52 & 57 cars, Sprinter numbering

[BestWestern]

Hi all,

Quick query which popped into my head recently; does anybody have any knowledge of why the specific numbers 52 and 57 were chosed to identify the vehicles on Sprinter sets (i.e each 2 car unit has a car numbered 52XXX & 57XXX)? Any thoughts or theories welcome!

 

[theblackwatch]

Given that virtually all DMMUs were given numbers in the 5xxxx series, it was probably because they were the only numbers series which were free at the time, as in the 1980s...

50xxx - locos
51xxx - lots of first gen DMUs
53xxx - lots of first gen DMUs (renumbered from 50xxx to avoid conflicts)
54xxx - lots of first gen DMUs (renumbered from 56xxx to avoid conflicts)
55xxx - lots of first gen DMUs
56xxx - locos
58xxx - locos
59xxx - lots of first gen DMUs

 

[northernrailer]

On all Sprinters you will also find the the 52 car is the DMSL, and 57 car DMS
DMS - Driving Motor Standard. DMSL Driving Motor Standard with Lavatory.

On the 158 (expect the Northern 158/9) and 159 units, the both cars have a toliet with one being a disabled toilet.

On some units it will have a 5 or a 7 on the cab front to identify which car it is at the depot so the depot staff dont have to walk to middle of train to find out.

 

[Schnellzug]

And there were no class 52s or 57s when they were designed, and i suppose (if they thought about it at all, which is perhaps doubtful) They thought that any suggestion that there ever might be was the stuff of a madman's dreams.
I don't know, actually, why there need to be any worries about duplication, since any DMU vehicle is always going to be running as part of a unit, isn't it, and 153s are usually referred to by the unit not the car number, so seeing "57312", it would probably not be mistaken for a 153?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

153s were originally half of a 155 which would have had a 52xxx and 57xxx number. The 57xxx cars had 50 added to the unit and car numbers when they became 153s. 155312 (52312+57312) became 153312 (52312) and 153362 (57362).

 

[theblackwatch]

I don't know, actually, why there need to be any worries about duplication, since any DMU vehicle is always going to be running as part of a unit, isn't it, and 153s are usually referred to by the unit not the car number, so seeing "57312", it would probably not be mistaken for a 153?

It is not a case of worrying about seeing something - a computer system such as TOPS cannot have records of two vehicles with the same unique identity!

 

[swt_passenger]

It is not a case of worrying about seeing something - a computer system such as TOPS cannot have records of two vehicles with the same unique identity!

Also, the 'master' record in TOPS seems to be the vehicle number, not the unit number - that is why unit formations/numbers can be chopped and changed fairly easily, examples being SWT renumbering three car 158s as 159/1s, and random 158s as 158880- 890, purely for their own convenience...

 

[158722]

And how do you remember which car has the toilet in? Fifty-two for a poo!

:roll:

 

[Juniper Driver]

And how do you remember which car has the toilet in? Fifty-two for a poo!

:roll:

I like that,just made a tit of myself recently at Waterloo looking for the bike rack on a 159 (to help out a cyclist) thinking it was on the 52 when it's actually on the 57.