacon Depot for a facelift to enhance operations of suburban services in and out of London.
The facelift saw the removal of internal compartments and the declassification of first class on the nineteen sets. The DTCs were converted into DTSOLs in a similar way as the CEP to COP conversions.
The facelifted units were renumbered 3901 – 3919.
The first 4VOP returned to passenger service on May 20th 1999.
Unit 3463 was sent to Chart Leacon on July 12th 1999. As seen here on the rear of DTCL 76398 the facelift for 4VOP 3905 is dated 16th of August 1999, with the unit returning to service afterwards.
3.1: Southern & Withdrawal.
After 3905 returned from Chart Leacon, she would continue to operate South Central services in and out of London.
In October 2000 the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority announced that Connex would be stripped of the South Central franchise and Govia would operate the franchise from 2003. The new franchise would be known as Southern which ordered brand new Class 377 Electrostar units which would allow for the withdrawal of all slam door rolling stock by the mid 2000s.
First introduced in 2002, the new Electrostar fleet would replace the Class 421 4CIG units first due to their fleet and lower capacity. However due to their higher power consumption this led to a troubled entry to service with upgrades being required to the power supply. This was easier said then done after Railtrack collapsed due to the consequences of the Hatfield Rail Crash which claimed four lives and injured over seventy.
Eventually, the first Class 377 entered revenue service in 2003.
As time moved forward, more 377s entered service and the first Class 423 units had started to be withdrawn from service. The first units to be withdrawn were selected due to high mileage or poor condition.
4VOP 3905 was one of the later units to be withdrawn from passenger service in April 2005. The final working of the unit was the 23:17 London Victoria – Worthing Service on April 18th 2005. The next day 3905 was moved to Brighton Lovers Walk Depot officially retiring from revenue service after 37 years of service.
4-VOP units 3918 & 3905 and 375713 at Ashford Chart Leacon Depot 21/08/10.
(CC BY-SA 2.0 – The Basingstoker)
4: Chart Leacon & The Preservation Years.
Post withdrawal, 4VOP 3905 was moved from Brighton Lovers Walk Depot to Chart Leacon Depot on May 5th 2005 for coupler modifications, this saw the unit sold to Bombardier Transportation UK as a “tractor unit” to shunt Class 375 and 465 units around Chart Leacon Depot.
Not a lot of information regarding 3905s time at Chart Leacon exists. In August 2011 the unit was put up for sale by Bombardier Transportation UK, which was eventually snapped up by the 5-BEL trust to act as a parts donor for the 5-BEL restoration project.
3905 was moved from Chart Leacon to Tonbridge West Yard on the 25th of March 2013 and further onto Barrow Hill the next day.
Years later in 2017 the unit (bar the MBSO) was donated to the 400 Series Preservation Group and moved by road to the East Kent Railway. MBSO 62266 still exists today and is located at Peak Rail in Matlock.
Class 423 4-VOP 3905 stands at the East Kent Railway undergoing restoration in July 2020. (CC BY-SA 4.0 kentrailwayobserver37)
Fast forward to September 2024 and the units condition has unfortunately decayed, coaches 70904 and 76398 were deemed beyond economical repair and the hard decision was made to let go of these coaches.
We had been contacted by the 400 Series Preservation Group earlier in the year after a trip to Arlington Eastleigh Works where we were kindly given permission to use preserved Class 313 201 for our Class 313 tag photoshoot. We were informed of the decision to scrap the unit and that panels could be made available to us which we agreed to without hesitation.
Back to September 2024, we were invited to the East Kent Railway to remove panels from 76398 and to assist with removing parts from 70904 which could be used on other units.
The removed section of bodywork from 76398 which was used to produce Edition 7.
As seen above, the removed section has allowed for some great tag variation, with some Connex Yellow & White Stripe, Standard Connex Yellow and Blue & Yellow tags from 3905.
Whilst these carriages may now be confined to history, we are happy that we got given the opportunity to help save what we can ensuring the legacy of these two scrapped vehicles live on through Rail Tags. Vehicle 76397 remains with MBSO 62385 being used as a substitute for 62266.
I’d like to thank Peter Spokes from the 400 Series Preservation Group for the opportunity to make tags from 3905, since starting Rail Tags I had always dreamed of doing a Southern Region Slammer, and thanks to him this is a reality.
To assist the group, a portion from each tag sale will go directly to the 400 Series Preservation Group to support their growing ambitions, recently acquiring a carriage from 508 201.
A sample of two Class 423 905 Rail Tags in Connex Blue / Blue Yellow Skirt using an Initial Fault Finding Checklist cut from 3905 as a backdrop.
Rail Tags Edition 7 is now available. We will see you again soon with Edition 8 & 9.
This Edition proudly supports our friends at the:
