The Brighton Belle : Class 404

The electric multiple-units used by the Southern Railway for express services on the Brighton line included the 5Bel units, which were formed of five Pullman cars. These were built in 1932 by Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co. and worked the Southern Belle service, later renamed the Brighton Belle . The 5Bel units were withdrawn in 1972, but all of the Pullman cars were preserved. Many have been put into static use, but some have been adapted for locomotive haulage and are in the fleet of the Venice Simplon Orient Express, based at Stewarts Lane.

Three Pullman kitchen firsts are currently in use, these being: 280 Audrey , 281 Gwen and 284 Vera . They are of all steel construction, but of traditional Pullman appearance and finished in dark brown and cream livery. Each has a saloon with 16 first class seats arranged 1+1. At one end of the car there is a coupé with a further four first class seats and the small kitchen is at the opposite end. There is a toilet adjacent to the coupé. External doors are hinged, inwards opening. The vehicles are air-braked and have electric heating and kitchen equipment. They have been remounted on B5(S) bogies but retain screw couplings.

A number of the vehicles are stored at Stewarts Lane and elsewhere. These include three driving motor coaches and 6Pul Pullman car 264 Ruth .

1938 tube stock: Class 483

The 1938 tube trains based on the Isle of Wight are by far the oldest stock in daily use on the national rail network. They also include the only vehicles owned by a pre-nationalisation railway company to work in passenger service with a franchised train operating company. A total of 1,230 tube cars were built between 1936 and 1953, of which 1,121 were 1938 tube stock and the rest were broadly similar 1935 and 1949 stock. The vehicles used on the Isle of Wight are all 1938 stock driving motor coaches.

The trains were revolutionary for the Underground in having all equipment under the floor or below seats. Earlier stock had had an equipment compartment adjacent to the driver's cab. Vehicles were of all-steel construction, though timber was used inside the saloons, principally for window frames and the floor covering. Each car had two pairs of air-operated, double sliding doors, and single leaf sliding doors at the trailing end, where the guard's controls were located. There were emergency doors at car ends, but passengers were not meant to use these under normal circumstances.

There were two GEC or Crompton Parkinson traction motors on the leading bogie of each motor coach. These had a one hour rating of 168 hp. The pneumatic camshaft control equipment was by British Thomson-Houston and operated at 50 volts. Power for the control equipment came from a Metropolitan Vickers motor generator and battery on each motor coach. Westinghouse electro-pneumatic brakes were fitted. The compressors to provide air for the control system and brakes were mounted on trailer coaches.

The 1938 tube stock was built for use on extensions to the Northern line and to replace life-expired trains on other lines. At the time the London Passenger Transport Board was taking responsibility for operation of almost all passenger services on various London & North Eastern Railway branches in North and East London. In recognition of this, 289 cars were owned by the LNER, though operated and maintained exclusively by LPTB. The cars concerned carried a small plaque on the underframe, 'PROPERTY OF LNER'.

When the line from Ryde to Shanklin was electrified in 1967, London Transport 'Standard Stock' tube cars were acquired to operate the service. By the mid eighties, when some of these were over sixty years old, replacements were needed. British Rail took 34 1938 stock driving motor coaches, from which nine two-coach units were formed. The surplus vehicles were used as a source of spare parts.

The cars were converted for Isle of Wight service at Strawberry Hill and Eastleigh. One car in each unit (numbered in the series 221-229) has had its motor generator removed and a compressor substituted. The guard's door control position, at the trailing end, was removed on these vehicles. The passenger accommodation was thoroughly refurbished, including laying linoleum on the floors, replacement of the window frames in beech wood and fitting fluorescent lighting. Passenger door controls were provided. Units were converted from fourth-rail to third-rail operation. Other modifications included replacing fuses with miniature circuit breakers, fitting high-intensity headlights and public address equipment. Vehicles received anti-corrosion treatment and splash guards were fitted to protect the resistances from sea water on Ryde Pier.

Originally in a version of Network South East livery, most remaining units are now finished in a special Isle of Wight design featuring dinosaurs and other prehistoric monsters. Units 007 and 009 have been repainted in a close approximation to London Passenger Transport Board livery, but with yellow warning panels. Maximum speed on the Island is 45 mph.

The trains were delivered to the Isle of Wight in 1989/90. They were numbered 483001 to 483009, though the units themselves show numbers 001 to 009. Units 483006 to 483008 comprise cars that were originally owned by the LNER. Units 483001 and 483005 have been withdrawn and 483003 is stored out of service.

• Built: Metropolitan Cammell
• Owner: HSBC
• Operator: Island Line
• Seats: Driving motor 42; Driving motor 42

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