South West Trains News

South West Trains Class 456 Driver Training

The second complete week in January 2014 saw the commencement of training for South West Trains drivers on their hand-me-down Class 456 units, in this case prior to these units being refurbished to Class 455 standards. They worked a Strawberry Hill - Kingston - Shepperton - Kingston - Shepperton - Strawberry Hill diagram around the middle of the day. Webmaster Colin Duff took these pictures on Tuesday 14th January.

	Starting the day's training. 456013 and 456021 approach Kingston with the 5Z21 12:00 Strawberry Hill Depot to Kingston platform 1. The pair of units are taking the crossover and for a very short distance will run "wrong line".
	Both 456013 and 456021 had been "de-branded". Here on 456021 the removal of the Southern target is clearly indentifiable due to the cleaner paint underneath and the dirt built up around the edge of the vinyl. On 456013 the removal must have caused some damage as the area had been patch painted, a bright white rectangle being the result.
	456013 at the buffer stop of platform 1 at Kingston. Note the cab front still carries a Selhurst depot sticker. Wimbledon depot, notoriously keen to display ownership of their units, clearly slipped up here! Students of London and South Western Railway history will know that Kingston station started out as a terminus of a branch off the Windsor lines, which is why platform 1 - traditionally the "Up" platform - is the Middlesex facing bay platform. The lines were extended to the main line at what is now New Malden, making Kingston a through station and forming a loop line. So Waterloo can be reached from Kingston in two directions.
	The Class 456 units will be used to augment eight car Class 455 formations up to ten car. A future pairing is seen in adjacent platforms at Kingston. 455720 and an unidentified Class 455 unit in platform 2 are working the 11:42 Waterloo to Shepperton service. The 456s will follow it down the branch.
	Subsequently 456021 and 456013 depart platform 1 for Shepperton with the 5Z22 working.
	The pair at Hampton Wick on their way back to Kingston with the 5Z23 working. Notice the line towards Teddington is largely straight, but with a pronounced dip.
	456021 and 456013 are leaving Hampton Wick and are about to cross the River Thames into what was once (until 1964) Surrey.

On their way back to Shepperton with the 5Z24 working the pair of 456s pass a pair of unidentified 455s on Kingston (Railway) Bridge

The scenic shot of the day! On their way back to Shepperton with the 5Z24 working the pair of 456s pass a pair of unidentified 455s on Kingston (Railway) Bridge, which is not the prettiest bridge over the Thames! The 455s are working the 12:33 anti-clockwise Kingston "Roundabout" service which takes the route Waterloo - Richmond - Kingston - Wimbledon - Waterloo. This should have been a shot of the 456s alone on the bridge but 5Z24 left Kingston 4 minutes early resulting in them crossing the bridge at the same time as the 455s.

Note above the 455 on the left, the Star and Garter Home on Richmond Hill can be seen. The high rise construction on the right is on the site of the former Kingston Power Station, which was always a bit of an eyesore. For many years coal for the power station was delivered by river barge, there being a tower and bridge beyond the railway bridge which contained a crane and conveyor belt for unloading the barges. Switching coal deliveries to road using large, heavy, dirty and noisy lorries was an unwelcome development.