2-car 'Thumper' 205 101 at Hastings. 15/11/93.
During the winter months it was common practice in Network South East days for the Marshlink service (Hastings to Ashford) to be reduced to 2-car sets which was still adequate for seating capacity but improved time keeping on the low adhesion section through the woods between Doleham and Ore.
Set 205 101 was the only member of the class 205/1 sub class and is seen climbing away from Hastings with the 08.12 Hastings to Ashford service about to pass Hastings Park Sidings.
205 101 was originally numbered 1111 as a standard Hampshire set or 3H. It had gained the nickname "The Bean Row" until it was renumbered to conform to TOPS numbering as 205 101.
It was experimentally rebuilt at BREL Eastleigh Works in 1979 as a prototype for the rest of the class but the overhaul was protracted to say the least having gone out of service in late 1978 it didn't return until March 1980 and was the only unit ever to be rebuilt. The unit returned with florescent lighting new melamine facia panels, public address and was fitted with a through corridor between vehicles. The cabs were totally rebuilt with a 1963 EMU driving desk replacing the original DEMU controls. It had returned to service still numbered 1111 but was classified by the Southern Region as a 3H(M) the M standing for Modernised. Because the refurbishment had seen the first class seating removed in favour of open saloons the unit was unsuitable for the East Sussex commuter lines into London from East Grinstead and Uckfield so it lived at St.Leonards depot and spent the rest of its life back and forth across the Romney Marsh working the Hastings to Ashford 'Marsh-link' line. In 1995 it was again renumbered when the intermediate vehicle was an ex class 411 EMU trailer it then became set 205 205 (class 205/2) and got the classification 3-MAG which stood for "Marshlink Additional Gangway" but known to many as 'Maggot sets' as the centre coach had a noticeably different fatter body profile.
2-car 'Thumper' 205 101 at Hastings. 15/11/93.
During the winter months it was common practice in Network South East days for the Marshlink service (Hastings to Ashford) to be reduced to 2-car sets which was still adequate for seating capacity but improved time keeping on the low adhesion section through the woods between Doleham and Ore.
Set 205 101 was the only member of the class 205/1 sub class and is seen climbing away from Hastings with the 08.12 Hastings to Ashford service about to pass Hastings Park Sidings.
205 101 was originally numbered 1111 as a standard Hampshire set or 3H. It had gained the nickname "The Bean Row" until it was renumbered to conform to TOPS numbering as 205 101.
It was experimentally rebuilt at BREL Eastleigh Works in 1979 as a prototype for the rest of the class but the overhaul was protracted to say the least having gone out of service in late 1978 it didn't return until March 1980 and was the only unit ever to be rebuilt. The unit returned with florescent lighting new melamine facia panels, public address and was fitted with a through corridor between vehicles. The cabs were totally rebuilt with a 1963 EMU driving desk replacing the original DEMU controls. It had returned to service still numbered 1111 but was classified by the Southern Region as a 3H(M) the M standing for Modernised. Because the refurbishment had seen the first class seating removed in favour of open saloons the unit was unsuitable for the East Sussex commuter lines into London from East Grinstead and Uckfield so it lived at St.Leonards depot and spent the rest of its life back and forth across the Romney Marsh working the Hastings to Ashford 'Marsh-link' line. In 1995 it was again renumbered when the intermediate vehicle was an ex class 411 EMU trailer it then became set 205 205 (class 205/2) and got the classification 3-MAG which stood for "Marshlink Additional Gangway" but known to many as 'Maggot sets' as the centre coach had a noticeably different fatter body profile.