Looking out the cab front window

[Harlesden]

Which stock was the last where passengers sitting at the very front of the train on the left could look past the driver and out of the front window?
My last time of being able to do this was on an old DMU operating a London Paddington-Slough local service.

 

[1E05]

If it counts, you can still do so on the Tyne and Wear Metro, Copenhagen Metro and possibly some ICE trains in Germany (albeit with a clear screen behind te driver on the ICE trains)

 

[notadriver]

When I was a kid I remember the class 310 and 312 EMUs having this feature. Do you think it should make a come back?

 

[Ploughman]

Last time on BR was on the DMU from Man Vic to Llandudno.
Number of times on preserved lines.

Isn't the Docklands a possible as I believe that at least the first batch of stock was built with that feature of being able to see forward or back.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Everything on the DLR has a full width see through front.

( Elsewhere, Line 1 and Line 14 on the Paris Metro are the same )

 

[notadriver]

All metro trains in Paris have a window for passengers to spy on the driver

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Yes, but in most cases it's very small and highly silvered; Lines 1 and 14 are driverless, however.

 

[fowler9]

The last I remember by where I live were a few 303's operating from Liverpool to Crewe and a few DMU's on the CLC route. All sadly missed.

 

[edwin_m]

Does the Chiltern bubble still have the view through the cab?

Last forward view for me from a passenger seat on the main line network was 101s on the Marple line around 2000.

 

[bronzeonion]

All Japanese trains apart from the Shinkansen or Express trains with a raised cab

 

[notadriver]

All Japanese trains apart from the Shinkansen or Express trains with a raised cab

Really? I wonder why they do that over there?

 

[causton]

Does the Chiltern bubble still have the view through the cab?

Unfortunately not!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/0causton0/9229044051/in/set-72157634524882753

Surprised someone hasn't said a Pacer yet, where the black film has been scratched away on the driver's door

 

[notadriver]

Unfortunately not!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/0causton0/9229044051/in/set-72157634524882753

Surprised someone hasn't said a Pacer yet, where the black film has been scratched away on the driver's door

Why did they blank that over?

 

[westcoaster]

Surely 150/1's unless the driver has the cab door shut.

 

[fowler9]

Surely 150/1's unless the driver has the cab door shut.

I'm sure you can't see out the front of a 150/1 unless someone is breaking some pretty important rules.

 

[edwin_m]

All the Sprinter units are driven with the door closed between the cab and the vestibule behind it. On the gangwayed units the door will also close off the driver's area from the access to the gangway, but this is only used when coupled together, with the end gangway door opening inwards and its outer screen folding back to close off the other side of the cab.

 

[LowLevel]

Unfortunately not!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/0causton0/9229044051/in/set-72157634524882753

Surprised someone hasn't said a Pacer yet, where the black film has been scratched away on the driver's door

They're probably just the blinds rolled down as per most other 1st gen DMUs. I've seen them up before with a view while working to Quainton Road.

 

[rogger13]

Both types of tram on Manchester's Metrolink allow a forward view.

 

[notadriver]

Both types of tram on Manchester's Metrolink allow a forward view.

Is there a privacy blind like on 1st gen DMUs?

 

[Taunton]

The forward view was a universally popular thing among the passengers when introduced on the modernisation plan trains (actually it first came on GWR railcars). I don't believe that vehicle designers can't meet modern end loadings without eliminating it - the same sort of excuse as being unable to design the seats to line up with the windows any longer.

Am I correct that there was pressure from the drivers to eliminate it? The blinds were always left open, apart from maybe the one directly behind the driver at night to avoid reflections, until some time in the 1970s. There was an accident at that time with an official report, I believe it was on the Marylebone Line, where the driver's statement was contradicted by an enthusiast who had been travelling in the front seat right behind, and the inspecting officer showed he believed this alternative evidence, corroborated by other findings. Certainly after this time I never saw the blinds on this route ever open again, and it progressively seemed to spread.

 

[tsr]

Class 139 Parry People Mover - photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/8692921153/in/pool-class139 (not mine!).

See also Croydon Tramlink CR4000s & Variobahns for a limited but nonetheless possible forward view.