A bit late to the party, but better late than never... Saturday 14 May saw the last day of operations by Southern using the Class 455, an electric multiple unit built between 1982 & 1985 for inner suburban services south of London. To mark the occasion, Southern organised a farewell charity tour joined by over 500 enthusiasts, the tour raised £25,000 for mental health charity MIND, a fitting tribute to these classic trains. The Southern units are now awaiting their meeting with the scrap merchants, but this isn't entirely the end of the class, as several remain in operation with South Western Railway. What really attracted me to the Southern units was their slightly different cab design, an alteration carried out by Southern in removing the gangways offering access between coupled sets to install air conditioning for the driver's cab. Wanting to get some photos of the Southern units before they hit the chopping block, I headed to Clapham Junction to see units from both operators passing through, before transferring to Victoria to see the end of the tour. I'm not old enough to be particularly nostalgic about these 1980s units, neither do I particularly dislike a lot of the modern stock for what it is, but the enthusiast in me has a real soft spot for the classic, rugged utilitarianism of these trains, and I am sad to see them go. One of the difficulties of the preservation of this generation of trains is that it certainly doesn't have the same appeal as steam or early diesel/electric traction. That being said, the dwindling numbers of 80s era stock still have examples of many classes either in operation or at least some form of preservation. Long may that continue... #throwbackthursday #thursdaythoughts #uk_railfeatures #railways_of_our_world #trb_express #featurefriday #ukrailscene #class455 #metromarauder #railtour #emu #southern #southwesternrailway #classictrains #railenthusiast #fridayfacts #gb_rail_features #historyinthemaking #britishrail #wearerailfans (at London, Unιted Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeCheNXjP7y/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
