Named Multiple Units

[Iskra]

Until recently (with mainly Northern), it was quite rare to see multiple units carrying names. What were the first multiple units to be named? Did BR name any multiple units other than the thumpers? Are there any obscure named units out there? Other than Northern do any other TOC’s do this?

I believe Thameslink have/had one 313(?) that was named after a driver that was sadly killed in a crash.

Any further examples? Bonus points for the most obscure examples

 

[Taunton]

One of the cars, 51562, on the Bidston-Wrexham line in the 1960s, had a full length nameboard down the car commemorating it being the 1,000th diesel car built at Derby. I remember it from those times, when we lived in the Wirral. Picture here :

Class 108 DMU at Welshpool (railcar.co.uk)

There also seem to be quite a number of electric units on the C2C line with proper cast names of present and past prominent staff. List :

British Rail Class 357 - Wikipedia

 

[Jim Jehosofat]

Wasn't there a 321 named 'Amsterdam'?

 

[matchmaker]

There were a number of named 156s and 158s.

 

[pdeaves]

166220 is named Roger Watkins after a GWR timetabling expert who passed away. There is another 165 or 166 named to commemorate Reading depot and another named after a long serving station supervisor(?) at Twyford who received an MBE or similar title.

 

[gg1]

I seem to recall there was a multiple unit named after a George Cross recipient in the 80s, haven't a clue what class though or even if it was a DMU or EMU. It stuck in my mind all these years exactly because it was so rare at the time.

 

[hexagon789]

Until recently (with mainly Northern), it was quite rare to see multiple units carrying names. What were the first multiple units to be named? Did BR name any multiple units other than the thumpers? Are there any obscure named units out there? Other than Northern do any other TOC’s do this?

I believe Thameslink have/had one 313(?) that was named after a driver that was sadly killed in a crash.

Any further examples? Bonus points for the most obscure examples

ScotRail had quite a few.

A 158 was named for the Far North Line anniversary, another after Haymarket depot.

170401 was named after FirstGroup chair Sir Moir Lockhead.

Two 318s carried names, I think one was Strathclyde.

Several 320s carried names, I distinctly remember catching Model Rail Scotland to the exhibition of the same name one year.

 

[SWTCommuter]

Many of the class 442s carried names in their SWT and NSE days. Mum in a Million 1997 - Doreen Scanlon always struck me as a slightly incongruous name for a train

 

[341o2]

1497 Freshwater and 1498 Farringford Lymington Branch 2005 - 2010

Before this, there tended to be a dedicated unit to the branch and unofficially named,
1198 Lucy 1/2003 - 6/2004
1197 Linda 6/2004- 12/2004. Officially named reently on the Chinnor & PRR
1499 Lisa 12/2004 - 5/2005

Does 444018 still carry the name "The Fab 444", being named in 2004?

Some of the HST power cars were named such as 43004 Caerphilly Castle

Were any DMUs on heritage lines named as part of Thomas events such as at the Mid Hants or Llangollen?

Six DMU's received official names -

51332 "Marston Vale" in 1996
51358 "Leslie Crabbe" in 1997
51899 "Aylesbury College Silver Jubilee 1987" in 1987
55027 "Bletchley TMD"
55029 "Marston Vale"
55031 "Leslie Crabbe"

101, 117 & 119 received unofficial names, usually of girls at Tinsley depot,
205 & 207 at Eastliegh, likewise
The two route learning 121s became Bill and Ben (from Salisbury)


Route learning 122 Thunderbird 1 (Longsight depot)

 

[hexagon789]

Many of the class 442s carried names in their SWT and NSE days. Mum in a Million 1997 - Doreen Scanlon always struck me as a slightly incongruous name for a train

I believe originally most, if not all, 442s carried the names held by their 4REP predecessors, which all carried a name on the restaurant car.

 

[TheSel]

Several Merseyrail Class 507/8 units carry names.

Details available on that ever-reliable source Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_507
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_508

 

[tomsy47]

I remember that one of the Class 456 units was named 'Sir Cosmo Bonsor' when it was operating with Southern.

The first few Class 159 units were also named, as I remember seeing one with the name City of Exeter while at Exeter.

 

[John Webb]

There was a 319 EMU named 'City of St Albans':

Seen here at Bedford at the start of a Branch Line Society special in July 2015.

 

[alistairlees]

Some southeastern 375s were named. They lost the names in refurbishment a few years ago.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Been involved in naming a good number of locomotives and even a few units over the years.

Particular favoururites being 47588 "Carlise Currock" and on a personal basis managed to get 153xxx (316 ?) named after Dylan Thomas after a chance meeting with his daughter in Swansea and of course 313020 "Parliament Hill" on the (late) re-opening of the North London Line.

"Lesley Crabbe" was a much respected "handiman" on the Bedford - Bletchley line and I seem to recall it was the very last naming under BR. Of course I had something to do with it. The plates then went onto a 150.

On a very personal basis , I named 150243 at Filton Abbey Wood , after the successful completion of a remodelling and capacity enhancement scheme. Like several others , it rained during the unveiling.

 

[43066]

Some southeastern 375s were named. They lost the names in refurbishment a few years ago.

Driver John Neve was one, I seem to recall.

376001 is named Alan Doggett after a member of the crew resourcing team sadly killed in a road accident while on holiday in Vegas a few years ago. The only named SE metro unit!

 

[delt1c]

What about Daisy the Green 101 at longsight

 

[317666]

WAGN named a few 317s:

317345 - Driver John Webb
317348 - Richard A Jenner
317654 - Richard Wells
317709 - Len Camp
317723 - The Tottenham Flyer

317507 and 892 were additionally named under ONE/NXEA (Cambridge University 800 Years and Ilford Depot respectively).

Of the above only 348 and 507 remain in service, but both still with their nameplates. I believe the two /7s lost their names when they transferred to LO, or possibly even before then. 345 and 654 had their nameplates removed after withdrawal and before being towed for storage/scrap, presumably they were auctioned off somewhere?

From the same era, Anglia Railways named the vast majority of their 150s and 153s. Three of the 153s held onto their nameplates until being transferred to TfW, one of which was 153335 named Michael Palin. From memory a Virgin Voyager carried the same name, are there any other instances of separate units being named after the same person (not counting names being transferred from one unit to another)?

 

[pdeaves]

Two 319s carried named in connection with being the first 'proper' trains to enter the channel tunnel, Cheriton and Coquelles I believe

153335 was named Michael Palin, and I believe a Virgin Voyager also was. Are there any other instances of two separate units being named after the same person

Going off on a tangent, I don't know about that but a Voyager and a station carried the same name - James Cook.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Serco/Abellio era Northern had quite a few named units, one that sticks in my mind was a 158 named William Wilberforce after the Hull-based abolitionist. Can't recall which one off the top of my head though.
144001 was named for The Penistone Line Partership for a while, and fittingly one of the vehicles is now at the Platform One charity adjacent to the Penistone line bay at Huddersfield.

Arriva Northern of course broke a cardinal rule by using the same name "Proud To Be Northern" for multiple er... multiple units... that is if you consider it to be a "naming". Personally I don't consider it "canon", it just happened to be branding that looked like a nameplate!

Likewise I don't think the green 101's "Daisy" moniker was official.

 

[306024]

Wasn't there a 321 named 'Amsterdam'?

Yes 321 334 which I think has become a test unit for something? It was named for a twinning ceremony at Liverpool St (and painted in Dutch livery). A plaque was still at Liverpool St station last time I looked.

Some other 321s, 315s and 379s carried / carry names. For example:

321 444 Essex Lifeboats. Named at the suggestion of an ASLEF rep who was on the Harwich lifeboat committee, a replica nameplate is in the Harwich lifeboat house.

321 446 George Mullings. He retired as Thornton Field supervisor when they nicked his sidings for the Olympic Games.

 

[D6968]

Likewise I don't think the green 101's "Daisy" moniker was official.

I beg to differ my friend

 

[61653 HTAFC]

View attachment 103869I beg to differ my friend

Well, every day's a school day! I assumed it was something invented by the media at the time the 101s were being removed from service.

 

[D6968]

Well, every day's a school day! I assumed it was something invented by the media at the time the 101s were being removed from service.

Have a feeling it might have been an unofficial name to start with, but then someone at Longsight might have made it official.

 

[Mag_seven]

There were a number of named 156s and 158s.

This site has details of some 156s that were named:

156 - Named Units

super sprinter

members.madasafish.com

Passenger train operators wanting to generate some good publicity may not have the option of naming a locomotive, but in many cases have decided that a multiple-unit train will do just as well.

Five class 156 units received names in the mid 1990's, but four of these were removed during repainting into new liveries.

After a gap of over five years with no namings, names stickers were applied to two First North Western operated units.

One Railway used a proper cast nameplate in 2006, but went for large bodyside branding the following year.

The latest trend is to have large bodyside picture vinyls, a policy that Northern has adopted.

Details of all eight units which received names are recorded below, in order of naming.

 

[LowLevel]

EMT/EMR named a few units. 153376 was named after a World War 2 midget sub (perfectly fitting for a midget train!) called eXpeditious. I believe it has been de-named now it has been sold to Network Rail.

153383 was Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

158773 is named Eastcroft Depot.
158847 is Lincoln Castle Explorer.
158854 is The Station Volunteer
158864 is ELR50 after the anniversary of closure of the East Lincolnshire Railways.

There might be more I've forgotten.

 

[Strathclyder]

Two 318s carried names, I think one was Strathclyde.

Several 320s carried names, I distinctly remember catching Model Rail Scotland to the exhibition of the same name one year.

Strathclyder (guess where I got the idea for my username lol ), as was fitted to 318266; 318259 was named Citizens' Network. There was a 3rd named 318 during the National Express era, with 318256 carrying the North Berwick Flyer - 1850-2000 name, as the class were on-again-off-again regular performers on the North Berwick route during that period (linked photo from the John Law Flickr collection showing 256 with the nameplate clearly visible on the MSO). This last name later passed (albeit in vinyl form; see attachment) to 322485 when the 322s were refurbished under First ScotRail.

strathclyde - scotrail 318256 glasgow central 01 JL

Explore johnmightycat1's 103899 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

There were a total of 8 named 320s, which were as follows:

• 320305 - Glasgow School of Art 1844-150-1994
• 320306 - Model Rail Scotland
• 320308 - High Road 20th Anniversary 2000
• 320309 - Radio Clyde 25th Anniversary
• 320311 - Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
• 320312 - Sir William A Smith - Founder of the Boys' Brigade
• 320321 - Rt Hon John Smith QC MP
• 320322 - Festive Glasgow Orchid

In proportion to overall class size, the 320s had a pretty high percentage of named units (8 out of 22; this was of course long before the 320/4s were even a concept).

Two 334s also carried names:

• 334001 - Donald Dewar (in memory of the first leader of the devolved Scottish Government)
• 334021 - Larkhall (to commemorate the reopening of the Larkhall branch in December 2005)

 

[nw1]

Many of the class 442s carried names in their SWT and NSE days. Mum in a Million 1997 - Doreen Scanlon always struck me as a slightly incongruous name for a train

I remember that one, in fact for a while I read it as 'Doreen Scallion'. Probably because it is written similarly to 'Million', and also 'Scanlon' sounds like a less-obvious surname than 'Scallion'.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Oct 2021 ==

There was also blue 4VEP 3417 "Gordon Pettitt" in the SWT slam-door era.

 

[hexagon789]

Strathclyder (guess where I got the idea for my username lol )

Well at least I had the right region if nothing else!

There were a total of 8 named 320s, which were as follows:

• 320305 - Glasgow School of Art 1844-150-1994
• 320306 - Model Rail Scotland
• 320308 - High Road 20th Anniversary 2000
• 320309 - Radio Clyde 25th Anniversary
• 320311 - Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
• 320312 - Sir William A Smith - Founder of the Boys' Brigade
• 320321 - Rt Hon John Smith QC MP
• 320322 - Festive Glasgow Orchid

In proportion to overall class size, the 320s had a pretty high percentage of named units (8 out of 22; this was of course long before the 320/4s were even a concept).

I knew a good number of 320s carried names but that is quite a substantial % for essentially a commuter EMU class.

334001 - Donald Dewar (in memory of the first leader of the devolved Scottish Government)

Should've remembered that one

 

[Pep and co]

WAGN named a few 317s:

317345 - Driver John Webb
317348 - Richard A Jenner
317654 - Richard Wells
317709 - Len Camp
317723 - The Tottenham Flyer

317507 and 892 were additionally named under ONE/NXEA (Cambridge University 800 Years and Ilford Depot respectively).

Of the above only 348 and 507 remain in service, but both still with their nameplates. I believe the two /7s lost their names when they transferred to LO, or possibly even before then. 345 and 654 had their nameplates removed after withdrawal and before being towed for storage/scrap, presumably they were auctioned off somewhere?

From the same era, Anglia Railways named the vast majority of their 150s and 153s. Three of the 153s held onto their nameplates until being transferred to TfW, one of which was 153335 named Michael Palin. From memory a Virgin Voyager carried the same name, are there any other instances of separate units being named after the same person (not counting names being transferred from one unit to another)?

390157 and 350232 both named Chad varah.
Presume they would have been in adjacent platforms ( Euston, Birmingham, Liverpool,Crewe?) at some point......