BRITISH RAIL CLASS 404

The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designations '4Cor', '4Res', '4Buf' and '4Gri' to the different types of electric multiple unit built to work the route between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour. The 4Cor type units survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated TOPS 'Class 404'. The 'Cor' designation had previously been used for the 6Pul units and was reused by them during World War II when the Pullman car was stored, but this stock was different from the 4Cor units.

Contents

Phase 1 units

Phase 2 units

Formations

Reformations and conversions

Withdrawal and further use

Preservation

External links

Phase 1 units

The SR electrified the London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Woking line in the mid-1930s, and full electric services commenced over the route from April 1937. For this service, 29 4Cor units ('4'-car 'Cor'ridor units, numbered 3101-3129) and 19 4Res units ('4'-car 'Res'taurant units, numbered 3054-3072) were built.
Corridor connections were provided throughout each unit, including between units. This gave them a distinctive front-end appearance as the headcode display was placed on the opposite side of the gangway connection to the driving cab window, leading to their nickname of 'Nelsons' (referring to Lord Nelson's eyepatch).
It was intended that for principal services, 12-car formations would operate with a 4Res unit (providing the kitchen and dining facilities for the train) sandwiched by two 4Cor units. While all the other carriages for these units were built by the SR at their Eastleigh works, the Trailer First carriages (which were laid out as dining cars) were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company (BRCW) and the Trailer Restaurant Kitchen Third carriages by Metropolitan Cammell.

Phase 2 units

The SR then electrified the line from Three Bridges to Portsmouth via Horsham and the coastal route from West Worthing to Havant, with services over this route commencing in July 1938. For services from London Victoria to Portsmouth over these lines, another 26 4Cor units (numbered 3130-3155) were built, together with 13 4Buf units ('4'-car 'Buf'fet units, numbered 3073-3085).
These new units followed the same design as the Phase 1 stock, except that the restaurant and kitchen facilities of the 4Res units were replaced by the simpler provison of a buffet. All of these units were built by the SR at their Eastleigh works.

Formations

Initial formations of these units were as follows:

Units	Type	DMBTO	Trailer	Trailer	DMBTO
3054-3072	4Res	11139-11175 (odds)	TFK 12232-12250 (not in order)	TRKT 12601-12619 (not in order)	11140-11176 (evens)
3073-3085	4Buf	11229-11253 (odds)	TCK 11846-11858	TRBT 12518-12530	11230-11254 (evens)
3101-3129	4Cor	11081-11137 (odds)	TTK 10055-10083	TCK 11791-11819	11082-11138 (evens)
3130-3155	4Cor	11177-11227 (odds)	TTK 10084-10109	TCK 11820-11845	11178-11228 (evens)

Reformations and conversions

Due to the late delivery of the kitchen and dining carriages for the 4Res units, these cars were not formed in the sets in numerical order, and some of the driving motor cars initially ran with other trailer cars as 4Cor formations.
The first changes took place during World War II, following the destruction of 25 carriages during bombing raids. This total included the equivalent of three 4Res units. A number of units were reformed to reuse the carriages that survived from individual units, and after the war was over, new carriages were built to replace those destroyed, taking the numbers of the old ones. In total, this involved 11 driving motor cars, 7 Trailer Thirds, 5 Trailer Composites, and one buffet car and dining car apiece. This re-arrangement led to the loss of 4Res units 3058, 3060 and 3063 and the formation of three new 4Cor units, which took numbers 3156-3158.
In 1955, 4Res unit 3072 was converted to a 4Buf unit following a fire in the kitchen car, which was rebuilt as a prototype Restaurant Buffet design for British Rail. In 1961-62 the kitchen cars in 4Res units 3056, 3065 and 3068 were converted into Griddle cars. The units involved were given the classification '4Gri', and in 1964 they were renumbered 3086-3088.
In January 1964 the remaining 4Res units were disbanded and the carriages reformed with former '6Pul' and '6Pan' stock. Between then and the final withdrawal of these carriages at the end of the 1960s, a variety of different unit formations were created, including further '4Cor' units (numbers 3159-3166), '6Cor' (3041-3050), '4Pul' (3054-3059), '4Cor(N)' (3065-3071) and '6TC' (601). For further details of this complex period of unit reformations, see here.

Withdrawal and further use

Apart from the 4Res units, which were disbanded in 1964, the 4Cor, 4Buf and 4Gri types continued in existence through to the withdrawal of this stock from passenger service in 1971. Thereafter, the underframes of a number of carriages were reused by the engineering department as long welded rail carriers and crane runners. A full list of vehicles affected is below:

Old Number	New Number		Old Number	New Number		Old Number	New Number
10081	975519		11847	975520		11846	975521
11849	975522		11856	975523		11817	975524
11854	975525		10064	975526		11800	975527
12245	975528		10079	975529		11815	975530
11802	975531		10103	975532		12235	DS70281

Preservation

One complete unit was saved for preservation, as were a number of individual vehicles. Details are set out below:

Unit No.	Type	DMBTO	TTK	Trailer	DMBTO	Livery	Owner	Notes
3072	4Buf	-	-	TRBT 12613	-	Unknown	Privately owned, Shepherds Bush	Originally a 4Res TRKT.
3084	4Buf	-	-	TRBT 12529	-	BR Green	Nene Valley Railway	Badly damaged by fire.
3131	4Cor	11179	-	-	-	BR Green	National Railway Museum	-
3135	4Cor	11187	-	-	-	SR Green	Southern Electric Group	-
3142	4Cor	11161	10096	TCK 11825	11201	SR Green	Southern Electric Group	11161 ex-4Res unit 3065.

External links

★ Southern Electric Group - Owners of Set no. 3142.

★ Southern Electric Group - Details of class designation.