Glasgow Blue Trains: Class 303 and Class 311 EMUs

Product Information

In 1988 303033 became the first 303 to be formed from 3 vehicles from 3 seperate units, gaining driving trailer 75595 from set 303030,motor coach 61860 from 303084 and 75817 from 303051. In 1990, following the introduction of the class 320s to the North Clyde lines, the remaining unrefurbished class 303s except for 303048, which was retained in original condition for special occasions and all the class 311s were withdrawn from service. 303048 operated the last scheduled service for the unrefurbished units on 9 th November 1990 when it operated the 23.38 service from Balloch - Dalmuir. units were allocated with 001 – 056 operating on the North Clyde routes and 057 - 091 operating on the south side of the Clyde. This brought problems if a number of units from either the north or the south side were out of service and soon a common user approach had to be adopted meaning any unit could operate on any route (as long as the route was wired!). There was other problem which wasn’t solved until 1979, this was that there was no electrified route between the North and South Side systems as both systems were totally independent of each other so the North Side units had to be dragged by either a Diesel Locomotive(usually a class 20) or Steam Locomotive from the Depot at Hyndland to the depot at Shields and vice versa. The units were originally serviced and had major work done Hyndland depot on the North side, which was built especially for the 303's, before major work was transferred to the new depot at Shields, on the Ayrshire lines just outside Glasgow Central in 1967. Her Majesty's Government (1947). "Transport Act 1947". The Railways Archive. (originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office) . Retrieved 2006-11-25.

severely damaging the loco 37011 which had been towing the unit to Yoker but had gone further down the line to run round the sets, resulting in the withdrawal of unit 051. One trailer car from that set was later reused in set 303033, whilst the damaged trailer and motor coach were scrapped. 303090 however was returned to service and remained in use until 2002. Caledonian blue half yellow warning panel. (I have not found any evidence of any with full yellow warning panels but if anyone can prove different I would love to see a photo.) British Transport Commission (1963). "The Reshaping of British Railways - Part 1: Report". The Railways Archive. (originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office) . Retrieved 2006-11-25.

Class 303

In addition a small but significant number of closed stations have reopened, and passenger services been restored on lines where they had been closed or removed. Many of these were in the urban metropolitan counties and towns where Passenger Transport Executives have a role in promoting local passenger rail use.

was stored at Longtown for a time, last unrefurbished 303 vehicle in existance, gutted by fire in 2000. Photograph courtesy John Perkins. 303-047-9 (RENFE 10373 on the bufferbeam) at Malaga on station duties. Most of the remaining unrefurbished units were withdrawn at the end of the 1980s, following the introduction of new Class 320 units on the North Clyde route in 1989. In the early 1980s, following a decline in passengers in the Glasgow area, several Class 303s were transferred to north west England. Initially, they were used on the Crewe to Liverpool service but were soon transferred to the Manchester area, operating services from Manchester Piccadilly to Altrincham, Hazel Grove, Macclesfield, Alderley Edge, Crewe and on the line to Glossop and Hadfield - this line had recently been converted from 1500 V DC. The 303s replaced the Class 506s. All but one of these, no. 303048, were withdrawn by the mid-1990s. This unit was transferred north again to Glasgow, and retained in unrefurbished condition for special trains. It was originally intended to preserved this unit, but due to asbestos contamination it was scrapped in 1996. As part of the refurbishment program, the 303's required the removal of deadly asbestos, withdrawn units 017 and 022 were used as asbestos storage vehicles for a time during the program. The sets refurbished were: Pictures of 035 (sub class 303/2) are somewhat scarce, here it is at Hyndland, http://ftp.sasolchevron.com/photo/scaled/6093/ the doors can be seen to be flush with the side of the coach and moved out and along when open, the two slots can be seen just above the solebar on either side of the doors. These were removed and converted to standard doors in 1971 as in service the equipment suffered a failure rate 150 per cent worse than that of the standard door gear on the other units. I have an unconfirmed source that mentions another experimental "Peters" style doorgear. This type of door was originally to be applied to 50 or 60 units, but the plan was abandoned because of manufacturing difficulties.The British Rail Class 312 is a type of alternating current (AC) electric multiple unit (EMU) built in 1966–1974 [9] intended for use on outer-suburban passenger services. It was the last class of multiple unit to be constructed to the British Rail Mark 2 body shell, and also the last with slam doors. Their passenger seats were an improvement on former types. These use solid state switching devices ( thyristors and transistors) and have electronic power control.