British Rail PEP Train Triangle Front Lights

The 315 sounds great

The good thing is Southern still have their PEP's in service, i'm not sure wether or not they will intend to replace them though.

Do UK trains have high and low beams? In Italy the trains have 3 white lights and 2 red lights, the lower ones have 3 levels: marker lights, low beam and high beam, the third light is only high beam (the last trains have the third LED light always on but at reduced intensity, as required by UIC regulations, the light can always be increased by pressing a button). With the arrival of the LED headlights, the dipped headlights are eliminated, there are only marker lights and high beams, the marker lights are so bright that the low beam is no longer needed, many trains have LED marker lights and high beams with halogen lamps but in the recent years even high beams are LED, light is very strong and white.

I Love How Some 315 Units Have Electrostar Headlights

I will really miss these train when they’re gone. 313s especially since they were closest to me. I always saw them in NSE, the white livery, FCC and Silverlink. One thing that bothers me though. Looking at an old railway magazine showing the prototypes which were very different to the production models (Scharfenberg couplers, 3 doors per side, Mk3, carriage style bogies) what I’m confused about is that the trains didn’t seem to have any lights. Where are they? Another thing is: why would the trains be rebuilt with two headlights and three marker lights if only one headlight and two marker lights were used just like in the original light cluster

I remember the original PEP units when they operated out of Waterloo. Our flat looked out on to the railway at Tolworth, on the Chessington branch. The doors weren't operated by push buttons, they had long vertical aluminium handles on the edge of the doors, you had to pull the doors apart slightly then they would sense the movement and open pneumatically. It wasn't a good system, useless for some disabled people, elderly, or for passengers with lots of baggage or shopping etc. I also saw the 508s in service on the same route. They ran as four car sets and looked really smart in in their new gleaming blue-grey livery. A big change from the old 4 SUBs and 2 or 4 EPBs that they replaced. Hopefully I'll be moving this year, and my local trains will be class 507s and 8s, soon to be replaced by 777s.

I remember when the 508's were first introduced on the Southern Region. They were SO different from the slam door stock!

Nice one mate. I am glad that you actually included the 507/508 trains because I'm really close to them

I think the MerseyRail 507 an 508 look the best

It is sad that they are going. For example: The only class 313s remaining is on the Southern Coastway Lines. I am really going to miss them.

oh wow i love these trains some of them are on the southern coastway in West and East Sussex

I think the class 315 sounds slightly different to the rest of the PEP, because when accelerating, they have a very low whining motor

In-case anyone was wondering, I vanquished my ignorance by finding; PEP = Prototype Electro-Pneumatic.

There's always something new to learn. Whilst I'm familiar with this class of train, the term "PEP" is new to me. I found this video after accidentally finding a promotional video about the class Prototype trains which were called "PEPs" and then, after a lot of searching, found the term "Prototype Electric Pneumatic" which I think is the correct meaning of "PEP". Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this term relates to the prototypes. It would be great if there was some footage of those.

I always thought these lamps displayed the headcode..

i never knew there was a first great eastern

Everyone forgets about the class 317, which I as a Greater Anglian (is that a word?) on the Lee Valley Line find rather disappointing

It’s the end of the line for some trains this year

If only there were a way to keep these adorable little units going! It's funny how the people guarding the nation's coffers always throw out the excuse "we need to save money" when talking about rail projects (funnily enough, not road projects though...) but when buying rolling stock, they seem adamant to buy new, expensive stock instead of getting low-cost hand-me-downs. I'm a proponent of re-instating what was a suburban railway in the east suburbs of Liverpool (North Liverpool Extension Line) into an overhead line electrified commuter line, using old PEP stock (converting 507/8s into OLE-compatible, and also using other PEPs that already have dual-voltage functionality) to run on this line (which is now a bike path but retains legal protection for rail use) and potentially run on 3rd rail sections of line if need be. It's a shame we don't have a functioning democracy, because I know many people who'd rather have easy, efficient, cheap and clean travel around the city than some dirty, run-down bike path that's been heavily neglected and is notorious for crime.

Haven't the 315s life been extended for a little while due to the Crossrail delays, the fact the 345s have to go elsewhere to get the additional two carriages fitted to make them 9 cars and because platforms 16 & 17 at Liverpool Street need extending before hand? There's still a few of them about as of May 2020 Edited: Second paragraph answered in the video so removed :)